Thanks to everyone who joined Dave Davenport of EcoQuest Travel and me on our February 2012 trip to Nicaragua.  We met with our partners Georges and Lili Duriaux at El Jaguar, visited Finca Esperanza Verde (where we have banded birds and conducted Golden-winged Warbler surveys) as well as saw the sites across Nicaragua.  Twelve intrepid travelers from NC and beyond joined us in seeing over 225 species of birds on our 10 day trek.

Some highlights of the trip included banding and attaching geolocators on Wood Thrushes as a part of the work of the Wood Thrush Alliance at El Jaguar.  On a related note, one of our trip participants was Diane Allison from Bucks County Pennsylvania, who had helped track down the Wood Thrush banded at Jaguar in 2011 and recovered in PA later that summer. It was great for her to meet Lili and Georges and see where the bird was originally banded.

Other highlights included seeing several Golden-winged Warblers and also visiting the pine oak forest in northern Nicaragua and seeing a close up view of Golden-cheeked Warbler, a federally listed species in the US.  We also saw tons of birds at the RAMSAR site Tisma Wetlands including Gull-billed Tern, lots of Caspian Terns, and even a lonely Wilson's Plover out in the cattle pasture for an odd sight!

The people of Nicaragua were great as usual and we really enjoyed each others company and getting to introduce a new group to Nicaragua and our partners there.  As always, if you are interested in supporting this work, make sure to donate online and put Nicaragua in your "in honor of" box.

-- Curtis Smalling