Global Big Day on May 9 began early at La Mariola. At 5:36 a.m., I started my first checklist from the farm’s dining area, just as dawn was breaking and birds began moving along the forest edge.
Throughout the day, I uploaded five checklists to eBird, with a total of 80 species observed around the dining area, cabins and farm trails. The last was at 6:23 p.m., when scattered sounds in the darkness were already guiding me.
The most special moment happened on the Barba Chele trail, inside the secondary forest. Halfway along the trail, I began hearing a sound that was unfamiliar to me, but not to Merlin Bird ID. That is where the search began among branches, shadows and moving leaves, until I was able to observe and take several photographs of that beautiful bird, a Slate-colored Grosbeak (Saltator grossus).
Birds of the World describes this species as a bird of lowlands and humid forest that can easily go unnoticed and usually moves through the middle and upper levels of the forest. Only 19 photographs from Nicaragua have been documented on eBird and the Macaulay Library, which helps explain why the encounter felt so significant that day.
Taking part in Global Big Day brings a different kind of attention to the farm. Beyond counting species, it leaves specific moments, trails, times of day and birds with stories of their own. For me, this year’s event became linked to the Barba Chele trail and to a lifer I still remember with joy.