Nicaragua

Water Opossum, Chironectes minimus, Rio Bartola

I’ve been to Nicaragua three times.

First in February 2013, when Fiona Reid led a second Batwatch trip to the country (for a full report of the tour see here). Although I could only get away from work for a weekend, I couldn’t resist the chance to catch bats emerging from the lava tubes of Masaya Volcano and spend a night on the beach at San Juan del Sur. See here for a trip report. In Feb 2014 I returned for 4 nights, this time with Jose Gabriel Martinez and Luis Guttierez, to visit Refugio Bartola, in the south-east on the border with Costa Rica (where Fiona’s 2013 tour had gone), and for more batting at Masaya. See here for a trip report. And in March 2016 I returned,again with Jose Gabriel Martinez and Luis Guttierez, for a mega 8 nights for a trip through Rivas and Jinotega departments then back to Refugio Bartola. See here for a trip report.

Carazo Department

Fierce Bonneted Bat, Eumops ferox

Santa Theresa

I spent a night here in 2016 catching bats around Jose’s parents houses, and from Jose’s roof. Little Yellow-shouldered Bat, Central American Yellow Bat, Fierce Bonneted Bat, Big Crested Mastiff Bat, Bonda Mastiff Bat, Pallas’ Mastiff Bat, Alvarez’s Mastiff Bat, Jamaican Fruit-eating Bat, Argentine Brown Bat, Mesoamerican Moustached Bat.

Jinotega Department

Tayra, Eira barbara , El Jaguar

El Jaguar

During a night in 2016 we saw Richmond’s Squirrel, Tayra,Vesper Rat, Short-nosed Harvest Mouse, Bushy-tailed Olingo, Alfaro’s Rice Rat, Great Fruit-eating Bat, Chestnut Short-tailed Bat, Sowell’s Short-tailed Bat, Toltec Fruit-eating Bat, Deppe’s Squirrel, Central American Agouti, Paca, House Mouse.

Datanli/Bastilla

I spent a night here in 2016. Little Yellow-shouldered Bat, Vesper Rat,Honduran Yellow-shouldered Bat, Brazilian Brown Bat, Godman’s Whiskered Long-nosed Bat, Forest Spiny Pocket Mouse, Nicaraguan Deer Mouse, Alston’s Singing Mouse, Jamaican Fruit-eating Bat, Thomas’ Fruit-eating Bat, Mesoamerican Moustached Bat, Toltec Fruit-eating Bat, Brown Long-tongued Bat, Geoffroy’s Tailless Bat, Big Brown Bat, Nine-banded Armadillo, Paca, Dark (or Northern possibly) Four-eyed Opossum.

Masaya Department

Grey Sac-winged Bat, Balantiopteryx plicata, Masaya Volcano

Apoyo Lake

An hour in 2016 checking out roosts here produced Northern (Tiny) Big-eared Bats, Greater Spear-nosed Bats, Seba’s Short-tailed Bats, Greater and Lesser White-lined Bats.

Parque Nacional Volcan Masaya

I spent time here bat netting for a night 2013 and another in 2014, and two hours in 2016. In 2013: Mesoamerican (formerly Parnell’s) and Lesser Moustached Bats, plus Davy’s and Big Naked-backed Bats emerging from lava tubes. In 2014 we caught Thomas’s and Jamaican Fruit-eating Bats, Grey Short-tailed Bat, Commissaris’s , Merriam’s and Gray’s Long-tongued Bats and a Salvin’s Spiny Pocket Mouse.  I also saw a Southern Spotted Skunk, Mexican Porcupine and Central American Woolly Opossum, plus a  roost of Grey Sac-winged Bats with a few Merriam’s Long-tongued Bats thrown in. In 2016 we failed to find the Hairy-legged Vampire Bats in a lava tube, and saw just a few Merriam’s Long-tongued Bats and some Seba’s Short-tailed Bats.

Rio San Juan Department

Common Vampire Bat (Desmodus rotundus)

El Castillo

I spent a night in 2016 here and saw Long-whiskered Rice Rat, a Harvest Mouse species (possibly new), Jamaican Fruit-eating Bat and Heller’s Broad-nosed Bat.

Refugio Bartola

During a three night stay in 2014 we saw Smoky Bat, Spix’s Disc-winged Bat, Proboscis Bat, Greater and Lesser White-lined Bats, Common Vampire Bat, Woolly False Vampire Bat, Riparian Myotis, Chestnut, Seba’s and Sowell’s Short-tailed Bats, Great and Pygmy Fruit-eating Bats, Hairy Big-eared Bat and Lesser Fishing Bat, Commissaris’s  and Merriam’s Long-tongued Bats.  Water Opposum, Central American Agouti, Central American Spider Monkey, Mantled Howler Monkey, Kinkajou, Red-tailed and Deppe’s Squirrel, Mexican Porcupine, Central American Woolly Opossum and we heard a Jaguar. We returned for an afternoon in 2016 and added Black and Yellow Rice Rat to the list, as well as some of the bats we’d seen previously.

San Miguelito

A night in 2016 produced Little Yellow-shouldered Bat, Striped Hog-nosed Skunk, Elegant Myotis, Greater Spear-nosed Bat, Greater White-lined Bat, Seba’s Short-tailed Bat, Merriam’s Long-tongued Bat, Jamaican Fruit-eating Bat, Great Fruit-eating Bat, Argentine Brown Bat, Common Vampire Bat, Greater Fishing Bat, Fringe-lipped Bat, Black Myotis, Southern Opossum, Dark (or Northern possibly) Four-eyed Opossum, Variegated Squirrel, Gabb’s Cottontail, Northern Raccoon.

Spix’s Disk-winged Bat, Thyroptera tricolor

Rivas Department

Ostional Beach

El Abuelo Caves

In one hour in 2016 we saw a Fringe-lipped Bat, Long-legged Bat, Mexican and Woolly Funnel-eared Bats, Grey Sac-winged Bats, Lesser Dog-like Bats, Seba’s Short-tailed Bats, White-throated Capuchin and Central American Spider Monkeys.

Ostional

Three nights in 2016 were productive with Northern Big-eared Bat, Little Yellow-shouldered Bat, Central American Yellow Bat, Miller’s Mastiff Bat, Mexican Funnel-eared Bat, Mesoamerican Round-eared Bat, Striped Hog-nosed Skunk, Jamaican Fruit-eating Bat, Pallas’ Mastiff Bat, Argentine Brown Bat, Common Moustached Bat, Big Naked-backed Bat, Lesser Moustached Bat, Thomas’ Fruit-eating Bat, Hairy Big-eared Bat, Common Vampire Bat, Gray Short-tailed Bat, Northern Stripe-headed Round-eared Bat, Greater Fishing Bat, Virginia Opossum, Southern Opossum, Northern Tamandua, Mexican Hairy Dwarf Porcupine, Variegated Squirrel, Gray Fox, Great Fruit-eating Bat, Central American Woolly Opossum, Kinkajou, Hooded Skunk, Southern Spotted Skunk, Schmidts’ Big-eared Bat, Pale Spear-nosed Bat, Greater White-lined Bat, Spectral Bat, Mexican Dog-faced Bat, Mantled Howler.

San Juan Del Sur

I spent a night here in 2013 and saw Pantropical Spotted Dolphins and a Virginia Opposum.

Photographing Skunks, Ostional (photo Jose Gabriel Martinez)