=20 I'd like to add a personal note to the notice Steve sent yesterday about = the program at the MRVAC meeting on the 28th (tomorrow!). My wife and I = spent 3 days in the Miraflor in March while traveling in Nicaragua with = our daughter who is studying in Central America. We spent a day with = Francisco Mu=F1oz, the Miraflor chief birder and guide, who showed us = many of the wonderful birds (and orchids) of the area. He is one of the = speakers at Thursday's MRVAC meeting and will be giving a presentation = about the birds of the Miraflor. =20 There are many species of MN birds that overwinter in or migrate through = Nicaragua so preservation of areas like the Miraflor is crucial for = their long term survival.=20 =20 Here's a website if you want to know more. http://www.miraflor-uca.com/ click on the British flag for English =20 Se=F1or Mu=F1oz is mentioned in fhe following excerpt from the Moon = Handbook on Nicaragua. =20 =20 Birding in Miraflor Nature Preserve=20 Excerpted from Moon Handbooks Nicaragua=20 by Joshua Berman & Randy Wood=20 =20 It is difficult to find words to describe the experience at Miraflor, = mostly because there is not much with which to compare it. Perhaps this = is what Costa Rica's Monteverde was like 40 years ago when residents = first conceived the idea of inviting visitors to come and experience the = natural beauty of their home. Miraflor was declared a protected natural = reserve by the government in 1990 and in 1999 its denizens began = developing the basic infrastructure to host curious guests. The results, = while still in progress, are enchanting.=20
Miraflor president and chief birder, Francisco "Chico Per=EDco" Mu=F1oz, = has identified 236 bird species so far (60 of which are migratory, = traveling south between October and April), belonging to 46 different = families. If Chico's data are correct, then 37 percent of the identified = bird species in all of Nicaragua are observable in the 206 square = kilometers of Miraflor! This includes four species of the elusive = quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno), toucans, the ranchero (Procnias = tricaruntulata) with its three dangling chins, and the Nicaraguan = national bird, the guardabarranco.=20 Mike Engh