Potosi was reached in an arduous 3 and a half hour bus ride from the town of Chinandega in north-west Nicaragua. The first bus left at 8am arriving at 11:30, too late for serious birding. My bird finding book said no accommodation was available in Potosi. This is true but a few kms before the town, there was an obvious sign for the Hostal Hacienda Cosiguina. This would make a good base for an earlier assent of the volcano. A trail led up from the bus stop in Potosi. It had several branches but I kept to the main one leading up hill. which took me up to about 250m altitude. A bus went back at 3pm giving me only 3 hours birding in the middle of the day. Inspite of this I saw a good range of species but not the Scarlet Macaw which supposedly has a remnant population here. During my walk on the lower slopes a man on horseback passed me carrying an air rifle and looked to be hunting, showing that there is no actual protection in this protected area. A morning here climbing to better quality forest should produce many more species. I saw 39 species including 3 lifers
| Thicket Tinamou | Crypturellus cinnamomeus | |
| Cattle Egret | Bubulcus ibis | |
| Black Vulture | Coragyps atratus | |
| Turkey Vulture | Cathartes aura | |
| Roadside Hawk | Buteo magnirostris | |
| Crested Bobwhite | Colinus cristatus | |
| Rock Dove | Columba livia | Introduced species |
| Red-billed Pigeon | Patagioenas flavirostris | |
| White-winged Dove | Zenaida asiatica | |
| Ruddy Ground-Dove | Columbina talpacoti | |
| Inca Dove | Columbina inca | |
| White-tipped Dove | Leptotila verreauxi | |
| Orange-fronted Parakeet | Aratinga canicularis | |
| Groove-billed Ani | Crotophaga sulcirostris | |
| Cinnamon Hummingbird | Amazilia rutila | |
| Salvin's Emerald | Chlorostilbon salvini | |
| Black-headed Trogon | Trogon melanocephalus | |
| Hoffmann's Woodpecker | Melanerpes hoffmannii | |
| Least Flycatcher ? | Empidonax minimus | |
| Nutting's Flycatcher ? | Myiarchus nuttingi | |
| Brown-crested Flycatcher | Myiarchus tyrannulus | |
| Great Kiskadee | Pitangus sulphuratus | |
| Social Flycatcher | Myiozetetes similis | |
| Western Kingbird | Tyrannus verticalis | |
| Scissor-tailed Flycatcher | Tyrannus forficatus | |
| Barn Swallow | Hirundo rustica | |
| Rufous-naped Wren | Campylorhynchus rufinucha | |
| Banded Wren | Thryothorus pleurostictus | |
| White-lored Gnatcatcher | Polioptila albiloris | |
| White-throated Magpie-Jay | Calocitta formosa | |
| Tennessee Warbler | Vermivora peregrina | |
| Yellow Warbler | Dendroica petechia | |
| Stripe-headed Sparrow | Aimophila ruficauda | |
| Great-tailed Grackle | Quiscalus mexicanus | |
| Altamira Oriole | Icterus gularis | |
| Streak-backed Oriole | Icterus pustulatus | |
| Baltimore Oriole | Icterus galbula | |
| House Sparrow | Passer domesticus | Introduced species |
The city of Leon was used as a base to visit the Salinas Grandes area. There was apparently a direct bus but this seemingly left at 4pm. I took one of the frequent buses to Managua (ordinario) at 7am and got off at the turning for Salinas Grandes. This was about 20km from Leon and from the turning it was a further 11km on a bumpy road. I hitched this easily as it seems do most of the locals. There are extensive saltpans in between the village on Salinas Grandes (on high ground) and another settlement with houses by the coast. South from here were some lakes with a few waders including a Long-billed Curlew, which is not included in my list of birds found in Nicaragua. Salinas Grandes has been known for new records in the past, including Peregrine Falcon and Tropical Mockingbird (first seen in 1994) the latter of which I saw. There was also a good ditch between the lakes and the coast which was good for egrets and waders. From here I walked north along the coast to an estuary and the start of Isla Venado. This also had many water birds and there seemed to be good areas of mangroves although they maybe a little more difficult to reach. This site would be much better during Spring and Autumn migrations. I saw 50 species.
| Brown Pelican | Pelecanus occidentalis | |
| Magnificent Frigatebird | Fregata magnificens | |
| Great Blue Heron | Ardea herodias | |
| Great Egret | Ardea alba | |
| Tricolored Heron | Egretta tricolor | |
| Little Blue Heron | Egretta caerulea | |
| Snowy Egret | Egretta thula | |
| Cattle Egret | Bubulcus ibis | |
| Green Heron | Butorides virescens | |
| Black Vulture | Coragyps atratus | |
| Turkey Vulture | Cathartes aura | |
| Osprey | Pandion haliaetus | |
| Crested Caracara | Caracara cheriway | |
| Black-necked Stilt | Himantopus mexicanus | |
| Black-bellied Plover | Pluvialis squatarola | |
| Whimbrel | Numenius phaeopus | |
| Long-billed Curlew | Numenius americanus | |
| Greater Yellowlegs | Tringa melanoleuca | |
| Spotted Sandpiper | Actitis macularia | |
| Willet | Catoptrophorus semipalmatus | |
| Least Sandpiper | Calidris minutilla | |
| Laughing Gull | Larus atricilla | |
| Franklin's Gull | Larus pipixcan | |
| Gull-billed Tern | Sterna nilotica | |
| Caspian Tern | Sterna caspia | |
| Royal Tern | Sterna maxima | |
| Rock Dove | Columba livia | Introduced species |
| Mourning Dove | Zenaida macroura | |
| White-winged Dove | Zenaida asiatica | |
| Common Ground-Dove | Columbina passerina | |
| Ruddy Ground-Dove | Columbina talpacoti | |
| Inca Dove | Columbina inca | |
| Groove-billed Ani | Crotophaga sulcirostris | |
| Cinnamon Hummingbird | Amazilia rutila | |
| Great Kiskadee | Pitangus sulphuratus | |
| Social Flycatcher | Myiozetetes similis | Seen in Leon |
| Tropical Kingbird | Tyrannus melancholicus | |
| Scissor-tailed Flycatcher | Tyrannus forficatus | |
| Gray-breasted Martin | Progne chalybea | Seen in Leon |
| Mangrove Swallow | Tachycineta albilinea | |
| Barn Swallow | Hirundo rustica | |
| Rufous-naped Wren | Campylorhynchus rufinucha | |
| Tropical Mockingbird | Mimus gilvus | |
| Clay-colored Robin | Turdus grayi | Seen in Leon |
| White-throated Magpie-Jay | Calocitta formosa | |
| Tennessee Warbler | Vermivora peregrina | Seen in Leon |
| Yellow Warbler | Dendroica petechia | |
| Blue-gray Tanager | Thraupis episcopus | |
| Stripe-headed Sparrow | Aimophila ruficauda | |
| Great-tailed Grackle | Quiscalus mexicanus | |
| Streak-backed Oriole | Icterus pustulatus | |
| House Sparrow | Passer domesticus | Introduced species |
Altagracia was reached by a 4 hour (twice weekly ferry) from Granada. A few birds were seen from the ferry. There are also daily ferries from San Jorge near Rivas. From Altagracia I climbed Volcan Concepcion which reaches over 1600m. It is a fairly recent volcano with little vegetation higher up. It was also very windy and misty which was not good for birding. On reflection it would have been better to climb Volcan Maderas (on the other side of the island) which has better forest. The Volcano is accessed from the small settlement of La Sabana, 2km South of Altagracia. The road between Altagracia La Sabana had quite a few birds as did the farmland on the lower slopes of the volcano. I saw 30 species including 2 lifers.
| Neotropic Cormorant | Phalacrocorax brasilianus | |
| Magnificent Frigatebird | Fregata magnificens | |
| Cattle Egret | Bubulcus ibis | |
| Black-bellied Whistling-Duck | Dendrocygna autumnalis | |
| Black Vulture | Coragyps atratus | |
| Turkey Vulture | Cathartes aura | |
| Laughing Gull | Larus atricilla | |
| Rock Dove | Columba livia | Introduced species |
| Red-billed Pigeon | Patagioenas flavirostris | |
| Inca Dove | Columbina inca | |
| White-tipped Dove | Leptotila verreauxi | |
| Pacific Parakeet | Aratinga strenua | |
| Red-lored Parrot | Amazona autumnalis | |
| Yellow-naped Parrot ? | Amazona auropalliata | |
| White-eared Hummingbird | Hylocharis leucotis | |
| Cinnamon Hummingbird | Amazilia rutila | |
| Salvin's Emerald | Chlorostilbon salvini | |
| Black-headed Trogon | Trogon melanocephalus | |
| Golden-fronted Woodpecker | Melanerpes aurifrons | |
| Brown-crested Flycatcher | Myiarchus tyrannulus | |
| Great Kiskadee | Pitangus sulphuratus | |
| Social Flycatcher | Myiozetetes similis | |
| Tropical Kingbird | Tyrannus melancholicus | |
| Gray-collared Becard ? | Pachyramphus major | |
| Masked Tityra | Tityra semifasciata | |
| Banded Wren | Thryothorus pleurostictus | |
| House Wren | Troglodytes aedon | |
| White-throated Magpie-Jay | Calocitta formosa | |
| Yellow Warbler | Dendroica petechia | |
| Great-tailed Grackle | Quiscalus mexicanus |