CBC participant and guide Nito Paniagua

It is that time of year again; time to count birds throughout the Americas in the name of conservation and science.  A more than 100 year tradition, the Audubon Society has led the charge to bring together citizen scientists, biologists and bird enthusiasts from Canada to the southern tip of South America to conduct one of the largest bird censuses on the planet – The Christmas Bird Count.  The count takes place during one 24 hour period between December 14^th and January 5^th in over 2000 count circles by tens of thousands of participants.

This year Osa Conservation led the Second Annual Osa Peninsula Christmas Bird Count on December 21^st 2011.  We were joined by ecolodges, birding groups, bird and nature guides, ornithologists, school kids and many others to count individual birds and bird species from Matapalo to the southern edge of Corcovado National Park.  Count areas also included Carate, Puerto Jimenez and up to Dos Brazos along the Rio Tigre.

Buff-throated Saltator

In the spirit of avian conservation on the Osa Peninsula this year’s CBC bird symbol was the Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager, specifically chosen to call attention to this highly endangered and resident species, endemic only to the Osa Peninsula.  Last year we highlighted the endemic and endangered Yellow-billed Cotinga which proved to be a great success not only in bringing it to the attention to the local community through the CBC but also through important research and conservation measures taken by Osa Conservation and the American Bird Conservancy.  We will continue to highlight this year’s species throughout the year through various community and conservation activities and events.

Osa Conservation’s Holiday Conservation Birding Tour also took place during the days leading up to and culminating in the Christmas Bird Count.  Conservation birding participants had the opportunity to “bird” all the around the Osa Peninsula including The Greg Gund Conservation Center and Piro Research Center for four fantastic days of discovering hundreds of the bird species that either reside in or migrate to the Osa Peninsula.  We walked along the edges of mangroves, along the beach where the rainforest meets the sea, along the Piro and Carate Rivers, in primary and secondary tropical forest, and in the beautiful gardens found at Osa Conservation.  Throughout the week we saw 11 species of hummingbirds to include the White-crested Coquette, a regional endemic and a rare find; a Common Potoo with her chick stiff as a board on her daytime perch, also a rare find; 20 neotropical migratory bird species to include the threatened Golden-winged Warbler and Prothonotary Warbler; as well as threatened resident endemic species such as the Yellow-billed Cotinga, Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager and Turquoise Cotinga.

If you would like to give the gift of avian conservation, please join us on one of our Conservation Birding Tours.  You can participate in our 2012 Holiday Tour and Christmas Bird Count, join us on a fun-filled Bird-A-Thon or create your own Conservation Birding Tour with the help of our expert staff.

Yellow-billed Cotinga

We would like to thank Bosque del Cabo, Bosque del Rio Tigre birding lodge, El Remanso lodge, Lapa Rios, Luna Lodge, Iguana Lodge, Ave Azul, and countless individuals who participated in this year’s Osa Peninsula’s Christmas Bird Count 2011.  It is only through everyone’s enthusiasm for birds and bird conservation on the Osa and peninsula-wide participation that makes this count a success.

For more information on Conservation Birding Tours and Osa Conservation please visit us at our website or contact KarenLeavelle@osaconservation.org or EmilyAngell@osaconservation.org.

All photographs courtesy of Valerie Gebert

Hello!!

My name is Jo Garrett and I’m a television producer based in Madison, Wisconsin. I am also a BIG-TIME Osa admirer since I had the pleasure of traveling there to shoot a documentary called, “Our Birds.”

We produced the documentary for Wisconsin Public Television and you can view it at this link:

http://wpt.org/ourbirds/

The “we” is our production crew: location sound recordist, Kerman Eckes, me, and our videographer, Frank Boll.

So why was a Wisconsin television crew in the Osa? Our documentary began as an investigation into some of the problems confronting Wisconsin’s migratory birds.

Every spring and fall more than 240 species of birds travel to and through Wisconsin as they migrate between their summer breeding grounds in the north and their wintering grounds in Latin America.

These migratory birds are very treasured in Wisconsin. It’s a big deal when these beautiful birds arrive every spring. Wisconsin residents put up feeders outfitted with orange slices and grape jelly to feed hungry Baltimore Orioles, birders join “warbler walks” to catch sight of these beauties, and even the tiny hummingbirds are treated to sugar water served in bright red containers. Spring is a delight when they arrive and we miss the birds when they leave in fall.

We love “our birds” and conservationists in Wisconsin are working hard to tackle problems such as habitat loss and collision with windows. Some of that work is profiled in the documentary. (There is a very happy ending for a Canada Warbler that crashes into a skyscraper in the city of Milwaukee!! Check it out!).

But it became clear that an important part of the story of Wisconsin’s migratory birds was to look at what happens to the birds while they’re in their wintering grounds.

We came to the Osa to profile some of the amazing programs that Osa Conservation and partners are engaged in to save “our birds” AND, to show how important it is that we work together if these birds are to survive and thrive.

Conservation Birding is a concept whereby people who come down to the Osa on fantastic birding trips agree to make a donation to Osa Conservation to support protection and restoration of bird habitat and avian programs. These trips result in the raising of critical funds to protect not only migratory, but resident endangered bird habitat as well (in addition to supporting local jobs in eco-tourism and bird guiding!)

A picture is worth a 1,000 words so here are a few production stills from our trip

If you save the ocelot, you save the oriole. We explored that connection with Wild Cat Researcher Ricardo Moreno seen in the image above. He and fellow researcher Aida Bustamante have set up one of the largest camera trap grids in the world to capture photos and garner information about Costa Rican wild cat populations.

Ricardo got a photo of a margay that day. What a rare occurrence. Reason? Margays live in the trees of the rainforest and seldom, sometimes never, touch the ground. Amazing. The canopy cat.

Early morning. Rio Tigre. Barefoot. Working. I think this is a great production photo. Frank and Kerman are intent on their job, gathering images and sound, and all around them the day is unfolding

We were all changed by this trip. Kerman was so inspired by our shoot in the Osa and Thompson’s birding conservation trips that she returned to bird with Osa Conservation the next year!!

Frank has retired from Wisconsin Public Television but please note that he’s now in Peru on a three week shoot, volunteering his time as a videographer to document other conservation efforts. I know that the dedication of the folks in the Osa was SO inspiring for him. We talked about it when we retuned back home. He spoke of how determined he is to “give back” to conservation groups in his retirement, in part because of his experiences in the Osa and with Osa Conservation.

As for me, I have a renewed focus on how best to communicate the importance of caring for “our birds:” preventing window collisions, saving habitat, planting our backyards with the native plants and bushes that give these spent, exhausted migrants the food and shelter their need during their migrations.

I am writing this blog entry from Madison, Wisconsin on November 8th. We’re under a “winter storm watch” and the snow is tumbling down, winds are howling, and I’m so glad the birds we share (the Baltimore Oriole, the Indigo Bunting, the Scarlet Tanager, and all those many, many Warblers) are all safe and sound in the forests and wilds of the Osa.

Take good care our little feathered friends!! We’re counting on you!

We’ll do our best to watch out for them in Wisconsin.

Thank you!!

-JoAnne Garrett
Wisconsin Public Television

Let emily.angell@osaconservation know if you are interested in birding opportunities in the Osa!

DECEMBER 17-22

Space is still available on our Holiday Birding Trip, so join us for spectacular birding through the tropical forests of the Osa Peninsula! This five-day trip includes extensive birding, forest hikes, and nightly talks and excursions with our staff of biologists and conservation professionals.  The trip culminates in the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count—where you, along with thousands of other citizen scientists throughout the Americas, can participate in the longest running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations.

The Osa Peninsula is the wildest, yet most under-birded, corner of the country.  It is home to over 460 species of birds, including the healthiest population of Scarlet Macaws in Central America, Red-capped Manakins, Yellow-billed and Turquoise Contingas, and even the Harpy Eagle.  Osa Conservation’s birding trips are led by resident ornithologist, Karen Leavelle, as well as trained naturalist guides who are intimately familiar with the bird species and tropical ecosystems of the Osa.

Your participation in the Holiday Birding Tour directly supports OC’s avian conservation and education programs. We invite you to be part of our mission to conserve the Peninsula’s globally significant biodiversity and we hope to see you on one of these fantastic trips!

For more information on our Holiday Birding Tour, or to see a trip itinerary, please visit our website at www.osaconservation.org/ConservationTrips.html. For trip registration or questions please contact Emily Angell at emilyangell@osaconservation.org or Karen Leavelle at karenleavelle@osaconservation.org.

September 18^th represented the 3^rd Annual Sea Turtle festival on Carate Beach.  About 100 members of Carate, Puerto Jiménez, and surrounding communities participated in sea turtle discussions, presentations fun activities with the theme of conservation.

The festival began with an interactive discussion with children and adults about the principal biological characteristics of the Osa, the turtle species that nest here, and the objectives and activities of the Sea Turtle Conservation Program developed by Osa Conservation on the beaches of Piro, Pejeperro and Carate.

Club Ambiental Las Abejitas of the Saturnino Cedeño School, under Laura Castro’s direction, prepared a theatrical skit for the event about the life of a sea turtle and the natural hazards and human threats that they face as well as the precautions that we must take on the sea turtle nesting beaches.

Activities included games on the beach, like turtle races and turtle sand castles, and a quiz competition about Osa’s biodiversity.  All participants in the event received informative material about sea turtle conservation, stickers, posters, and t-shirts for those who correctly answered the most questions.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this year’s event a success in raising awareness of the importance of conserving these incredible species.

Special thanks to:

SEEturtles, Luna Lodge, La Leona Lodge, ASCONA, Finca Exótica, Dereck Ferguson, Hacienda Río Oro, the Bellanero family, ACOSA, Tranquility, Frontier, Lapa Rios, Hoja de Osa School, Club Ambiental Las Abejitas, Laura Castro, and Mauricio Gutiérrez.

2010 Conservation Birding Group

There is no place more unique or pristine to go birding than where the rainforest meets the sea.  The Osa Peninsula harbors over 460 species of birds including the healthiest population of Scarlet Macaws in Central America, three species of Leking Manakins, Yellow-billed and Turquoise Cotingas and even the endangered Harpy Eagle.  Home to the largest remaining tract of tropical lowland rainforest and intact mangrove ecosystems along the tropical Pacific coast of Central America, the Osa Peninsula is the wildest and most spectacular region of Costa Rica.

Join Osa Conservation on a special Conservation Birding Tour.  The Osa Peninsula Holiday Birding Tour in December 2011 is a week-long winter holiday getaway of birding that culminates in the Audubon Societies’ Christmas Bird Count.  The Osa Peninsula Spring Birding Tour in March of 2012 will take you all the way around the peninsula, from rainforest to lagoons and beaches to mangroves.  Both trips happen at an exciting time of year when you can see both resident birds and neotropical migrants together.

Participation in OC’s Conservation birding trips supports the important mission of avian conservation in the Osa Peninsula.  These trips are led by Osa Conservation’s resident ornithologist Karen Leavelle as well as trained naturalist guides who are intimately familiar with the bird species and tropical ecosystems of Osa.  Conservation birding trips include intense birding, forest hikes, and nightly talks and presentations by OC’s staff of biologists and conservation professionals.  Topics include Osa natural history, sea turtle conservation, wild cat conservation, avian research and conservation, reforestation, and tropical amphibians as indicator species for climate change.  We welcome you to be part of our mission to conserve the peninsula’s globally significant biodiversity and we hope to see you on one of these fantastic trips!

So whether you are adding to your life list or simply have a love of birds, pack up your hiking boots and binoculars and come on down for lots of great birding and what will surely be a memorable journey into paradise!

TRIP  1: DECEMBER 17-22, 2010
Osa Peninsula Holiday Birding Tour
(Culminating in the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count)
Spend your holiday birding in the tropics!  This trip is designed to immerse you in one of the world’s most spectacular tropical rainforests and prepare you to participate in the longest running wildlife census assessing the health of bird populations in the Americas—The Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count, a tradition extending for over 100 years.  In addition to five exciting days of birding, you will gain an in-depth understanding of avian ecology and conservation issues in the Osa.  The Osa has been designated a Costa Rican Important Bird Area (IBA), an Endemic Bird Area (EBA) by Birdlife International, an Alliance for Zero Extinction Site, and is considered a global conservation priority. Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to give the gift of avian conservation!  For more trip details and itinerary visit our website.

TRIP 2: MARCH 3-10, 2011
Osa Peninsula Spring Birding Tour
Every day is a good day for spotting birds in the Osa, but Spring is a fantastic time to observe rare and endangered resident and endemic species  and neotropical migrants on the move.  We’ll be looking for Mangrove hummingbirds, Yellow-Billed Cotingas, and Black-checked Ant Tanagers, to name just a few.  You might even see a Baltimore Oriole or an endangered Golden-winged Warbler or two.  Spend 8 days and 7 nights in one of the most intensely biodiverse tropical rainforests on earth while learning about valuable research and conservation efforts in the region.  Click here to learn more.

For trip registration or questions please contact Emily Angell at emilyangell@osaconservation.org or Karen Leavelle at karenleavelle@osaconservation.org

These trips promise to be a delightful experience, chock full of great people, spectacular birds and wildlife and a very rare opportunity for hands-on exposure to one of Latin America’s most important conservation areas!  So don’t miss out!  We look forward to seeing you soon on the Osa!

Cover Photo: Alan Dahl

International Migratory Bird Day 2011

Just to set the scene… the following is a bit of what I wrote to you last October 2010 in recognition of a well known day that pays homage to migratory birds all throughout the Americas.

“Have you ever sat and marveled at the wonder of bird migration; the journey that birds undertake between their winter and summer homes?  Well if so, you’re not alone, and it is a cause for celebration!  Each year hundreds of thousands of people gather to celebrate International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) in support of migratory bird conservation.

International Migratory Bird Day is officially recognized on the second Saturday in May in the US and Canada in celebration of migrants coming home to breed, while in Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean IMBD is celebrated on the second Saturday in October when migrants are returning home for the winter.  Here in Costa Rica IMBD is actually celebrated in April as migrants are starting their journey north.

There are almost 350 species of birds that migrate between their nesting grounds in the north to their wintering grounds in more favorable climates somewhere south.  Unfortunately many migrant bird species are declining facing many threats on their wintering and breeding grounds as well as on their migratory routes.  International Migratory Bird Day was thus created as not only a day to celebrate migrant birds but as a call to action in their conservation.

Migratory Woodthrush. Photo by Frericks

Each year IMBD celebrates with a particular theme.  Last year we celebrated the Power of Partnerships and brought you some of the many partnerships Osa Conservation has related to bird science and conservation.  This year’s 2011 theme is “Go Wild, Go Birding” or “Vive Salvaje, Observe las Aves.”

The focus of Go Wild, Go Birding is to reach out to youth and adults to experience and learn about birds, bird watching and conservation.  Some of the many program and educational activities that folks are engaging in are:

*  IMBD Festivals

*  The International Conservation Walkathon,

*  The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) and

*  The CBD 4 kids which is a half day CBC, and

*  The Big Sit which is 24 hours of birding around the world.

Educators are also including birding activities in their classrooms such as

*  Workshops in helping birds at home

*  Go Birding Geocache

*  Making bird masks

*  Leading a bird walk

Truly the amount of bird activities one could dream up is countless!  We here at Osa Conservation conducted our first annual Osa Peninsula Christmas Bird Count last December which was a great success and are planning to continue our new tradition this year.  Many people got involved who now have a new interest in birds and birding. We also initiated our new avian monitoring program which will monitor, in part, abundance of both resident and migratory birds on the Osa.  We plan to expand our birding program and educational activities in the near future – so keep an eye out.

So we here at Osa Conservation say “Go Birding, Go Wild” and there truly is no better place to do so than here on the Osa Peninsula.  With well over 400 species of birds in this little corner of Costa Rica there is plenty to keep you busy for quite a long time

And remember that because there is more than one officially recognized date, everyday, including today, is International Migratory Bird Day.

For more information visit Environment for the Americas.  IMBD 2011 artwork was designed by John Muir Laws and Genevieve Margherio.

Our program conserves and protects 10 miles of sea turtle nesting beach on the Osa Peninsula—a largely untouched, and amazingly beautiful tropical rainforest located in southwestern Costa Rica. This rewarding program allows you to monitor sea turtle movements, protect hatchlings and learn about sea turtle conservation—all on some of the most incredible beaches in the world, from Matapalo to Carate. Our sea turtle program relies on volunteer support to increase our presence on these beaches and help reduce poaching pressure. Spaces are available from July through December – please visit our sea turtle volunteer page to sign up, or send this info to people you think may be interested. Volunteering is a great way to experience this unique place while giving back through valuable conservation efforts.

Measuring Turtle Tracks on Piro Beach

There are four species of sea turtles that nest on the beaches of the Osa Peninsula – Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), East Pacific Green (Chelonia mydas), and Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea). Our efforts focus largely on the latter two as they are the most common to these beaches.  In the past two nesting seasons, we have ensured the successful hatching of more than 16,000 baby sea turtles!

One of the most intriguing mysteries about these ancient sea turtles is how, after many years of swimming in the open ocean, they manage to find their way back to their natal beach to lay their eggs.  While there are many hypotheses as to how sea turtles navigate, there is no singular explanation.  Sea turtles use multiple cues in navigation.  Visual cues, such as crawling towards the lower, brighter seaward horizon and away from the dark, elevated silhouettes of vegetation and dunes help orient newly hatched turtles toward the ocean.  Using waves as a compass, these turtles head seaward by detecting orbital movements from underwater.  It is also thought that sea turtles use the earth’s magnetic field as a compass to approximate their global position and navigate to nesting and feeding areas.  Finally, there is evidence that sea turtle hatchlings imprint chemical cues unique to their natal beach and use this information as adults to return to the same beach for nesting.

Female hatchlings that leave the beach each year may not return to nest for up to 20 years.  When she finally makes it to her nesting beach, a female sea turtle may make multiple unsuccessful attempts to nest, and some females will return to lay more than once a season.  The most abundant species on the Osa Peninsula is the Olive Ridley, which lay clutch sizes of 100 eggs and may nest as many as three times per season.  The next most abundant species that we work with in our Sea Turtle Conservation Program is the East Pacific Green, which lay clutches of up to 150 eggs, and may nest up to six times per season!

With such impressive fecundity, you may be wondering why these deft mariners, that have navigated the oceans for more than 100 million years, are in so much need of protection.  Even before a hatchling emerges from its shell, it faces a gauntlet of hazards. While incubating in the nest cavity, eggs are sometimes predated upon by coati (Nasua narica) or dogs that are allowed to roam the beach.  Many of the pressures that are leading to drastic declines of all of the world’s sea turtle species, are human-induced.  Turtle eggs are still sought after, albeit illegally, for human consumption because of their purported ability to increase male virility—poachers visit nesting beaches to dig up eggs and then sell them in urban centers on the black market.

For the nests that make it through the 45-70 day incubation period, the baby turtles are highly susceptible to predation by large raptors before they can make it to the ocean.  Adult sea turtles in the open ocean may suffocate from ingesting plastic bags mistaken for jelly fish. If a sea turtle makes it to sexual maturity and is ready to find her way back to her nesting beach, she still must brave a wall of death off the Pacific Coast in the form of fleets of long-line fishing boats and gill nets. Because sea turtles are not able to breathe underwater, when they are accidentally ensnared in commercial fishing nets, they will most certainly drown.

Field Coordinator and Volunteer Cleaning a Nest

It sounds daunting, but there is a lot that we can do to save the sea turtles and ensure that these species continue to exist in the future.  The goal of Osa Conservation’s sea turtle conservation program is to guarantee the health and ecological success of the sea turtles nesting on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica, by integrating conservation, research, and educational outreach.

This year we are also giving weekly educational presentations to guests at lodges on the Osa Peninsula, especially those on the nesting beaches, such as Bosque del Cabo, El Remanso and Finca Exotica.

Volunteering with the FOO Sea Turtle Research Program was a wonderful experience.  My observations and field notes taken while on the Osa Peninsula were used to complete the final independent study project of my Master of Environmental Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).  The topic of my independent study project was Global Threats of Sea Turtles.  I graduated from VCU in December of 2010 and feel very lucky to have had this volunteer/research opportunity on the beautiful Osa Peninsula.  The personnel at the FOO Sea Turtle Research Center were very helpful in my data collection and field studies, even after I returned home to finish my independent study.  I couldn’t have asked for a more hospitable and professional research program.

Jesus Christ Lizard

Getting from San Jose to the research center was quite an adventure.  Visiting the Osa during the height of the rainy season made it a bit tricky, but it was well worth the effort.  I spent nine thrilling days and nights at the Osa Biodiversity Center from the end of October through early November of 2010.  I participated in four night beach patrols and two day beach patrols with the sea turtle research program.  Watching the sea turtles nest at night was a magical experience that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

With several FOO conservation projects underway, I had the opportunity to learn a lot about the local biodiversity of the peninsula.   I stayed busy, practiced Spanish a bit, received plenty of rest, and filled my belly with wonderful home-cooked meals served onsite at the research center.  The people of FOO were a lot of fun and I enjoyed working with them.   I’d do it all over again! Thanks for everything FOO. I’ll be forever grateful.

Sincerely,

Vickie Buisset Jones

Red-lored Parrots

This year Friends of the Osa organized the first annual Costa Rica Osa Peninsula Christmas Bird Count, a more than century long Audubon Society tradition.  This year actually marks the 111^th Audubon CBC and on December 17^th 2010 Friends of the Osa along with Osa Peninsula lodges, the Osa Peninsula Birders Association, Osa bird experts and enthusiasts headed out at dawn and dusk to count as many birds that could be seen, heard or flushed out from under foot.

All throughout the Americas citizen scientist volunteers from Canada down through Argentina come out, in some parts of the world in frigid cold temperatures, to count birds on one single day between December 14^th and January 5^th as part of a long running tradition in avian conservation and science.  Those of us here in the tropics didn’t need to worry about freezing temperatures.  We were out instead in t-shirts, shorts and our signature black rubber boots with the same eagerness to document the birds of the Osa this year and for years to come.

Common Tody-Flycatcher

We covered an area the size of a 15 mile diameter circle that included Puerto Jimenez, Playa Sandalo, Dos Brazos, Matapalo, the National Wildlife Refuge and Carate just south of Corcovado National Park.  Each participant walked routes and trails through lush tropical rainforest, palm and almond tree lined beaches, lagoons, creeks and rivers that run through one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet; the Osa Peninsula.

The Christmas Bird Count helps protect bird species and their habitats.  Data collected from volunteers is used by biologists and other interested parties to study the long-term health and status of bird populations throughout the Americas and to see how populations have changed over time and space over the last 111 years.  Scientists have used CBC data to detect birds in decline from fragmentation and/or loss of habitat and effects on populations from climate change as well.  We will now be able to include Osa birds in Audubon’s database to help protect and conserve them for years to come.

We would like to thank Luna Lodge, Bosque del Rio Tigre Lodge, Iguana Lodge, Lapa Rios, Bosque del Cabo, El Remanso, the Osa Peninsula Birding Association, and many individuals that participated in the count.  Lets do it again next year!

For more information and history on the Audubon Christmas Bird Count visit http://birds.audubon.org/christmas-bird-count

Also visit our website at http://www.osaconservation.org

Children perform the life cycle of sea turtles at the Second Annual Osa Sea Turtle Festival

This past September, Friends of the Osa’s Second Annual Sea Turtle Festival was successful in attracting children and their families to the Osa Peninsula’s Carate Beach to learn about sea turtle species, like Olive Ridleys, Green Turtles, Hawksbills and Leatherbacks.  This annual sea turtle festival has been an effective way to develop community interaction and create local understanding about the issue of sea turtle egg poaching.  Through activities, presentations, and contests for children, Friends of the Osa not only spreads awareness of our work but we also take preventative action by ensuring people don’t participate in sea turtle disturbance and habitat destruction.

SEE Turtles covers administrative costs so that 100% of your donation goes towards our 2011 sea turtle festival that educates the community about sea turtle conservation.  The goal of this matching fund is to raise $2,000.  Because sea turtle conservation is an important aspect of FOO’s mission to protect the globally significant biodiversity of the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica, we encourage you to check out the SEE Turtles website to learn more about SEE Turtles and sea turtle conservation beyond the Osa Peninsula.

Volunteers working with sea turtles on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

Remember that Friends of the Osa also operates a sea turtle conservation program that is open to volunteers from July to December every year.  Volunteer to help save the Osa’s endangered sea turtles!