They have a saying in Costa Rica: “Pura vida.”

It literally translates as “pure life,” but to Costa Ricans, it can be inserted into many contexts and applications: “Thank you,” “You’re welcome,” “So it goes,” “Wonderful.” It is used so freely here I wouldn’t be surprised if it meant, “Pass the papaya, por favor.”

I’d dreamed of visiting Costa Rica since I was 12, and recently for two glorious weeks I got to sample the “pure life” – visiting the southernmost quarter of this West Virginia-sized nation – from San Jose down nearly to Panama.

My introduction to the Pacific rain forest lowlands began with Roy Orozco, a soft-spoken, gracious naturalist out of Quepos. First light for birding in the tropics is 5:30 a.m., so Roy picked me up at 4 a.m. at the Costa Verde II parking lot near Quepos to drive an hour and a half up the coast to Carara National Park, west of San Jose.

Carara, one of Costa Rica’s marquee ecotourism destinations, is a unique mix of “life zones,” where the drier habitat of the north meets the wet lowlands of the south.

A day in the field with Roy – a whirlwind of activity from pre-dawn to post-sunset – netted us 110 bird species, lounging crocodiles, great conversation, much learning, and casados for lunch – Costa Rican “comfort” meals typically composed of salad, beans, rice, potatoes, fried plantains and a meat side.

The special of the day was pollo sudado – “sweaty chicken,” traditionally enjoyed with a cold beer and a splash of Lizano salsa – the national condiment of choice.

The heady blend of Costa Rican highlights rendered me emotionally and intellectually lightheaded. We decided to do it again the next day.

At 4 a.m. the next morning, we barreled – a generously mild description of Costa Rican driving style – up the highway to San Isidro and beyond, rising 8,500 feet into the cloud forest at Mirador de Quetzales, a rustic Costa Rican-run resort where the quetzal is king.

If you don’t know about the resplendent quetzal, you haven’t been paying attention in life. The male quetzal is a 2-foot-long (more than half of which is tail) beauty decked in iridescent red and green. The female, even without the tail, could star in her own TV series.

The quetzal is the Holy Grail bird. Nature lovers everywhere seek it, and when they do, they pilgrimage to Costa Rica.

So here too was I. It was 41 degrees in the dawn, and because of poor planning, I was wearing sandals. But the adrenaline rush of seeing birds such as the fiery-throated hummingbird, the flame-colored tanager and the flame-throated warbler kept me warm.

We located six quetzals feeding in the fruiting moss-draped avocado trees, plus a dizzying assortment of other high-altitude wonders such as the yellow-thighed finch, long-tailed silky-flycatcher, slaty flowerpiercer and wrenthrush.

From there we traveled down a long valley to Savegre Mountain Lodge, where a leisurely mountain hike provided birding highlights such as the black-faced solitaire, the sulphur-winged parakeet and spangle-cheeked tanagers – eight in one tree.

A quick stop before dark descended like a velvet curtain at 5:30 p.m. rewarded us with the green-crowned brilliant hummingbird, silver-throated tanager and a total of 70 bird species for the day – a full half of which I had never seen before.

Back in my room the phone rang. It was Roy calling to joke that “he missed me already.” I thanked him again for the thrill ride. It had been a fantastic two days exploring southwestern Costa Rica, but the biggest part of my adventure was yet to come.

The next day I returned to San Jose to meet up with a contingent heading down the Pacific Coast to the Osa Peninsula.

The tour was led by Craig Thompson, a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources West Central District land program manager based in La Crosse, in conjunction with Osa Conservation, a Costa Rican nongovernmental, nonprofit conservation organization.

The rest of the group consisted of Mary, Craig’s wife; Carole Schneider-Phillips of La Crosse; Sarah Hole and Eileen Mershart of Madison; Mary Jo and Tom Clark of Melrose; and Rory Cameron of Chippewa Falls. Rory and I had decided to team up with the tour back in June.

After an hourlong flight, we deplaned at the jungle airstrip in Puerto Jimenez. For the next six and a half days, it would be just us and the rain forest, but the rain forest has got a lot of personality.

Five percent of the world’s bird diversity – more than 800 species – lives in Costa Rica, half of them in the Osa Peninsula. Fifty-five of those bird species breed in Wisconsin and winter in the Osa Peninsula – the “Wisconsin-Costa Rican connection” that is at the root of the tour’s origins. (Among those birds are the Tennessee warbler, golden-winged warbler and Baltimore oriole.)

The Bell Family Foundation, a private charitable foundation, donates annually to the DNR’s Bureau of Endangered Resources. Of that, $25,000 is passed on to Osa Conservation to help preserve rain forest habitat. A $500 portion of the trip cost each of us had paid also went directly to the cause.

“You try to protect as much forest as possible,” Thompson said. “There is a real urgency associated with this kind of work.

“This is such a beautiful place that a lot of people from Europe, Canada and the United States are coming down and building second homes, and as a result, land prices are skyrocketing.”

In the 1970s Costa Rica experienced one of the highest deforestation rates in the world. By the ’80s, national parks like Carara and Corcovado, in the Osa Peninsula, were being created.

Costa Rica faces a bit of an irony. The beautiful parks that support the country’s No. 1 “product” – ecotourism – are still threatened.

Gold miners that work the parks poach freely, sometimes bragging of killing off hundreds of wild peccaries, or pigs.

There is talk of building an international airport in the mangrove forest where the endangered yellow-billed cotinga lives.

But the real indicator of habitat health lies not in bird populations, but with cats. As the jaguar goes, so go the birds.

“The jaguar is the umbrella species, so if you protect enough for them, everything else falls in place. Their primary prey is peccaries so you need the big forest to keep everything stitched together,” Thompson said.

Even the grand idea of pristine forested parks isn’t enough. “Islands” of good habitat do not ensure viable gene pools.

“What we want to do is create a corridor that extends from the tip of the peninsula all the way up to Corcovado’s southern boundary,” Thompson said. “You’ve got a swath of protected lands that extend from Corcovado, so you’re not going to get isolated patches of forest that result in isolated populations and the host of problems associated with that.”

Studies have shown birds forced into subprime habitat arrive later and have smaller clutches of eggs, while birds that come from healthy habitat are more successful breeders.

“If tropical forests cease to exist, the birds are gone. It’s really very basic,” Thompson said.

So, why not invest in Costa Rica?

“(U.S. citizens are) currently sending $180,000 a year to Canada to support wetlands conservation – supported mainly by waterfowl stamps. This is a chance for birders to step up to the plate. It’s a really big deal.”

Our bird guide for the week, Nito Castro, was one of sharpest naturalists I’ve ever met. Not only was he a step ahead of me on all the birds, but he could line them up in the scope before most of us could get them in our binoculars.

He did it all on a gallon of gallo pinto a day – a Costa Rican staple consisting of black beans and rice – well … maybe two gallons.

The “jungla” isn’t for everyone, and I think that is a good thing. This is not a place for the tiny hawk of heart. Paltry tyrannulets need not apply.

You are going to tramp for miles in clunky knee-high boots meant to guard your shins from venomous snakes and you are going to sweat.

You also will pass beneath “cicada showers.” So many of the insects are feeding in the treetops that their bodily waste sometimes falls down like rain from the canopy.

And the spiders here eat small birds.

But I survived each day supremely, thank you. My only complaint was a serious case of “binocular shoulder” from watching all the birds high in the trees.

From the veranda at supper, we admired the coastline tailing off to the northwest. Bunking down for the evening, we were lulled to sleep by the sound of the surf broken by the tremulous wails of great tinamous and the purring of crested owls.

Once again we rose before light for a bite to eat before hiking. Nito pointed out not just the slaty-tailed trogons and the charming hummingbirds, but also tent-making bats; ajo – or “garlic trees”; and a parrot snake.

The group paused faithfully at every scarlet macaw crossing. The bright red, gold and blue birds – more populous here than anywhere else on Earth – are always paired. With their long tails, they appeared to be 4 feet long in the air.

After all the hiking I was one “sweaty chicken.” It was time for a rinse.

But in the Osa Peninsula, they run a tight green ship. They conserve everything – especially hot water. I must confess I emitted an unmanly whimper the first time I ducked under the shower head – shifting from 88 degrees to 40 in one pass. Now that’s invigorating. It felt good to be clean again, however, and I no longer smelled like an ajo.

After two nights at Cerro Osa, we hiked to to Piro Research Station, where we would spend the next three nights catching whatever sleep we could between the raucous barking of howler monkeys.

From there, Playa Piro – the longest stretch of undeveloped beach in Central America – was an easy stroll. We got a monkey “grand slam” along the way, seeing all four of Costa Rica’s primate species: spider, squirrel, white-faced capuchin (aka Taco John ads) and the incredible howler.

The mantled howler monkey is widely considered to be the loudest land animal on the planet. (Funny … I thought the title belonged to us humans).

My first encounter with them – in the deadest, darkest middle of the night – was one of those “What the hell was that?” moments. Like everyone else, I quickly became enamored of the wild and spectacular sound.

I topped every day of hiking off with a cold Imperial, the cerveza (beer) of choice in Costa Rica, and great food, whether I was ready to eat or not. In fact, upon returning to the States, I was briefly rendered confounded and helpless when no one volunteered to step forward and slide a heaping plate of food in front of me.

Dinner at Piro is by candlelight in the high-ceilinged open veranda, with pauraques – the common Costa Rican nightjar – strafing the airspace between the supper table and the high thatched roof in pursuit of bugs.

After supper one night fellow traveler Sarah Hole had an announcement to make:

“The bathroom around the corner is temporarily closed; the army ants are cleaning it.”

That, of course, brought Nito and me at a run. The entire floor of the tiled bathroom, and halfway up the walls, was crisscrossed with lines of ants. Nito, flashlight in hand, pointed out the vanquished black ants, crickets and spiders being carried back to the invaders’ bivouacked nest, while a tiny cockroach dashed madly through the lines, escaping with its life.

For the last two days of the tour, we said goodbye to Nito and loaded into taxis for the bumpy ride to the Golfo Dulce region and Bosque del Rio Tigre Lodge near Dos Brazos.

“BRT,” as it is called for short, is a lovely, compact, two-storied resort operated by Liz Jones and Abraham Gallo. Abraham and his nephew, Ulysses, serve as expert bird guides.

Short forays into the wild got us up close and personal with a dozen species of hummingbirds and a shy uniform crake.

Lounging in hammocks, we were treated to a “mixed flock” of birds including bay-headed Tanagers, endangered black-cheeked ant-tanagers, a squirrel cuckoo and red-legged honeycreepers.

Little tinamous, blue ground-doves, and gray-necked wood-rails congregated at the feeding station to peck at rice before it was carted off by leafcutter ants.

When we did the “bird roundup” at days’ end, we were delighted to tally 141 species.

Each night, unfailingly, I lay in bed, with bats passing in and out the open windows, thinking, “I’m sleeping in the jungle” and wondering what was going on in the “outside world.”

But the “outside world” is here inside the rain forest.

What we call jungle is really life turned on high – a rain forest buzzing with diversity and drenched in cicada pee and filled with 1,500 kinds of trees – that is more raw and more real than anything you ever will see on television or read about in a newspaper. Nothing on earth substitutes for deep immersion.

Pura vida.

Steve Betchkal is a freelance writer for the Leader-Telegram based in Eau Claire, WI.

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.

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.

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

Male White-crested Coquette

Of all the hummingbird species, the coquette males that are most highly adorned with ornate feathers that are there to likely help in territorial defense and enhance species recognition.  The White-crested Coquette (Lophornis adorabilis) is the only coquette found here on the Osa Peninsula and is regionally endemic to south western Costa Rica and Western Panama.

The male of this species, which is also sometimes called Adorable Coquette, is known for its white crest and long green cheek tufts and may be arguably one of the most sought after birds to see when one visits this region.  They wander through forests high in the canopy and low along forest edges feeding on the nectar of flowering Inga, Vochysia, Stachytarpheta and Lonchocarpus plants and will also take small spiders and insects.  They hover with their tales cocked upward while feeding.

Male White-crested Coquette showing cheek tufts.

While courting a female the male will make short arcs side to side not much more than about a foot in either direction in front of the female.  He uses his colorful good looks to defend his flowers within his territory and the female takes on all nest duties with no help from the male.  The small lichen covered nest holding two minute white eggs is placed on the fork of a branch along the forest edge or a clearing and is not very well concealed.

They are said to be found from 300 meters up to 1220 meters but we have seen them here at the Piro Research Center which is near sea level as well as up along the Greg Gund Conservation Center’s northern border at Cerro Osa which sits at about 300 meters all within the last month.  At the moment they are engaged in reproductive behavior which takes place during the rainy season from December to February with courtship seen as early as October.   The male will lose his ornate regalia when the breeding season is over.

Gray-headed Tanager at Playa Piro

So how do birds survive in a tropical rainforest when it rains a lot?  Let me be clearer; when it rains nearly every day for 2 weeks straight?  The rainy season here in Costa Rica lasts from May to November increasing in the amount of rainfall as the season progresses.  October and November are notorious for being the wettest months of the year.

Well, the pattern seems to be holding up this year as expected.  Over the last few weeks the rain has let up very little and as it went on and on, I started to wonder; how do birds keep themselves fed with so much rain, and intense rain at that?  Obviously when there are gaps in the rain the birds can take advantage to hunt or search for fruit, but when it rains hard for hours or days at a time the opportunity to feed becomes limited, fat reserves would likely decrease and stress levels increase.

When birds are faced with seasonal rains many of them will migrate downhill where, as it turns out, there is less rain.  It rains quite a bit more at higher elevations than it does at lower elevations and we have seen that pattern play out right here between the Piro Research Center located just above sea level, and the Greg Gund Conservation Center at Cerro Osa which sits at about 250 meters.  The difference in elevation wouldn’t seem that dramatic, however in the month of October alone Piro received 74.9 cm (29.5 inches) of rain while Cerro Osa received 145 cm (57 inches).  That is nearly double and impressive considering that Cerro Osa is only a mere 2 km uphill from Piro.

Seasonal migrational movements are common in tropical bird species which roam the forest in search of food resources during the non-breeding season while temporary migrational movements may also be just as common place for those birds escaping inclement weather here in the tropical rainforest.  Food resources are not generally more abundant at lower elevations but the feeding opportunities that less rain provide may offset that enough for birds to get through the rainy season.

Male Orange-collard Manakin

You can go to Friends of the Osa website for up-to-date weather data or to see maps of Piro Research Center and the Greg Gund Conservation Center and the connectivity between the two areas via our interactive trail maps.

The Gray-headed Tanager (Eucometis penicillata) photograph was taken here near Playa Piro between storms by Friends of the Osa’s Sea Turtle program coordinator Manual Sanchez as he was headed out to the beach for turtle beach patrol.   Sitting under a large palm leaf is probably a good way to keep somewhat dry during a downpour.  The Orange-collared Manakin (Manacus aurantiacus) comes from Gianfranco Gomez at the Drake Bay Rainforest Chalet.

Both birds are common resident species found here on the Osa Peninsula and here at Friends of the Osa.