By: Pilar Bernal

World Migratory Bird Day is celebrated during the month of May in over 80 countries. This celebration began in 2006 and is an awareness campaign about the conservation of migratory birds and their ecosystems throughout the world. Every year the campaign focuses on a theme; for this year, 2013, the theme is “Creating networks to conserve migratory birds”.

This theme aims to raise people’s awareness of the importance of the networks or connections among ecosystems, and to preserve the health of the indispensable habitats for the lifecycle of migratory birds. These habitats are key sites in the migration routes and permit them to travel great distances, nevertheless, human activities have caused these habitats to deteriorate and disappear causing a great threat to these species.

Likewise, the theme refers to the necessity of creating and strengthening networks of cooperation among organizations and institutions, in order to implement effective joint actions to investigate, conserve and disclosure to ensure the survival of these species.

by: Max and Agustín

While walking by the Piro River a few days ago on one of our patrols to ensure the protection of the Osa Wildlife Refuge, Agustín recorded an awe-inspiring video.

Agustín told me, “I was walking upstream when I saw a large animal that was moving only a few meters away from me. I silently approached the animal and discovered that it was an otter hunting crabs and shrimp; the agility with which he caught them really impressed me.”

The otter (Lontra longicaudis) resides in healthy rivers and streams that have an abundance of fish and crustaceans to eat. This aquatic mustelid can weigh up to 9 kilograms (nearly 20 pounds) and grow to 1.2 meters (nearly 4 feet) long. It lives on the Banks of rivers in caves that have entrances located under the water. Due to the ecological needs of this animal, the presence of otters is considered to be an indication of a healthy aquatic ecosystem.

Disgracefully, due to water contamination and the destruction of riverine (riverside) forests, the otters’ habitat has been reduced and populations have declined to the point that it is now considered to be an endangered species in Costa Rica. You can help address this issue by supporting Osa Conservation’s reforestation and other conservation projects.

By: Karen Leavelle

Imagine yourself walking through old growth tropical lowland rainforest in the very early morning hours just before the sun begins to rise.  Here you find yourself surrounded by cool morning air, a cacophony of wildlife and the dawn chorus of literally hundreds of birds.  This particular lowland rainforest is one that meets the Rio Esquinas which flows out into the Golfo Dulce and cuts through Piedras Blancas National Park and Lomas de Sierpe.  These two areas are extremely important protected areas that form part of a biological corridor that connects to the Térraba-Sierpe National Wetlands.  This particular lowland rainforest on the Lomas side, which is owned and protected by Osa Conservation, has a touch of riparian mixed palms, a diverse array of mixed rainforest tree species, large old growth snags, lianas, heliconias and a highly complex vegetative structure typical for primary and old growth forests.  This is the Sendero de Las Aves!

Now, again, imagine yourself walking through this forest on a clear summer morning and you become aware of some particularly interesting birds and their behavior.  First you hear the almost eerie and ghostlike song of the Baird’s Trogon high in the canopy off in the distance.   Next you walk into several Long-billed Hermits from the hummingbird family rushing around in a flurry of courtship activity.  You then hear the double knock of a pair of Pale-billed Woodpeckers and look up to see that they are excavating a nest in a tall large girth snag while just below them there are three Golden-naped Woodpeckers, a regional endemic species to Costa Rica and Panama, also highly occupied with a nest.

You continue to meander through this rich diverse environment and you hear several Red-capped Manakins singing and you look up and see five females all together in the same tree.   It is the females along with males engaged in a bit of courtship display of their own.  This is a manakin lek!  In this scenario the colorful males are doing a very dancelike display on open branches all to attract a breeding female.  She is there on the sidelines to pick the most attractive male (and best dancer) of her choice.

Now finally as you are engaged in watching these manakins dance you begin to hear a mixed species foraging flock moving down the mountain towards you and then another flock approaching from the other direction.  There are really no words to describe what it is like to have upwards of 50 species, not to mention the large number of birds in the manakin lek, and hundreds of individuals (from Becards to Caciques and Antbirds to Orioles) from the top of the canopy down to the ground hunting for insects and foraging for fruit while travelling together within each flock.  This is nothing short of amazing

This was my day in early March of this year 2013 as I sampled birds along point transects for Osa Conservation’s Avian Monitoring Program.  Every year birds are sampled during the breeding season for resident birds and the overwintering period for Neotropical migrants in and around Piro Research Center, The Greg Gund Conservation Center on the Osa Peninsula, and Lomas de Sierpe located on the northeastern end of the Golfo Ducle.

Monitoring began in 2010 to establish a baseline of bird species present on these properties and to sample birds in subsequent years to begin to estimate densities and abundance of target species and determine avian community composition especially in managed areas undergoing various restoration regimes.  A particular focus is placed on neotropical migratory birds considered to be of conservation concern in their northern breeding territories such as the Golden-winged Warbler and Prothonotary Warbler, as well as Osa Peninsula resident birds in need of conservation attention such as the Baird’s Trogon and the Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager which are known to occur in these areas.  Stratified by habitat type and elevation we can determine certain habitats, vegetation types and abiotic factors that are associated with these species to better understand their ecology as well as their conservation needs to develop strategies for their protection.

Solid baseline data has been established and results are beginning to reveal distinct diverse avian communities and species specific densities in habitats that vary from early successional growth of ferns and shrubs, hardwood plantations, older secondary growth and primary forest at each Osa Conservation location.  Results of long term monitoring will assist conservation specialists and managers to develop ways to track sensitive species and protect the habitats they most depend on.

For more information go to www.osaconservation.org or contact karenleavelle@osabirds.org

By Hansel Herrera

The first rains hit the hills and valleys of the Osa Peninsula. Quickly, the landscape changes from a dry brown to a young green with the scent of flowers and fresh fruit in the air. The giant cenízaro tree (Samanea saman) motionlessly withstands the season change and humbly mixes with the green shoots of the surrounding vegetation.

During the dry season, its enormous canopy in the shape of an umbrella gradually releases the moisture carefully trapped during the rainy season. With a top that easily triples its height, thousands of epiphytes, grasses and wild herbs maintain a perennial verdure, including during the driest months of the year, below the divine protection of this gigantic centennial.

In February and March, when the streams and springs dry up, the cenízaro tree covers itself with thousands of flowers with beautiful pink stamens that explode like fireworks across its top. In this moment, its beauty is incomparable, and tens of animals and insects gather below its umbrella to enjoy the bounties of this marvelous tropical oasis.

by Andrea Johnson

Ah, tropical birdwatching. I fancy myself a late-blooming birder: after being dragged along on innumerable chilly warbler walks in the drab woods of northeast Ohio as a child, I ultimately discovered that I had caught my parents’ bug only while on a college fieldtrip to Costa Rica, watching swallow-tailed kites carve air sculptures above a plunging rainforest valley. I’ve subsequently learned to appreciate the subtler pleasures of species that skulk instead of soar, of being able (at least sometimes) to differentiate between a zillion species of fence-post-sitting yellow-breasted flycatcher-like things. But no matter how much time I spend on xeno-canto.org, I’m still basically hopeless when it comes to songs and calls. My tragic birder’s flaw is a tin ear.

This is one reason I love going out with the birding groups who come to visit us at Osa Conservation (like the “Birdathon” group from Wisconsin and Minnesota that came through in late February, bringing us their northern cheer and raising money for our conservation activities). It’s always a chance to learn from the experts. When you’re standing in the middle of the forest with one of the guides or ornithologists who accompany our trips, and they suddenly whip their telescope around to train it on a vireo 20 meters away behind a liana, or single out a soft ‘chip’ among fifty different noises in the wall of green, you know you’re in good company.

On a weekend in early March, I found myself at Osa Conservation’s newest conservation property, now called the Yellow-billed Cotinga Sanctuary, in just such good company. Ulises Quintero, once an OC staff member and now a guide for one of our partner lodges (Bosque del Rio Tigre ), was rattling off species names as quickly as I could write them down, distilling the dawn chorus into its component parts. Knee-deep in pasture grass, then hacking through heliconia thickets, we made our way around the 11.8-hectare parcel conducting ten-minute counts as part of an avian baseline for the new Sanctuary. By the end of two days’ counting, we had tallied 105 species, including several Neotropical migrants and endemics. And at Point 3 on our second day, the star of the show finally graced one of our ten-minute intervals: a brilliantly white Yellow-billed Cotinga (Carpodectes antoniae) flew overhead.

Of course, we already knew there were Cotingas here. Osa Conservation invested in purchasing this property precisely because of its importance to these globally endangered birds. Although it’s a small parcel, half covered in cattle pasture and bordered by the Osa’s main road and the Rincón river, it turned out to be a critical feeding area for one of the few remaining subpopulations of the YBC. Two years of dedicated research by ornithologist Karen Leavelle showed the link between these riverside forest patches and the nearby mangroves where cotingas build their nests. Osa Conservation acted on her recommendation to purchase when the farm’s owner decided to put it up for sale.

Since assuming ownership in August, we have excluded cattle from the land and begun to make plans for restoration and management. This year, we will plant trees throughout the pasture, using tall stakes of Ficus – one of the cotinga’s favored food trees – to provide early shade for seedlings of other bird-friendly species.  We will create a short interpretive trail and viewing platforms (although the road and bridge already make for superb forest-edge birding), and ultimately bring local school groups as well as conservation birders to visit.

To me, the Yellow-billed Cotinga Sanctuary is a great example of the model that Osa Conservation aspires to use here in the Peninsula. We worked with partners (in this case American Bird Conservancy) to answer a research question with direct conservation relevance: what habitat does this globally endangered species need to thrive, and where is it? We identified specific sites, negotiated with willing sellers, and have prevented this 12 hectares from being converted into oil palm plantation or housing. Our restoration efforts will, we anticipate, increase food resources available not only to cotingas but to other resident and migratory bird species.  That’s where all those ten-minute counts come in: both here and in Osa Conservation’s other conservation properties, we conduct annual avian monitoring surveys in order to have a record of species and change over time, and to measure the success of our work.

Osa Conservation is hugely grateful to the institutional donors and individual supporters who made this investment possible. Not long ago we were happy to receive and spend time at the Sanctuary with one of those donors, Cecilia Riley, Executive Director of the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory and administrator of the Tropical Forests Forever endowment. On a sunny morning by the roadside with Cecilia, her husband Mike, and the 2013 Birdathon group, the cotingas flew back and forth across the Rincón River, showing off for their potential mates and perhaps just a little bit for us as well.

By: Pilar Bernal

In order to instill an environmentally-focused culture and sense of environmental responsibility, the Public Ministry of Education (MEP) promotes the Blue Flag Ecological Program. Each year educational centers must carry out activities outlined in a work plan, which comply with the requirements to obtain the Blue Flag Ecological Award. These requirements are evaluated based on the following criteria: water quality, disaster risk management, environmental education, sanitary services, clean and safe spaces and reports of activities carried out throughout the year.

Environmental education accounts for 35% of the evaluation, and Osa Conservation’s Education and Community Extension Program is helping to instigate and enforce this component in 10 educational centers through the implementation of Environmental Education curriculum. This year they have covered the topics of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, climate change and waste management.

We hope that to finish out this year these 10 educational centers will achieve their Blue Flag Ecological Award, which will be a point of pride for both the students and teachers. It will strengthen their sense of belonging to the institution and to the Osa Peninsula with its great biodiversity. Each time we will be planting more seeds of conservation in present and future generations.