News + Stories

Birds, Volunteers and Visitors / 23.12.2010

[caption id="attachment_1870" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Red-lored Parrots"][/caption] 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 111th Audubon CBC and on December 17th 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...

Uncategorized / 07.12.2010

Como muchos de ustedes deben saber, a principios del mes de Diciembre el Tribunal Contencioso Administrativo ordenó anular la concesión a la empresa Industrias Infinito, para desarrollar el proyecto minero Crucitas, en Cutris de San Carlos, Alajuela. Este proyecto, que contaba con el apoyo del expresidente Sr. Óscar Arias Sánchez, por medio de una declaratoria de interés público, habría causado daños ambientales irreparables a la zona del proyecto. Gracias a la incansable lucha de un sin número de personas, y de la oposición legal de las asociaciones ambientalistas APREFLOFAS...

Science and Research, Sea Turtles / 30.11.2010

Today SEE Turtles launched its effort to raise money for Friends of the Osa’s annual Sea Turtle Festival.  SEE Turtles is a project of the Ocean Foundation that promotes conservation tourism by acting as a resource for travelers to connect with volunteer programs or to donate to organizations protecting sea turtles and educating communities.  Through the matching fund launched today, you can donate to support FOO’s Sea Turtle Festival in 2011. [caption id="attachment_1857" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Children perform the life cycle of sea turtles at the Second Annual Osa Sea Turtle...

Birds / 26.11.2010

[caption id="attachment_1840" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Male White-crested Coquette"][/caption] 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...

Birds / 07.11.2010

[caption id="attachment_1814" align="alignleft" width="240"] Gray-headed Tanager at Playa Piro[/caption] 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...

Community Outreach, Environmental Education / 05.11.2010

In October, Friends of the Osa’s Environmental Education program, working with ACEPESA (Central American Association for the Economy, Health and Environment), started conducting workshops in the community of La Palma, Costa Rica.  These workshops are designed to raise awareness about appropriate water management and are part of a larger project, "Capacity building in coastal communities of the Golfo Dulce to improve sanitation conditions." The objective of this project is to contribute to community awareness about the responsible use of water resources and the proper management of wastewater through the...

Sea Turtles, Volunteers and Visitors / 04.11.2010

We’ve completed another month of the sea turtle conservation program on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica and we’re getting close to the end of the nesting season. After 4 months of tireless work by our field coordinators, field assistants and volunteers, we have registered a total of 1233 sea turtle nests, between Piro and Carate (Fig. 1). As I mentioned earlier, for logistical reasons, we cannot gather daily information from all beaches and visits to Rio Oro beach have been very limited, so this number of sea turtle nests should...

Uncategorized / 03.11.2010

Ha finalizado un mes más y la temporada de tortugas marinas se está acercando a su fin. Después de 4 meses de trabajo incansable por parte de nuestros coordinadores de campo,  asistentes de campo y voluntarios, se han logrado registrar un total de 1233 nidos de tortugas marinas in situ, entre Piro y Carate (Fig. 1). Como lo he mencionado anteriormente, por motivos logísticos, principalmente, no podemos recopilar información diariamente y las visitas a Río Oro han sido muy limitadas, por lo que este número debe considerar un...

Birds / 31.10.2010

[caption id="attachment_1774" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Female Rufous-tailed Jacamar"][/caption] Some might say that the Rufous-tailed Jacamar (Galbula ruficacauda) is reminiscent of a Green-and-Rufous Kingfisher for its similar color patterns and heavy bill whereas others might see this bird and think of it as an oversized hummingbird.   Whatever side you fall on it’s a species that you can’t seem to get enough of and is hard to turn away from for its brilliant colors and sassy attitude. There are 15 species of jacamar in Tropical America which belong in their own family Galbulidae...

Uncategorized / 28.10.2010

Este mes de Octubre iniciamos las capacitaciones en la comunidad de la Palma con temas básicos para la sensibilización en el manejo adecuado del agua. Este programa se enmarca dentro del proyecto “Desarrollo de capacidades en las comunidades costeras del Golfo Dulce para el mejoramiento de las condiciones de saneamiento.”, proyecto ejecutado por la Asociación Centroamericana para la Economía, la Salud, y el Ambiente (ACEPESA) y el Programa de Educación Ambiental de Amigos de Osa. El objetivo de este proyecto es contribuir a la concientización de las comunidades en...