News + Stories

Birds / 10.10.2010

[caption id="attachment_1640" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Riverside Wren Nest. Photo by Jim Tamarack and Cheryl Chip"][/caption] A few weeks ago I posted a birder’s challenge question where I asked you to tell me how the Riverside Wren (Thryothorus semibadius) was positioned in its nest (go to the archived story here).  Here is the recap and your responses. Since Riverside Wrens are known at times for roosting inside their nests during all seasons of the year with sometimes two or three individuals at a time we wondered about this particular wren when...

Uncategorized / 06.10.2010

Como mencioné en una de mis primeras notas, en el Programa de Conservación de Tortugas Marinas de Amigos de Osa tenemos una combinación de personas locales (Coordinadores de Campo) y personas extranjeras (Asistentes de Campo y voluntarios del Programa Frontier) encargadas de liderar el proceso de recopilación de la información científica. [caption id="attachment_1608" align="alignright" width="300"] Greivin Barroso, Heidi Montez, Courtney Thomas, Carlos García, Phoebe Edge, Yeri Cubero, Erick Gómez, Manuel Sánchez.[/caption] Los Asistentes de Campo son personas que se comprometen a trabajar en nuestro proyecto por 3 meses a cambio...

Uncategorized / 04.10.2010

El 26 de septiembre se realizó la II Jornada de limpieza del la playa y del manglar de Puerto Jiménez. Esta actividad se enmarca dentro de la iniciativa de Ocean Conservancy y Terra nostra, siendo esta última la promotora de esta actividad a nivel nacional.  Y la Coalición Ambiental de Puerto Jiménez quien la organiza a nivel local. A partir de las 8 de la mañana nos reunimos al rededor de 60 personas, entre niños guías scouts, voluntarios de Frontier, grupo de seguridad comunitaria, ASCONA, Asociación Rescate de valores,...

Uncategorized / 04.10.2010

Los días 21 y 22 de Septiembre, la Estación Científica de Piro de Amigos de Osa  recibió a  funcionarios del departamento de control y protección de MINAET y guías turísticos, para asistir a la Capacitación Técnica sobre Conservación de Tortugas Marinas .Los temas abordados dentro de la capacitación fueron sobre el ciclo de vida, proceso de anidación,  migraciones, identificación de especies, ecología,  factores naturales y antropogénicos que impactan negativamente la población de tortugas marinas a nivel mundial y protocolo de avistamiento de tortugas marinas en playas de anidación.También se dieron a conocer los resultados obtenidos hasta...

Birds / 03.10.2010

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. You may be asking yourself, why a post on a day normally held in May.  Aha, that all depends on where you are in the hemisphere.  Because there is more than one...

Science and Research, Sea Turtles / 29.09.2010

By Phoebe Edge, Research Field Assistant (RFA) , Sea Turtle Conservation Program. [caption id="attachment_1494" align="alignright" width="300"] Park guards and lodge employees on the beach for the sea turtle workshop[/caption] On all of the morning and night patrols we collect quantitative data from the turtles we encounter, as well as from their tracks and nests. This year we have also begun taking a more active approach protecting as many nests as possible from both natural and unnatural predators. Metal mesh nets are used to cover each nest we find on Piro...

Birds / 26.09.2010

[caption id="attachment_1483" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Pale-billed Woodpecker Male. Photograph by Alan Dahl"][/caption] Of the eight woodpecker species that are found on the Osa Peninsula, the Pale-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus guatemalensis) is the largest with a length of 35 cm (14 inches) rivaling only the superficially similar, and range overlapping Lineated Woodpecker (Dryocopus lineatus).  In fact, the Pale-billed Woodpecker is most closely related to the extremely elusive north temperate species the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, both belonging to the same genus, Campephilus.  This species ranges from southern Mexico to Western Panama. The Pale-billed is...

Environmental Education, Miscellaneous / 23.09.2010

This August 16-19, La Leona Lodge organized a workshop about frugivorous (that means fruit-eating) butterflies with entomologist and curator of Lepidoptera, José Montero of INBio (National Biodiversity Institute of Costa Rica). This workshop was attended by several people in the area, including naturalist guides and employees of La Leona Lodge. José taught us about the methodology that he has been using in different parts of the country with great success for several years and now La Leona Lodge has begun to use, in order to generate information about butterflies of...

Uncategorized / 22.09.2010

El pasado 16-19 de Agosto, La Leona Lodge organizó un taller de mariposas diurnas frugívoras con el entomólogo y curador de lepidóptera José Montero del INBio. A este taller asistimos varias personas de la zona, entre ellas guías naturalistas y empleados de La Leona Lodge. José Montero nos enseño la metodología que él ha estado utilizando en diferentes lugares del país con gran éxito por varios años y que ahora La Leona lodge ha empezado a usar, como un esfuerzo de generar información sobre este grupo de mariposas...

Miscellaneous, Science and Research / 20.09.2010

In 2008, in order to determine the distribution and abundance of leaf litter amphibian species, I began a monitoring program around the Piro Research Center along with Federico Bolaños and Gerardo Chaves, herpetologists from the University of Costa Rica. In 2010, with the support of the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund (MBZ), I expanded this project to Los Charcos and Petosa, a private property owned by Bert Kerstetter, an important supporter of Friends of the Osa. The information generated by this project was included in the latest update workshop...