[caption id="attachment_1220" align="alignleft" width="300"] Karen Leavelle presenting the Yellow-billed Cotinga spatial distribution project[/caption] The Costa Rican Ornithological Union’s second annual conference was held July 28 – 30th 2010 in the school of biology at the University of Costa Rica in the capital of San Jose. The conference was dedicated to Daniel Janzen and his pioneering work in the field of conservation and reforestation in Costa Rica over the last several decades. Attendees present represented national and international organizations working hard at avian science and conservation throughout the country coming...
News + Stories
Environmental Education, Marine Conservation, Sea Turtles / 21.08.2010
Raising Awareness About Sea Turtle Conservation and Marine Ecosystems of the Osa
Friends of the Osa’s Environmental Education program is carrying out educational activities on the conservation of sea turtles and marine ecosystems in the schools of the Osa Peninsula. The objectives are for students to learn the importance of sea turtle conservation, why Golfo Dulce is a tropical fjord, and the ecological and scientific implications of this designation. Students learn about the four sea turtle species that nest every year on the beaches of the Osa Peninsula: Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), East Pacific Green or black turtle (Chelonia mydas agassizii), Hawksbill...
This year we started our Sea Turtle Conservation Program with a great challenge, to expand our project to the beaches of Rio Oro and Carate on the southern side of the Osa Peninsula. With an excellent group of Field Coordinators (Geri Cubero, Erick Gomez and Greivin Barroso) and Research Field Assistants (Phoebe Edge, Heidi Montez, Courtney Thomas and Carlos Garcia), under the direction of Manuel Sanchez and Guido Saborio, we have taken the challenge with great enthusiasm. We also have help from Frontier, a volunteer program based in England with whom...
Science and Research / 15.08.2010
The OBC and studies into microhabitat preferences of focal group taxa
By: Zia Mehrabi, University of Oxford. The Osa Biodiversity Center (OBC) provided a brilliant opportunity for biological research at an accessible location bordering Corcovado National Park (CNP). CNP represents the largest remaining tract of tropical lowland forest left standing on the pacific coast of Central America. The Osa Peninsula is phytogeographically unusual with high floral species diversity of an estimated 500 species of woody plants and exhibits high primate abundances as well as being home to charismatic large felids such as puma and jaguar. The work undertaken at the OBC...
Birds / 10.08.2010
Featured Bird: Common Pauraque
[caption id="attachment_1189" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Common Pauraque by Karen Leavelle"][/caption] Have you ever been out at night driving along a country road and been startled by red ember eyes darting across the hood of the car, and then to have it happen every few hundred meters or so? If you are driving anywhere on roads, especially dirt roads, from South Texas on down to Argentina you are bound to see the Common Pauraque (Nyctidromus albicollis). Here on the Osa Peninsula on the road to the Osa Biodiversity Center it is...
Uncategorized / 06.08.2010
SENSIBILIZACIÓN EN CONSERVACIÓN DE LAS TORTUGAS MARINAS Y ECOSISTEMAS MARINOS DE OSA
El Programa de Educación Ambiental de Amigos de Osa, está llevando a cabo actividades de sensibilización en conservación de Tortugas Marinas y Ecosistemas Marinos en las escuelas de la Península de Osa. Los objetivos de este son, que los estudiantes conozcan la importancia de la conservación de las especies de Tortugas Marinas, y el porqué el Golfo Dulce es llamado un fiordo tropical y la importancia ecológica y científica que esto conlleva. Los estudiantes aprenden cuales son las 4 especies que anidan todos los años en las playas de la...
Uncategorized / 01.08.2010
Programa de Conservación de Tortugas Marinas playas Piro-Carate: resultados mes de Julio.
Este año hemos iniciado la temporada de tortugas marinas con un gran reto, expandir nuestro proyecto a las playas de Río Oro y Carate en la parte sur de la Península de Osa. Con un excelente grupo de Coordinadores de Campo (Geri Cubero, Erick Gómez y Greivin Barroso) y Asistentes de Campo (Phoebe Edge, Heidi Montez, Courtney Thomas y Carlos García), bajo la dirección de Manuel Sánchez y Guido Saborío, hemos asumido el reto con gran entusiasmo. Contamos también con la ayuda de Frontier, un programa de voluntariado...
Birds / 26.07.2010
Featured Bird: Blue-crowned Motmot
[caption id="attachment_1122" align="alignleft" width="254" caption="Blue-crowned Motmot by Alan Dahl"][/caption] The Blue-crowned Motmots (Momotus momota) have been spending a lot of time around a Nance tree (Byrsonima crassifolia), a prolific fruit producing tree in the garden here at Friends of the Osa’s Osa Biodiversity Center. Lately there have been quite a few hanging around giving their distinctive soft low pitch “moot moot” call at dawn which has sounded like a large choral group, each bird with its own perfectly timed solo, and the group never missing a beat. With...
Birds / 12.07.2010
Featured Bird: Violaceous Trogon
[caption id="attachment_1047" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Violaceous Trogon by Tyler Reynolds"][/caption] This week’s bird, the Violaceous Trogon (Trogon violaceus) jumped out at me (not literally) as I was having my morning coffee on my front porch here at Friends of the Osa’s Osa Biodiversity Center on Cerro Osa. I was watching all the typical dawn action, mainly the Tropical Kingbirds and Gray-capped Flycatchers being overly vociferous when I saw another yellow bellied bird perched calmly on a Virola tree branch. This particular belly though was accompanied by a violet head,...
Land Conservation and Forest Restoration / 06.07.2010
California Students Raise Money and Plant Trees on the Osa Peninsula
A group of 8th graders from Crane Country Day School recently traveled to Costa Rica and fell in love with the country during their ten day stay. The class of forty students ventured all the way from Santa Barbara, California to the Osa Peninsula! Once the students made it back to California, they realized they wanted to help out in some way. Their trip to Costa Rica had inspired them so much that they decided to raise money for Friends of the Osa. Their efforts proved fruitful as they...