It’s a Perfect Day

We are enjoying an extended dry season down here, after an uncharacteristically rainy March.

So it is exactly the right time to avail yourself of this learning experience: a new offering from the Finca Cantaros Environmental Association.

Velvety Manakin

One of our most productive and interesting birding sites, the team at Finca Cantaros is growing trees, managing a sizeable reforestation plot on site, running an environmental art project, installing a blind specifically for photography, and continuing its Women Caring for the Earth Project. Please offer your support to their ongoing work.

Erratum: alert reader and contributing photographer Jo Davidson noticed a slip-up in our last post. The flycatcher with the retort nest is a Yellow-olive Flycatcher, not a Golden-olive Flycatcher. (In a Google search, it also comes up as a Yellow-olive Flatbill.)

Please Join Us This Sunday For A Bird Walk! / ¡Por favor venga este domingo para una caminata para ver aves!

We’ll be having a Bird Walk this Sunday at 7:30 AM and the Wilson Botanical Gardens. It is free and open to the public. We’ll be meeting at the Reception. There will be binoculars available for those who need them, and coffee afterwards.

Habrá una caminata para ver aves el próximo domingo a las 7:30 al jardín botánico Wilson. Reuniremos frente a la Recepción. Está totalmente gratis y abierto al público. Habrá binoculares para quienes los ocupen y café después en el comedor.

Bird Walk this Sunday! / ¡Caminata para ver aves el domingo!

Come to the the Reception at the Wilson Botanical Gardens this Sunday at 7:30 AM for a great bird walk. Binos will be available and there will be coffee afterwards. I hope to see you there!

Venga a la recepción al Jardín Botánico Wilson el próximo domingo a las 7:30 para una caminata pajarera muy chiva. Habrá binoculares disponibles y café después. ¡Ojalá que nos veamos entonces!

Please Join Us For Our Annual Meeting! / Por favor venga a nuestra asamblea anual!

We will be holding the annual meeting of the San Vito Bird Club this Sunday, February 26 at the Wilson Botanical Garden. This is our only “Members Only” event and is a chance for us all to come together and share what we have done, what we want to do, and enjoy each other’s company. Oh, and renew our memberships! The dues are the same as they have been:

  • $20 or 11.000 for an Individual non-resident
  • $25 or 14.000 for an Individual resident
  • $40 or 22.000 for a Family non-resident
  • $50 or 28.000 for a Family resident
  • For those who cannot attend and wish to renew their memberships, you can do so via PayPal to membership@sanvitobirdclub.org.

We will meet at the Reception at 7 AM for a Bird Walk. At 8 AM we’ll return to the Reception where we can pay our dues, chat and enjoy coffee, tea and fruit until the meeting proper starts at 8:30. In addition to the usual Club business and the year in review, there will be an exciting announcement about the future of our educational program, and a fascinating presentation by Dr. Lilly Briggs, the Director of the Finca Cántaros Environmental Association. Oh, and there will games, too, with prizes!!!

After the meeting, there will be an optional brunch in the dinning room with gallo pinto, huevo ranchero, tocineta, plátano maduro, and queso, along with coffee, tea, etc. The brunch is $15 or 8.500 per person. Both the brunch and membership dues can be paid in the reception starting at 8 AM.

I want to thank all of you who have supported us over the years, and especially during the last 3 chaotic ones. Without you, none of what we do would be possible. I hope that all of you who can come will come.

La asamblea anual del Club de Aves de San Vito será el próximo domingo, 26 de febrero al Jardín Botánico Wilson. Este evento está solamente para los miembros — el único evento así que tenemos — y es una oportunidad para que todos se junten para compartir lo que se cumplió, lo que queremos hacer y para disfrutar del compañerismo. ¡Y diay, pagar las cuotas de afiliación también! Las cuotas son las mismas de siempre:

  • $20 o 11.000 por un Individual no nacional
  • $25 o 14.000 por un individual nacional
  • $40 o 22.000 por una familia no nacional
  • $50 o 28.000 por una familia nacional
  • Para los que no podrían asistir a la asamblea y que quisieran pagar las cuotas, se puede hacer por PayPal al la dirección membership@sanvitobirdclub.org.

Nos reuniremos a la recepción a las 7 AM para una caminata para ver aves. A las 8 AM volveremos a la recepción para café, té, fruta, etcétera, y para pagar las cuotas y platicar. La asamblea en sí empieza a las 8:30. Más allá de los asuntos normales del Club habrá noticias importantes respecto al futuro de nuestro programa educativo y una presentación bastante interesante por parte de la Doctora Lilly Briggs, Directora de la Asociación Ambiental Finca Cántaros. Y lo más importante — ¡¡juegos con premios!!

Después de la reunión iremos al comedor para un “brunch” opcional que consiste de pinto, huevo ranchero, tocineta, plátano maduro y queso, con café, té, y jugo también. El “brunch” cuesta $15 por persona.

Yo quisiera agradecer personalmente a todos ustedes que han apoyado el Club durante los años, sobre todo los últimos 3 muy caóticos. Sin ustedes nada de lo que hacemos sería posible, nada. Espero que todos que sí puedan venir vengan.

Mark Your Calendar! / ¡Guarde la fecha!

We will be holding our Annual Meeting Sunday, February 26th at the Wilson Botanical Gardens. The details will follow in the next few days. We will have some exciting announcements to share, and lots of fun too!.

Nuestra Asamblea anual será el domingo 26 de febrero al Jardín Botánico Wilson. Los detalles siguen en los próximos días. ¡Habrá noticias emocionantes y mucho disfrute también!

Bird Walk This Sunday! / ¡Caminata para ver aves el domingo próximo!

Please join us for a bird walk this Sunday at the Wilson Botanical Gardens. We’ll we at the reception at 7 AM. Binoculares will be available. It should be a beautiful day!!

Por favor venga al Jardín Botánico Wilson este domingo para una bonita caminata para ver aves. Nos encontramos a la recepción a las 7 AM. Habrá binoculares disponibles.

Let’s Ring in 2023 with Bird Song

Join us for a New Year’s Day Bird Walk at Rio Negro! Possibilities include Bi-colored Hawk, Plain Xenops, Plain Antvireo, White-winged Tanager, Long-billed Gnatwren and more galore!

We will meet at — and depart from — Finca Cantaros at 7 am and should return by 10:00.

As we need to minimize the number of cars, please RSVP to alison.w.olivieri@gmail.com, also letting us know if you need binoculars.

Hope to see you there 👁 Sunday, JAN. 1, 2023 👁

The trail entrance at Rio Negro. Photo by Alison Olivieri
Identify these two Rio Negro regulars and we’ll buy you a coffee. Top photo by David Rodriquez Arias. Bottom photo yours? Please let us know.

Want to support TWO great causes with ONE donation?

At this time of year we are usually clamoring for next year’s membership dues but now we have something different in mind.

We join with the Finca Cantaros Environmental Association (FCEA) to introduce a new reforestation project from our friends and distinguished colleagues Drs. Rebecca Cole and Rakan Zahawi called Hawk Hill.

This is from Dr. Lilly Briggs, FCEA Founder and Director:

Environmental education is at the core of everything we do.

Want to support TWO great causes with ONE donation? Giving Tuesday was a week ago, but you can still feed two birds with one seed. Or plant two trees with one seed. Or feed a bird AND plant a tree with just one fruit since birds are seed dispersers, which means that by eating fruits and pooping out the seeds they are critical to forests…Getting to my point: we are excited to tell you about a giving opportunity that supports two great (and interconnected) causes with one donation! Renowned research scientists Drs. Rebecca Cole and Rakan (Zak) Zahawi recently bought “Loma Gavilán” (Hawk Hill) with their personal resources here in Coto Brus, Costa Rica. They named the 40-hectare degraded farm in honour of the many birds of prey soaring above what is open pasture—for now, as Rebecca and Zak have big forest restoration goals in their sights. As they stress: “At no time in our history has protecting and restoring forest in the tropics been more important or more necessary. In addition to reducing carbon emissions, restoring these forests is our single best solution to combat climate change and conserve irreplaceable regional biodiversity.“So when Rebecca and Zak invited Finca Cántaros Environmental Association (FCEA) to partner with them on the Loma Gavilán project, we said, “you had us at hawk.”Just kidding.We recognized this was a wonderful chance to work together on achieving our shared goals of restoring degraded land back to rainforest through collaboration and community engagement.And we hope you will, too, by making a donation today.Your contribution will support key activities necessary for restoring Loma Gavilán—cultivating native tree species, creating easier access to planting sites, maintaining seedlings until they can fend for themselves, and more—PLUS help FCEA grow environmental education programs that engage local kids and their families in learning about trees and birds, and taking positive action on their behalf.SO many benefits to birds and trees, AND to the community. And your donation: one important seed.(10% of all donations to Loma Gavilán will support FCEA’s Children’s Forest of Coto Brus. Make your donation here.)
Lilly Briggs, Founder & Director, Finca Cántaros Environmental Association Donate now to support our work
First page of the informational flyer about the Loma Gavilán project. The link to the full flyer is hyperlinked above. Please email Rebecca (cole.rebeccaj@gmail.com), Zak (rakan.zahawi@gmail.com), or info@fincacantaros.org. with questions.

Bird Walk on Sunday, Please Join Us!

Let’s go out together for an Avian Ambulation at OTS Las Cruces Wilson Botanical Garden.

The date: Sunday, November 20

The time: 7:30 am

The place: Wilson Botanical Garden Reception Building

The cost: free as a bird — the SVBC will cover your Entrance Fee

We will have co-leaders Julie Girard and Alison Olivieri, along with binoculars and field guides to share thanks to Peter Wendell, a member of our Executive Committee.

Come and enjoy San Vito’s incredible natural history!

Hummingbird, Hawk, Warbler

Tell us these three species and we will buy you a coffee…..