Category Archives: Special Event

Bird Banding Training Workshop: help us send students!

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During the past 20 years, the SVBC has gradually and naturally changed. We still lead Bird Walks and regular forays to birdy spots like the rice fields near Cuidad Neilly and the Tres Ríos River. But we also have a ‘How Can We Help You?” sensibility, especially if your concern will help birds and people of the local community.

Along those lines, we have some history of contributing to educaton and project enhancement for our volunteer mist netters — many of you will remember the Avian Monitoring Project that ran from 2003-2013. Back then we encouraged — and financially supported — participants to travel to other countries to take part in a bird banding training workshop in Peru and an international bird conference in El Salvador.

Now Finca Cántaros Environmental Association (FCEA) has begun a new bird banding program which combines nicely with projects that emerged as a result of installing Costa Rica’s second Motus Station on site in 2020 (motus.org).

Coming up this year, we have an exciting opportunity to help fund travel and education for two young women who are being trained as banders at Finca Cántaros.

Meet María Sandí and Alisson Vargas, dedicated naturalists who have also been trained to teach Detectives de Aves classes and want to do more — and know more.

In February 2025, NABC certified bander and ornithologist Holly Garrod (who has been leading the banding trainings at FCEA this year) will offer intensive training in the Dominican Republic — this is our chance to help María and Alisson. If we can provide a stipend of $1,000 each, they are off — off to a world of ornitholgical collaboration, new colleagues, international sensibility and professional skills enhancement.

Academics and practicitioners in the field of conservation have repeatedly highlighted the importance of engaging young people in the local community and creating jobs for rural youth. Longtime loyal SVBC (and Detectives de Aves) supporters can feel proud that our investment is really achieving this goal. María Sandí was one of the first students in the Detectives de Aves classes when we launched the program in 2013 — she credits this experience with inspiring her interest in nature and her motivation to pursue this path, personally and professionally. Flash forward 10 years and she is actively involved in many programs at FECA in additional to the bird banding and Women Committed to the Earth.

Are you reaching for your wallet? Before you make your contribution, please know that Finca Cántaros now has tax deductible status in the US. To make a tax deductible donation, please visit their website: http://fincacantaros.org/donate/

Bird Walk Tomorrow: Sunday, June 16

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Just a reminder, as promised, to join us tomorrow, Sunday, June 16 at 7:00 am at the Reception Building at OTS/Las Cruces/Wilson Botanical Garden.

If it is raining, we will wait a bit and if it looks promising, we’ll venture out. Birds pop out too, after the rain, to look for food — enhancing our chances of seeing them.

All San Vito Bird Club Bird Walks are free and open to the public. As usual, we will have binoculars to lend. The Walk is followed by a coffee social hour in the dining room.

Hope to see you there!

Bakers Take a Bow!

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At the Annual Dia de Las Puertas Abiertas last Sunday at OTS Las Cruces, the SVBC Bake Sale was a grand success — we surpassed last year’s revenue by 25% thanks to the efforts of these industrious and generous people:

Tina Esquer Christopher

Caroljo Papac

Roni Chernin

Molly Rae

Joe Ippolito

Peter Wendell

Alison Olivieri

If we didn’t run bi-monthly Bird Walks at Las Cruces and occasional forays to local ‘birdy’ spots, we might be tempted to rename the group “San Vito Bakers’ Club”. But we will stick with our walks for now and are happy to welcome any newcomers with binoculars and bonhomie.

Speaking of which, the next walk will be Sunday, June 16. Please join us at 7:00 am at the Las Cruces Reception Building. We will walk through the Wilson Botanic Garden looking for birds and will happily help you find them. The walks are always free and open to the public. One of the guides, Peter Wendell, is fluent in Spanish so if that concerns you don’t give it another thought!

It’s a lttle early to tout the Sunday Walk so we will post a brief remnder later this week. We just couldn’t wait to thank our bakers for the cakes, cookies and breads.

Wilson Walk This Sunday!

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Please join us this weekend for a Bird and Nature Walk at the Wilson Botanical Garden, Sunday, May 21.

The Wilson Botanical Garden

We will meet at the Reception Building at 7:30 am with binoculars to share. The walks are free and open to the public; we look forward to seeing you there.

Common Tody-Flycatcher, expert hanging nest-builder

It’s a Perfect Day

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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.)

Save the Date!

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Please go find a 2022 calendar and mark February 27 as the date for the SVBC Annual Meeting.

You’ll not want to miss this one as we plan to have the famous Tico Breakfast at Las Cruces/Wilson Botanical Garden PLUS speakers, birdy games and prizes.

This event is for members only so please remember to pay your dues! Any executive committee member will be happy to accept them. The dues will entitle you to a Membership Card that you can use to receive entrance to Las Cruces at the lower price for nationals and residents, $3 or 1,800 colones per person.

Membership Dues are as follows:

Local individual = $25 or 18,000 colones

Local family, defined as two adults and two children = $50 or 35,000 colones

International Individual = $20

International family = $40

Contest Winners! February 2021

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Congratulations to our San Vito Bird Club contest winners for 2021. As you may recall, this year we changed the contest from a Bird Feeder Contest (since Costa Rica frowns on feeding wildlife) to a three-pronged contest:

  1. Bird Feeder Contest for members who DO NOT live in Costa Rica during the month of February.
  2. Photos taken in February, in three categories; a. Birds having a meal b. Birds in action c. Still life
  3. Original Bird Act created during the month of February.

Here we go! First, second and third place in the Not-in-Costa Rica Bird Feeder Contest

First place with 17 species: Charles and Sara Beeson-Jones from Fen Ditton, United Kingdom.

  1. Blackbird (male and female) – Turdus merula
  2. Greenfinch – Carduelis chloris
  3. Goldfinch – Carduelis carduelis
  4. Long Tailed Tit – Aegithalos caudatus
  5. Blue Tit – Parus caeruleus
  6. Great Tit – Parus major
  7. Woodpigeon – Columba palumbus
  8. Collared Dove – Streptopelia decaocto
  9. Robin – Erithacus rubecula
  10. Pheasant (male and female) – Phasianus colchicus
  11. Hedge Accentor (also called Dunnock) – Prunella modularis
  12. Carrion Crow – Corvus corone
  13. Blackcap – Sylvia atricapilla
  14. Magpie – Pica pica
  15. Great Spotted Woodpecker – Dendrocopos major
  16. Chaffinch (male) – Fringilla coelebs
  17. Jay – Garrulus glandarius

Second place with 16 species, Judy Richardson from Connecticut, U.S.A.

1.  Northern Cardinal
2.  American Goldfinch
3.  White throated Sparrow
4.  Dark eyed Junco
5.  Song Sparrow
6.  Mourning Dove
7.  Black capped Chickadee
8.  Carolina wren
9.  House Finch
10. Eastern Tufted Titmouse
11.  Blue Jay
12. Red bellied Woodpecker
13. White roasted Nuthatch
14. House Sparrow
15. Chipping Sparrow
16. European Starling

Third place with 11 species, Peter and Petra Heck from the Netherlands,.

  1. House Sparrow
  2. Hedge Sparrow / Dunnock
  3. Blue Tit
  4. Great Tit
  5. Robin
  6. Jackdaw
  7. Blackbird
  8. Chaffinch
  9. Greenfinch
  10. Turkish turtle dove
  11. Wood Pigeon

Next, our Photo Contest Winners.

Winner of the Birds Having a Meal photo Jo Davidson.

(Swallow-tailed Kite dining)

Winner of the Birds in Action photo; Peter/Petra Heck.

(Little Red Robin in snow)

Winner of Still Life photo; Jo Davidson.

(Yard plants resembling a Post-Impressionist painting)

Lastly, our Bird Art Winners.

Four bird paintings created during the month of February were entered. All four are equally deserving of First Place! Here they are, in no particular order.

Lydia Vogt’s Three Wood Storks

Helen LeVasseur’s Gray-cowled Wood-rail.

Julie Gerard’s Fiery-billed Aracari.

Lydia Vogt’s Golden-browed Chlorophonia.

We hope you enjoyed this posting. And thank you for your continued support of the San Vito Bird Club.

Feb. 2021: A Modified Contest!

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February is the traditional month for our long-standing ‘Bird Feeder Contest’. This year, 2021, we must break with tradition. Why? The country of Costa Rica has a nationwide policy against the feeding of wildlife. And while the focus of this policy seems to be on eliminating people feeding terrestrial and marine mammals and reptiles, the policy does not exclude the feeding of Costa Rican birdlife.

***We cannot in good conscience promote a contest that flies (if you will) in the face of this policy.***

Life is full of paradoxes, as you all know. Just look at the photo below. Actually this is more of a ‘pair of ducks’ than a ‘paradox’; but the intent of our Bird Feeder Contest has always been to promote an appreciation of birds…to get folks to spend more time observing and identifying our avifauna; not to in any way do them harm.

I truly believe we were extremely successful in that intent of promoting bird appreciation. And so…this year we must go in a different direction to achieve that goal.

Here is how YOU can participate!

  1. If you are a San Vito Bird Club member living in a country other than Costa Rica (and we know there are many of you), send us a list of the birds you see on your feeder during the month of February, 2021.
  2. If you are a San Vito Bird Club member living in Costa Rica, send me a few (no more than five) of your best bird photographs TAKEN DURING THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY, 2021. Photo categories are: a. Rarities b. Birds in action c. Birds having a meal d. Baby birds e. Still life Send to: eltangaral@gmail.com
  3. If you are a San Vito Bird Club member living anywhere in the known (or even the unknown) universe, send a photo of any bird-related artwork you CREATED DURING THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY, 2021. Again, send to: eltangaral@gmail.com

Some time during early March, 2021 we will post your efforts from the three categories above on this website and on Facebook.

Thanks for your understanding and participation and please continue to support the San Vito Bird Club with your generous donations.

Land Use Survey: You Can Participate!

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The San Vito Bird Club is pleased to introduce you to Savannah Lenhert, a Graduate Student from Northern Arizona University. Ms. Lehnert is requesting your help.

*****

Estimado Señor,

Soy una estudiante de maestría en Northern Arizona University y estoy trabajando en un estudio acerca de la administración de la tierra y programas de conservación del gobierno. Me gustaría saber sus opiniones y preferencias en la administración de la tierra y los programas que ofrece el gobierno. Esto nos ayudará a entender las necesidades de los propietarios en Coto Brus, y nos ayudará a contemplar maneras para hacer la tierra más accesible para la vida silvestre. La encuesta sólo le tomará 5 – 10 minutos, y sus respuestas serán totalmente anónimas. 

Usted podrá llenar la encuesta una sola vez, pero es libre de compartirla con otras personas en su domicilio o comunidad. Como agradecimiento por llenar la encuesta, usted puede elegir a participar en una rifa para ganar una orden de compra en Súpermercado BM. Para llenar la encuesta por favor haga clic en el link: http://nau.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5ywGwIM8dKTQk9n

Si tiene preguntas me puede contactar por correo a: sll378@nau.edu 

Muchas gracias por su participación.

Savannah Lehnert

*****

Greetings, 

I am a Master’s student at Northern Arizona University and am conducting research on land management and government conservation programs. I would love to hear from you about your preferences for land management and thoughts on government programs. This will help us to understand the needs of land managers and landowners in Coto Brus, and consider ways for making the landscape more accessible to wildlife. The survey should only take 5 to 10 minutes, and your responses will be completely anonymous.

You can take the survey once, and are free to share the survey link with others in your household or community. As a big thank you for taking the survey, you can choose to enter in a raffle to win a $40 gift card to Súpermercado BM.  To take the survey, please click on the link: http://nau.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5ywGwIM8dKTQk9n

If you have any questions about the survey, please email me: sll378@nau.edu

I really appreciate your input!

Savannah Lehnert

Bird Walks Coming Soon as Wilson Botanical Garden Re-Opens

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Violet Sabrewing, the largest hummingbird in Costa Rica. Photo by Jean-Philippe Thelliez

OTS Las Cruces/Wilson Botanical Garden re-opened to the public yesterday, Friday, June 26. New Rules due to Covid-19 preventive restrictions include mandatory reservations for any kind of visit including Bird Walks. Entrance Fees must be paid at the new Gatehouse; costs are $3 for locals and residents and $10 for non-residents. (The colones equivalent will be calculated at the daily exchange rate.) Masks and hand sanitization are required so bring your mask! Staff will have hand sanitizer at the gate and at Reception.

If you would like to go on your own, please send an email to recepcionlc@tropicalstudies.org, noting the date and time you wish to go and the number of people in your party.

Upright red with yellow trim. Photo by Alison Olivieri

In the coming weeks, we will schedule a SVBC Bird Walk with an imbedded link for you to RSVP. That way, we can make the reservation and keep numbers within an acceptable limit.

Because the pandemic has hit tourism spots very hard, SVBC members must now pay Entrance Fees – additionally, we encourage you to add a donation of whatever you can afford!

Hellzapoppin Heliconias!

Right now, the Heliconia Garden is glorious; nearly every plant is in flower and they are all amazing. As you birders know, hummingbirds are going to be busy in there – nectaring and zipping around — so you will have a double treat if you go soon.

Pendant ‘Sexy Pink’. Photo by Julie Girard