Tag Archives: free bird walks

A Post to Welcome 2025

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We look forward to a New Year with its accompanying opportunities, challenges, frights and gifts.

Thank you for your interest in the San Vito Bird Club and your support over the years. Our new motto is: Let’s Survive 2025!

Yesterday, we had a wonderful Bird Walk at the Las Cruces Biological Research Station’s Wilson Botanical Garden. Highlights included two Swallow-tailed Kites, South American migrants who return each year to nest; a brilliant Baltimore Oriole; a young, male Summer Tanager in transition plumage — from yellow to orange to red — and a Wedge-tailed Woodcreeper! (Considering we started in a damp, thick fog, things went our way in the end.)

Additionally, two outstanding members — Anna Bilberry and Terry Farling — brought baked goods to share at the Coffee Hour. Yum yum and thank you!

Please join us whenever and however you can.

P.S. We’ll update you shortly on our efforts to support travel for María Sandi and Alisson Vargas to Bird Banding Training in the Dominican Republic — life-changing for them and uplifting for us. We proudly work on this project with the Finca Cántaros Environmental Association.

Bird Walk on Sunday, November 17

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Take Two: we will try again this Sunday for a Bird Walk — wish us luck!

Our last attempt was two weeks ago and we were chased away by rain (continuing to fall as I write . . .).

In between drops, however, birds and butterflies are still about so please meet us at the Las Cruces Reception Building at 7:00 am.

We’ll be there for the usual free, open-to-the-public Bird/Nature Walk — your friends and family are invited.

We will have binoulars to lend and, as always, beautiful sights to see.

Crimson-fronted Parakeet, a Wilson Botanical Garden/Las Cruces regular.

Let’s Walk and Look for Birds on Sunday!

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Please join us this Sunday, November 3 at 7 am in the Wilson Botanical Garden at the Tropical Studies Las Cruces Biological Station.

We meet at the Reception Building and have binoculars to share.

On our last Bird Walk, we saw two of these beautiful birds and one of them was carrying nesting material. Let’s go look for a glimpse of one, sitting on the nest!

After walking for about an hour, we will have coffee and social time in the dining room. These Nature Walks are free and open to the public. Please bring your friends, neighbors and families.

Hope to see you there.

Crested Caracaras. Photo by Helen LeVasseur

Bird Walk Sunday, October 20!

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Please join us for Bird and Nature Walk at the Wilson Botanical Garden this Sunday, October 20.

We will meet at the Reception Building at 7:00 am.

Binoculars will be available, as always. These Walks are free and open to the public so please invite your friends and families.

After the Walk, we will repair to the dining room for coffee and chatting. And maybe we will spot these beauties along the way!

Come Walk With Us — Sunday, July 28

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Please join us for a Nature/Bird Walk this weekend at the beautiful Wilson Botanical Garden (also known as ‘Las Cruces’). We will meet at 7:00 am at the Reception Center and, as always, we’ll have binoculars to lend and a guide to lead.

The walk usually takes about an hour; after that we have a sociable Coffee Hour in the dining room. If you feel expansive, bring a few colones to leave for the kitchen ladies who have to wash our cups and saucers.

Common Tody-Flycatcher, photographer unknown.

It’s a fun way to spend the morning! We look forward to seeing you there!

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!

And the Winners From the Annual Meeting 2024 Are . . . .

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Written by Lydia Vogt

Fun and Games!

Following in Co-President Greg Homer’s footsteps, we had three opportunities for members to show off their bird expertise at the recent Annual Meeting and I think we were all pleasantly surprised. All members were invited to participate in the Cornell eBird annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). The GBBC was one of the first online projects to collect information on wild birds and was also instrumental in the creation of eBird back in 2002. Our local winner was Anna Bilberry with 68 species!

Anna and her adorable dog, photo by Lydia Vogt

At the meeting, attendees participated in two challenging bird games: the Bird Call Contest required sharp hearing and quick recall as the vocalizations of 14 local birds were played, and answes had to be written down.

The second game of Bird Trivia required mostly general bird knowledge (members were warned before the meeting to bone-up on eBird facts), and ten questions separated the casual contestants from the eager.

In both of these games our members did very well, and Anna was again at the top, with Nancy Warshawer only a point behind! But one fairly new member exceeded the score of everyone — Rodney Briggs, of the Finca Cantaros Environmental Association (and Lilly’s dad). He has obviously spent the last two years doing more than planting trees.

Missing only one bird call (the tough Rufous-breasted Wren), he had a total on both games of 21 points.

Rodney Briggs, photo by Alison Olivieri

Congratulations to all the members who gave it a try — and especially to Anna and Rodney!

Bird Walk Sunday, February 18

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Please join us on Sunday, February 18 at the OTS Las Cruces reception building at 7 am for a Bird Walk lasting about an hour. We will have binoculars to share and guides to help with bird IDs. After the walk, we’ll have a social coffee in the Las Cruces dining room.

Reminder: to qualify for the Bird List Competition at our forthcoming Annual Meeting (on Sunday, February 25 at Cascatas del Bosco, starting at 8:00 am), you must send your list of all birds seen or heard from Feb. 14-16 to Julie Girard Woolley @ julgirar@gmail.com. Hopefully tonight, you will hear an owl or a potoo!

See you Sunday! Please bring friends and family; the Walk is free and open to the public.

Fiery-billed Aracari: we will see one or hear one (with any luck at all).

Sunday Bird Walk — January 28, 2024

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Please join us for a Bird Walk at the beautiful Wilson Botanical Garden this Sunday! We will meet at the Reception Building at 7:00 am and have binoculars to share and guides to lead us.

Why come? To spend a tranquil free hour, walking leisurely through the plant collections, all the while looking for colorful and fascinating local birds. If you are a Spanish speaker, you can practise your English at the coffee hour that follows the Walk. If you are an English speaker, you can learn some new words in Spanish!

Please bring a small donation for the ladies who make the coffe and wash the cups.

All our Bird Walks are free and open to the public; hope to see you there!

This is a Yellow-throated Toucan, the largest species of the Costa Rican toucan group. They are often seen on our walks and can be heard calling for a very long distance.

Bird Walk this Sunday January 23 / Caminata para ver aves el próximo domingo 23 de enero

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Please join us for the first walk of the New Year at the Wilson Botanical Gardens. Summer is now in full force and the mornings have been beautiful for spending time outdoors. We will meet at the Reception at 7 AM. Entrance to the Gardens and coffee are free for this event. We will have coffee in dining room after the walk, and breakfast will be available for purchase. Please fill out THIS form to let us know if your interested in coming and/or having breakfast. We look forward to seeing you!

Por favor venga al jardín botánico Wilson el próximo domingo 23 de enero para una caminata para ver aves. Ya estamos en verano puro y todas las mañanas están idóneas para quedarse afuera. Nos encontraremos al la recepción a las 7. Tomaremos un cafecito después de la caminata, y el desayuno será disponible para comparar. Por favor llene ESTE formulario para indicar si intenta asistir y/o desayunar. Las entradas al jardín y el café son gratis. ¡Espero verlos entonces!