Tag Archives: Wilson Botanical Garden

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.

Annual Meeting 2024 = One Huge ‘Thank You’!

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Coming Home — written by Lydia Vogt

Over the years the San Vito Bird Club has held its Annual Meeting in several different locations, including the beautiful Las Cruces Research Station.

Chef Jairo Alemán and family were thrilled to have us return for our 20th anniversary to his restaurant at Cascata del Bosco.

Cascata has hosted many SVBC meetings over the past 20 years — and they really excelled this year. Jairo and Ligia made delicious Huevos Rancheros, while the whole family prepared accompaniments.

Many thanks to all of them!

Annual Meeting 2024 Report — for Far-Flung Members and Supporters

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We had a great time Sunday, February 25 at Cascata Del Bosco and wish you could have been there. This year we had two themes: Celebrating 20 Years of Birding in San Vito and the incomparable Resplendent Quetzal.

Our three main speakers — Dr. Lilly Briggs, Alan Poole and Henry Barrantes — were excellent. So that you don’t miss a thing, their talks will be summarized in forthcoming posts.

For now, we begin with a short history outlining our three major achievements. (Eventually, we will add a ‘page’ to this website citing the Club’s accomplishments, small and large.)

In 2004, we began a 10-year Avian Monitoring Study with Principal Investigator Dr. Steve Latta of the National Aviary and Judy Richardson, Master Bander from the Connecticut Audubon Society. The core group included Julie Girard Woolley, Cecilia Sansonetti, Lydia Vogt, Kate Allen Desvenain, Daniel Martinez, Juan Pablo ‘Chespi’ Elizondo and many other local and international volunteers. It was a lot of work and resulted in a published paper and an article in the bulletin of the Asociación Ornitológica de Costa Rica.

In 2011, we cut the ribbon on a Canopy Tower that had taken three years of fundraising to complete. We’re happy to report it is still standing — at the Organization for Tropical Studies Las Cruces Biological Research Station — and attracting visitors from all over the world.

Finally, in 2012-13, we began presenting an environmental education program from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, ‘Detectives de Aves’ (in English: BirdSleuth International), in local elementary schools. This program continues to this day and much more about that will be forthcoming in another post.

From left to right, 20 years ago, Alison Olivieri, Terrie Moss (formerly of Linda Vista, now of St. Louis, MO), Daniel Martinez (former Biologist at Las Cruces, now of the Ornithological Council of Costa Rica) and Julie Girard Woolley (who needs no introduction).

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.

Better Late Than Never: thank you!

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In early June, OTS Las Cruces Biological Station and Wilson Botanical Garden held its ‘Annual Dia de las Puertas Abiertas’. This event offers activities for all ages, tours, food and fun — and a chance to collaborate with other, like-minded groups.

Traditionally, the SVBC offers up a Bake Sale (with profits going to Las Cruces, of course) and this year was no exception.

Huge thanks to our volunteer bakers:

Tina Esquer Christopher

Roni Chernin

Peter Wendell

Joe Ippolito

Along with ‘Lemon Bars From Connecticut’ (thank you, Cathy O’Donnell), offerings included Banana Bread, Oatmeal Cookies, Peanut Butter Cookies, Spice Cookies, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and last year’s favorite, Chocolate Ganache Cake.

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!

Bird Walk this Sunday December 19 / Caminata para ver aves domingo 19 de diciembre

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Please join us for an almost Christmas bird walk at the Wilson Botanical Gardens this Sunday December 19 at 7 AM. The mornings in Las Cruces have been incredibly beautiful over the last week, so come out and enjoy the beginnings of summer! There will be coffee and breakfast available after the walk. Admission, coffee and tea are free. Like last time, there will be two breakfast options as follows:

Option #1.       Complete tico Breakfast: Gallo pinto, egg (scrambled or omelet), fried plantain and local fresh cheese with hot drink (Coffee, tea or aguadulce) and season fruit for USD $8.00/C5,000.

Option #2.       Small breakfast: Egg sandwich (local cheese, bacon or ham, and egg) on  whole wheat bread with hot drink (Coffee, tea or aguadulce) and season fruit for USD $5.00/C3,000.

Please fill out THIS form to let us know if your are planning to attend and if you want breakfast. This is just to let the Garden know how much food to prepare. Or you can contact Alison or me directly.

Por favor lleve la familia al jardín botánico Wilson este domingo 19 de diciembre a las 7 AM para una caminata para ver aves. Las mañanas en Las Cruces han sido increíblemente bonitas durante los últimos días. Entonces, ¡disfrutamos juntos los primeros días de verano mirando aves! Habrá café y desayuno disponibles después de la caminata. Las entradas, café y té son gratis. Como la última vez habrá dos tipos de desayuno:

Opción 1: Desayuno grande y completo con pinto, huevos, queso, etcétera par $8 o C5.000.

Opción 2 Desayuno pequeño con un sandwich de huevos, jamón y queso y fruta aparte para $5 o C3.000

Las dos opciones incluyen café, té o aguadulce.

Por favor llene ESTE formulario para indicar su intención de asistir y desayunar. O puede contactar a Alison o a mí.

Father’s Day Bird Walk 2021

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Please join us for a Bird Walk this Sunday, June 20, at the OTS/Las Cruces Research Station aka Wilson Botanical Garden. We will meet at the Reception Building at 7:30 am and have binoculars to share.

As guests of the SVBC, you will enter for free; however, if you want to make a voluntary donation, that would be most welcome. (The Entrance Fee is $10 for tourists and $3 for residents.)

Let’s look for these beautiful woodpeckers:

Lineated Woodpeckers, photo by Alison Olivieri

Great Day at OTS/Las Cruces on Saturday, June 1, 2019

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The SVBC activities at the Annual OTS/Las Cruces Dia de Las Puertas Abiertas were better than ever this year due to our stellar volunteers.

Here, for example, is the Bake Sale table that brought in more than $100 — the most we’ve ever made in more than five years of rustling up muffins, cookies, bird nest delicacies, cakes, cinnamon rolls and more!

Kathy Bauer, Karen Kennedy and Betty Peterson enhanced the day with painting activities including the ever-popular face painting so that by the end of the day we saw butterflies, puppies, parakeets and hummingbirds running around the trails.

Bird Walks and a mini-course on bird bill evolution were conducted by our own SVBC President Peter Wendell and Detectives de Aves Instructor Marco Mora, seen below preparing to push off with a family group. Thanks to one and all for volunteering your time and expertise.

Marco Mora, second from right, Peter on right. Photo by Jo Davidson