Christmas Bird Count along the Costa Rica Bird Route
Three Atenas, Costa Rica biologist/birders, Lorna and Darrell Smith, and Fred Ball, recently traveled to the Sarapiqui/San Carlos region in northeastern Costa Rica, (part of the San Juan/La Selva Biological Corridor), to lend a voluntary hand to a very worthy effort. The three of us made up one of the volunteer birding teams sent into the region by the Rainforest Biodiversity Group to conduct an annual bird survey. The effort is part of the annual Christmas Bird Count conducted in different locations around the globe in order to establish population trends, and indirectly, habitat quality for world’s bird populations. The survey results will also be used to highlight the rich birding to be had along the Costa Rica Bird Route.
The Costa Rica Bird Route in northeastern Costa Rica is the project of the Rainforest Biodiversity Group. The Route was established as a means to bring attention and ecotourism to lodges and accommodations in the San Juan/La Selva Biological Corridor (which includes the Rio San Carlos.) This area is home to the Great Green Macaw, the signature bird of the Rainforest Biodiversity Group, and hundreds of other species. In the case of the Great Green Macaw, the almendro, or almond species, Dipteryx panamensis provides both its primary food source and trees for nesting cavities. Few big old almendros trees remain. The wood is valued for furniture and home construction, and much has been cut. It is now illegal to cut this species of tree in Costa Rica. Large, standing trees can still be encountered within the San Juan/La Selva Biological Corridor.
Much of this region along the San Carlos, San Juan and Sarapiqui Rivers is given over to agriculture (especially pineapple, and forestry) and it is essential to protect the remaining old forest habitat and promote reforestation wherever possible. Through the promotion of birding tourism it is hope that the Bird Route:
“will bring economic opportunities for local landowners and local communities via visiting bird watchers and other ecotourists, providing an economic incentive for habitat conservation.” Rainforest Biodiversity Group
So far that effort is paying off. Twelve lodges/reserves are enrolled as part of the program, and habitat management plans will be developed for all the sites.
Our team was assigned the area encompassing Mi Pedacito de Cielo, a lodge and private reserve on the Rio San Carlos near Boca Tapada. We spent 14 hours straight in sometimes rough terrain conditions, covering as many kilometers as possible and counting every species and individual bird that we observed or heard. We topped a hundred species for the day, including some fairly unusual birds such as the Rufous Mourner and the Scarlet-rumped Cacique. The other team we encountered and birded with Sunday afternoon at Laguna Lagarto Lodge following our official count at Mi Pedacito, was composed of ace birder, 15 year old David Segura and his father, Alberto from San Jose, Costa Rica. David may be only fifteen, but with his keen ear and bird knowledge he is well on his way to being a top bird guide!
Both Laguna Lagarto Lodge and Mi Pedacito de Cielo are official sites included on the Costa Rica Bird Route. Both operations have dedicated substantial time, money and effort to providing habitat and restoring degraded areas. Both places are enrolled in the Costa Rican Payment for Environmental Services Program, meaning they have agreed to abide by certain conservation standards for their hundreds of hectares of forest land.
Once the bird count census information is compiled and the results analyzed, the information will feed into management recommendations for the private and public reserves along the bird route, many of which are adjacent to, or partially inside the newly formed Maquenque National Park. Today, Maquenque National Park near the border with Nicaragua exists mostly on paper. Lacking funds to purchase and manage all areas in the Park, the Costa Rican government and cooperating agencies are working to establish mutual goals and habitat approaches for the area including private land-holdings and reserves.
If you would like more information about this biologically rich region of Costa Rica, or would like to arrange a trip there, contact Darrell and Lorna at 2446-8452 or visit their website at www.birdingonabudgetcr.com. Also, check out the website for the Bird Route www.costaricanbirdroute.com.
Three Atenas, Costa Rica biologist/birders, Lorna and Darrell Smith, and Fred Ball, recently traveled to the Sarapiqui/San Carlos region in northeastern Costa Rica, (part of the San Juan/La Selva Biological Corridor), to lend a voluntary hand to a very worthy effort. The three of us made up one of the volunteer birding teams sent into the region by the Rainforest Biodiversity Group to conduct an annual bird survey. The effort is part of the annual Christmas Bird Count conducted in different locations around the globe in order to establish population trends, and indirectly, habitat quality for world’s bird populations. The survey results will also be used to highlight the rich birding to be had along the Costa Rica Bird Route.
The Costa Rica Bird Route in northeastern Costa Rica is the project of the Rainforest Biodiversity Group. The Route was established as a means to bring attention and ecotourism to lodges and accommodations in the San Juan/La Selva Biological Corridor (which includes the Rio San Carlos.) This area is home to the Great Green Macaw, the signature bird of the Rainforest Biodiversity Group, and hundreds of other species. In the case of the Great Green Macaw, the almendro, or almond species, Dipteryx panamensis provides both its primary food source and trees for nesting cavities. Few big old almendros trees remain. The wood is valued for furniture and home construction, and much has been cut. It is now illegal to cut this species of tree in Costa Rica. Large, standing trees can still be encountered within the San Juan/La Selva Biological Corridor.
Much of this region along the San Carlos, San Juan and Sarapiqui Rivers is given over to agriculture (especially pineapple, and forestry) and it is essential to protect the remaining old forest habitat and promote reforestation wherever possible. Through the promotion of birding tourism it is hope that the Bird Route:
“will bring economic opportunities for local landowners and local communities via visiting bird watchers and other ecotourists, providing an economic incentive for habitat conservation.” Rainforest Biodiversity Group
So far that effort is paying off. Twelve lodges/reserves are enrolled as part of the program, and habitat management plans will be developed for all the sites.
Our team was assigned the area encompassing Mi Pedacito de Cielo, a lodge and private reserve on the Rio San Carlos near Boca Tapada. We spent 14 hours straight in sometimes rough terrain conditions, covering as many kilometers as possible and counting every species and individual bird that we observed or heard. We topped a hundred species for the day, including some fairly unusual birds such as the Rufous Mourner and the Scarlet-rumped Cacique. The other team we encountered and birded with Sunday afternoon at Laguna Lagarto Lodge following our official count at Mi Pedacito, was composed of ace birder, 15 year old David Segura and his father, Alberto from San Jose, Costa Rica. David may be only fifteen, but with his keen ear and bird knowledge he is well on his way to being a top bird guide!
Both Laguna Lagarto Lodge and Mi Pedacito de Cielo are official sites included on the Costa Rica Bird Route. Both operations have dedicated substantial time, money and effort to providing habitat and restoring degraded areas. Both places are enrolled in the Costa Rican Payment for Environmental Services Program, meaning they have agreed to abide by certain conservation standards for their hundreds of hectares of forest land.
Once the bird count census information is compiled and the results analyzed, the information will feed into management recommendations for the private and public reserves along the bird route, many of which are adjacent to, or partially inside the newly formed Maquenque National Park. Today, Maquenque National Park near the border with Nicaragua exists mostly on paper. Lacking funds to purchase and manage all areas in the Park, the Costa Rican government and cooperating agencies are working to establish mutual goals and habitat approaches for the area including private land-holdings and reserves.
If you would like more information about this biologically rich region of Costa Rica, or would like to arrange a trip there, contact Darrell and Lorna at 2446-8452 or visit their website at www.birdingonabudgetcr.com. Also, check out the website for the Bird Route www.costaricanbirdroute.com.
