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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hamhed" data-source="post: 1730853" data-attributes="member: 70825">12-28-09    While that hour of birding as a clear sky brightened produced no new birds, we soaked up the typical morning sights and sounds of Heleconia Island.  We thought about the things we missed - the tubing run on the river, the visit to the cacao farm, a walk INSIDE La Selva and knew we would have to come back.  After one final delicious breakfast, we walked to the bus stop at the highway, flagged down a very crowded bus about 30 minutes later and stood in the aisle all the way to San Jose, 90 minutes away.  We took a taxi ride from the bus station in San Jose to Alajuela, just outside the airport, where we were picked up by Richard Frisius and his nephew, Michael.  We had contacted them the day before and arranged this ride.  They took us a short distance back to Amigos de las Aves, (<a href="http://www.hatchedtoflyfree.org/" target="_blank">http://www.hatchedtoflyfree.org/</a>), a breeding center for Scarlet and Green Macaws.  Though we had mainly corresponded with Marti, it was Chris that gave us a complete tour of the 7 acre facilities but not before Richard, founder of the center, led us through his home and aviary, though it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began.  They are amazingly dedicated group, working on a very low budget to produce Macaws for release in various places on both coasts.  So convenient to any of us arriving by plane at the Alajuela airport, it would be a shame to pass them by.  You're not likely to see this many Macaws anywhere; you can even feed them peanut butter by the spoonful!After bonding with the birds, we walked the grounds below the house, surprisingly seeing a Motmot, a Squirrel Cuckoo, some wintering Warblers and a few others.  In contrast, we were only able to scrounge up Cattle Egrets and a Black Vulture at the airport.  By 3:20 we were in the plane and 5 hours later, driving home through snow flurries in Western North Carolina.</blockquote>

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