Kentucky Warbler Recapture and Cabo Blanco Birds
The first session of our fourth year at Cabo Blanco is in the books. Cabo Blanco is Costa Rica’s first national preserve, established over fifty years ago. The preserve is mostly one generation of forest that has re-grown over a 60-year period. It was once all primary forest, but was cut down for farmland. We start the morning walking up a winding trail to our banding station tucked away near a few fallen trees. Along trails we’ve secretly cut are twenty well-placed mist nests to catch a wide variety of avifauna that uses the preserves habitat. Once we reach the base camp every morning we...
Read MoreOrange-fronted Parakeet (Eupsittula canicularis)
Here’s an Orange-fronted Parakeet (Eupsittula canicularis) along the Rio Panica in Costa Rica by RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser. What a gorgeous green scene. Spring isn’t that far away…and our days are getting longer!
Read MorePerched Blue-throated Goldentail (Hylocharis eliciae)
Check out the raw beauty of this perched Blue-throated Goldentail (Hylocharis eliciae) by RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser. Hummingbird season never ends for our friends in Costa Rica. It’s a green, green world every day of the year. There are hundreds of individuals of at least 11 species hanging out with our crew. Keep an eye out for a ridiculous video of them feeding at several feeders that we will be featuring soon.
Read MoreSnow Goose (Chen caerulescens)
I recently spotted this odd-looking periscope coming out of the…grass of a golf course. As it came out of the green it revealed itself as a blue/dark morph, or “Blue Goose” Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens). The Snow Goose has rapidly increased in abundance in the last few decades in part due to their ability to use farm fields and other agricultural areas. This is another case of how easy it is for the species, along with the Canada Goose, to find a place to hang out thanks to the intensely manicured golf course. These are the same reasons why it seems silly to me to keep...
Read MoreGreen-crowned Brilliant (Heliodoxa jacula)
Have a splash of green! This phenomenal photo of a Green-crowned Brilliant (Heliodoxa jacula) was taken last year outside Monteverde in Costa Rica by RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser. Even more jealousy-invoking was Sean’s note that he was using a 100mm lens for this photo of a juvenile male with birds pausing so close to their visitors. Sean is off to Costa Rica this week and we wish him a safe, wonderful and fantastic journey as he continues some important tropical research and conservation. Lucky for us he will be sharing photos, videos and accounts of his work throughout the winter,...
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