May '10

When I travelled to the project earlier this month, I was greeted with a great deal of excitement over a
recent discovery near the property--an extremely rare and endangered nocturnal bird known as the great
potoo was found sitting high in the top of a dead tree with its chick.  A member of the nightjar family of
birds, great potoos are giants of the group--roughly the size of a barred owl.  Their feathers blend perfectly
with tree bark, making the birds extremely hard to spot while inactive during the day.  At night they hunt
large flying insects, scooping them up with a wide mouth characteristic of this specialized group of birds.  
They require undisturbed rainforest to thrive, and are one of the first species to disappear when trees are
cut.  Knowing that these birds are living and reproducing on and near the project property is wonderful
news and a compelling reason to hopefully expand our property holding in this very special area in the
future.   Work continues on the guest cabin--the next task is to install rain gutters and start the process of
wiring the building.  During my visit, another group of students from the Texas Christian University field
station visited the project, and Alex accompanied them to visit the great green macaw almendro nesting
tree they recently purchased for protection.  We continue to enjoy the enthusiastic help of new
volunteers--see the Volunteers and Supporters page for their names.  This project would not be where it is
today without this generous support of people's time, energy and donations!  The raccoon has been
released, bringing our number of rehabilitating animals down to only four at the moment.  We do not want to
get lulled into thinking that we will not need the large flight cage however.  It is still a priority for us, and its
completion depends largely on our funding situation; materials will cost approximately U.S. $3,000 with
building labor provided by ourselves and volunteers that may be with us at that point.  The tree plantation
is doing great--some of the trees are close to seven meters tall now and some will be flowering for the first
time in the next year or so, providing food for a variety of birds, mammals and insects .  The troupe of
white-faced monkeys, one of three monkey species found on the property, has been gradually moving
closer to the buildings, indicating they are becoming more comfortable with our presence.  My daughter
Mariana and friend Jake accompanied me on this trip, and much to their delight, we were able to spot both
white-faced and howler monkeys during one afternoon hike on the property, along with the "usual" amazing
number of other species.  More news to come!

Pura vida,
Kevin















































































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March '10

Last month we received an injured aracari that, we are happy to report, recovered much more quickly than
expected and has been released.  Two more confiscated red-lored Amazon parrots have been brought to
us, as well as another spectacled owl with a broken wing.  As mentioned earlier, after the Semana Santa
holiday, we expect to receive more birds and other animals that are illegally collected by people on
vacation.  This influx could put us at the highest number of animals under care here so far.  Some fabulous
news from Puerto Viejo--an active great green macaw nest has been found within the city limits!  It has been
several decades since this has happened; another positive sign that local conservation efforts are
beginning to pay off.  

Pura vida,
Kevin
Updates
Very rare bird--great potoo and chick
near the project property.
Native hardwood plantation at 2
1/2 years, soon to be producing
its first fruit.
Rufus-tailed hummingbird nest.
Calico butterfly.
Striped basilisk hunting near
the plantation.