What a lovely surprise

The "Docent Council" at Philadelphia Zoo have kindly supported Amigos de las Aves this year. Volunteers, some of long standing, work tirelessly at Philadelphia Zoo within the education and interpretation areas, on a daily basis. Come rain or shine, there is always someone to answer your questions!

They raise funding between them during the year and then select just one project to donate to, and this year Amigos was lucky! So thank you all for your kindness and support, it is much appreciated.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
150 years!

Philadelphia Zoo celebrates is 150th birthday this year. Philadelphia is America's First Zoo and very proud of it too. What a wonderful achievement! So Happy Birthday!

In fact, there is lots going on there this year. The new McNeil Avian Centre is scheduled to open in May, with Hyacinth Macaws getting themselves are new home there. Amanda Egen who came and lent us support over Christmas, will also have a section of photos of her trip here to Amigos.

There are some new arrivals there too at the moment, the most graceful Addax with their stunning twisted horns are on display, and some new Ostriches join the zoo this year too. These will be the first Ostriches at the zoo since 1994, so a welcome return. The birds are quite amazing and as a keeper working with ostriches, you need to keep your eyes open as these birds can knock you out with one kick! They have a real charismatic personality and eyelashes to die for!

So make sure you visit when you on the east coast or just check out their website: www.philadelphiazoo.org

Bees threaten Great Greens

An extremely large swarm of bees deceided to land on the main door of the Green Great aviary this month. The swarm was about 1.5 feet long and about 1 foot in diameter. Recent reports in the area have mentioned that a few animals have died from bee stings, so we didn't want to take any chances.

We called out the Fire Brigade! They responded really quickly and with usual Costa Rican flair - erected a make shift ladder and sprayed the bees with liquid oxygen.

So big thanks to the Alajuela Fire Department, our birds are safe once more!

And talking of safety...

We found this wrapped around the base of the main aviary the other day - according to the local staff, this is known as 'the rat snake' sabanera lets hope that's all he was looking for!

Earthquake

There we were, minding our own business eating lunch when all of a sudden everything started to move. Scary!

Weather has been changing over the last couple of years or so here in Costa Rica, rains when there shouldn't be, cold winds and chill in the summer, many overcast days when we should have sunshine, and although small tremors of earthquakes are expected here, this recent quake turned out to be devastating.

The houses rattled, the earth moved, the birds were screeching and the dogs were trying to hide under any old leaf, but thank goodness once the quake stopped everyone went back to normal here at Amigos.

The epicenter of the 6.2 quake was around Poas and sadly many did not fare so well, especially La Paz Waterfall Gardens, whose animals were moved after a large second tremor proved too threatening. Many people sadly lost their lives, and Alajuela, He#E4E3B3ia and San Jose were put on National Alert. The #E4E3B3 Cross immediately went into action and local people were collecting supplies which were being delive#E4E3B3 to the #E4E3B3 Cross for distribution.

Homes were destroyed and lives of humans and animals have been displaced. If you think you can help - then please contact the #E4E3B3 Cross. www.cruzroja.or.cr they will be really grateful for any donation, material or otherwise, that you offer.

Film crew

A French film crew arrived on our doorstep this month. Sebastien Cotos and his crew have been filming at the Refuge and the Breeding Centre. Sebastien is currently working on a conservation project, which he hopes to promote once editing is completed. He has been spending several weeks in Costa Rica visiting different projects for inclusion.

Amigos de las Aves will feature prominently in the film for its efforts within Costa Rican Conservation.

Screens for breeding aviaries

RDE Ing SA in Costa Rica, has come to the rescue again, and provided us with much needed new screening for the breeding aviaries. The screens have been made in the past of bamboo, but they do not las too long, only one or two seasons at most, so these plastic screens will give the birds much needed privacy and will last abit longer. So again our thanks go to RDE Ing SA, supporting conservation in Costa Rica.

Our latest volunteer in Tiskita!

Sponsorship from Idea Wild

Idea Wild kindly sponsored our field research with some much needed equipment this year. Just in time for the new breeding season!! The telescopes provided have already proved to be invaluable - so a large thank you goes to everyone at Idea Wild and their project director Sean Kelly

Mindy and Friends

Celebrated artist, Mindy Lighthipe arrived with us on her annual visit, with plenty of artists and photographers, ready and eager to take advantage of their Costa Rican surroundings. With plenty of flora, fauna and not to mention a few birds! it was a delight to welcome Mindy and Nancy back, and everyone quickly got out brushes, pencils and camera’s. (pic – mindy and nancy return) Mindys artistry has been going from strength to strength, and she her artwork has been accepted into competition at the Royal Horticultural Society in the UK. Mindy heads off to London in March – so to keep track of how she does, check out the RHS website

Our Facebook

Courtesy of Amanda Egen at Philadelphia Zoo, we have Facebook is already filling up! Check it out and join up now!

Measuring up for a custom built nursery

Curtesy of the Beirute Family, the nursery finally some cupboards and same level work surfaces. Coming to the rescue again with a carpenter or two this time! The nursery has been transformed. Fitting proved to be interesting, but as you can see – our babies now have the perfect nursery!

All the family help us on a constant basis, Don Carlos, Suzy, Alejandra and Fernanda, we cannot thank them enough for their continued and constant support! A BIGTHANK YOU!!!!!!!

The Last release of Scarlet Macaws in Tiskita

Our final release in Tiskita began at the end of March and began on site in April 2009.

Carefully selected and fully tested birds took wing to join their “family”in Tiskita.

The day started at 4am with all hands on deck, and it wasn’t until 3pm that we had a phone call from Allan to tell us everyone was safely in the release aviary. Spectators not only included local workers, biologists, interns and volunteers, but the feathered variety as well.

On hand to help, Ilona Thewissen our old biologist, (pic Ilona) who spent the following two weeks working with Allan and has since returned for two weeks to assist with the release procedures.

Sponsor birds fly free

From our very own Adopt a Bird program – two babies that have been kindly sponsored by Peggy Zimmermann and her friend Sonia in Montreal. Both youngsters were hatched to Mrs. No Wing in 2007 and one was handreared.

More help from Zupreem

More support has come from Zupreem this month, with help towards the supplementation of our daily feed regime. Some of their “AvianBreeder Diet” is currently winging its way to our birds, and this will help a great deal to enhance our diets. Zupreem Plus Embrace Hand Feeding Formula is now the mainstay of our nursery and provides the perfect balance of feed for our babies. We cannot thank Zupreem enough for all their help and support.

Another Baby!!!

Birds at our main release site in Tiskita, have produced another fledgling this year!!!! All is reported well.