Ken Cross in Costa Rica 2018: Day 9 - from Talari Lodge to Los Cruces Biological Station via Los Cusingos Nature Reserve

Started the day at Talari Lodge...

Orange billed Sparrow

Acacari

Olivaceous Piculet

Cocoa Woodcreeper

Los Cusingos Nature Reserve

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Acquired in 1941 by Dr. Alexander Skutch, this private Protected Wildlife Sight covers 192 acres. It is located in Quizarrá in the district of Pérez Zeledón, 130 kilometers southeast of San José. With the purpose of saving the sight of his work, the property was purchased in 1993 by the Tropical Science Center (TSC), a private non-profit organization that, since its founding in 1962, has dedicated itself to the study of nature and its relationship with human beings and of which Dr. Skutch was a member since 1964 until his death in 2004.

Los Cusingos, (The Fiery-billed Aracaris), is a part of a biological corridor that bears the name of Mr. Alexander, initiating in this refuge at 800 meters above sea level and terminating in the Chirripó National Park at 3820 meters above sea level. Amongst the species of mammals found here are agoutis, white-throated capuchin monkeys, tayras, sloths and armadillos and amongst the avifauna there can be seen easily Fiery-billed Aracaris, cotingas, tanagers, honeycreepers, woodpeckers, hummingbirds, warblers, parrots and the Laughing Falcons, making this a sight predilect for bird-lovers.

There are also a great variety of butterflies and thousands of insects. Amongst the plants, the ‘Chonta’ palms, ‘baco’ and ‘chiricano’ trees, figs and wild avocados stand out as part of the premontane very humid forest in the reserve.

In respect to its water resources, Los Cusingos is transected by the Peñas Blancas River and as a sign of its cultural background, in the refuge are found archaeological remains called petroglyphs. The house where Dr. Skutch lived for more than 60 years and where he wrote more than 30 literary works has been converted by the TSC into a museum conserving his simple and austere life-style.

Yellow Olive Flycatcher

Bicoloured Antbird

female Black hooded Ant-shrike

Long billed Starthroat

Baird's Trogon

BIRD OF THE DAY - RED CAPPED MANNIKIN

Alexander Frank Skutch

Alexander Frank Skutch (May 20, 1904 – May 12, 2004) was a naturalist and writer. He published numerous scientific papers and books about birds and several books on philosophy. He is best remembered ornithologically for his pioneering work on helpers at the nest.

Alexander Skutch was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He received a Doctorate in Botany from Johns Hopkins University. He then found employment with United Fruit Company, which had a problem with banana diseases, for which it needed the expertise of a botanist. After an initial stay in Jamaica, Skutch traveled to Guatemala, Panama and Honduras. During this time he fell in love with the tropics and also acquired a deep interest in birds. He began studying their habits. Skutch collected plants for museums to make money, but observing birds remained his life’s main focus.

In 1941 Skutch purchased a farm in Costa Rica. There, as one of the writers of his obituary said:

"A lifelong vegetarian, Skutch grew corn, yucca and other crops, and, without running water until the 1990s, bathed and drank from the nearest stream. He believed in "treading lightly on the mother Earth". With his wife Pamela, daughter of the English naturalist, botanist, and orchidologist Charles H. Lankester, whom he married in 1950, and their adopted son Edwin, he stayed there for the rest of his life."

Skutch wrote over 40 books and over 200 papers on ornithology, preferring a descriptive style and eschewing statistics and even banding. He died eight days before his 100th birthday, in the same year that he received the Loye and Alden Miller Research Award. He is universally regarded as one of the world's greatest ornithologists.

Hoffman's Two toed Sloth

Lunch was eventually had at a restaurant about a few kilometres away from our final destination.

Gartered Trogon

Los Cruces Biological Station

Las Cruces is one of three biological stations owned and operated by the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) in Costa Rica. The station was acquired by OTS in 1973 and is located at 1200 m (3940 ft) along a spur of the Zapote coastal range, about 300 km southeast of the capital San José in Coto Brus County (8° 47' N, 82° 57' W). The nearest town, San Vito, is 6 km away and is the principal commercial center for the region.

The station is home to the Wilson Botanical Garden featuring beautifully diverse plantings of tropical and subtropical ornamentals, representatives of unusual plant families and rare and endangered plants from Costa Rica and elsewhere. Particularly well represented are ferns, aroids, bromeliads, gingers, heliconias, marantas, and palms. More than 1,000 genera in 212 plants families can be seen along the many trails that wind through the garden grounds that total some 12 hectares.

Las Cruces receives roughly 4 m of rainfall annually and harbors a distinct dry season from January – March. Afternoon mist and nightly fog characterize the wet season, but they also occur during the dry season and are thus important for maintaining the abundant epiphytic flora. Las Cruces protects a total of 266 hectares, of which a little over 200 are primary and some 50 hectares are secondary forest. The forest is classified as a Tropical Premontane Rainforest according to the Holdridge system and the topography is very rugged with elevation ranging from 1000 – 1350 m. This wide range in elevation allows for very high diversity and the forest is home to over 2,000 plant species. There are over 100 species of mammals at LCBS, of which 43 are bats and an impressive diversity of birds with both montane and lowland species represented. Over 400 bird species have been recorded at Las Cruces and a number of them are endemic to the region. Due to the altitude, reptiles are less diverse but an estimated 70 species have been reported. The station also has high invertebrate diversity and 1000s of insect species have been recorded.

Las Cruces forms part of the La Amistad Biosphere Reserve that encompasses 472,000 hectares of parkland and buffer zones centered in the southern Talamanca mountain range. Though La Amistad is only 40 kilometers from the Station, it is the largest and least-explored park in Central America, and for this reason Las Cruces offers excellent base-station facilities for researchers and visitors wishing to explore the park.

Despite the high diversity of the region, Coto Brus County is one of the most deforested in Costa Rica; it is also one of the most recently deforested. The area is highly fragmented and the regional landscape is made up of a mosaic of mixed-use agricultural fields. Originally this was principally a coffee growing region, however, most agricultural land has been converted to pasture in the last decade due to the global drop in coffee prices. Given the steepness of land and high annual rainfall, conversion to pasture has resulted in many environmental problems including soil erosion, water contamination, and flooding. Courses and researchers working out of the station can take advantage of these ready-made experimental sites for studies in conservation biology and restoration ecology.