OCTOBER 2023 PROGRAM

The Joys of Costa Rica

Presenter: David Ewer

Tuesday, October 10, 2023 – 7:00 PM
Montana Wild, 2668 Broadwater Ave.
Free – All are Welcome

Join David Ewer for a birding tour of some of Costa Rica’s (CR) fantastic avian fauna, illustrated with stunning bird photography.  David and Nancy Ewer joined the Roaming Naturalists company out of Bozeman with eight other birders in March, 2022 looking especially for resplendent quetzals high in the cloud forest, and scarlet macaws in the far southwestern Osa peninsula. They returned to CR in early 2023 birding new places such as rivers flowing into Nicaragua and slogging through muddy jungle to see roosting crested owls along with bullet and leaf cluster ants.

Among the many areas visited were Costa Rica’s central highlands, dry Pacific coast, several wetlands and the incredible Arenal volcano area. Nancy photographed typical sights of Costa Ricans in daily life and their tour generally. In the mid 1980’s Costa Rica deliberately removed cattle from large tracts of over-grazed ranch land. Today the forests and jungle have returned along much of their original bio-diversity placing Costa Rica into one of the world’s premier environmental and Eco-tourist success stories.

David Ewer’s passion for birds goes back many decades beginning in his youth in Massachusetts. He was a summer naturalist for Massachusetts Audubon on Cape Cod and shorebirds remain among his favorite birds. He has held numerous positions with Last Chance Audubon including past president and he was an early proponent for Montana Audubon to open a staffed office. Since his retirement from state government, he and his wife, Nancy, have expanded their interests to wildflowers, lepidoptera, and nature photography.