Simon Thomsett

Category: Costa Rica | Date: Aug 25 2008 | By: simonthomsett

The Osa has undergone changes, from pristine forests and glades, to cleared farmland, to private property investments and tourism ventures, to secondary growth and back to emerging primary growth. The sequential progression from one habitat to another is rapid, due to the enormity of the rainfall and land fertility. Plants grow fast and take over fast. Equally the human change of direction from one enterprise to another changes the landscape quickly. Now the ‘in thing’ is ‘eco-tourism’, the same questionable goal on which most of Africa places the responsibility of conserving its natural environment, national health and water catchment areas. The term is poorly defined here as is it elsewhere and subjected to personal interpretation, as is evidenced by the individual property owners.

About 10km from the park the various eco-ventures/private homes number about one per 800m. Inversely the density of these ventures increased the closer one got to the national park (a typical if illogical feature seen near Kenyan conservation areas). Some owners lived on the premises and had tourist cabanas (bandas) on their property, others went the whole way with lodges equal to the finest up-market places one would find in the East African parks. One property had as its contribution to environmental improvement a goal to have as many exotic trees as possible. While some enjoyed having Jaguars and Pumas in their property others were unsure. Another property was busy grading roads up hill sides, cutting down trees and putting in a large education facility to promote conservation. Others wanted true representations of indigenous nature on the property, recognising the need to pull out exotic tree invasions and rid the area of domestic livestock, dogs and cats. Tempers warmed, neighbours with different ideas of what was right despaired. The sum of all this was a hodge podge of ideals. Nothing new, but without consensus and direction, it will fall short of its full potential.

Monkeys are not that picky about where they live so long as they have a regular source of food, high tree shelter and little persecution. Secondary forest/old farms/eco-ventures seemed to harbour more monkeys than true pristine growth. The result may be biased due to the sporadic fruiting within the pristine primary forests that encourages movements of all frugivorous species over long distances. Here, in secondary growth, the old fruit and oil plantations offered secure and year round food, albeit unnatural. Also, predation pressure was probably much less, although Puma, Jaguar and Ocelot walk unchallenged in the gardens. Again, the absence of the Harpy Eagles who, unlike the big cats, are unable to live in proximity to humans, may have allowed these monkeys to live uninhibited.

Spider Monkey (Photo by Laila Bahaa-el-din)

Tucked back into the forest was Terrapin Lodge, a self admittedly humble place with a focus for relaxation, birding and kayaking in a generous crocodile-filled lagoon. Laila used this as a base, and we both helped to run the place in the absence of the managers. Juan Carlos, or Jaunky as he is fondly called, is the cook and indispensible. He shared an unorthodox relationship with Polly, the Scarlet Macaw, who would lie on her back to have her belly tickled. She remained semi-wild, however, foraging and spending nights in the forest.

Polly playing with Matcha (Photo by Laila Bahaa-el-din)

Tags: Costa Rica, eco-tourism, Monkey, Osa

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Category: Costa Rica | Date: Aug 24 2008 | By: simonthomsett

mWe were to stay the next few nights at Cheryl Chip’s house, a beautifully designed and built three-storied rondaval that pushed discreetly up beyond the high canopy. The view from the top stared south down to the rolling surf of the ocean, to its east a crocodile lagoon, to the west beyond the deep forested valley, Corcovado National park, and to the north, the steep ascending primary forest. We were surrounded by parrots, Macaws, Toucans and the ever present vultures. Jim asked if I wanted tea and duly offered me a cup made from the Aberdares and purchased in Nakumat Nairobi. Sipping on my national brew surrounded by things so similar yet so very different made my brain take a spin. I had no idea where I was.

The view from Cheryl’s house (Photo by Laila Bahaa-el-din)

While swimming in the infinity pool a few days later, some vultures cruised past at nose level. We joked that it was quite possible to do vulture research from looking at their reflection in the pool. Even in this state of complete extravagance, I was questioning why it was that back home we only had vultures in large conservation areas and that they were rapidly decreasing. This constant comparison could have spoiled the moment, but it did not. It offered hope.

Turkey Vulture (Photo by Laila Bahaa-el-din)

Laila’s work centred on transects in modified areas of old farms, residential areas, secondary growth and primary undisturbed areas. Four species of Monkeys: the Howler, Spider, White faced and Squirrel Monkeys live here. As we walked along forest paths, I was told that some have profited from secondary growth while others have not. The Squirrel Monkey, for example, has certainly expanded its range into former farming areas, eating palm nuts, guaver, bananas, citrus fruits and secondary forest products. These tiny monkeys are the only ones without a prehensile tail. The other monkeys, in a possible order of preference favour these areas too and or other more pristine areas. Troops of different species forage together but apparently not in so well organized fashion as do the African monkeys. I suspected the lack of a main predator may have led to this in-orderly behaviour. Put a Harpy Eagle among these and I bet you’ll have a well-disciplined regimental group of monkeys in no time!

White-faced Capuchin monkey (Photo by Laila Bahaa-el-din)

The Howler is the thug of the community. As a fast breeding, quick maturing, heavily built leaf eater, it has an advantage over the more gracile Spider Monkey that has a more particular taste and slower reproductive rate. Spider Monkeys, although common here, are endangered. The White-faced Capuchin Monkey is the most intelligent and well disciplined of them all. They feed on fruits and insects and whatever small animal they can catch. I liked the Squirrel Monkeys the most, they fussed and talked constantly in large groups, and were curious to see you staring up from beneath.

Squirrel Monkey (Photo by Laila Bahaa-el-din)

Tags: Costa Rica, Monkey, Vulture

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Category: Costa Rica | Date: Aug 23 2008 | By: simonthomsett

The night I arrived in Costa Rica, it poured with rain. I stood on a balcony outside my hotel room in San Jose, overlooking a small street and could only see vague details through the torrent. It pounded down on the roof till 3am, yet the electricity stayed on. As soon as it stopped, I could hear motorbikes speed through the city as if nothing had happened. Obviously these guys are used to it, for back home this would have brought things to a standstill.

The next morning, still confused with jet lag, I sat in a small plane on my way to the Osa Peninsula. I stared out at the mountains and forests beneath. The orderly arrangement of towns, farms and homesteads seemed in contrast to the staggering amount of forest surrounding them. I had learned back home to associate indigenous forests with ragged human ‘informal’ settlement and was equally surprised to see undisturbed lagoons and wandering rivers fringing the beaches and scattered pristine forested islands stood off-shore.

As always, I could not but make comparisons with Kenya, now sadly very different to what I saw beneath. I could see huge swathes of cleared forests, old farmlands and open glades now turned into oil palm plantations. This well sold “environmentally-friendly solution” to fueling the ever growing demand for fuel is obviously not-so-eco-friendly on the ground. Even so, this medium sized country with some 25-30% of the forest under protection did not from this altitude look to be facing the same critical problems as much of Africa. It is the size of Switzerland and has no armed forces. Like Kenya, it has freezing highland moorlands, sloping down cool forests to hot humid coastal rainforests. From this height, it was better than I had expected and I knew that I was going to enjoy Costa Rica. I had few expectations and had earlier written that I would be happy just seeing some frogs. Forests are tough places to find wildlife on the same scale as the savannahs. Predictably, species would be numerous even if their density was small or that they were difficult to see.

Spider Monkey (Photo by Laila Bahaa-el-din)

Laila picked me up in Puerto Jimenez, a small town of four streets on the southern shore of the Osa Peninsula. Laila, a good friend and fellow raptor enthusiast with a contagious enthusiasm for all wildlife, had asked if I wanted to ‘check out’ the Neo-tropics. She had been working on monitoring monkeys there and I had not much to do at home and was drifting between jobs. I jumped at the opportunity. I had long dreamed of the peculiar wildlife and raptors of the region and I secretly hoped to see the Jaguars, Harpy Eagles and Tapirs of the South/Central American jungle.

In Puerto Jimenez, I met Jim Tamarack who is a zoologist, but also teaches baseball to school kids just down the road from me back home in Kenya. Guido Sabario, manager of the Osa Biodiversity Centre, also formed part of the welcome party. Just before getting into the car, Laila pointed out both the Turkey and Black Vulture above the airfield. As we sat and had lunch in town, I got more familiar with the differences between these two species as they cruised by. Scarlet Macaws made a sudden and noisy appearance! On the way to Carate where I would be spending the next three weeks, Laila and Jim stabbed fingers in the air or at the top of trees and pointed out Road-side Hawks, Yellow Headed Caracara, Crested Caracara, Black Hawk, Jesus Christ Lizards (the dinosaur type lizard that dashes across the water on its hind legs), and yet more vultures.

Jesus Christ Lizard (Photo by Laila Bahaa-el-din)

We past immediately out of the town into a mixture of fincas (ranches) rich in trees of indigenous and exotic variety, palms and bananas. We saw huge, well-fed cattle with long droopy ears, and men on horseback followed by small runty dogs. We drove through old planted avenues of figs and cashew nuts through which one could just see the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean. I was shown Panama, distant hills across the ocean, before my orientation was so confused by the circumnavigation of the peninsular which led us through large dark tunnels of primary forests. These massive stands of gigantic trees at first cut across the road in long fingers flowing down the mountain sides inland toward the sea. The route would suddenly change from open ranch land to dense forest. It would have been easy to have overlooked secondary forest had it not been pointed out. But it is separated due to its scraggily nature and thin trunks topped with big broad leaves (as opposed to tiny leaves of primary growth).

The trip covered 47 kilometers and I had already seen more birds of prey per kilometer than in most of East Africa, and certainly more forest. True to expectation, raptors were easily observed in the human modified ranches, not in the indigenous forests. A less acute observer would conclude that human interference is good for wildlife, had they not appreciated the difficulty in seeing things in primary forest.

Roadside Hawk

Tags: Costa Rica, Hawk, Landscape, New World, raptor

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Category: Costa Rica, India, Poisoning, The story behind the Expedition, vultures | Date: Aug 15 2008 | By: Laila Bahaa-el-din

With my newfound passion for birds of prey, it was obvious that Simon and I would be crossing paths again. I was working at Kipling Camp by Kanha Tiger Reserve at the same time as Munir, Pat and Simon were planning their twice-a-year vulture census in India. As you might already have read from Simon’s entry, vultures have suffered a disastrous decline in South Asia due to poisoning by diclofenac. I was invited to join the team for part of the expedition and jumped at the chance. It turned out to be another great experience. We took a boat down the Chambal River, with cliffs on both sides on which we saw vultures, peregrines, eagles and owls. We also spent time in Ranthambore (where I saw my first wild tiger) and Bandhavargh National Parks.

A Brahminy Kite fishing in Kerala, India

Another continent. A few months later. This time, I was studying primates in the tropical rainforest of the Osa Peninsula in south-western Costa Rica and helping to manage a lodge there. Simon had long been interested in seeing the birds of prey of the New World, for reasons that he can explain in his own entry. I thought this to be a good opportunity to repay Simon for his kindness in looking after me so well in Kenya. Knowing him to be going through a transition stage, with his mind open to travel, I invited him to come and stay.

The stunning New World King Vulture

During the frequent rainy afternoons at Terrapin Lodge, Simon painted birds of prey as I went through photographs and attempted some of my own paintings (which I will not be showcasing). We started talking about producing a book, full of beautiful photographs and paintings, on the birds of prey of Africa, and what began as the germ of an idea started to take root and grow. As we bounced ideas off each other and started to make plans, we realised we would be embarking on an incredible adventure that would take us through much of Africa. More about that in my next post.

Tags: Costa Rica, expedition, India, Raptor Book, Vulture

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