Mid-January, I was lucky enough to take a trip to Costa Rica with my family. Towards the end of the trip, we went on an incredible boat tour through an estuary in the Tamarindo National Wildlife Refuge. Found there is one Earth’s most critically important ecosystems—the mangrove forest. There’s an almost countless list of reasons they’re so important, and the rich biodiversity they support was immediately apparent. Our guide, a Tamarindo naturalist who had grown up exploring the mangrove forests by kayak, readily shared his exhaustive knowledge of species with us. In the open tidal mouth of the estuary, an Osprey perched high on a dead tree emerging from the shrubby treetops. As we got deeper into el Estero de Playa Grande and the mangrove canopy closed above us, the sun dappled into long streaks of shifting light, and a Yellow-crowned Night Heron held steadfast in the shade.
A Yellow-crowned Night Heron perches on the roots of red mangrove trees exposed above the water (photo by Arlene Koziol).
We spied many Little Blue Herons and sandpipers pecking around the sandy tangle of roots during the low morning tide. Multitudes of spider crabs festooned these roots as two black hawks silently swooped and jockeyed with one another for territory in the trees. Green parrots slowly flapped across the river, and kingfishers darted between branches. In an impressive testament to his eye, our guide pointed out a line of perfectly bark colored bats stuck onto the trunk of a tree. Much to our delight and awe, a family of howler monkeys crossed the river through the canopy above our vessel. With a skilled guide, the observation of wildlife felt almost effortless in this rich zone, and I found myself struck with a deep gratitude for the place I was in, and the people who protect and display its majesty to others.
A Ringed Kingfisher perched on the branches (photo courtesy of Tucker Sanborn).
Hundreds of species of birds migrate to mangrove forests seasonally, including many species we’re lucky to find in Wisconsin. As we made our way back out into the full sun of the tidal mouth, a number of white egrets and Great Blue Herons stationed the sandbars. Seeing these birds and other familiar species in their winter grounds was especially moving—it’s one thing to conceptually recognize the migrations species undergo, but to see them in person is another thing entirely. I even saw a monarch butterfly casually fluttering down the beach one day, and I felt so happy to see it enjoying the easy Costa Rican air. These observations reminded me just how interconnected and grand the task of global wildlife conservation is, and the shared imperatives we all hold to restore and protect the Earth’s biodiversity. The fact that the work we do in Wisconsin has a deep and fundamental connection to someplace so far away is both incredible and daunting, and I felt resolved in my commitment to enhance and protect our lands here on which these same species depend.
Written by Tucker Sanborn, Faville Grove Sanctuary land steward
Cover photo by Arlene Koziol. A Little Blue Heron forages in shallow water just off the shoreline.
