September 2006

TOPIC:  The Nature of Costa Rica

SPEAKER: Dietrich Schaaf

WHEN:  Tuesday, September 19

TIME:  7:00 pm Refreshments
TIME:  7:30 pm Program

WHERE:  NEW LOCATION -- This Meeting Only!:
Auditorium
State Historical Society of Wisconsin
816 State Street

PARKING:  Lake Street Ramp or Helen C. White Library

PRE-MEETING DINNER:  You are invited to join Madison Audubon board members and friends at the pre-program dinner with our speaker beginning at 5:15.

Note: NEW Location: Porta Bella, 425 N. Francis St.
Paisan's Restaurant, our old location, is moving to West Wilson Street and will be closed for some time to accomplish the move.

QUESTIONS?:  Please call the MAS office at (608)255-2473.

Do you know what color tinamou eggs are? And just what is an onychophoran, anyway? Join us as our development director, Dietrich Schaaf, discusses Costa Rica’s great natural beauty and tremendous diversity of life.

Costa Rica is that West Virginia-sized land sitting astride the Central American Isthmus between Nicaragua and Panama. Both its beauty and natural diversity are related to its geographic variation. High mountains — including some active volcanoes — form the country’s backbone from north to south, giving way to coastal plains with tropical rainforests on the east and west. Seasonally dry deciduous forests and savannas inhabit in the northwest.

Costa Rica is home to more than 800 species of birds, including many of the summer migrants we treasure in the United States. Here you’ll also find 1,000 species of butterflies (compared to 750 species in all of the U.S.), 350 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 200 different kinds of mammals. Among flowering plants, orchids, heliconias and bromeliads are outstanding — more than 1,300 orchid species are at home in Costa Rica, making it a special destination for orchid fanciers world-wide.

Dietrich first visited Costa Rica in 1969 as a graduate student, and spent 10 weeks roaming the country on a field ecology course. He’ll recall this adventure for us, illustrating his remarks with photos and answering questions like those posed at the beginning of this article. Prior to joining Madison Audubon in 2005, Dietrich held curatorial positions with the Philadelphia Zoo and Zoo Atlanta, and worked for the International Crane Foundation as director of education.