<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Hello Tweets. It was my privilege to be another of the lucky dozen who enjoyed being on Toby Ross' sensational birding tour to Costa Rica (if interested in trip details, see Resources below). First, to the wonderful Scott <font class="">Ramos:</font> thanks a gazillion for an absolutely fabulous collection of your images (skillfully acquired, with the many spectacular birds identified and labelled - what a gift to us, the lesser contingency). <div><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">When Seattle Audubon’s former Science <font class="">Manager</font>, Toby Ross, started this new tour company, Alight Tours (<a href="https://www.alighttours.com" target="_blank" class="">https://www.alighttours.com</a>), he envisioned the theme, “sustainable birding adventures” … giving back to the local community with conservation at its core. In fact, Alight Tours'<i class=""> </i>maiden voyage was our Costa Rica 2022 birding trip, and it faithfully embodied those words: carefully assembled (we did finally proceed despite postponements x several, thanks to COVID-19: Toby attended to health affairs as top priority) and every bit, truly enjoyed!</div><div class=""><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" class=""><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" class=""><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" class=""><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" class=""> <div class="">Toby sincerely, relentlessly strives towards a standard festooned with conservation themes, and uniformly engages local guides and establishments in a very deliberate, wonderfully-inclusive way. We his first “clutch" highly recommend Alight Tours, each of his partnered local bird guides and so many local allies! Bravo, and encore, as I for one am looking forward to the next opportunity.<div class=""></div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Resources: Alight Tours <a href="https://www.alighttours.com" target="_blank" class="">https://www.alighttours.com</a> ... where there’s a Blog containing Toby's trip report on our sensational Spring 2022 visit to Costa Rica. </div><div class="">Note: this older dog doesn’t frequent social media but in prep for Costa Rica, I did explore the website: know that Alight Tours is represented on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (all of which you can poke on-to from the website, and follow) with <span style="caret-color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" class="">news and updates, and many beautiful images</span>. Upcoming trips have their own tab. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div style="margin:0in" class=""> Elaine ... elc at uw dot edu</div><div style="margin:0in" class=""> Seattle</div></div><div class=""><div style="margin:0in" class=""><br class=""></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><blockquote style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;" class=""><div><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class="">Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2022 09:38:34 -0700</div></div></div><div><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class="">From: Scott Ramos <<a href="mailto:lsr@ramoslink.info" class="">lsr@ramoslink.info</a>></div></div></div><div><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class="">To: Tweeters <<a href="mailto:tweeters@u.washington.edu" class="">tweeters@u.washington.edu</a>></div></div></div><div><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class="">Subject: [Tweeters] Birding in Costa Rica, 2022</div></div></div><div><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div></div></div><div><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class="">In late April-early May this year, I joined a birding trip to Costa Rica with folks from Seattle and nearby, organized by Toby Ross on the fledgling outing of his new company, Alight Tours. We covered much of the country, visiting various habitats, and ended up seeing half of Costa Rica's birds. Travel included north and south Pacific coastlines, the Caribbean flatlands, and mountainous areas in the north and central ranges. With about 450 species observed, I added 200 lifers on the journey.</div></div></div><div><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div></div></div><div><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class="">Many of the birds seen are included in this Flickr album: <a href="https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzQVA7" class="">https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzQVA7</a>. Perhaps you can get a vicarious feeling of the richness of the Costa Rica fauna. Definitely a worthwhile place to visit should you get the opportunity.</div></div></div><div><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div></div></div><div><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class="">Scott Ramos</div></div></div><div><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class="">Seattle</div></div></div></blockquote></body></html>