Photo ©
Consuelo Gonzales
The Ramón Castilla Park Nature Club held a fun educational Celebrate Urban Birds event at the Ramon Castilla Park in the district of Lince in Lima, Perú. The park’s Nature Club volunteered to run the event and the turnout was a huge success! Adults and children, members of the club, and neighbors to the park participated in the activities. Through outdoor projects and crafts, they promoted observation and appreciation of regional birds, involvement in citizen science, and care for local nature.
This engaging event promptly began when wildlife photographer Alejandro Tello led the group on a walking tour through the beautiful Ramón Castilla Park. To make the experience more memorable, Alejandro brought a telescope with him which allowed everyone to see other birds from afar. The guests had the opportunity to observe several species, including the Amazilia Hummingbird, the Eared Dove, and the Bananaquit. One of the most exciting moments in the walk, however, was to see and hear a Harris’s Hawk chick calling his mother from atop a branch.
At the end of this stimulating nature walk, biologists Karen Oviedo and Lity Orellano joined the team and divided the participants of the event into three groups to take part in the citizen science component. The groups dispersed throughout the park and observed birds for ten minutes to collect data for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
After data collection and a snack, biologist Karina Quinteros led the children through an Urban Birds Workshop in which they colored educational pictures of birds that illustrator Gisella Basso de Amat had donated for the event. After arts and crafts, the children learned the valuable relationship between plants and birds, and planted their own radish seeds in a pot to take home.
The event was such a huge success that it attracted enough children for another set of tours and Urban Birds workshop! Members of the Castilla Park Nature Club could not have been more satisfied with the turnout and fun experience that they shared with children and parents from around the neighborhood! A participant expressed:
“I enjoyed being in the park with my friends, discovering the different types of birds, and receiving my own plant.”
-Dani Chávez
The artist who donated bird illustrations commented:
“It’s gratifying to see that there are initiatives like La Casa del Árbol. As a bird lover, it is very exciting to have the opportunity of meeting other people that share the same affection towards nature as I do; especially seeing the children go crazy in excitement about observing new species. It was a very nice day.”
–Gisella Basso de Amat
Photos by Consuelo Gonzales.
If you would like to read the complete event report by La Casa del Árbol (in Spanish only), click here!