Finding Nature In The City: Hive On The Treetops, Glossy Starlings Hopping With Sparrows, Miracles Unfolding in Plain Sight

We celebrated Earth Day just a few days ago but the truth is, every day ought to be Earth Day.  Even with the extended quarantines, we ought to pay tribute to the planet. As the Eastern school of thought states, we're not separate from nature, from the Earth.  Even if we hide inside air conditioned buildings, air conditioned vehicles, hemmed in by concrete in the middle of the city, we are connected to nature.  Even if my current milieu is just a short walk or jeepney ride away to the nearest park, it is fulfilling to keep revisiting the place.  I keep discovering something new every time I drop by, proof that Nature is dynamic.  Pandemic or no pandemic, the flow of life goes on whether we're conscious of it or not.

ECQ Chronicles: Wild Makati - A Compendium of Wildlife Spotted at a Time of Quarantine

The Covid-19 quarantine and lockdowns have dragged on for more than a year now.  As my friend and fellow photographer, Tom Stirr of www.smallsensorphotography.com has noted -- we all have to find some sort of creative expression especially if we're not working and using our jobs as an outlet of our creativity.   It's not just a use-it-or-lose-it proposition but a way to keep sane.  We're at a time of our history when people (myself included) are used to multitasking, turbocharged internet, instant-everything, and now we're being forced to hold our horses and slow down.

In any case, I'm sharing a compendium of wildlife I've spotted in the past year right here in Makati. I  keep to the confines of the city, visiting the nearest park (Washington Sycip Park) at the heart of the CBD.  Birding teaches me patience, it's not a pay-per-view thing where you visit once and see all that you set to see.  Nature is dynamic and ever-changing, one visit will differ from another.  And some birds are just passing through (the crows for example), some have taken up residence (the woodpeckers, bulbuls, and trillers).  

The benefits of revisiting the same places are manifold -- the place reveals its many denizens little by little.  There are the Yellow Vented Bulbuls who dare antagonize the bigger Brown Shrikes (poularly nicknamed as butcher birds for their observed behavior of using sharp branches as spikes for impaling their prey).  Call it tool utilization if you will and note that humans do not have a monopoly for using tools (you might as well ask the crows and ravens too in this regard).

The Maria Capras (Philippine Pied Fantail) are usually very aggressive and territorial but right here at the park, you'd notice them mingling freely with the Eurasian Tree Sparrows in foraging for fallen seeds and fruits on the grasses.  They'd even copy the hop and tail wagging that the sparrows are fond of doing.

The Yellow Vented Bulbuls are really at home here, terrorizing not just the Brown Shrikes but also the Finlayson's squirrels which outweigh them easily by more than half their weight.  We've seen this scene and found it funny.  The many cats in the park have been quick to learn the squirrels' propensity for coming down for potential foraging and have been responsible for trimming the population.  Hard to blame the cats since the squirrels are technically rodents, I told the MACEA maintenance staff.

At times, you don't have to venture far to see birds.  I've seen quite a few birds while feeding my foster stray cats along the PNR station, even Little Egrets and Brown Shrikes flying to and from the trees that line the railway.  Just be careful though as the barangay tanods and police are wary of activities along the railway.  As I've said in my previous post, nature is not just out there in the boondocks and the forests.  It's in our midst.  We're in it, embraced by it, animated by it.  We just have to open our eyes and minds to see it.

ECQ Chronicles: More Birds & Wildlife Sighted at the Sycip Park

Pied Triller

Now that we're onto our second week of a another round of ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) following yesterday's high of 15,000 plus new cases, it's well and good that I've more or less convinced myself that traveling outside our bubble (why does it remind me of the 70's series "Logan's Run"?), nay our city, is out of the question for another year or so.  Instead of seeking the wildlife in the boondocks, something interesting is happening here -- some of the birds and wildlife are showing up right here in the city.

Case in point, after spotting a Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker (Yungipicus maculatus) weeks ago, we next spotted a Pied Triller.  Then, I spotted a Coppersmith Barbet (Psilopogon haemacephalus) on top of an elusive skink (bubuli in the local language) after a round of Earthing and meditation (and of course, some Dunkin coffee and donuts).  Oblivious to most park visitors, these wildlife have been inhabiting the trees and environs, like creatures hidden in plain sight.

Pandemic Chronicles: Wildlife Sighting Hidden In Plain Sight

While the lockdowns and widespread quarantine protocols admittedly had a lot of disadvantages, there are also some positives to be gleaned from these.  Being limited to one's milieu made a lot of us look more closely (or a lingering, second look) at the places where we live.  I love the mountains and I yearn to go out of town and recharge my auric and etheric fields out there but for the time being while the threat of COVID-19 is still in force, it's a nice time to acquaint (or should I say, reacquaint) myself in things nearby. 

One of the first things I did when the lockdown eased up was visit the nearest park -- in my case, it's the Washington Sycip Park at the heart of the Makati City business district.  Hardly a place to spot wildlife, you may say.  But Nature has its own set of surprises, hidden from most people in plain sight.

Green, Breathing Spaces -- The Significance of Parks at a Time of Pandemic

The reimagined Japanese garden at Sycip Park

After the lockdowns were eased a bit, it was a great time to revisit nearby parks in my corner of Metro Manila.  The Washington Sycip Park in Legaspi Village, Makati, is about 10-12 minutes brisk walk away from home but I looked forward to being surrounded by trees after being walled by concrete during the ECQ periods.  Not that I don't have plants and birds outside my window but it's nice to go out, have coffee and a donut in the park while breathing in the air sans a mask.  Of course, social distancing is still a must as well as putting on a mask and face shield after eating and drinking as well as venturing to and from the park.  I would like to think quite a lot of people feel the same way as I can see the park frequented by a number of people, young and old, who seem eager to go out for a breath of fresher air.

Makati Birding Chronicles: Egret on the Post Office Roof, Bulbul along Dela Rosa

Little Egret on roof of Makati City Post Office building

Walking around Makati can be an opportunity for spotting wildlife.  Take this Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) for instance.  I've spotted it before when I passed by the Makati City Post Office but never had my camera with me until today.  I was really looking forward to spotting the Finlayson's squirrel in the Washington Sycip Park but with the drizzly early afternoon, I headed home early to take a nap.  

But taking a different route home, I took a chance and passed by the pedestrian overpass in front of the post office building thinking I may get the opportunity to see the egret anew.  And I was glad to have made the detour for it flew up from the estero the moment I went up the overpass and crossed to the post office.  Talk about perfect timing (I'm re-reading Derrick Jensen's  book entitled "A Language Older than Words" at the moment so I'm thinking it may be the universe telling me something).

Sycip Park Meditation turned into a Squirrel Hunt - Invasion of an Invasive Species?

Finlayson's squirrel in Sycip Park

I normally seek the company of trees during the weekends so I can draw in different kinds of vibes and energies during meditation.  Today, I took another bench in the Washington Sycip Park in Makati, my regular haunt, as my favorite one was occupied.  It was providential as I spotted movement high up a tree near a Bagras (rainbow Eucalyptus tree) right in front of where I was seated and sipping my Dunkin' coffee.  My first thought was it may be a skink or rodent.  Well, it was a rodent alright but not a rat.  Rather, it was a squirrel.  Some park maintenance staff I briefly chatted with said there's a pair residing in the park though they do not have an idea of where these came from.  My hunch is that they can be pets released into the park by hobbyists.  Fellow blogger and long-time friend, Dong Ho of www.escapeislands.com, shared this Esquire Magazine link on Squirrels in Metro Manila, which may offer an explanation.

Birding in the City: Spotting Zebra doves under the Buendia-Makati flyover

  The epic that is the Covid-19 pandemic is still continuing its storytelling with no end in sight.  While it's hard not to think of the many things that this epidemic has altered in its course of locking down countries and shutting off economic activities, there are some positives that resulted.  Wildlife, for one, appears to have recovered.  Not wanting to be cooped up all day, I have taken to feeding stray cats in the afternoon along with spotting birds along the busy intersection of Buendia/Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue and South Superhighway, near where I live.  At times, I venture to the Ayala Triangle or Washington Sycip parks but if you keep a sharp eye for birds, spotting wildlife in the middle of the city can be fun and engaging.  

Here's further proof -- a pair of Zebra doves (Geopelia striata) that make it a habit to forage for leftover human (and cat) food under the flyover.  It's a fascinating thing to spot things that seem to be hidden in plain sight.  While I will never trade the forest or the mountains for the city, this enchantment with spotting birds and other wildlife such as skinks, geckos and lizards right at the heart of the city will suffice for now.

Birds in the City: Maria Capra Spotted at the Heart of the Makati Business District

Pied Fantail or Maria Capra bird

I've been nursing a predisposition for spotting wildlife, most especially birds, everywhere I go.  Lately, I've been stuck in the city against my wishes but I would like to think this also presents an opportunity to be more observant and see animals who continue to brave the challenging conditions (pollution, the human hazard) in an urban environment.

Passing by nearby Washington Sycip park at the heart of the Makati business district one afternoon, I know there are quite a few birds that inhabit the array of tall trees there but wasn't expecting to see much save for the usual Eurasian tree sparrows which I see feeding outside my window everyday.  Well, Maia Tañedo of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines was right in pointing out in an eBon newsletter post that there are other birds that do live or visit Metro Manila.

Filipinas Heritage Library Re-Opens at the Ayala Museum: Now More Accessible, More in Tune with the Times

Over 2,000 rare books digitized, made available in Flipbook form

It's really just a short walk from its old location in Nielsen Tower near the old stock exchange building along Ayala Avenue but I can only imagine the herculean task undertaken by the Filipinas Heritage Library staff to move to the Ayala Museum near Greenbelt 5 along Makati Avenue.  

In a lively chitchat with senior director for arts and culture of Ayala Foundation, Mariles Gustilo, and museum manager, Suzanne Yupangco, we learned it took all of five months to complete the move and at the same time, make the transition to the digital world.  Well, when you have over 10,000 books on Philippine history, culture, art, literature and social sciences; more than two thousand rare books from as early as 1608; over 35,000 photographs depicting Philippine life, culture and history dating back to the 15th century; and over 5,000 digitized Filipino songs from the 1900s, you take special care of your priceless valuables.