Pigeon Birdspotting: A Close Encounter of the Bird Kind

Avian visitor on the ledge

I wrapped up work on a Friday, my first week on my new employment, when I heard some flapping of wings from outside my window.  There were two pigeons on the ledge of the building opposite where I live, high up on the 30th floor. I wasn't able to take a clear picture of the white one but her (I presume they were a couple) flecked companion is handsome. I won't ascribe to a heavenly cause since I've seen them before but it sure is nice to get a visit from these birds especially at the tail-end of a busy work week. Besides, I love birds and I miss birding. With my recent employment, it's gonna take some time before I can go out of town to the forests and boondocks to go birding so I relish these encounters I jokingly call "Close Encounters of the Bird Kind".

Sign From The Divine?

To say 2022 is a roller-coaster year is an understatement as far as my fortunes are concerned - redundancy at work, new cat rescue & adoption, moving to a new place, getting long COVID and being sick for a quarter of the year. I was musing and mulling over thoughts of how to stay afloat until the new year and a new employment (windfall?) manifests itself when I saw a dove linger on the balcony opposite to mine.  

I miss my avian friends I used to feed daily in my former abode and it's rather strange that being 30 storeys up meant I see very few perching birds.  A sign from above?  A foreboding of better things to come?  A reassurance from the mystical dimension?

Maligcong Journal: Spotted Some Birds But Spent More Time Reading, Cooking, Bonding With My Canine Friends

Red Rumped Swallow

The beauty of having no set itinerary in mind is the flexibility to do a lot of nothing.  Case in point: It rained 3 of 7 afternoons I was here in Maligcong which kept me from walking the terrace paths to go birding.  Also, when I did walked in the afternoon, I was escorted by a coterie of canines - some 7-8 of them and it's tricky to keep them in tow.  Even the diminutive Shihua tagged along and one time I spotted an adult Mountain Verditer Flycatcher, a campaign 4x4 vehicle was going to pass our way and I had to grab her out of the way since the driver may not see her at all.  By the time I returned to the bird's spot, it was not there anymore.  But it's okay, I have little to no expectations of spotting new birds or hiking up Mts Kupapey or Fato.  I'm just too happy to see my human and canine friends as well as find myself in a new environment.

When Forest & Mangrove Birds Are Seen In The City: Did The Quarantine & Lockdowns Help Birds Make Further Inroads Inland?

Ashy Ground Thrush spotted in Sycip Park Jan 2021

A recent article in Travel + Leisure entitled "A New Study Finds That Improved Air Quality Has Saved the Lives of 1.5 Billion Birds" based on research done by Cornell University begs the question whether this phenomenon isn't just limited to the USA.  Last year, a few months after the quarantine protocols were eased, we saw a Black Crowned Heron (Nicticorax nycticorax) in the garden pond of Ayala's Greenbelt 5 Mall.  One time I crossed the street headed for Waltermart in front of Don Bosco School in Makati I thought I saw some sort of raptor bird (maybe a Brahminy Kite) flying over the roof of the mall. I thought hmmm... maybe just anomalies.

But yesterday while doing my meditation, grounding & Earthing at Sycip Park, I chanced upon a thrush. I didn't know what it was when I photographed it (good thing I was lugging my Nikon at that time) but I thought I've never seen it before.  My friend and fellow birder, Ferdz, identified it as an Ashy Ground Thrush (Geokichla cinerea).  I've seen other thrushes before in the mountains and loner birds (read: shy) that they are, they are usually found in lower and higher montane forests away from human habitations, and certainly not in the middle of the city or within a few steps of the mall at the heart of Makati. It's a pleasant and welcome surprise (hope we humans will not cause them harm for being here in our midst).

Birding in the City: Black Crowned Night Heron and other Makati Birds

Black Crowned Night Heron visiting Greenbelt Park

It's almost four months since Metro Manila was put into quarantine mode, moving from ECQ to GCQ, GCQ to MGCQ, and maybe a return to MECQ if the number of Covid 19 cases would stay in the thousands for the remainder of July.  I honestly been very diligent in staying home as much as I can the whole time, only going out to do essential business, get food and medicines, procure and send out deliveries whether personal orders or for my food delivery enterprise.  With the relaxing of the quarantine, I still try to stay home but welcome the prospect of stepping out, not to visit the mall (hardly miss them) but the Makati parks.

The quarantine have kept the economy stagnant admittedly.  Nature, however, moves on.  It may even seem wildlife thrived in the interim.  We keep reading and hearing in the news about various wild animals being spotted in areas where they used to be absent -- turtles on deserted beaches in the south; sea otters going inland from the Singapore quay; a Brahminy Kite getting more comfortable soaring over parts of Metro Manila far from the mountains.

Of Murals and Nesting Pied Fantail in the Middle of Makati City: Wildlife and Wild Art Thrive in the City

Philippine Pied Fantail nesting high on a tree in the CBD

Friendly cats

Out of necessity, I had to meet up with my best buddy yesterday. We chose to meet up at the Ayala Triangle park, perchance to go birding, perchance to breathe a bit more fresh air.  Being cooped up within the confines of a building for days on end can be suffocating although I must say that having a lot of full-grown plants on my ledge and the sparrows regularly visiting and singing outside my window help take off some of that feeling.  Still, it was welcome to see trees (and dogs) outside my usual environment on a Sunday yet so off we went to meet up.

PLDT hornbill homage

THE GIFT OF BIRDS.  Little did we know that we would chance upon a nesting Philippine Pied Fantail (locally known as Maria Capra/scientific name: Rhipidura nigritorquis) high up a tree right in the middle of the central business district, right beside  the towering building of the Makati Stock Exchange.  It's a privilege and a gift really, one that I didn't realize got captured when I was shooting it with my Nikon B700 (with luck, I brought it along even if there's little chance of going birding for the afternoon) that there's a nest up there.  Here's proof of wildlife right in the city, hidden in plain sight, thriving and not just surviving side-by-side us city folks. Birds are like that, I guess, they're just in the background until we learn to appreciate them, their singing, and later exercising great patience to spot and identify them. Maybe, the pandemic prompted us to take heed of things that get drowned out in the course of "normal" life when the traffic din and other sources of noise pollution keep us deaf to the sounds of nature and insensitive to nature's rhythms.

Perhaps, the pandemic helped reset some of the rhythms we've been ignoring or taking for granted for so long.  When I hear of people turning to pets or plants to cope with the mental stresses caused by the pandemic quarantine, I can't help but smile.  It's the same thing when I hear of wildlife being spotted in places where they've been absent for a long time, from pawikans visiting places in the Visayas to sea otters frequenting the quay in Singapore. 

Pasig Rave Rainforest Adventure Park: Birdspotting in the City

Philippine Pied Fantail

I was sick post New Year's day, coughing and feverish, my breathing made difficult by the pollution caused by so much fireworks in my sister's area.   So for my birthday a week after, I decided to go birding after a lunch photo coverage of a cafe in the Pasig area.   It rained the night before and was cloudy when I set out for the day but lo and behold, the heavens withheld their precipitation and so was treated to the sight of birds right here at the heart of Pasig City. 

Maligcong Birding with a Cause, Tourism with an Advocacy

Crested myna (Acridotheres cristatellus, locally called Martines)

I was on the tailend of an eight-kilometer hike up to the Maligcong extension village where Suzette's Homestay is located coming up from Bontoc city proper, an over 1000-ft increase of elevation, when I bumped into two foreign (British, I suspect) visitors.  (I actually met them the previous night as I and Jounin (Suzette's unica hija) and her friend, came back from birding but obviously it was too dark for them to recognize me then.)  They were walking down the opposite direction and espied that I was trying to shoot birds.   The man asked me what kind of birds could be found there so I told him about the shrikes, chats and sunbirds I've been seeing the past couple of days.  Then he asked me about the blue bird they spotted previously over the terraces, intimating that "our guide wasn't really a guide; he doesn't know what kind of bird it is," was his exact phrase.   Maybe a bit harsh to expect from the local guides but then again, maybe, that's why birders find themselves in such an area in the first place.   We're here not just to compile life lists but to help out.

Olive-backed Sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis)

I admit to liking birding and birdwatching but I'm not drawn to the competitive aspects of the recreation (calls to mind the book turned into a movie "The Big Year").  Yes, I keep a list of birds I've spotted and photographed but I am not about to compete with birders who seem to have a side hobby of one-upmanship (I've spotted/photographed more birds than you do).   In the past years, I've decided to turn my travels into mini-advocacies.  This means giving back to communities and locals and not just taking things.   I call it a mini-fight-back against the perils of social media tourism where tourists trample upon places and cultures for the sake of selfies and social media posts; of justifying bringing trash (and trashy behavior) to places regardless of their obvious unwelcome-ness.

Flights of Fancy eBook Excerpt: Yellow Vented Bulbul Spotted in Maligcong, Bontoc

The Yellow Vented Bulbul is fairly numerous in Maligcong but I'm not one to take them for granted.   They seem to tolerate the presence of the smaller birds like the Olive Backed Sunbirds who have taken a liking for the same spots in the homestay -- the guava and avocado trees in particular.   I think they're equally guilty of taking ripe chili peppers from the plants along the driveway, too, very tolerant of the spiciness of the small berries.   But interesting to note that they seem to leave enough for our consumption -- I guess that's nature's way of balancing things out.  | © 2018 Oggie Ramos | Taken with a Nikon B700, Handheld, Manual Mode

American Fantail Pigeon Outside the Window

American Fantail Pigeon (?)

"Be.  And, at the same time, know what is not to be.
That emptiness inside you allows you to vibrate
in resonance with your world.  Use it for once."
- Rainer Maria Rilke, Sonnets to Orpheus, Part Two, XIII

Some days, you can get a surprise. In this case, it's the bird outside the window adjacent to our building's elevators. Someone in the Wild Birds Photographers of the Philippines FB group identified it as a Fantail Pigeon (or Oriental Frill) and what a thing of beauty it is.  It may be someone's escaped pet and far from being termed "wildlife" but still, it's a sight for this city-weary eyes.  Why, I even appreciate the Eurasian Tree Sparrows that come to my window to feed morning, noon and afternoon, so a rather fanciful pigeon is a real (and rare) treat.  It's sometimes saddening that not a lot of people care about birds.  Even some participants in a press workshop where I was invited to give a talk/presentation are rather dismissive or jaded when I pointed out a Maria Capra/Pied Fantail tittering in the treetops nearby and I thought, why, these are already "environment" beat reporters but they seem not to share any enthusiasm about the bird life of the venue, Eskapo Verde Resort in Badian, Cebu.  So how much more can be the ordinary city folk be even interested in 'em birds?

Flights of Fancy eBook Excerpt: Red Rumped Swallow Spotted in Maligcong, Bontoc

I first noticed the swallows making daredevil dives on my person.   One or two would sort of fly straight on your walking path but swerve at the last minute, as if making a show of their flying prowess.  I noticed the tail outright which identified the bird as a swallow.   Their predilection for the eaves of roofs are another giveaway -- their rather small claws are better suited to hanging on cliff walls (or gables of houses) where they patiently build mud nests fortified with twigs.  If you observe their painstaking effort during the course of the day, you will have no recourse but to admire their patience.  And of course, their flying prowess.  | © 2018 Oggie Ramos | Taken with a Nikon B700, Handheld, Manual Mode

Flights of Fancy eBook Excerpt: Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker Spotted in Maligcong, Bontoc

I know the cliche - this bird goes tap, tap, tap.  In reality, he/she really does.  Rather aloof, the few times I did spot the Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker, it has always been partly obscured by leaves, tree trunk or branches.   I'm still searching for a more optimum capture but it's quite a struggle as a storm and recent clean-up activities have cleared some of the trees in the periphery of the homestay where I've last spotted one.  My friend, Tina (Paspas) told me she saw one in the summit of Mt Kupapey.   Maybe next trip, I would have to hie off to the mountains and try to spot one.  Or two.  | © 2018 Oggie Ramos | Taken with a Nikon B700, Handheld, Manual Mode

Flights of Fancy eBook Excerpt: Philippine Hanging Parrot Spotted in Maligcong, Bontoc

I knew there were hanging parrots in Maligcong because I've seen Ma'am Alice Villareal's photos previously but haven't chanced upon capturing them until this recent trip.    I thought the ones doing the noisy chattering were sparrows, babblers and flycatchers so I got a big surprise when I spotted a few parrots sharing space with the other birds in trying to clean up what's still left on the shrubs along the main road leading to Sitio Makonig.  | © 2019 Oggie Ramos | Taken with a Nikon B700, Handheld, Manual Mode

Flights of Fancy eBook Excerpt: Philippine Bulbul Spotted in Maligcong, Bontoc

I keep seeing these Philippine Bulbuls most of everywhere, even here in Makati.  But I never seem to tire of spotting them, with their punk hairdo heads hanging out with the sparrows.  Anyway, here's a bit of trivia:  "Bulbul" means songbird in Persian.  I know, it sounds lascivious in the vernacular but now, you know in Persian it means something else. | © 2018 Oggie Ramos | Taken with a Nikon B700, Handheld, Manual Mode 

Flights of Fancy eBook Excerpt: Olive Bellied Flowerpecker Spotted in Maligcong, Bontoc

The Olive Bellied Flowerpecker is part of a noisy group I found feeding along the main road to Sitio Makonig every approaching sunset hour.     And when I say noisy, I don't mean it to sound like I hate the sound.  On the contrary, I dig their joyful chatter; it's wonderful to note that they seem to find a lot of flowers, fruits and insects to feed on around here in Maligcong.  My friend, Suzette, who owns her Maligcong Homestay noted that most of the birds I captured seem to be well-fattened.  Maybe a testament to the abundance of food which is good to know. | © 2019 Oggie Ramos | Taken with a Nikon B700, Handheld, Manual Mode 

Flights of Fancy eBook Excerpt: Olive Backed Sunbird Spotted in Maligcong, Bontoc

Yeah, I know!    Some smart aleck would just dismiss it as "it's just a sunbird" but I don't dismiss any bird as ordinary.    With vanishing habitats, fluctuating temperature and wonky weather, I take each bird that I see (yes, even the Eurasian Tree Sparrows I feed outside my window) as evidence of a miracle.   In Suzette's Homestay, the sunbirds comprise a wonderful coterie of happy, joyful, chorus line members who regularly visit the towering bamboo, the chili pepper plants, the guava and avocado trees, all the while chirping merrily to themselves or to the other birds who share in the bounty. | © 2019 Oggie Ramos | Taken with a Nikon B700, Handheld, Manual Mode 

Flights of Fancy eBook Excerpt: Mountain Verditer Flycatcher Spotted in Maligcong, Bontoc

I still had my Nikon D7100 when I took a shot of this blue little bird, the Mountain Verditer Flycatcher back in 2015.   It eluded identification until I requested assistance from Ma'am Alice Villareal, one of the founders of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines about two years later.  I originally shot it for documentation since some of the kids played around with a fledgling they found in a nest under the homestay of Suzette in Maligcong.  I thought it would be wonderful to learn its name as well as of the other birds who call the place home, even if some are transitory.  This is one of my first acknowledged lifers, even if I didn't realize it that time of capture.   | © 2015 Oggie Ramos | Taken with a Nikon D7100 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6, Handheld, Manual Mode 

Flights of Fancy eBook Excerpt: Mountain Shrike Spotted in Maligcong

The Lanius family is well represented in Maligcong, as I keep finding out, after first spotting it at the backyard of the Banaue Ethnographic Museum last November.  I was trying to spot a Malkoha in the vicinity of what the Maligcong locals call the "Lonely Tree" near the jump-off to Mt. Fato when I spotted this black and white creature perched on a distant tree.  Well, nature is unpredictable indeed -- it can give you something you didn't expect instead of what you are searching for in the first place.  For that, I am thankful.  | © 2019 Oggie Ramos • Taken with a Nikon B700, Manual Mode, Handheld

Flights of Fancy eBook Excerpt: Mountain White Eye Spotted in Maligcong

For some mysterious reason, the lush, tall, bamboo plant fronting Suzette's Maligcong Homestay attracts a myriad of creatures day and night -- fireflies in the wet season, and birds like this Mountain White Eye, all year-round.   Twittering, chattering noisily while hopping from one stalk to another, and from tree to tree, they are tricky to spot, even trickier to shoot.  But they are delightfully loquacious, adding an aural ambiance to the nippy air.  I can get used to waking up every morning to this chatter! | © 2019 Oggie Ramos | Taken with a Nikon B700, Handheld, Manual Mode 

Flights of Fancy eBook Excerpt: Long Tailed Shrike Spotted in Maligcong

I shot one in Banaue, little knowing I'd find more Long Tailed Shrikes (Lanius schach) in Maligcong.   This one I espied on one of the trees surround what they call the "Lonely Tree" in Maligcong, Bontoc, while waiting (in vain) for the Malkoha to appear.  | © 2019 Oggie Ramos | Taken with a Nikon B700, Handheld, Manual Mode