Perseids and Pompadours

We’ve now seen 89 birds at the farm! We had three new birds this weekend:

• White-bellied Munia Lonchura locugastra 
  
• Ruddy-breasted Crake Ponzana fusca
  
• Philippine Green Pigeon (formerly known as Pompadour Green Pigeon) Treron axillaris

I happened to bring a camera that weekend to take bird pictures. When I looked at my photos, I was surprised to see a Philippine Green Pigeon mixed in with the flock of Pink-necked Green Pigeons!

It was also the weekend of the Perseids meteor shower. The peak of the meteor shower, when you could view up to 50 meteors an hour, was supposed to be late evening up to early morning.

We set up early knowing that farm nights usually end very early for us! We had cold drinks, snacks, and a mat for Momo and Barkley. Bats danced overhead. Soon there were firelies around us and owls calling.

When it was dark a Grass Owl perched on the bamboo fence in front of us. I peered up at the sky through binoculars. The stars were beautiful and endless! Then one star would start moving and I would follow it with the binoculars! There was only a short window of time when the skies were clear. Later that evening, the skies in the north eastern part of the sky were covered in clouds.

Behind us there were still clear skies and even more stars. If you look closely at the photo, you can see a firefly coming in to land beside the lamp near the house.