Plants – Tonji and Sylvia's Wildlife Refuge

August 2025 – A Magical Month!

Our visit started of not so great — I was upset because Ollie rolled in horse poop two times and Tonji was upset because of farm tasks that hadn’t been accomplished.

Then

Then things got better

Going outside for a walk with a camera, binoculars, and (now clean) dogs is a sure way to make things better. The grass rustling underfoot and the birds singing in the trees is instantly uplifting!

I also saw the Orioles, Pygmy Woodpeckers, Coppersmith Barbet, and more!

Then things got even better

I always expect something good from the Big Pond. This time, it exceeded my expectations! To get to the pond from the cottage, you cross a bridge then walk up a short but steep incline, then end up on top of the bank of the Big Pond. This is my usual viewing area. I am at one end of the pond and the ducks are at the other end.

This time I had to stop before I reached the top of the bank because there were so many ducks in the pond! There were ducks swimming right below the area where I would usually stand! This was the closest I had even been to the ducks in the refuge.

I didn’t want to scare the ducks away, so I stayed just halfway up the incline and waited for the ducks to swim into view, and took pictures from there. I was so happy with the pictures!

The following morning Tonji took drone footage of the Big Pond and counted the ducks. The number we had in July was 47 ducks. Our guess before going through the drone footage was at least 80 ducks. And the count from the drone footage was .. 136 ducks!

And it was all magic!

We were feeling elated and and high from seeing all the ducks and even a bayawak in the Big Pond. It had all worked so well that day — the pond, the ducks, the drone! And then, there was one more surprise for us. When night fell, the fireflies came out and put on a magical show at our Firefly tree!

July 2025

July was an interesting month. We visited the farm while there was a typhoon or tropical depression far away in the north. Of course there was a lot of rain! Even with all the rain, there was still so much to see and enjoy.

Philippine Ducks

The ducks were flying back and forth and all around. We guessed they were going from the Big Pond to the Water Lily Pond, and possibly other areas in the refuge. All the rain has filled up the smaller ponds. There are now many spots for the ducks to swim in! Tonji counted 47 ducks in the Big Pond.

Weird Hybrid Duck

Our strange visitor is still around. I wonder how long he plans to stay?

Water Lily Pond

The Water Lily Pond is still going strong! All the plants make this an enchanting place to visit.

Other Pond Denizens

The pond’s cast of characters continues to grow! In the past, we would usually see Black Crowned Night Herons flying overhead. This time we saw one perched!

We are wondering if this is the same Purple Heron that we would see in the Picnic Area back in the early days. It’s nice to see it by the water!

This Month’s Exciting Moment for Us as Birdwatchers

We have a picture of an Asian Koel! If you have an Asian Koel in your area, you probably know about it from its call. Their calls are very loud, even scandalously loud. Their call starts off normally, then gets louder and higher in pitch and intensity and sounds like someone in the throes of unrestrained passionate ecstasy. They manage to do all this while remaining mostly hidden and difficult to spot.

We were surprised to see one out in the open. I assumed it was a crow, but Tonji told me to take pics because it was hopping around like a Koel, not a crow!

On a side note, I saw Koels in a golf course outside Bangkok and they were easy to see. Or maybe I was just lucky or my caddie was a good birdwatcher.

June 2025 – Weird Hybrid Duck!

There is a weird hybrid duck hanging out with the Philippine Ducks. We first saw it in the Big Pond swimming . When the Philippine Ducks flew to the Water Lily Pond, it went with them. When they flew back to the Big Pond, it was still with them! It seems determined to hang out with the Philippine Ducks!

It’s much bigger than the Philippine Ducks

The lotus in the Big Pond are even bigger now.

I went around with my camera and binoculars to look for birds to photograph. It’s no surprise that the best spots are:

The front of the cottage – we spend the most time hanging out in the veranda, so it’s strategically planted with trees and bushes for the birds!

The Big Pond – the areas around the pond are also attractive to the birds. There are probably a lot bugs and I imagine that the plants and trees nearby are growing extra well.

female Philippine Magpie Robin near the Big Pond

The Picnic Area – this area has a flat grassy area with a few trees in the middle, a path with trees on the side, and the Water Lily pond. The open grass part makes it easier to spot birds.

PInk-necked Green Pigeon in the picnic area

Side note

I sewed this blouse to wear at the refuge!

May 2025 – Bird #112

I used to dread going to the refuge in May, the hottest part of the year. It was stressful to see all that was green turn yellow and brown. This year however was not bad at all!

LOTS OF WATER

The Big Pond still has water! When we built the Big Pond last year, we made it as wide and as deep as we could. Our goal was to build a pond for wildlife that would capture rainwater and hold it year round unlike the ponds we had built previously which dry up during the summer months. The theory was that if we made the pond very big and very deep, it would retain water the whole year round. And the theory worked!

In the months leading up to summer, I wasn’t 100% confident that the water in the pond would last until rainy season. I was worried that the pond hadn’t collected as much water as possible. I expected the water to surround the island and maybe even reach the top of the spillway.

What an amazing sight to see a pond with water in the peak of summer! I think all the water plants also helped keep the water from drying up. It’s such a treat to visit the pond and see all the birds and plants. We counted 30 Philippine Ducks at the Big Pond. Seeing the pond in summer makes us want to build Big Pond No. 2!

LOTS OF BIRDS

Bird #112, Common Moorhen at the Big Pond

We added a new bird to the Refuge Bird List. Bird #112 is a Common Moorhen Galinula chloropus. It’s not a rare or unusual bird, and is usually found in ponds. Seeing one casually walking on the bank of the Big Pond was so satisfying. We have added a new type of habitat to our refuge that wasn’t there before and now the usual cast of pond characters are showing up at our place!

There’s a family of Greater Painted Snipes living in the Water Lily Pond area.

The male greater Greater Painted Snipes are the ones that take care of the babies. This male stayed behind when I accidentally flushed a group of them from the Water Lily Pond. I think the ones that flew off were the juveniles. This male stayed behind for a long time. Maybe he was trying to draw attention away from the juveniles?

I spotted the female in the distance, far away from the family.

We saw a family of Red Junglefowl Gallus gallus at the horse paddock. There was a male, femaile, and 4 babies! The native domestic chickens are descended from this species.

Other interesting birds we saw this month were this Garden Sunbird at the Big Pond showing off its irridescent throat feathers

and this White Eared Brown Dove.

LOTS OF PLANTS

Our second Philippine Teak finally bloomed. We have a pair of Philippine Teak trees that came from the late Dr. Ed Gomez. One of them has produced flowers several times already since 2019. The other one just bloomed this year!

The lotus plants in the Big Pond have amazing flowers!

LOTS OF PLANS

We bought 150 pieces of Philippine Teak from Mark Carranza of La Luz. We will keep them in the nursery until rainy season comes around. Then, tree planting time again! He also gave us some native plants that are good as ornamentals — a type of jasmine and colorful shrub Memecylon edule.

This was a very nice May and I think it’s mainly thanks to the Big Pond!