Wild Birds – Page 13 – Tonji and Sylvia's Wildlife Refuge

23 Ducks at the Farm!

We saw a record number of Philippine Ducks at the farm! 23 ducks at Pond #1. We were happy and surprised to see them. We thought that the two Pied Harriers that are wintering in our place drove the ducks away from their usual hangout. So nice to see that they’re still there are that there are more of them!

We walked to Pond #1 thinking that it was probably not being used by the ducks. We wanted to check the water level. As we approached, the ducks flew into the air. We watched them for a few minutes, Tonji took a video, then we turned to leave the area so the ducks could go back. They were circling over us and calling out. Barkley however ran towards the pond. He ignored us when we called him back. So Tonji went to get him and was able to quickly look at the pond. The water level was high and the grass around the pond was flat, probably from the ducks sitting on it!

Seeing these birds encourages us to make new projects! When summer comes Tonji will start a new, bigger pond with either a lookout tower or a hide for observing the birds. Or maybe he’ll make a “scrape”, like a shallow rice paddy to see if it will attract birds that like to forage in shallow water.

We’re In a Book!

One of the owls from the farm is in this Japanese bird book!

It’s our Grass Owl!

It’s one of the photos I took of Eastern Grass Owl Tyto longimembris.

Ten Things to Enjoy in October

1. Tali and Laiya

The two Pied Harriers that we spotted in August are still around and appear to be settling in for the winter. They are migrants from Amur Valley in Eastern Russia or NE China. They look so comfortable in our place that we gave them names. We named them after famous beaches in Batangas.

_E7A7550 — This is Tali, she has a string tied around her leg. We don’t know how the string got there.

2. Rain

It has been raining more than is usual for this time of the year. It’s good for the plants and it also brings out the dragonflies!

3. Baby birds

We’ve been noticing flocks of munias. Upon closer inspection, they are young Chestnut Munias! I always thought we should have more munias in our grassland areas. Maybe now we will!

4. Interesting plants

I am still wondering what this is. The yellow ball is soft and looks like a tiny cauliflower.

5. Spending time with loved ones

We appreciate it a lot when people make the effort to visit us in our place! It’s a long drive out from the city!

6. Eating locally and seasonally

It’s nice to see that there’s more than just mango and dragonfruit growing in our area. There’s also lansones, dalandan, mandarin (big dalandan), rambutan, guyabano, banana, and santol.

7. A new bird for the Farm Bird List!

We had new avian visitors on the same day as our human visitors! Tonji and one of my cousins saw two Ruddy Kingfishers!

Our guests also got to see:

1 Philippine Duck flying near pond #1
2 Pied Harriers circling around the pond area
2 Grass Owls flying in front of the house as the sun went down

8. The magical firely tree

Shortly after the sun set, we turned off the lights and brought our guests to the garage to watch the big Albizzia procera tree slowly get lit up by fireflies.