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.
photo by Tonji
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.
Rainy season is a good time to plant, remove invasive plants, and make a swale! A swale is a ditch that you build along the contour of the land to catch and slow down the flow of water. This will prevent the water from eroding the soil and creating a deep gully. Instead, you can direct the water towards trees and other plants.
Here is Tonji presenting our first swale project!
TRANSCRIPT:
This is our first swale project. We’re collecting the water from the areas — here, the roofs, the run off water– because that area is higher and it slopes down here to the reforestation area.
(So) This swale is about 100 meters and the water comes here, comes out here, at this point, and the water is collected in this swale which is around a hundred meters, to stop erosion inside the reforestation area there.
(Because) That area has a slope, so all the water gets stuck here and collected and is slowly watering the trees that we are replanting as well as the forest area slowly.
You can see this drizzle has collected that amount of water and its going down here and if you follow the swale line a hundred meters then it will hopefully water these plants every time it rains.
(So) These are Talisay and other trees. So this replanted area should be one of the best in the future because it will have a great water supply!
The Tibig we planted in 2012 has fruits! Look at how it’s grown!
We planted this tree beside the creek. Some say these trees can help recharge a natural spring. It’s usually found near water, so maybe it just grows where there is a lot of water rather than the tree causing the water levels to somehow increase. Or it could be both!
We’re collecting the seeds so we can plant more Tibig along the creek. The seeds are tiny!
November 2012December 2013July 2017fruits!The ripe fruits are yellow-orange
Tonji and Sylvia's Wildlife Refuge 