bird photography – Page 2 – 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.

April 2025 – The Other Pond Creatures

I write a lot about the Philippine Ducks in the Big Pond. What other birds that are not Philippine Ducks visit the Big Pond?

The Blue-Tailed Bee-Eater in the photo at the top. It was perched very close.

Coppersmith Barbet, very colorful and loud!

Olive-backed Sunbird. It has a beautiful song.

Grey Wagtail.

Barred Rail. We are seeing them more frequently.

Northern Shoveler.

We also had our first lotus flowers in the Big Pond. Our friends Ixi and Mikeli gave us 2 water lily plants and I thought they died. It turns out they had been growing and spreading. I didn’t recognize them as lotus plants because they were mixed in with some water lilies. I also don’t know why so many of the leaves are dried up and brown.

The Salingogon tree near the horses house flowered for the first time! We have two of these Salingogon trees. The flowers are very small and dainty.

The Balai Lamok near the cottage made a miraculous comeback! Last October 2024, there was a huge miscommunication with our caretakers and they removed our beautiful Balai Lamok! Not even a stump was left. We felt crushed and sad and immediately planted something else in its place in an effort to erase the bad memory. It seems the Balai Lamok was not compeletely uprooted. There are now multiple sprouts coming out of the ground!

Tonji said that he saw 2 Scale Feathered Malkohas while he was on the tractor cutting the grass. We went out twice to look for them, but did not see them.

This is what we did see.

Taluto aka Winged Boot. It seems like all of a sudden, we have several of these trees growing.

More Barred Rails!

These amazing colors all around!

March 2025 – Bird #111 !

On our last visit to the refuge, we saw a Black-winged Stilt walking up and down the the shore of the Big Pond. This visit, we saw 4 Wood Sandpipers! They are a new addition to our Farm Bird List. They were definitely attracted by the Big Pond.

The stars of the pond, the Philippine Ducks walked up to the Wood Sandpipers and sat down near them. The following morning, the Wood Sandpipers had left. There were around 40 Philippine Ducks at the Big Pond. Tonji also saw a Cuckoo species, but he wasn’t able to ID it.

There was also a big Bayawak!

We enjoyed the last bits of cool weather. There’s a cool breeze in the evening and early morning, grass is still green, and the Bagawak Morado is full of flowers.

The Malabulak trees we planted as a buffer zone between the pond and the road outside have grown! These trees came from the seeds of our first Malabulak trees.