We installed two camera traps in the Big Pond and one in the Water Lily Pond just to see what we would get. We also put one by the swimming pool, but unfortunately I forgot to turn it on!
We are using a very simple camera. We like that it works on AA batteries. Note: get the Energizer batteries! They really outlast the non-branded ones. This camera doesn’t connect to wifi. You just leave it in place, then go back and physically remove the cards and then go through all the photos! There were thousands of photos!
This is what we got:
Ducks feeding
There are two kinds of ducks when it comes to the way they get their food. The dabblers and the divers. Philippine Ducks are dabbling ducks. We have a lot of photos of Philippine Ducks feeding in the same exact spot!
Bayawak!
It was just swimming. I don’t know if they can eat ducks. We also saw it sunning itself on the spillway when we visited.
Two kinds of Kingfishers
The first picture is a Common Kingfisher, the second is a Buff Throated Kingfisher.
Close up of the brown hybrid duck
We saw this duck in September. I thought it was a black duck. It turns out to be brown with very nice markings!
Purple Heron close ups
We think this is is our one and only Purple Heron that has been around since the early days of the farm refuge.
Little Grebe!
Very nice to see a Little Grebe in the Big Pond. We didn’t see it when we visited and inspected the ponds, so it’s nice to know that it’s there!
Next time I will try to set up the camera at the Water Lily Pond closer to the water. The photos come out much better if the camera is nearer to the subject. Otherwise, even the colors of the birds don’t come out clearly.
The Big Pond has yielded another new bird for the farm refuge!
Bird #122 is White-browed Crake Porzana cinerea. It was walking on top of the lotus leaves, just like the illustration in the Kennedy field guide!
During our visit we also saw:
One Little Grebe. It’s probably a resident now!
8 Black-winged Stilts.
Egrets.
it has a plume
Buff-throated Kingfisher.
Barred Rails. There were two!
Swallows. I think this is a Pacific Swallow.
A lot of Philippine Ducks.
And Wandering Whistling Ducks! When I visited the Big Pond in the afternoon, at first all the ducks flew away. Then they came back and started grooming and settling in for the night. The Wandering Whistling Ducks and Philippine Ducks were mixed togther. It seems that they are now a mixed flock. Later in the evening, I saw the Wandering Whistling Ducks flying around in a V formation while calling out.
I got a nice photo of a Tawny Grassbird. I tend to have a hard time photographing them. This time I didn’t give up and after many shots of leaves and branches and bird bits, I got a good photo!
Tawny Grasssbird
The Water Lily pond is ready for the upcoming rainy season! Tonji finished widening and deepening the pond.
Tubby climbing out of the Water Lily Pond. He’s a 4×4 puppy!
He also widened the channel that connects the left and right sides of the Water Lily pond.
We are enjoying the fruits and flowers of summer. The grass is all dried up and and looks like straw. But when you look at the trees, they are green and bursting with flowers!
Narra trees in flower beside the paddockBalai LamokBalai Lamok with Narra in the backgroundLanete tree covered in flowersLanete flowersLanete flowers
The guava trees that grow wild all over the farm have small and delicious fruit. I am always on the lookout for ripe fruit. Oftentimes the birds beat me to the fruit. This time there were a lot of hantik (big red ants) making nests in the guava trees and crawling all over the fruit. I was able to get a few though!
I also ate a few aratiles. So sweet!
And here’s a cute video of Tubby bounding down to the grass like a little rabbit.
We have a new, very squishy, very cute French Bulldog puppy. His name is Tubby. Tonji had been wanting to get a French Bulldog and I had been resisting. Then one day my sister messaged me asking if I wanted one. For free to a good home from her architect! I paused for a minute and thought, if it’s a male and black and white, then it’s a sign that I should say yes to this puppy and yes to Tonji’s dream of having a French Bulldog.
I’m glad I said yes and I’m grateful to his owner for giving him to us! We are enjoying having a little one again.
Tubby has such a great personality. He’s very curious and outgoing. Even if he falls into a hole in the ground, he gets right back up again!
I thought Ollie was the one who wanted another doggie buddy. I thought they would play together.
It turns out that Lulu is the one who enjoys playing with Tubby! She licks his face and lets him climb all over her. They play tug of war together. She has become much more active and playful now that Tubby is around.
We also took him for his first swim. He didn’t seem that excited about swimming. Maybe when he has a proper life vest.
Tubby enjoyed running in the grass and even managed to retrieve his toy hoop!
Tubby playing fetch!
the pack walking to the Big pond
It is so much fun to have a little dog again. Tubby’s spunky, go-getter personality reminded us so much of all the fun we had with Barkley that later that evening, I had a dream about Momo. In my dream I was looking for Momo. I kept asking, “Where’s Momo?” When I remembered that Momo was gone, I woke up with a start!
We didn’t get to do much during out visit because we were so excited about having Tubby and also because our visit got cut short by a medical emergency back home.
Tonji is taking advantage of the hot and dry weather to improve the Water Lily Pond. He’s using the CASE skid loader to make part of the pond deeper and wider so that it will hold more water when rainy season comes.
another walk, to the Water Lily Pond
We have tree near the pool that always makes us whether or not it should be there, in such a prominent spot. We bought it in an agricultural fair many years ago, when we weren’t committed to planting Philippine native trees. This month, our “foreign” tree looked the prettiest it’s every looked! It gets to stay for now!
Tonji by the “foreign” tree with his dogs, Lulu and Tubbythe gang!
It was a short but very nice visit to the refuge. I had to carry Tubby on the drive to the farm. This is him on the drive home!
Here are 10 reasons why you should build your own wildlife sanctuary.
1. There’s a good chance your government won’t do it for you. Unless you live in some forward thinking country that recognizes the inherent value of its biodiversity, there will most likely be less and less natural spaces where wildlife can flourish and that you can access in your future. I recently heard of a group of 10 friends that banded together to buy 10 adjoining parcels of undeveloped land. They all agreed to each build on a small area and keep the rest of the area green so that they would have a big green space to enjoy! Imagine if more and more people had that mindset? There could be corridors of green criss-crossing the country!
2. You will be spoiled by all the birds. It’s amazing how nature can bounce back when given the opportunity and a helpful nudge. You will find yourself saying things like,”Oh, it’s just 3 Coppersmith Barbets in front of the cottage.” instead of “I remember back in the day, many years ago, there were more birds and you could see them easily, and now there are none.”
3. White-eared Brown Doves and Philippine Bulbuls from the comfort of your veranda. Aside from the usual garden birds, you will get forest birds. It really is true that if you build it, they will come. In this case, if you provide the habitat, they will come!
White-eared Brown DovePhilippine Bulbul
4. Baby munias feasting on seeds. What could be cuter than a flock of baby birds?
Scaly-breasted Munias
5. You will have fun. Of course it’s not just the birds and wildlife that are having fun. You will have so much fun too! You want to walk around in a camouflage cape and try to sneak up on ducks so you can photograph them without disturbing them? You can do it!
6. You will come up with so many fun projects. Your mind will open up when you’re outside surrounded by wide vistas. You’ll come up with all sorts of ideas that might not have occurred to you before. When we visited the sanctuary time we thought, let’s make a small hide in the Big Pond so we can view the ducks without disturbing them.
7. You will make your dogs happy. They might even become the happiest dogs you know. Outdoorsy dogs will definitely approve of your sanctuary. This sanctuary was also approved by the original farm dogs Momo the dachshund and Barkley the Boston Terrier.
Lulu is the first one in the truck!
8. Watching ducks instead of your phone. You get to sit down on a grassy bank in the afternoon to see and hear Philippine Ducks settling down for the day.
9. You can restore what was destroyed. In an ideal scenario, you could acquire a forest or other type of habitat that’s rich with wildlife and protect it. But that’s highly unlikely. Chances are the properties that are available are bare or denuded or over-farmed or choked up with weeds. This is ok! You don’t need to start from pristine land to make a sanctuary!
Here’s a powerful quote from FORRU-CMU:
Tropical forests, once destroyed, are lost forever” – NOT TRUE. It is possible to transform largely deforested landscapes into tropical forest that supports rich biodiversity in just a few years.
In just a few years! Not decades! They even have a free book that shows you how. Click on the link below to download the book. Restoring Tropical Forests by FORRU-CMU
10. You will make the world a little bit better! Who doesn’t want a better world? You don’t have to wait for the government or a big foundation to take action. You can start small. You can team up with like-minded friends. You can be the change you want to see!
