An entry for the birds...
Well hello world. Long time no blog. :)
I wish I could dazzle the world with amazing tales of my travels as of late, it being the summer months and all, however my current occupation is keeping me busy at the moment. I'd love to be able to travel and go on safaris and what not. Though the closest to a safari I might ever really get to go to would be in Zoobic.
I discovered something recently however. Or rather I remembered something. I once heard my mom's officemates talk about bird watching around the Ateneo Campus. I think there was even a bird-watching club of sorts there. Didn't give it much thought at the time. I really couldn't imagine myself running around campus with birding binoculars and camera in tow, waiting for the slightest sign of wild, feathered friends. Recently however, after my little adventure in Rizal park, having encountered the not-so-wild variety of resident birds and after reflecting on the birds I did see in captivity on a recent visit to the Arch of Avilon, the notion of active bird watching is starting to appeal to me.
One might expect to see either one of 2 types of "wild" fowl when living in the metropolis: the diminutive common-place brown maya, or the larger and more annoying pigeons (one word: poop). With the former getting not so common-place anymore (their numbers seem to be dwindling as of late) and the latter usually already belonging to domesticated flocks, one couldn't justify the purchase of birding binoculars to use on them.
However, armed with the knowledge that there are wild birds within my, er, reach (within the campuses of UP diliman and Ateneo de Manila University anyway), such a purchase could be and would be justifiable (so would good zoom lenses / add-ons for my camera!).
To date however, I don't recall having ever encountered anything wilder than a Maya when I was still studying at the AdMU. I think the only wild birds I've seen, in the wild, would be mostly sea birds. I remember having seen what I thought was a kingfisher while staying at Dive n Trek in Batangas, and I thought I saw an eagle or some similar bird of prey as well as wild crows when we went to Palawan. Here in Meycauayan though, I've seen several heron fly over head some eventful afternoons gone-by. Without birding binoculars however, I can't be sure about the eagle... but It really did look like one.
At any rate, by writing this article, I am challenging myself to yet another photography challenge: wildlife photography, specifically wild birds. Whether I'll ever have the equipment for such a challenge is beyond me. haha.
I wish I could dazzle the world with amazing tales of my travels as of late, it being the summer months and all, however my current occupation is keeping me busy at the moment. I'd love to be able to travel and go on safaris and what not. Though the closest to a safari I might ever really get to go to would be in Zoobic.
I discovered something recently however. Or rather I remembered something. I once heard my mom's officemates talk about bird watching around the Ateneo Campus. I think there was even a bird-watching club of sorts there. Didn't give it much thought at the time. I really couldn't imagine myself running around campus with birding binoculars and camera in tow, waiting for the slightest sign of wild, feathered friends. Recently however, after my little adventure in Rizal park, having encountered the not-so-wild variety of resident birds and after reflecting on the birds I did see in captivity on a recent visit to the Arch of Avilon, the notion of active bird watching is starting to appeal to me.
One might expect to see either one of 2 types of "wild" fowl when living in the metropolis: the diminutive common-place brown maya, or the larger and more annoying pigeons (one word: poop). With the former getting not so common-place anymore (their numbers seem to be dwindling as of late) and the latter usually already belonging to domesticated flocks, one couldn't justify the purchase of birding binoculars to use on them.
However, armed with the knowledge that there are wild birds within my, er, reach (within the campuses of UP diliman and Ateneo de Manila University anyway), such a purchase could be and would be justifiable (so would good zoom lenses / add-ons for my camera!).
To date however, I don't recall having ever encountered anything wilder than a Maya when I was still studying at the AdMU. I think the only wild birds I've seen, in the wild, would be mostly sea birds. I remember having seen what I thought was a kingfisher while staying at Dive n Trek in Batangas, and I thought I saw an eagle or some similar bird of prey as well as wild crows when we went to Palawan. Here in Meycauayan though, I've seen several heron fly over head some eventful afternoons gone-by. Without birding binoculars however, I can't be sure about the eagle... but It really did look like one.
At any rate, by writing this article, I am challenging myself to yet another photography challenge: wildlife photography, specifically wild birds. Whether I'll ever have the equipment for such a challenge is beyond me. haha.
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