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| Bird Watching in Malagos |
Wild life is really among the things that I enjoy experiencing. It is a time being with the nature and creatures. Not always that I have time for such activities, but bird watching caught my attention. At the Philippine Eagle Center, also where the Malagos watershed is located, a free introduction to bird watching is an activity every first Saturday of the month. I signed up and joined!
Baguio District in Davao City is where the Philippine Eagle Center is located. It is more than an hour away from home commute, yet I am pretty interested to experience bird watching, thus, a very early call time, 6:00 AM, is not an issue. I had my early breakfast at home and got my camera with me, hoping for some great shots even with a 70mm to 300mm lens only, sad but hopeful - it is one photography challenge I want to explore and hopefully hone. :-p
It is a breezy morning at the Philippine Eagle Center, Malagos, Baguio District, Davao City. At the parking area, where the meeting place is set, you’ll hear the birds chirping and see them freely flying around. It is such a beauty to experience early in the morning. There are a number of students from the Ateneo de Davao University and University of the Philippines Mindanao joining. There are also some joiners, like me, with some expert bird watchers from Wild Bird Club of the Philippines and the Philippine Eagle Foundation to guide us during the activity.
There are a number of bird species in this area, said to be more than eighty (80). The activity hopes to at least see and hear more than half in a span of 3 hours. Participants are given a bird guide and a list of species to expect in the vicinity. Binoculars are also handed for use since most birds are perching on branches that sometimes camouflage with the leaves and can be clearly seen with binoculars. However, I am not able to get a copy but I have a guide, still hard to catch the birds and scroll the guide, so I just kept on taking photos. The activity aims to introduce people on bird watching and raise awareness of the amazing wild birds in Davao City.
As the activity is about to start, participants are reminded to be not so loud, have open ears and fast eye to hear and see where the birds are. It is also a way not to shoo away wild birds in the area. Here are some of my shots during the activity, have fun!
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| Early Birds in Malagos |
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| Bird at the Center |
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| Bird at the Branch |
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| See it? Bird at the Center |
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| Cute Colorful Birds |
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| Not Birds - Bats (mammal) |
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| Philippine Eagle |
After the 3-hour activity, participants are called to gather at the function room to share what birds they heard and saw. As a compilation, yes, 41 species where identified in a span of 3 hours. Isn't it great? Of course, it is! I hope to be really familiar of the birds, but my bad, I can only appreciate but not knowing them completely.
Thank you to all the guide and facilitators, it is such a great pleasure to experience the introduction to bird watching. You can always check the events of bird watching in the facebook pages of Birdwatching in Davao and Wild Bird Club of the Philippines - Davao. Perhaps, bird watching will be on your list in visiting Davao on a first weekend of the month. :-p
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