breathing space: garden

Showing posts with label garden. Show all posts

Sunday, September 16

Birthday Bathing Bulbuls

A few weekends ago I celebrated my nth year in this world with lunch with my family at home. Our dining room faces the backyard and we noticed a commotion in the backyard bird bath. The heat and humidity was almost unbearable and several bulbuls were lining up to take a quick dip!

Of course they were their usually orderly selves and lined up to take turns at the bird bath. Even if the bath was quite spacious for a bulbul, they only went in one at a time!

As soon as one bird stepped up to the rim of the bath, another quickly stepped into the water and splashed around.

From the rim they would fly up to perch on the nearby branches to continue flapping and shaking dry. All around the other bulbuls would patiently wait their turn.

At most there were maybe 16 bulbuls lined up!

The most we could get in one frame was 10 bulbuls though. Can you count them in the photo below?

Several years after having installed the first of many bird baths in the yard, I still get a thrill when I see a bird splashing in the water. Always glad to provide some refreshment to my feathered neighbors. And I was happy they dropped by during my birthday lunch as well!

Monday, May 1

The nesting neighbors, Part 2

While the barbets were busy with their family, the Yellow-vented Bulbuls were also off to a prolific start. As I was seated on a garden bench, a pair of bulbuls kept circling around me, busy catching moths in flight and looking around, under and over each and every bush. That they were too busy to pay me much mind was a sure sign that they had only one goal: to feed a growing nestling! I watched them closely and sure enough both of them headed straight for a low branch of the rambutan tree, to be met with the eager chirping of two fledglings!

A very hungry baby

I am always amazed at the amount of energy invested in raising a family. I doubt any small insect or moth has much of a chance surviving when there is a bulbul pair agressively hunting them down to feed a hungry chick.

An adult scouring every nook and cranny for food

In this case, there were 2 chicks - little balls of feathers with hardly any tails and huge mouths agape. They were big and strong enough to jump around nearby branches, getting uber excited when one of the adults lands nearby.

Two balls of feathers patiently waiting for mom and dad...

... and they go crazy when mom/dad come with food!

I was quite afraid they would miss their mark as they tried to out jump/ out fly each other in order to get to the parent before its sibling.

Knowing there was a pair of fledglings in the yard, it was easy to keep track of them over the days. The eager chirping would easily give away which tree they were in. They stayed around the garden for a couple of weeks, and began to stray from back to front yard as they grew more confident in their flight.

Growing older and getting bigger

But no less demanding!

Sadly, only one of the fledglings apparently made it to adulthood from what I could tell. While watering the plants in the garden, Kuya Ramil found a young dead bulbul in the leaf litter, being consumed by ants.

Over before it really began for this little one.

"I think it was one of the ones we were keeping track off," he told me.

Sure enough, an adult flew past us followed by a single noisy, nagging young bird. I remember WBCP-er Des telling us that only one in ten tropical nests are successful, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise to find the young dead bird.

I wonder what caused its death though? It was quite strong and developed already. Did the parents not have enough energy to raise 2 birds to full adulthood? Did it meet an untimely death with an encounter with a predator? Was it an accident?

I suppose we will never know.

I've seen at least two new bulbul nests in the yard, most probably from different pairs, but maybe a second nest for the season for the parents.

Hopefully, this one made it.

And life goes on for the garden bulbuls.

Sunday, January 15

A bat in the backyard

While puttering about the garden, I saw a small pile of talisay (Terminalia catappa) fruit on the ground together with a small unripe macopa (Syzygium samarangense) fruit. This was several feet away from the nearest tree of either species. The talisay fruit was gnawed down to the seed, bite marks very clearly scarring the surfaces. Hmmmm...

Having some idea of the culprit, I looked up, and sure enough, there was a tiny bat hanging upside down from the tree canopy above me.

Ooops, I think I've been spotted! Here's the little bat taking a look down at me looking up at him.

How cool!

Frugivorous bats are well-known dispersers of talisay seeds, so if you come across a talisay seedling with no mother plant nearby, this flying mammal could be your sower.

I've always wondered where the bats I hear flying around at night roost. Nice to know the garden is home to another wild animal.

(And yes, I scattered the pile of seeds after I took the photo... didn't want my mom finding about our furry friend. I don't think she would be pleased.)

UPDATE: My friend (and wildlife biologist) JC identified batty as Cynopterus brachyotis, lesser dog-faced fruit bat (common short-nosed fruit bat, lesser short-nosed fruit bat). And this weekend, when I checked, there were two of them! Hope they hang around (haha).

Sunday, September 18

While waiting for BBS*

*BBS = Backyard Brown Shrike

The garden has been high in bird activity the past few weeks. This is mostly because the rambutan is fruiting, but it's also because the migrant brown shrikes are slowly trickling in. The ripening of the rambutan coincides with the return of these feisty birds leading to the jostling for position and re-drawing of territories for the season.

Probably least concerned with the return of the migrants are the Large-billed Crows. A pair of them always lands on the tree outside our bedroom window in the morning, their loud cawing in dissonance with the pleasant dawn chorus.

At center stage are the lovable green Colasisi, twittering the day away in the rambutan trees. I have seen as many as 6 individuals on a single tree, slowly picking away at the thick red rind to get to the juicy white flesh of the fruit.

Small quarrels would erupt as they fought for the ripest fruit, or stood guard over their carefully opened treat.

Joining in the feast are a few shrewd Yellow-vented Bulbuls, on the look out for already opened fruit. They fly in to enjoy their own feast.

The Colasisi feed most actively during the morning and late afternoon. At midday, we would hear their soft chirping as they rested. It was almost comical to watch them dropping their heads while falling asleep after their meal, their bellies probably full of the sweet fruit.

Elsewhere in the garden, the Philippine Pied Fantail still rules, its melodious call resonating from every corner. It flies back and forth around the yard, turning with a sharp snap of its wings and graceful fanning of its tail.

The pair of Olive-backed Sunbirds, which occupy the shared corner with the next door yard, are already being bullied by the neighbor's BBS. What can they do but sing loudly from their clothesline perch in protest.

I am certain that the large flocks of Eurasian Tree Sparrows will disperse as soon as BBS arrives, the young ones had better learn quickly to avoid the king when he returns.

True to their less popular name, the Peaceful Doves (Zebra Doves), continue to be placid amidst the haste of the changing season. They quietly forage in the grass, or preen while perched on branch or electric wire. Their quiet cooing is only interrupted when they take off, surprised by the slightest of movements.

And the wait for the arrival of BBS continues.

Wednesday, August 3

Wannabe bird-mom

One morning I heard the twittering of young Lowland White-eyes in the garden and I quickly located three of them perched on the golden shower tree.

To my surprise, a Eurasian Tree Sparrow was feeding them! (Or at least seemed to be, it was handing food material to each of the young white-eye's beaks!)

And the white-eyes seemed very receptive to the food of their aspiring mother.

Soon though, the true white-eye parent came along and there was a flurry of wings as it chased the wannabe away.

I wonder what was up with that?

Sunday, May 1

Kiss the frog?

Tonight, we were happy to see one of our amphibious garden dwellers out in the open on a lotus leaf.

One of the more reticent of our garden frogs (haven't had the experience of him jumping at me, or worse, landing on my leg), this puddle frog is often hidden among the leaves.

I used to call him ugly frog... which I now realise is spectacularly unfair to him. The one tonight was quite large, the younger ones are usual less shy, but quickly dart away in a flash at slight movements.

Hello Occidozyga laevis, not-so-handsome frog!

Thursday, April 21

A backyard kind of April

With the shift in the school year calendar, it was only the sizzling hot temperatures which reminded me that it was actually summer already! Not having the time to break for the beach or head out of town to bird, I was happy to spend before- and after-school mornings and afternoons in the garden happily observing my feathered neighbors.

The Coppersmith Barbets are so-far-so-good with their nest which we first spotted in January. We hear them pok-pok-pok-ing all day, often perched just outside my window.

Early in April, they were busy feeding their little one, flying back and forth to their nest hole.

Do you see the baby barbet?

Remember their multi-level, multi-hole nest? It seems that the Eurasian Tree Sparrows are trying to take over one of the holes!

Land-grabber!

The barbets of course would have none of that! They tirelessly defend their territory and constantly chase away the little marauders.

Barbet versus Tree Sparrow!

The other birds are not a problem though, they are happy to share a perch with the Golden-bellied Gerygones for instance.

It's not only the barbets who have a family to raise. Some Colasisis have been moving about the garden, a female with 2 young ones in tow.

They're in the backyard, in the front yard, across the street, at the side yard... everywhere!
I've seen them nibbling at the fire tree flowers in front and the tamarind fruit out back.

Sampaloc snack

They are constantly squabbling, feeding and preening.

Can you do this?

That's why the call us hanging parrots!

Young Black-naped Orioles are also quite vocal. Here's one I caught having it's fill of duhat (jambulan) fruit.

It's great that the young birds seem not to mind our presence so much.

One afternoon, I saw a pair of immature Asian Glossy Starlings also perched on the duhat tree! This is a new one to the yard list. I wouldn't have noticed them if it weren't for their metallic calls reverberating in the backyard.

My what blood red eyes you have!

Of course the kings of the backyard still remain to be the Pied Fantails. With the BBS (backyard Brown Shrike) a no-show, they confidently patrol the entire garden plus the empty lot next door!

The only birds they seem to ignore are the Olive-backed Sunbirds who regularly come to feed on the ornamental banana plant nectar...

... and the Zebra Doves who always seem quite docile and reticent.

The other bullies of the garden of course are the Yellow-vented Bulbuls. They take over the bird baths and enjoy cool dips throughout the day. A pair in the front yard have already successfully fledged a single offspring. They're so busy looking through every nook and under leaf and corner of the garden for food to feed the young one.

FEED MEEEEEEH!

A pair of Pied Trillers has also been visiting quite regularly. I suspect they have a nest nearby too. In the golden afternoon light, their black and white (and grey in the case of the female) is uber-elegant.

We've also begun to notice an obviously growing population of Crested Mynas in the neighborhood. You can't miss them, white wing spots obvious in flight, and loud, musical calls when they are perched.

Front yard Brown Shrike is still here, although I expect him to leave any day now. He is not as territorial as before and is now bullied by the Bulbuls as well (probably defending their nest).

Another migrant which we were pleasantly surprised to see is a Peregrine Falcon. Faaaaaar from our yard, we have seen him perched several times on a communications tower almost a kilometer away from our house! Adri first spotted him while he was observing the barbets at their nest. Bored waiting, he scanned the communications tower and Voila! A Peregrine Falcon! (We even got Maia to spot it from her house... although now we realise she was looking at a DIFFERENT tower. Was it the SAME falcon? She writes about it here.

Digiscoped from a kilometer away!

So the backyard birds have been good in keeping me entertained as I am stuck in the city for the summer. I expect more activity as the migrants begin to leave and the residents are busy more nests and young birds.

In fact, it's not just the birds who have been keeping me entertained. Look who else has been procreating!