YESTERDAY, I heard my first tarat (shriek) chirp its so distinctive, well, shriek. Rather too late in the day as when I still lived in St. Jude Village where every September 10 on the feast day of St. Nicholas of Tolentino, I woke up without fail to the cacophony of shrieks.
Anyways, the coming of the tarat presages the arrival of migratory birds to the country escaping from their cold, cold natural habitats. Opens then the bird-watching season, with Candaba town once again finding prominence in the tourism map.
Last year, Candaba got a big boost in its claim to be the bird watching capital of the Philippines when two new rare fowls were spotted among the thousands of migratory birds at the Candaba wetlands during an Asian waterbird census organized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in coordination with the Candaba LGU and the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (WBCP).
It was disclosed by Mike Lu, president of WBCP, that discovering the rare Black-Faced Spoon Bill (platalea minor) and the Pied Avocet (pecurriovostra avosetta) at the Candaba wetlands was “very significant as these birds are classified as extremely rare and critically endangered.”
According to Lu the Pied Avocet was spotted in 1991 in Puerto Princesa, Palawan and only resurfaced in the Candaba wetlands in 2008.
More spectacular, Lu commented, was the Spoon Bill, said to have been last spotted in 1914, reappeared in a coastal lagoon in Paranaque last year, and appearing in Candaba for the first time.
“The appearance of the Spoon Bill sets the third record for Candaba for the place where it was again spotted,” Lu told a media conference at the site last year.
Taken by the discoveries, DENR Secretary Lito Atienza said his department has recognized the potential of Candaba as a wildlife sanctuary for migratory birds from Asia and other countries.
He added that a bird census has been conducted in at least 50 to 60 wetland areas in the country with the express intent “to provide the basis for estimates of waterbird populations, monitor changes in waterbird numbers and distribution by regular and standardized counts of representative wetlands, and improve knowledge of little-known waterbird species and wetlands.”
That, Atienza said, aside from serving as provider of information on conservation status of waterbird species and increase awareness of the importance of waterbirds and their wetland habitats at the local, national, and international levels.
One year hence, what initiatives has Atienza undertaken to concretized those lofty pronouncements? The only thing we’ve come to know of Atienza as regards Pampanga was his signing the death warrant for the hundreds of fully-grown trees – from acacia to camachiles and narra – along the San Fernando stretch of the MacArthur Highway and but for the determined opposition of environmentalists, Atienza’s order would have succeeded in desertifying the whole length and breadth of the Manila North Road. We hope Atienza would be more bird-friendly than tree-hating.
For there is much at stake in the Candaba wetlands. Consider: In 2008, the Asian waterbird census yielded a strong number of 17,000 bird sightings at the Candaba wetlands with at least 30 bird species. Among the birds spotted were Garganeys (1,335), Whiskered Tern (3,194), and Egrets.
Lu reported 12,613 bird sightings in two census cites in Barangays Dona Simang and Paralaya, comprising of 41 species of wild water birds.
Thank Allah for Candaba Mayor Jerry Pelayo who put his once somnolent town in the international map of bird-watching.
Koyang Jerry recognizes that “ migratory birds present the sterling realization that Candaba can become a focal point of world wild life tourism and a feature town in terms of wildlife preservation.”
Walking his talk, Koyang Jerry moved the local government to institute a monitoring scheme and information drive to effectively protect the wildlife in the Candaba wetlands. He cited the now signature festival of the town honoring the migratory birds – the Ibon-Ebon festival – as Candaba’s commitment to the protection of the birds and the preservation of the wetlands.
That coming from Candaba’s Biggest Bird, we can only be reassured that the migratory birds flocking Pampanga’s biggest swamp will be enjoyed by all for more years to come.
Anyways, the coming of the tarat presages the arrival of migratory birds to the country escaping from their cold, cold natural habitats. Opens then the bird-watching season, with Candaba town once again finding prominence in the tourism map.
Last year, Candaba got a big boost in its claim to be the bird watching capital of the Philippines when two new rare fowls were spotted among the thousands of migratory birds at the Candaba wetlands during an Asian waterbird census organized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in coordination with the Candaba LGU and the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (WBCP).
It was disclosed by Mike Lu, president of WBCP, that discovering the rare Black-Faced Spoon Bill (platalea minor) and the Pied Avocet (pecurriovostra avosetta) at the Candaba wetlands was “very significant as these birds are classified as extremely rare and critically endangered.”
According to Lu the Pied Avocet was spotted in 1991 in Puerto Princesa, Palawan and only resurfaced in the Candaba wetlands in 2008.
More spectacular, Lu commented, was the Spoon Bill, said to have been last spotted in 1914, reappeared in a coastal lagoon in Paranaque last year, and appearing in Candaba for the first time.
“The appearance of the Spoon Bill sets the third record for Candaba for the place where it was again spotted,” Lu told a media conference at the site last year.
Taken by the discoveries, DENR Secretary Lito Atienza said his department has recognized the potential of Candaba as a wildlife sanctuary for migratory birds from Asia and other countries.
He added that a bird census has been conducted in at least 50 to 60 wetland areas in the country with the express intent “to provide the basis for estimates of waterbird populations, monitor changes in waterbird numbers and distribution by regular and standardized counts of representative wetlands, and improve knowledge of little-known waterbird species and wetlands.”
That, Atienza said, aside from serving as provider of information on conservation status of waterbird species and increase awareness of the importance of waterbirds and their wetland habitats at the local, national, and international levels.
One year hence, what initiatives has Atienza undertaken to concretized those lofty pronouncements? The only thing we’ve come to know of Atienza as regards Pampanga was his signing the death warrant for the hundreds of fully-grown trees – from acacia to camachiles and narra – along the San Fernando stretch of the MacArthur Highway and but for the determined opposition of environmentalists, Atienza’s order would have succeeded in desertifying the whole length and breadth of the Manila North Road. We hope Atienza would be more bird-friendly than tree-hating.
For there is much at stake in the Candaba wetlands. Consider: In 2008, the Asian waterbird census yielded a strong number of 17,000 bird sightings at the Candaba wetlands with at least 30 bird species. Among the birds spotted were Garganeys (1,335), Whiskered Tern (3,194), and Egrets.
Lu reported 12,613 bird sightings in two census cites in Barangays Dona Simang and Paralaya, comprising of 41 species of wild water birds.
Thank Allah for Candaba Mayor Jerry Pelayo who put his once somnolent town in the international map of bird-watching.
Koyang Jerry recognizes that “ migratory birds present the sterling realization that Candaba can become a focal point of world wild life tourism and a feature town in terms of wildlife preservation.”
Walking his talk, Koyang Jerry moved the local government to institute a monitoring scheme and information drive to effectively protect the wildlife in the Candaba wetlands. He cited the now signature festival of the town honoring the migratory birds – the Ibon-Ebon festival – as Candaba’s commitment to the protection of the birds and the preservation of the wetlands.
That coming from Candaba’s Biggest Bird, we can only be reassured that the migratory birds flocking Pampanga’s biggest swamp will be enjoyed by all for more years to come.
