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Birds in my garden and beyond

By Camille King

As a photographer, my favorite subjects are my daughter and nephews. In addition, I love photographing celebrations, milestones, travel and the everyday. One of my goals as a photographer for 2020 was to learn street photography to add to my portfolio and widen the genres I photograph. The plan was to do this during travel but Covid happened.

The Philippine Government implemented community quarantine/lockdown in March. Being home the whole day and every day, I noticed different bird species visiting my garden. I invested in a super telephoto in zoom lens in May. I never had plans of getting into wildlife photography nor did I have any interest in it. I am so glad I discovered it (but wish it was under better circumstances) and I am constantly amazed that there are more than Eurasian Tree Sparrows in Metro Manila.

I live in a community in Quezon City (Katipunan Area) that has a lot of trees which urban birds (residents and migrants) feed on, nest and take shelter in. Here are a few images of urban bird species that I photographed from my window and around my neighborhood.

A Yellow-vented Bulbul is a common urban bird.

I was cooking lunch one morning when I noticed a Yellow-vented Bulbul enjoying a Papaya in the tree outside my window.

Walking around my neighborhood and in an empty lot, I spotted this Long-tailed Shrike perched on a branch.

The Olive-backed Sunbirds are regulars in my garden.

Olive-backed Sunbird (Male) on tree outside my window.

Olive-backed Sunbird (Female) on a tree in my garden.

Chestnut Munia gathering branches and leaves in my garden possibly for a nest.

If I had to choose a favorite, it would be the Philippine Hanging Parrot due to its vibrant colors.

The Black-naped Oriole is another regular in my garden. It makes loud calls sometimes like screaming so I know when they are around.

The Collared Kingfisher is gorgeous with its iridescent blue hues. I spotted this on a utility wire. They aren’t spooked by cars passing by.

One afternoon as I was looking outside my window, I was lucky to observe a Rusty-breasted Cuckoo on a tree outside my window. It was feeding on a caterpillar or itchy worm. I only saw it once.

This Philippine Pied Fantail loves hanging out in the branch right outside my bedroom window. I photographed it as it was landing.

The Philippine Woodpecker loves feeding and pecking on the trees in my garden. Who knew there are Woodpeckers in the Philippines? At least, I didn’t! This is my favorite image to date.

As I was looking outside my window, I saw movement in my neighbor’s garden and spotted this Pied Triller. I don’t see it very often so I was trilled! (hee!hee!)

My least favorite species are the birds with dominantly black plumage as I prefer colorful species.

I must admit these Crested Mynas are quite good-looking despite the dark plumage.

If you got to reading this far, thank you! There are still other species I photographed just within my community but will stop here because I could go on and on. I never planned on getting into this genre but I am now hooked! I look forward to travelling locally and internationally to photograph other species. Then by sharing my images with others, I hope to spark in them an interest in birds too.

2 Comments

  1. Benny Soon Foon Fah

    Hello,

    I’m Benny Soon FF, a Malaysian married to Filipino (from Lemery, Batangas) and currently staying in Malaysia.
    My wife and me are Birder. We and friends plan to do birding in Philippine.

    Would appreciate, if you could recommend, Good Bird guide for our birding trip.

    Thank you

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