{"id":1609,"date":"2004-05-27T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2004-05-27T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/2004\/05\/27\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina\/"},"modified":"2018-01-02T16:42:54","modified_gmt":"2018-01-02T16:42:54","slug":"birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina.html","title":{"rendered":"Birdwatching\n in the Philippines by Christina"},"content":{"rendered":"

On how my first birdwatching trip to Candaba, Pampanga
\n Province, Philippines made my enthusiasm for conservation take flight. <\/p>\n

\n Trudging stealthily on a marshland trail, struggling to keep alert despite it
\n being 5:30 in the morning. With binoculars slung over my neck and a species
\n list on hand, I tried to make as little noise as possible. Is this an
\n episode from National Geographic or a feature on the Discovery Channel? No,
\n but that’s what I felt like on my first bird-watching trip.<\/p>\n

\n It was a cold day in November when I was surprisingly able to coerce two of
\n my friends to pry ourselves out of bed at 3 in the morning to drive down to
\n the Haribon Foundation center. All we knew to prepare for the trip was to wear
\n dark clothing, bring a hat, some food and pay the joining fee. There I met
\n some 20 or so individuals, scientists, bird-watching enthusiasts from here
\n and abroad, and regular clueless folks like me.
\n \"our
\n We got to our destination the Candaba Marsh at dawn, and even before getting
\n off our van, they told us to spot Egrets flying over and into the distance. How
\n majestic they looked! Enormous wing span and quite easy to spot due to their
\n size and number. It was right about there when I was handed a checklist of
\n the different species of birds we could spot in this particular location. My
\n eyes widened as I counted 92 listed there! And I was only expecting maybe 2
\n or 3 species! I couldn’t believe that we had so many different kinds of
\n birds here in the country! It was also of major interest to me that as one
\n scientist noted, the Philippines has 80 or so endemic species whereas
\n countries like the UK had none. All the more curious, I was to find out how
\n many I’d be able to spot at the end of the day.<\/p>\n

\n My excitement mounted as our scientists Blas Tabaranza and Tim Fisher pointed
\n out to us the lone Purple Heron sitting high atop a sparsely leafed tree, the
\n many Black Winged Stilts, easily identified by their long bright red spindly
\n legs and the daintily colored Blue-Tailed Bee-eater. I was pleasantly
\n educated that even the Chestnut Munia or “Maya”. the local name for
\n the common sparrow, was not the Maya I thought to be. Its head was black and
\n body brown. All in all I was able to jot down 19 kinds of birds that day. I’m
\n quite sure that wasn’t all there were that day since the I wasn’t able to
\n quickly spot everything pointed out to us. <\/p>\n

\n Whereas before I saluted Haribon’s conservation efforts only in theory, to be
\n alongside them was a concrete expression, one that further strengthened my
\n resolve to support the projects and one that I hope would be followed up with
\n many more wonderfully mind-broadening adventures! <\/p>\n

\n Christina Alejandro is a product designer for a chain of gift shops and also
\n a member of the WWF and Haribon Foundation, both environment oriented
\n organizations. She loves travelling and has visited the US, Europe,
\n Australia and some Asian countries. Christina’s website is:\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On how my first birdwatching trip to Candaba, Pampanga Province, Philippines made my enthusiasm for conservation take flight. Trudging stealthily on a marshland trail, struggling to keep alert despite it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","css_class_manager_body_classes":"","css_class_manager_use_in_post_loop":false},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[54],"class_list":["post-1609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","category-main-article","tag-may-2004"],"yoast_head":"\nBirdwatching in the Philippines by Christina - eNewsletter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Birdwatching in the Philippines by Christina - eNewsletter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On how my first birdwatching trip to Candaba, Pampanga Province, Philippines made my enthusiasm for conservation take flight. Trudging stealthily on a marshland trail, struggling to keep alert despite it...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"eNewsletter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2004-05-27T22:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-01-02T16:42:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Beetle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Beetle\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"The Beetle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d88d8d26b7a5eee19d4a82efb44decf5\"},\"headline\":\"Birdwatching in the Philippines by Christina\",\"datePublished\":\"2004-05-27T22:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-01-02T16:42:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina.html\"},\"wordCount\":528,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"May 2004\"],\"articleSection\":[\"archive\",\"Main article\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina.html\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina.html\",\"name\":\"Birdwatching in the Philippines by Christina - eNewsletter\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2004-05-27T22:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-01-02T16:42:54+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Birdwatching in the Philippines by Christina\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/\",\"name\":\"eNewsletter\",\"description\":\"The travel club for independent travellers. \",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"eNewsletter\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Globe_Logo_2025_200px-150x150-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Globe_Logo_2025_200px-150x150-1.png\",\"width\":150,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"eNewsletter\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d88d8d26b7a5eee19d4a82efb44decf5\",\"name\":\"The Beetle\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fcc9c018d69f9b5b9f188b5dff92e2f854ea7ab0be06ebd6105cf5db4b26c937?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fcc9c018d69f9b5b9f188b5dff92e2f854ea7ab0be06ebd6105cf5db4b26c937?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fcc9c018d69f9b5b9f188b5dff92e2f854ea7ab0be06ebd6105cf5db4b26c937?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"The Beetle\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/author\\\/the-beetle-2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Birdwatching in the Philippines by Christina - eNewsletter","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Birdwatching in the Philippines by Christina - eNewsletter","og_description":"On how my first birdwatching trip to Candaba, Pampanga Province, Philippines made my enthusiasm for conservation take flight. Trudging stealthily on a marshland trail, struggling to keep alert despite it...","og_url":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina.html","og_site_name":"eNewsletter","article_published_time":"2004-05-27T22:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-01-02T16:42:54+00:00","author":"The Beetle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"The Beetle","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina.html#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina.html"},"author":{"name":"The Beetle","@id":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/#\/schema\/person\/d88d8d26b7a5eee19d4a82efb44decf5"},"headline":"Birdwatching in the Philippines by Christina","datePublished":"2004-05-27T22:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2018-01-02T16:42:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina.html"},"wordCount":528,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/#organization"},"keywords":["May 2004"],"articleSection":["archive","Main article"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina.html","url":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina.html","name":"Birdwatching in the Philippines by Christina - eNewsletter","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/#website"},"datePublished":"2004-05-27T22:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2018-01-02T16:42:54+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/birdwatching-in-the-philippines-by-christina.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Birdwatching in the Philippines by Christina"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/","name":"eNewsletter","description":"The travel club for independent travellers. ","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/#organization","name":"eNewsletter","url":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/Globe_Logo_2025_200px-150x150-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/Globe_Logo_2025_200px-150x150-1.png","width":150,"height":150,"caption":"eNewsletter"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/#\/schema\/person\/d88d8d26b7a5eee19d4a82efb44decf5","name":"The Beetle","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fcc9c018d69f9b5b9f188b5dff92e2f854ea7ab0be06ebd6105cf5db4b26c937?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fcc9c018d69f9b5b9f188b5dff92e2f854ea7ab0be06ebd6105cf5db4b26c937?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fcc9c018d69f9b5b9f188b5dff92e2f854ea7ab0be06ebd6105cf5db4b26c937?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"The Beetle"},"url":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/author\/the-beetle-2"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/ph9Zru-pX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1609\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}