Bird Watching in Pasong Buaya

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Bird watching is not a famous hobby nowadays. More and more people, I guess, have less time to look up and observe their surroundings.

We have less time to pay attention to tiny details around us like clouds, trees, or these small birds we found a few Sundays ago while taking a stroll. One look tells you that these birds are too cute. But if you pay attention, you will see they are not local birds, they are migratory birds that flew here to visit us to avoid the cold weathers from wherever they came from!

If you drive along CAVITEX and you see the mangrove sites or the coastline just beside CAVITEX, I'm sure you would have seen these birds flying around. I was just amazed that we saw them so far away from the coastline, in a tiny marsh-like area in Brgy. Pasong Buaya.

There weren't many of them in this tiny marsh, the first visit we saw about 6 and in our second visit there were only 4 of them, make sure to keep your distance so they don't fly out and get scared. Bird watching is all about observation, I think, as the name denotes, just watch the birds silently.

My little ones especially my son loves his mini book of birds. He asks me to read him the bird names. On his First 100 animals book on the right, he is able to point and remember the names of the birds.

I knew my son would enjoy this little adventure of ours the most.

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My kids didn't know what kind of birds these were and I checked their books, it isn't there but I guessed it was an egret. It was in the area because of the small marsh-like area and the cows. Sometimes it would go up on the back of the cows and seems they have a symbiotic relationship.

So then I googled, "egret on cow" and found out exactly what these little cuties are.

This Cattle Egret or the Bubulcus looks more like the western cattle egret that originates from North America and Canada. It eats insects, worms and the sometimes frogs, too. It is possible these could have flown in from Australia where these birds are used by cattle ranchers to reduce parasitic ticks and flies on their cattle. [Source]

Like I said, bird watching is about observation. But seriously during this time, my little ones and I were looking at these turkeys on the other side of the road while my husband took shots. I think we can take a picnic with us next and just feel the breeze on our faces.

Did you see it? Let me know in the comments if you saw the wonder in this next photo.

_{This is National Geographic in real life. Predator vs Prey.}

On the other side of the road, I diverted the attention of my little ones because the egrets were moving to the far end of the marsh to where the cows were. We saw these adorable turkeys foraging in the grassy area. My son's little book of birds says this light brown colored one on the left belongs to a breed of Wild Turkeys. The color and shape of the head is an exact match to the photo in his book.

They were so happy, wanting to chase the turkeys or try to touch them but I made sure they didn't. They crossed the 0.25 meter wide canal at the side of the road which they called a river and asked if they could go near the turkeys. I was more afraid that the turkeys would peck at them so I said no, let's just watch them.

It was about 4pm when we finished up exploring. The cool breeze under the tree was relaxing. The turkeys didn't mind us at all and just kept pecking at the grass, looking for food. The egrets moved further from us, taking shade under the cows. A little bit after, much to the protests of my little ones, we had to be on our way home.

Summer is coming fast so I don't know if these little egrets will be there to stay but I hope that little marsh will be there when they need to come back.

If you are curious where this little marsh is, click on the map below to see it on Google maps.

If coming from Imus or Aguinaldo Highway, watch out for the sign along Daanghari that says Pasong Buaya Brgy. Hall and turn right there.

If coming from Alabang or Las Pinas, cross the Molino intersection and after seeing the De La Salle Zobel building, make a left turn into the road that leads to Pasong Buaya Brgy. Hall and this tiny marsh.

My little ones loved this quiet afternoon we spent watching birds. And we spent NOTHING! Meanwhile, they learned a whole lot from this adventure like how not to chase turkeys around or else they'll peck at you.