Today I was a reluctant booster recipient. My name was just included in the list along with my family to receive booster shots today. I did declare that I won't be getting any more vaccine shots, but my wife was relentless and was having none of my excuses to not have the shot.
Pretty much the falling in line to get the shot was the highlight of the day as it ate up most of my time. After having a late lunch, we decided to have coffee on one of the al fresco coffee shops in Mall of Asia's south wing area. As the seats were few my lady companions were the ones who took the seat and we guys just settled on the plant boxes near the coffee stall.
While I was about to sip, an unfamiliar breed landed right in front of me and danced for a bit. She had a long tail that was wide. She was bigger than the usual birds you'd see on the same spot. Sometimes if we remember we do bring grains to feed the birds. But unfortunately this was not a planned leisure stroll with a stop over on this particular coffee shop, and so we forgot the grains for the birds.
So this bird was so lively I could tell it was dancing in front of me. I called out my companions, and the more she was getting nearer to be. When it was 1 meter near me it flew on the branch of a tree above me.
I called her out with my best chirps and tweets and it keeps answering back. So I decided take a picture of it and to my surprise it kind of posed for me. I said thank you and it then flew to a nearby group of birds. The group of birds welcomed it even though they are not of the same variety. They kind of chit-chat a bit and she finally settled again on a branch of a tree like 10 meters away from me.
It was therapeutic. I felt I kind of communed with this fine-feathered friend of mine. So when I got home I kind of fell asleep due to the effects of the booster shot. But when I woke up I can still remember the connection I had with the bird and so I look it up and found out it is of the Philippine Pied Fantail species.
So it's a common bird in Mindanao and Vizayas, so most likely it got lost in Luzon now.
My regret was not taking pictures of it while it was fanning its fantail in front of me. Hope it finds its way back home if it is indeed lost.
Should you ever find yourself walking on the cobblestones of the Philippine's biggest mall (if I'm not mistaken), don't forget to bring some birdseeds because definitely you won't regret it. I see a lot of other people giving grains to the birds. I think the mall has become not only a stop over for people but for birds as well.