Marinduque Wildlife Sanctuary for Birds*

Yellow Breasted Bird
What is this Bird's Name?
For the last four months this year while we were in Marinduque, Macrine and I had been enjoying watching the beautiful wild birds that resides in the gardens and fruit trees of Chateau Du Mer. I do not know most of the bird names except for one, they called "the cuckoo", because of the sounds the bird makes. This bird had a long tail, blackish-brown almost look like a small parrot and very elusive. It flies from the tamarind tree in our back porch to the huge palm tree by the side of the house. It hides in the thick foliage of the trees, so unless you look closer, you may not be able to see this beautiful wild bird. Another bird is multicolored and almost look like the California blue Jay but with a yellow breast but blue throat. It is smaller than the cuckoo, but this one would stay on our clotheslines for minutes and you can enjoyed watching its beautiful plumage for a long while. Besides the above two birds, there several varieties of birds, butterflies, and bees that also reside in the gardens and fruit trees of Chateau Du Mer.

Today, I found out that there are bird sanctuaries in Marinduque. The wildlife adventure organization of the world listed the following birds that can be watched in the six towns of the province as follows:

Amethyst Brown-dove, Blackish Cuckoo-shrike, White-browed Shama, Mangrove Blue Flycatcher, Purple-throated Sunbird, Mountain White-eye Zosterops, Philippine Duck, Philippine Cockatoo and Green Racquet-tail.

Other activities recommended by the group besides Bird Watching are, Caving, Trekking and Camping. The seashores near Chateau Du Mer is excellent for bathing and snorkeling as well as jogging or just beach walking/combing. Chateau Du Mer Beach Resort and Conference Center is located in Western Marinduque, 8 KM from downtown Boac- the capital town of Marinduque.

Marinduque Wildlife Sanctuary regions are located on the western side of Gasan, northeast side of Sta. Cruz, southern side of Buenavista, northwest side of Boac and at the eastern side of Torrijos.

The best time of the year for bird watching is from December 1 to May 30. For details, visit www.world-wildlife-adventures.com. As Marinduquenos, we should do our best to help in the conservation of these wild birds. They are our national treasures.

* The above article is my reaction after watching the whole week news on the effects of the Oil Spill in the US Gulf Coast to the wild birds ( brown pelicans and others) in the Louisiana marshes. Oil companies especially BP should be accountable and held responsible for their mistake and mismanagement of this catastrophic event.