Neighbors
When I came to Davao one of the first thing I did was to make use of some idle space in my backyard by planting it with lakatan bananas. This had the effect of filling up the open spaces next to our house. Little did I know that it also had the more positive effect of attracting some “feathered” friends . With the additional foliage we started attracting more birds, such as the garden variety sparrows, the odd Shrike and a King Fisher couple.
Pretty soon the yard started attracting much larger birds[click on image]. I’m not much of a bird watcher but they look like herons to me. There are actually two kinds, one is colored white with long legs while the other comes in either brown or white but with much shorter legs. Here you can see them perched on a “Century” Mango tree.
We also started getting some Martinez birds which are said to be a cousin of the Mynah and can in fact be taught to speak. To my chagrin of course when every now and then some people come up to our house asking if they could take the birds. I flatly decline them so as to propagate further the breed. I’ve noticed however that they never stay long in my place. Why this is so I’m not sure, because it could either be that they are territorial and need their own space or those folks who ask nicely have found a way to get at their nests when I’m not watching. *snicker*
After a while I had to start posting signs that barred people passing through from shooting at them with sling shots and airguns. Not that I wanted to be a scrooge, it was because wayward rocks from slingshots always landed on our roof and ended up waking up my son. I was also afraid that if I didn’t put a stop to this self declared hunting season they might actually do much worse damage, like hitting the car or breaking a window.
So unintentionally I think I’ve transformed my backyard to a bird haven and with that I’ve picked up a very valuable lesson from my “Neighbors”. And that is to never even think about planting corn again in my backyard, as it is like opening up a buffet table to a starving crowd. 
Tags: Birds
Why not just set-up a bird sanctuary in your backyard. Lots of bird-watching tourists might want to take a look and take pictures.
Better photographers than hunters in your backyard. Hehe.
I was pondering on that idea before… then I realized that the birds usually just hang out in my backyard in the early morning and in the late afternoon when they are ready for bed. So not much of them to see till that time. Also the place is small
hmmm oo nga..puwedeng mapagkakakitaan hahaha
Seriously yeah..can be a bit dangerous especially if kids will attempt to throw stones at the birds. Baka matamaan pa kayo.
yeah, inuna ko pa yung kotse at bintana… Hahaha
all these from a banana? iba talaga ang saging ^^
“sa lahat ng halaman, saging lang ang may puso”
wahahaha ^^ - from one of mark lapid’s movies
Alam ko na! Lagay ka ng sign sa labas ng house mo “BIRD WATCHING HAVEN” tapos ENTRANCE FEE p20 per person.
Impressed naman ako sa yo at alam mo pa names ng mga birds. 
Ay isa pa, lagay ka ng birdbath! O diba, mukhang mas excited pa yata ako sa yo, ah! hehe.
@sunjun
Hahaha that’s really a corny line from a movie
@Gypsy
I was thinking if it was possible to put an outdoor pond once with catfish and Koi for Good Luck… then when I saw the kingfishers and heron’s I scratched the idea… Hahaha