PM
4:13
Sky reading
- North: low cumulus in the horizon. Some dispersed thin cumulus above with some signs of overgrowth. Some patches of clear sky.
- East: dispersed cumulonimbus above cordillera.
- South: low cumulus with dispersed cumulus above it almost stratus
- West: low cumulus clouds with some stratus above and behind. Some cumulus and altocumulus above. Clearer sky and patches of blue.
- Overhead: dispersed thin cumulonimbus
The maple-like plant and the marijuana-like plant seems to be the same plant! They have similar flowers and stems but different leaves. A variety? Or were the leaves eaten by insects? If eaten, they were so proportionately bitten.
As I came to the hill towards CIS, I decided to walk to get my spirits ready for nature. While walking, I saw the mango trees.
Why do some mangoes have new leaves why others have none? Are mangoes shedding their colors?
I got closer to the house near the pond. I saw a few bottles (of beer?) and a few pillows. Perhaps it is still used.
I also got closer to the fences the men built to catch wild fish. The fences have blocked the growth of the lotus so that they are concentrated on only a portion of the pond. Perhaps this was a good thing? I wonder if a lotus-less pond is actually a more diverse pond. It sure seems ideal for kingfishers and is aesthetically pleasing to the visitor.
I saw a kingfisher-like bird perched on the railings of the bridge. I didn’t want to startle it but I had to see it closer. This was the exact moment I needed my binoculars! I managed to get closer but when I wanted to get even closer, it sensed me and perched into a nearby tree. When I walked near the tree, it sensed me again and finally flew towards the side of the pond where it perched on another tree, which I once observed a similar bird perched, far from my reach.
The bird has a reddish then blue back and tail with a long beak that was also reddish.
I walked back to the new spot I discovered yesterday. There were more cows grazing in it than yesterday (only two) but I’m quite sure the mother and calf that I saw yesterday were still here. A calf was curious and got really close to me.
As I sat on the pond, I saw that there was actually not one but at least three kingfishers in the pond. They were diving into the pond one after the other then perched back into the branches of the nearby kawayan. Later as I continued to watch them, I realized there were actually more than five kingfishers in the pond! I am so glad I found this because I used to think that there was a single kingfisher in the pond. They are rare birds in our place because there are very little bodies of water fit for their feeding. You won’t see them hovering over the wet paddies. Probably not in the flowing Bued river. They, perhaps, need the still waters of the CIS were wild fishes inevitably come.
The pond continues to spark awe in me. I wrote a poem of what was happening in the pond yesterday.
I think I saw a snake moving on the water or was it a fish? It looked like a snake’s movement with all its curling.
I need a fire inside me. A fire that will let me live with passion like I did before.
Damselflies and devil’s darning needle dragonflies over the pond.
Among my new discoveries yesterday was a kind of insect that floated on the water along the pond’s banks. I drew it this way.
It moved in a jerky motion that looked like a person lying down on his belly and trying to slide through a sheet of ice. They are water striders.
Here’s a video about them.
I also saw a devil’s darning needle dragonfly. Two of them actually made an unusual behavior. One bit the other’s tail end. After getting its tail bit, it started striking its tail on the water. Was it hurt and is using the water to soothe its pain? Or were they mating?
I watched this film on damselflies and think that what I actually observed was mating. They mate and automatically lay eggs.
I roamed a bit around the spot and explored the trees growing in it. I peeked and looked if I can see the end of the pond from here. The pond was still really long. It’s possible that I haven’t seen its end yet.
I tried looking for a way to continue my exploration of the pond’s banks. I saw a trail but it was thickly covered by shrubs and it seems to go directly into the pond. And since I don’t have enough time to explore, I decided not to continue my exploration.
I instead looked at the clouds and waited it to get a little later before going back home.
I used the former favorite trail to go back home and saw that the builders actually made a lot of progress building the road. Some segments have now cements side by side and it’s pretty easier to travel over cement on the right side to the main road.