Our last newsletter consisted of mostly disconnected
subjects, and so does this one.
We held
some of this information in order to keep the previous letter to a reasonable
length, as well as to await photographs that had been taken by another person.
On February 27 we attended the first birthday party of
Jemarie, daughter of Jesse and Mabel.
Jesse recently assumed the position of Commander of the Ground Zero security
crew here on the island.
We had anticipated
a small party at our friend Ron’s, only to be surprised by a very large celebration.
Jemarie has to wait another three years to actually
experience her first birthday, because, as you may now have guessed, she was
born on February 29.
Doesn’t keep her
from being a year old, though, does it?
One of the party attendees was Pol Curado, a long-time tour
guide for Sun Cruises.
Some of you might
have ridden on his tranvia when you visited Corregidor.
Pol had not been looking well recently,
although he always seemed in good spirits.
At the party, he especially seemed to enjoy Steve doing his best to sing
“Gintong Araw” (Golden Day) in Tagalog, following along on the karaoke
machine.
But the next morning Ron sent
us a text saying that “Mang Pol” had been found dead in his row house.
(“Mang” is the Tagalog term of respect used
for older men.)
Pol was found sitting in
a chair, and, from the expression on his face, appeared to pass peacefully.
His wife preceded him in death, passing just
before Christmas a couple years ago.
Many of you have commented about the eagles that we have
been watching for the past month or more.
The first time we saw them there were only the two adults.
A few visits later we spotted the nest and were
delighted to see one egg – a couple days later there were two eggs.
The next visit we observed one eaglet and one
egg, and a couple days afterwards there were two eaglets.
We made quick visits every two or three days
and were saddened when one of the eaglets was no longer in the nest.
Marcia always thought that one looked stronger
than the other, although we have no way of knowing for sure what happened to
the missing baby.
For the next two weeks we watched the single eaglet grow,
and it was so exciting.
Every time we
arrived the mother was in the nest, and when she’d spot us she’d take off and
circle around.
Her mate would join her from
his look-out perch, and they would keep their distance, wary and watchful but
not acting threatened by our presence high above their aerie.
On Sunday the baby was active and looking
very healthy.
To our shock, on Tuesday
the nest was empty.
We can only
speculate about what happened to the eaglet.
Possibly it was snatched by one of the many Brahminy kites on the
island.
Perhaps it was spooked by one of
the low-flying aircraft that passed over the island.
In any case, the parents appear to be staying
around, and we hope that they will produce a second set of eggs with a happier
outcome.
For our fellow bird enthusiasts we’re including several photos
that Marcia recently took, including an adult sea-eagle, a soaring Brahminy
Kite, a Pied Fantail (well camouflaged in the center of the picture), an Asian
Glossy Starling, and a pair of Pink-necked Green-pigeons who were kind enough
to hold that pose long enough for several shots.
The Pied Fantail and the Pink-necked
Green-pigeon are perched in Taluto Trees, of which there are very many in bloom
now around the island.
You can see the
many round green blossoms which open into star-shaped bells and are much loved
by fruit bats, butterflies, birds, and bees.
Some of these were taken in poor lighting, not
the ideal sun angle, but being a very-amateur bird photographer, she was
pleased to capture what she did.
Most of
the birds on the island are very shy, often hard to spot at all even with our
high-power binoculars, and even harder to photograph.
We’ve been gradually expanding our list of
those we can ID by call/song, but would benefit greatly from a CD with both
photo and song for our more common birds – if such exists.
Steve and Marcia on the Rock
Our last newsletter consisted of mostly disconnected
subjects, and so does this one. We held
some of this information in order to keep the previous letter to a reasonable
length, as well as to await photographs that had been taken by another person.
On February 27 we attended the first birthday party of
Jemarie, daughter of Jesse and Mabel.
Jesse recently assumed the position of Commander of the Ground Zero security
crew here on the island. We had anticipated
a small party at our friend Ron’s, only to be surprised by a very large celebration. Jemarie has to wait another three years to actually
experience her first birthday, because, as you may now have guessed, she was
born on February 29. Doesn’t keep her
from being a year old, though, does it?
One of the party attendees was Pol Curado, a long-time tour
guide for Sun Cruises. Some of you might
have ridden on his tranvia when you visited Corregidor. Pol had not been looking well recently,
although he always seemed in good spirits.
At the party, he especially seemed to enjoy Steve doing his best to sing
“Gintong Araw” (Golden Day) in Tagalog, following along on the karaoke
machine. But the next morning Ron sent
us a text saying that “Mang Pol” had been found dead in his row house. (“Mang” is the Tagalog term of respect used
for older men.) Pol was found sitting in
a chair, and, from the expression on his face, appeared to pass peacefully. His wife preceded him in death, passing just
before Christmas a couple years ago. 
Many of you have commented about the eagles that we have
been watching for the past month or more.
The first time we saw them there were only the two adults. A few visits later we spotted the nest and were
delighted to see one egg – a couple days later there were two eggs. The next visit we observed one eaglet and one
egg, and a couple days afterwards there were two eaglets. We made quick visits every two or three days
and were saddened when one of the eaglets was no longer in the nest. Marcia always thought that one looked stronger
than the other, although we have no way of knowing for sure what happened to
the missing baby.
For the next two weeks we watched the single eaglet grow,
and it was so exciting. Every time we
arrived the mother was in the nest, and when she’d spot us she’d take off and
circle around. Her mate would join her from
his look-out perch, and they would keep their distance, wary and watchful but
not acting threatened by our presence high above their aerie. On Sunday the baby was active and looking
very healthy. To our shock, on Tuesday
the nest was empty. We can only
speculate about what happened to the eaglet.
Possibly it was snatched by one of the many Brahminy kites on the
island. Perhaps it was spooked by one of
the low-flying aircraft that passed over the island. In any case, the parents appear to be staying
around, and we hope that they will produce a second set of eggs with a happier
outcome.
For our fellow bird enthusiasts we’re including several photos
that Marcia recently took, including an adult sea-eagle, a soaring Brahminy
Kite, a Pied Fantail (well camouflaged in the center of the picture), an Asian
Glossy Starling, and a pair of Pink-necked Green-pigeons who were kind enough
to hold that pose long enough for several shots. The Pied Fantail and the Pink-necked
Green-pigeon are perched in Taluto Trees, of which there are very many in bloom
now around the island. You can see the
many round green blossoms which open into star-shaped bells and are much loved
by fruit bats, butterflies, birds, and bees. Some of these were taken in poor lighting, not
the ideal sun angle, but being a very-amateur bird photographer, she was
pleased to capture what she did. Most of
the birds on the island are very shy, often hard to spot at all even with our
high-power binoculars, and even harder to photograph. We’ve been gradually expanding our list of
those we can ID by call/song, but would benefit greatly from a CD with both
photo and song for our more common birds – if such exists. 
Steve and Marcia on the Rock
Awesome pictures! The clarity is very good in your blog. Thanks for Photographs and Pictures of Sun
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