Show Me A Photo (SMAP) Contest Round 129 - The Red Maya Of The Philippines
Hello everyone. We meet once again to welcome and enter this exciting challenge, the Show Me A Photo (SMAP) Round 129, hosted by @nelinoeva. Read the contest post here. Read up, join us, and have fun and a really great time.
The theme for this week is:
LUCKY SHOT
There are just a handful of lucky shots I have of birds. With only a low end cell phone as my camera, I find taking really good shots with crisp clear macros of feathered creatures extremely difficult to manage. The very few that I have taken I already posted them either here in the SMAP contest or elsewhere in the community. I will, towards the end of this post, show them again just so you guys can see them.
Over the years I have been interested in the crow family that lived in the area behind our house. I have always tried my best to picture them but mostly to no success. Recently, though, I have been interested in these small, red and black birds called munias. They are low flying birds that go in groups and usually perch on long grass stalks. They are so light that thin grass stalks can carry them without breaking. The thing with these munias is they are so easily scared away. If I come even 15 feet of them they're off flying to another area. So taking a clear photo of them was, and still is, a challenge.
A few days ago, I noticed that the grass behind our house had not been cut for a while by the caretaker and was growing quite high already. I had it in mind to remind him about it but decided not to. Why? Well you see, the munias, seeing the tall grass stalks behind our house, began perching on them. They were right there in front of the kitchen window! I could photograph them through the glass and not disturb them at all. Sometimes, I carefully slide the window to get a better shot. I think I got lucky with some of them. But the caretaker finally came and cut the grass and so the munias didn't have a perching place behind our house anymore. Here are some of the "lucky" shots I took arranged from luckiest to least lucky.
All the rest are more or less like the last photo but farther and smaller.
Here is an artist's perspective of this munia or red maya which used to be the national bird of the Philippines until it was changed to the Philippine Eagle.
Oh how I wish I could have a photo as close and clear as this. Perhaps when Hive moons and I can buy a high end camera with super zoom lens. But until then, my luckiest shot remains the very first photo of this post and is also my entry to this Round.
As I mentioned earlier, here are my all time luckiest shots but could not enter them for this contest anymore because I have already used them before in my other posts.
And that ends it. Thanks for visiting. I hope you liked it. Best of luck to all the participants. Stay safe and enjoy the weekend everyone.
(All photos are mine.)
I am so glad you joined again the contest, the photos prove that you have lucky shots regardless what camera you use. More important is you show us what you see with lovely story. 🙂
Out of curiousity, why the change of the national bird?
Thanks for the kind words and appreciation @nelinoeva. 🥰
The national bird was changed from the red maya to the Philippine Eagle in 1995 by then President Fidel Ramos. In his proclamation it was stated that the Philippine Eagle embodies Filipinos’ uniqueness, strength, power, and love for freedom, and had already become a source of national pride. Aside from the Bird’s symbolic nature, their being “a natural treasure found only in the Philippines” played a role in the species being singled out. The Philippine Eagle is “the best biological indicator” of the quality of Philippine wildlife and forest ecosystems, being what is called an umbrella specie (that is to mean it's survival benefits other plants and animals in the ecosystem.
Here's a photo of the Philippine Eagle.
Source
This is really interesting to know and wow, what a bird this eagle is! 🙂
Yes, it is a beautiful bird. My artist daughter Jacinta, did a painting of the Philippine Eagle in Colored Pencil medium. I think I've also posted this in the community but here it is. I don't know if you still remember this.
It is a gorgeous bird and incredible picture. Your daughter is very talented.
Yes, I remember this picture. 🙂
Well done ! 😊 How are you doing my friend ?
My good friend @barbara-orenya!! Long time no hear! It's so wonderful to have you visit me here in my post. I did not expect it. What a surprise. I am doing fine, aging like vintage wine haha. Kidding aside I've been quite busy nowadays which accounts for why I am not posting that much. I'm helping take care of my grandson which can be a handful. Anyway, how are you? Are you still in Annecy? Do you know my daughter in Germany just visited Annecy? She fell in love with the place. She said it is so beautiful. But it was only for a day as she was in Switzerland and they decided to cross into Annecy. She tried French Cuisine and ate escargot for the first time.
She sent some pics which I think I've seen in some of your posts before. Here's a few.
Thanks once again. Missing our fun-filled days with the irreplaceable and the best challenge of all, the Alphabet Hunt! Have a pleasant weekend, my friend 😊
I'm happy she had the opportunity to come here and get to know Annecy ! Yes, I'm still there, though we had planned to move at spring in the countryside...our projects were a bit delayed due to family events, death, and other uncertainties...but we keep the hope and the desire in our hearts, it was not the right time and now we plan to next spring 😅 this time will be the good one 👍😁
I also miss a lot the joyful time of the alphabet hunt...since this time I have slowly given up posting and I do only the daily Feathered Friends curation and also its weekly post, without any motivation to do more ...I wish I would find the spark back,
I think it might come back but I can't say when ! 😄
Have a wonderful week-end my friend @gems.and.cookies !
Thank you for your reply. I am sorry to hear about the death in the family. My condolences 🙏
I am also very seldom in Hive. In reality this week was the busiest I have been in Hive and I only did 3 posts. I just took the time to make longer replies to my good friends just to touch base and see how they are. It really was so nice to be able to talk with you. I do hope you will be able to move in the countryside this spring. Keep safe and be happy, my friend. 🥰
You captured nice shots of the birds with your phone camera. The Red Maya is a pretty little bird. Lovely shots of the last bird with out spread wings.
Good luck in the contest @gems.and.cookies.
Thank you @redheadpei for the very nice comments. Yes, the Red Maya is one colorful and pretty bird and would you believe there are still quarters here in the country who are seeking the reinstatement of the red maya as the national bird? Their main contention is it represents more adequately the Filipino people being resilient and low flying as Filipinos, majority of who are poor, are survivors and more down to earth than the high flying eagle.
Anyway, the bird with the out spread wings is one of our neighborhood crows and I have been, upto now, enamored by them and take as many photos but erase because most of them because they are really not good 😔
I wasn’t t sure if the bird was a crow or a raven. Beautiful art of the eagle by your talented daughter. Your eagle looks different than the eagles here.
Here’s a photo of one I took a couple years ago. They look more majestic when in flight.
Wow! Was this photo taken around the area where you live? Looks like the American Bald Eagle. Yes, they look quite different from the Philippine Eagle. While yours is bald, or at least called bald, ours look like some punk kid with a mohawk haircut 😂