Ang Pahayagan

The Wild Bird Photographers of the Philippines (WBPP) Team Pilipinas has just won 4th place in the 1st Vietnam Bird Race at Tràm Chim National Park in Dong Thap Province, Vietnam.

Moreover, WBPP Team Pilipinas was the only foreign team to win the very close bird race. With 68 bird species photographed, the team was only 1 point behind the Vietnamese team Spot-billed Pelican, which scored 69 points and thus took third place. Second place went to the Vietnamese team Bengal Florican with 70 bird species and the winner was the Vietnamese team Brown Bobby with 71 bird species.

The 1st Vietnam Bird Race attracted 20 teams (including two teams from Malaysia, one team from the Philippines, one team from Cambodia and two individual photographers from Peru and Norway who joined the Vietnamese teams). About 77 birders (bird photographers and birdwatchers), including 17 foreigners, made up the participating teams.

WBPP Pilipinas team was composed of WBPP co-founder and president Alain Pascua, treasurer Djop Tabaranza, secretary Bert Madrigal and trustee Loel Lamela.

The 1st Vietnam Bird Race was organized to strengthen networking between the nature and birding communities in Vietnam and worldwide, promote awareness and interest in bird conservation, and strengthen sustainable tourism in protected areas such as national parks.

Vietnamese ornithologist Nguyen Hoai Bao, head of the organizing committee of the first Vietnam Bird Race, said the bird race is likened to a sporting event where each participating team consists of four members (or at least three) and the team that photographs the most bird species wins. To win the competition’s top prize, teams must have strategy, teamwork, knowledge of wild birds and an understanding of the terrain and features of the competition site. Bao also heads the Vietnam Wildlife Photography Club and Wildtour Ltd, which are behind the bird race.

The bird race began in the early morning of May 11, World Migratory Bird Day (Saturday in the second week of May, when migratory birds return to their breeding grounds). This obligatory boating lasted from 6 a.m. until midday. Immediately afterwards, the teams were free to implement their own strategies. Some teams continued by boat to shoot in the afternoon, others split up their teams to look for wild birds in nearby areas, while some spent the whole night looking for nocturnal birds. The race ended at 9am the next day.

The co-founder and president of WBPP, Alain Pascua, pointed out that the Vietnam Bird Race is quite unique as all participants have to search for birds in the wetlands by boat. In the Palawan Bird Race, service vans drive the participating teams through Puerto Princesa City, while in the Fraiser’s Hills Bird Race and the Sabah Bird Race, all participants walk through the birding areas.

The international teams were invited by Henry Goh of Malaysia Fraser’s Hill International Bird Race, the oldest bird race which will be held for the 35th time on June 7-9, 2024. He was assigned by the organizing committee to facilitate the participation of the international birders and look after the international delegates.

The bird race took place in a national park in the Plain of Reeds in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. The park was established to restore a degraded wetland and protect several rare birds, in particular the Sarus Crane — a species on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

The highlight of this competition was the appearance of two migratory bird species, Comb Duck and Spoon-billed Duck, which have just appeared in Tram Chim – an extremely rare occurrence, and a positive sign that Tram Chim is recovering well.

For the 4th place, WBPP Team Pilipinas received a prize money of 2 million dong and a few kilos of special local organic rice. Interestingly, WBPP Team Pilipinas and Vietnamese Team Spotted Pelican that won 3^rd place shared the same boat on the morning of the race to circumnavigate the wetlands.

WBPP Team Pilipinas is proud to be the Philippine flag bearer of the race while promoting the wonderful birdlife of the Philippines,” Pascua said.

During the evening program, WBPP and Bird Finder Philippines were able to introduce to the participants the Subic Bay 1st International Photomarathon 2024 (Birds, Wildlife, Landscape) and invite them to participate on August 30 to September 1, 2024; the 7th Puerto Princesa Underground River International Bird Photography Race in Palawan from November 17 to 19, 2024; and the 13th Asian Bird Fair in Las Pinas, Metro Manila from November 20-23, 2024.

These are events and opportunities where the Philippines can showcase its wonderful avian treasures to other bird photographers and bird watchers around the world. (PR)