Ang Magiting - The Official Web Site of Rotary Club Makati North

Birdman of Manila

By: Sec. Bob Hecks
March 2, 2011

Our guest speaker might be better named “Birdman of the Philippines” as he has been to places in PH that many of us have never even heard of. In a fascinating presentation including sound and movie recordings of wild birds, Mark Wallbank showed us that he is using his retirement from his UK base very constructively.

At President’s Time, Pres. Mac told us that Tony Newnham’s serious stroke was not bad enough to keep him in hospital but it will require some time for rehabilitation at home. PP Dieter Brueckner, moderator, provided some more details.

Pres. Mac also introduced Mark Wallbank. He turned to be an engaging character who made friends of us all very quickly. He is retired from his successful property development business and some charitable activities in UK, and has found the Philippines to be a good place to retire to. He is still young and has discovered that apart from the well known attractions of the country for foreign retirees there is scope for indulging his hobby of bird watching and even discovering bird species so far unknown to science.

Ecotourism development can help to preserve the approximately 600 different species of wild birds in the Philippines, said Mark. Some sites with potential are the Parañaque Crystal Lagoon, Mt. Makiling, Candaba Swamp in Pampanga, and the Subic Bay Forest Reserve. Further afield, many of the less-visited islands of the archipelago offer really rare and endangered species and even some not yet discovered. Mark told us that in some of the islands he has visited the local people had never before seen a foreigner.

“Loss of habitat is the greatest threat to the diversity of wild bird life,” said Mark. “But there are positives. In the Philippines, forest grows back quickly, as it has at Mt. Makiling.

And people will not normally hunt a bird species if it is known to be rare and endangered. The more people that are interested and active in helping wild birds survive and the greater availability of information the better.”