BINMALEY, PANGASINAN—An egret quietly stands in a corner of a fishpond in Barangay Biec this town and waits until a fish swims near it. The egret swiftly seizes the fish and swallows it.

It’s an enthralling scene for bird watchers but a dreadful view for the fishpond owner.

Bird watchers are delighted when they see migratory birds frolicking in marshlands, mudflats, rivers and other water systems. But fishpond owners are alarmed by their presence as they are voracious fish eaters and feed on their stock.

“Whenever a pond is being harvested, the water birds arrive to partake of the catch. Even from afar, you will know that there’s a harvest going on because hundreds of birds hover and catch the small ones left behind,” said Biec barangay captain Jess Aquino, who operates fishponds here and in Lingayen and Bugallon towns.

Radar

Migratory birds are attracted to this town where thousands of hectares are devoted to “bangus” (milkfish) and prawn culture. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources identified the birds frequenting the town as little egret, intermediate egret, grey plover and common tern.

Aquino said the birds seem to have radar that lead them to where the harvest is and they stay for a day or two until they have consumed the little fish left in the ponds.

During summer, when the water level in the ponds goes down to less than two feet, the birds, which have long legs, come in droves.

“If the fishpond owners are not alert, they will lose all their stocks, especially the fingerlings, which the birds gobble whole. The birds can eat a lot of small ‘bangus,’” Aquino said.

The birds also catch the big “bangus” but only eat its eyes and intestines, and discard the body.

Mayor Samuel Rosario, who also owns fishponds here, said the birds pose problems to fishpond owners “because we can’t control the birds and there are no instruments to drive them away.”

“But the birds also help in a way because they eat the inedible fish in the ponds after harvest, which the pond operators have to remove anyway,” he said.

Tourism

Rosario plans to make bird watching a tourism activity in the town, saying whenever there is pond to be harvested, he will have it announced through the media so bird lovers can visit the town.

The DENR’s Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau counted in January this year 1,500 little egrets, 2,500 intermediate egrets, 400 grey plovers and 540 common terns in fishponds in Biec alone.

The birds are migratory, according to the PAWB, but Aquino said they have become “residents” and go where food is available.

“They go wherever there is harvest or where they find ponds with low water level,” he said.

He said the birds probably rest in the woods in nearby towns at night, “but there are gray big birds that stay in the ponds even at night, eating the fish.”

In the past, fishpond owners placed scarecrows on the ponds but these no longer frighten the birds, with some seen even perching on them, Aquino said.

To keep the birds away from fingerling ponds, Aquino ties strings atop the ponds to capture birds. The birds’ wings get entangled in the strings and are trapped.

Five birds have been caught by the strings in the past two weeks since the structure was placed, he said.

“I think the birds have learned that something will happen if they come near, and they stay away,” Aquino said, adding that nets, which could be more effective, are expensive.

Complaints

In Bani town, municipal agriculturist Gloria Gloria said she has been receiving complaints from fishpond owners who said they were losing their stocks to birds.

“But they could not cite statistics to prove their claim, although it is true that the migratory birds prey on fish,” she said.

Bani has a 40-hectare mangrove forest in Bangrin village which has become a bird sanctuary and tourism site. Nearby are fishponds.

Migratory birds have also been frequenting the Hundred Islands National Park in Alaminos City.

The PAWB listed 17 villages in Pangasinan six towns and the HINP as places where migratory birds abound. These are Biec in Binmaley; Nayom in Bayambang; Batang and Cato in Infanta; Amabulan and Hermosa in Dasol; Cacayasen in Burgos; Balingasay, Arnedo, Lambes, Santiago Island and Zaragoza in Bolinao; Bangrin in Bani; Pangapisan and Mona and the HINP, all in Alaminos City.