The Sanctuary of Herons and Egrets in Tacurong City

The Baras Bird Santuary is a new craze that has been luring birders and naturalists to visit the City of Tacurong in the province of Sultan Kudarat. It was also the main reason why I decided to sign up for the Philippine Bird Festival recently held last May 11-13, 2018. As a newbie in birding and to some extent might be addicted to this stuff, this village of herons and egrets I believe can be a good exposure sight to me. 

Baras is just 12 kilometers away from the heart of Tacurong City and is very accessible through hired tricycles. And given that Tacurong is already a highly commercialized city in Sultan Kudarat, Baras Bird Sanctuary can be a good escape from the busy city life.

The most dominant of the birds in Baras are the Black-crowned Night Heron and the Great Egret. These species have also been occupying almost the entire canopy which to me somehow requires more trees for them to be accommodated; otherwise, the place will be overcrowded because these birds will surely multiply rapidly.

The presence of a river beside the sanctuary allowed the heron flocks to stay in Baras as permanent refuge. Although their breed is fairly common, night herons can also be in danger because like other birds, habitat requirement is a legitimate issue.  Personally I have seen only two sanctuaries where night heron resides, the other one in our very own Barangay Tagabuli in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.

Meanwhile, the Great Egrets co-existed very well with the herons in the sanctuary considering that they have almost the same food and nesting requirement. Territory is not a pressing subject for egrets because they can very well thrive in a place inhabited by other species, which what exactly happens in Baras. They are distributed evenly in almost all types of habitat.

Although not really ideal for bird watching activity as the birds available in Baras is fused to practically two species in maximum quantity, it can be a good site for bird photography. The bird population there is really impressive anybody could enjoy watching them without requiring binoculars.

Footnote: I stayed for a night in Edjin Pension House located along New Isabela in downtown Tacurong. It is a cheap backpacker's inn with a restaurant facility.