Birds in flight at Maambal Orchard

After a few years of not shooting birds in flight due to my busy schedule, I finally found time to try catching my feathered subjects in the air again a few days ago. My old 5D III and the 400 DO II (plus 1.4x TC III) were retrieved from storage, they still work thankfully. My reflexes are slow as expected, but improved a bit after a few minutes of BIF shooting. 

 

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Red Turtle-Dove (Streptopelia tranquebarica, resident)

Habitat - Open country or lawns. 

 

Size - 9 inches total length.

Shooting Info - Maambal Orchard, Pozorrubio, Pangasinan, Philippines, May 7, 2023, EOS 5D MIII + EF 400 DO IS II + EF 1.4x TC III, 560 mm, f/5.6, 1/2500 sec, ISO 640, manual exposure in available light, hand held, major crop resized to 1800 x 1200. 

 

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Blue-tailed Bee-eater (Merops philippinus, resident)

Habitat - Open country usually associated with water along rivers, marshes and ricefields.

 

 Size - 11.5 inches total length. 

 

 

Shooting Info - Maambal Orchard, Pozorrubio, Pangasinan, Philippines, May 6, 2023, EOS 5D MIII + EF 400 DO IS II + EF 1.4x TC III,  560 mm, f/5.6, 1/2500 sec, ISO 640, manual exposure in available light, hand held, major crop resized to 1500 x 1000.

 

 

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 Oriental Pratincole (Glareola maldivarum, resident]

Habitat - Drier open areas, dry ricefields, pastures and plowed fields. 

 

 

Shooting Info - Maambal Orchard, Pozorrubio, Pangasinan, Philippines, May 6, 2023, EOS 5D MIII + EF 400 DO IS II + EF 1.4x TC III, 560 mm, f/5.6, 1/2500 sec, ISO 640, manual exposure in available light, hand held, major crop resized to 1500 x 1000.

Pacific Swallow at Maambal Orchard

Pacific Swallow (Hirundo tahitica) 

Habitat - Common along coasts, in towns and open country, rarely over forest. 

Size - 5 inches total length.

Shooting Info - filmed in habitat at Maambal Orchard, Pangasinan, Philippines on September 11, 2022, Nikon Coolpix P1000, fluid head + tripod + built-in mic, manual focus, manual exposure in available light, recorded and processed at 4K/29.97p.

 

 

White-breasted Wood-Swallow at Maambal Orchard

White-breasted Wood-Swallow (Artamus leucorynchus, resident) 

Habitat - From open country to clearings at forest edge up to 1800 m. 

Size - 7.50 inches total length. 

Shooting Info - filmed in habitat at Maambal Orchard, Pangasinan, Philippines on September 4, 2022, Nikon Coolpix P1000, fluid head + tripod + built-in mic, manual focus, manual exposure in available light, recorded and processed at 4K/29.97p.

 

 

A preening Black-naped Oriole at Maambal Orchard

A Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis) preens and gives out a call on top of a tall tree.

Habitat - Early second growth, open scrub and gardens. 

Size - 10 to 11 inches total length. 

Shooting Info - filmed in habitat at Maambal Orchard, Pangasinan, Philippines on September 9, 2022, Nikon Coolpix P1000, fluid head + tripod + built-in mic, manual focus, manual exposure in available light, recorded and processed at 4K/29.97p.

 

 

Farmhouse nearing completion

After a long construction period, the farmhouse and its support structures are nearly completed. We are tentatively set to move in at the end of this month. 

Further development work, like improving the landscape, planting new trees, setting up a vegetable garden, building new support structures and enhancing existing ones, will likely take years to finish, and these projects will have to be done while we are already staying in the Orchard.

 

July 2, 2022. As of this date, the farmhouse is essentially completed, both interior and exterior. The water, electrical, drainage, plumbing and rain harvesting systems had been tested and are now fully operational. The Orchard's permanent connection to the electric utility provider had been installed, and the 9 KVA backup genset is in place. What's left to be finished is the gravel bedding around the farmhouse.

 

Side facing the road. The eastern side of the farmhouse faces the barangay road. The light brown ("natural timber") paint accent on the beams, columns and triangular upper walls is a repeating motif on three sides of the structure, hinting the outline of a simple house.. The railings, interior window grills and aluminum window frames are in dark brown ("chocolate brown"), while the window moldings are in medium dark brown ("lots of caramel"). These shades of brown provide a contrast to the monotony of an all-white structure.

Farmhouse facade. The two master bedrooms (left and right), each with its own terrace, protrude forward, hemming the mini garden. The two MBRs are windowed on three sides for maximum ventilation. The concrete stepping stones leading to the main stairs and porch are now in place. The mounds of gravel obstructing the front of the farmhouse will be spread out soon through out the driveway.

Outdoor kitchen. The outdoor kitchen lies on the western side of the farmhouse, separated by a three meter wide gravel driveway. A new bahay kubo is placed beside the outdoor kitchen, which also includes a grill section and a laundry area. The open space where a table can be seen now will be what we call our "boodle fight area" - much of our cooking, dining and lounging activities will be in this place.

Lighting control. Moving inside, the newly installed Korean blinds allow good control of light coming from the outside. An array of interior lighting fixtures (pin lights, center lights and strip cove lights) provide flexibility in mood setting illumination.

Kitchen Counter. The simple kitchen counter is topped with quartz slab in white marble finish. The three breakfast counter chairs,  and the cabinet doors and cladding are all are made of Gmelina wood, walnut-stained, and finished with a polyurethane coating.

Counter cladding. A closer view of the counter wood cladding - a hidden convenience outlet is installed at one end to power cooking, brewing, toasting or heating devices, hence minimizing the clutter of wires laying across the countertop to reach the wall outlets. Sufficient knee space is designed into the underside of the counter for convenience.

Table for eight. An 8-seater dining table, with a top made of 3-inch thick solid mahogany planks and supported by 6 inch x 6 inch mahogany legs, occupy most of the dining area. The synthetic rattan  sets at lower right are temporarily stored in the dining area and will be transferred to the MBR terraces once we move in.

Farmhouse sala set. The living room set is made of synthetic rattan, topped with soft cushions. The color complements the overall brown motif of the house itself and the furnitures.

TV Rack. With a width of 2 meters and made of solid Gmelina wood, the TV rack is walnut-stained and polyurethane-finished. Two simple side tables of the same materials and finish are at each side of the rack.

Watching TV from the kitchen. A 65-inch Samsung 4K TV set with a sound bar is already up and running at the living room, easily watchable from the kitchen counter. The living, dining and kitchen areas are purposely designed to be divider-free.

Simple kitchen. The kitchen's layout is minimalist - no hanging cabinets were built to minimize clutter and congestion. Much of the daily routine cooking will be done in the outdoor kitchen anyway, and there  is a walk-in pantry with many shelves (its door is partially visible at left) to store assorted kitchen items and supplies.

Benches for the outdoor kitchen. Six wooden benches, with plain sanded finish and no coatings, are ready for transfer to the boodle fight area of the outdoor kitchen.

 

The evolving design of the farmhouse (and other structures)

In October 2020, the design of the farmhouse (and other orchard structures) was drafted and printed on tracing paper for blue-printing. Many incremental revisions have been made since then to improve  aesthetics and functionality.

DESIGN EVOLUTION. (1) The two 1.20 m x 1.20 m windows at each terrace were consolidated into a single 1.60 m x 1.20 m opening; (2) The large 1.60 m x 1.80 m window to the left of the main door was split into two 1.2 m x 1.8 m ones to achieve a symmetry of the four openings by the porch; (3) The floor beams were allowed to protrude about 2-1/2 inches beyond the vertical wall for isolation with a paint accent later; (4) A hanging wall was added above the railings of the terraces and porch; (5) The sloping exterior ceiling at the sides were made horizontal, allowing the formation of a nice full triangular upper wall above each terrace; (6) A pocket garden now planted with blue grass was added in front of the porch (a walkway composed of twin stepping stones, running straight to the main stairs, will be built later); And (7) the steps in the perimeter slab were modified to suit the actual ground slope.

BOODLE FIGHT AREA. An outdoor kitchen with an enclosed cooking section, an open dining area, a grill and a laundry area was added near the rear stairs. The space below the landing itself will be utilized  as a mini-storage room (with a lockable door) for garden tools and LPG tanks. A long LPG hose will run from this storage space to the main kitchen above. The outdoor kitchen is separated by a 3-meter wide driveway that will be lined with gravel later. A cantilevered canopy of polycarbonate sheeting will be added  above the landing, while a walkway cover of the same polycarbonate sheeting will connect the two structures. This will allow one to walk from the outdoor kitchen to the farmhouse without getting wet during the rainy season.

SPOT FOR A NEW BAHAY KUBO. The area under the shady mango tree beside the outdoor kitchen will host a new bahay kubo - a nice place to hang around with our three small dogs. The lower branches of the mango tree will be trimmed to accommodate the native hut. The 7-meter wide driveway leading to the main gate of the orchard will be lined with gravel too. Gravel is our preferred material for lining driveways because it's cheaper than concrete, it blends with the environment better especially when grass starts to grow in between the stones, it can survive rainwater runoffs without damage, and we can easily clear it if we decide to re-purpose some sections of the driveway in the future.

BACKUP WATER SUPPLY. The orchard is located in a hilly terrain whose elevation is about 20 meters higher than the surrounding vast ricefields. We started digging our first water well (located at the back of the farmhouse) in September 2020 and it ran out of water in the summer of 2021. We extended the depth of this well no. 1 several times until it reached 40 feet, deep enough to maintain a minimum daily recharge rate of about 300 liters of water during the driest period of the year. This volume of water supply is not enough for our domestic needs, even without watering the plants in the orchard. Thus, this summer of 2022, we dug a second well about 120 meters down slope from well no. 1, at a ground elevation about 7 meters lower than that of the first well. At a similar depth of 40 feet, we achieved a water recharge rate of 1,800 liters per day. This is good enough for the whole orchard's water requirement. Well no. 2 will be operated only for a maximum of three months a year (March to May), when water in well no. 1 is at a critical level. The rain harvesting system is already operational, and it can refill well no. 1 at a fantastic rate during the first rains of April and May (a recent brief cloudburst added roughly 4,000 liters of water within 30 minutes).

Testing the Mavic Air 2S at the Orchard

I haven't been able to record aerial photos of the construction activities at the Orchard for quite some time now, ever since both the Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic Air started having issues. With the arrival of a new drone - a Mavic Air 2S - aerial imaging is again possible at Maambal. I was limited to just a few minutes of flight time in this visit (April 26th), as light rain started to fall even before the first battery of the drone was half used.

 

THE ENTIRE MAAMBAL ORCHARD. With the camera facing west and the drone flying way above the treetops, the whole 1.6 hectare property is captured. In the center is the farmhouse and beyond it is the outdoor kitchen, both under finishing work. To the lower right of the farmhouse is the garage building. At far right, the shiny GI sheet roofing of the caretaker's quarters can be seen.

FLYING JUST ABOVE THE FRONT GATE. An isometric view of the facade and eastern side of farmhouse is taken with the drone at low altitude. At the back of the farmhouse, the 10-meter high water tank tower also serves as support for the electrical wires that emanated from the electrical entrance tower by the garage building.

ROOF GEOMETRY. The roofing sheets of the farmhouse and the outdoor kitchen have a uniform slope of  0.40 (nearly 22 degrees above the horizontal). This slope was chosen because it strikes a good balance among the three factors that influenced the roof design - aesthetics, safety and economy. A steeper slope will look nicer, but it's less economical and unsafe to walk on during maintenance work without the aid of safety rope and harness. A flatter slope will be safer to walk on and more economical, but the appearance would leave something to be desired.

 

FACING EAST.  The faint outline of the Caraballo mountains can be seen in the far horizon. The outdoor kitchen dominates the foreground, while the garage building at upper left is partially obstructed by the water tower. The gray main gate of the Orchard is just beyond the right corner of the farmhouse. The lush leaves at left belong to a row of Bangkok santol trees that are just starting to reach fruit-bearing maturity.

WATER WELL NO. 2. With the underground water table at its lowest from April to May, we decided to dig a second water well that will back up well no. 1 which is  just beside the water tower. We chose a spot in the rear area of the Orchard for well no. 2 (the temporary shed of the digging crew is near the center). Ground elevation here is 7 meters lower than that of the first well, plus the chosen spot is near the intersection of two dry creeks. We hope we'll get lucky and strike water in this second location.

Finally, a short 4K footage of the farmhouse:

Construction Update - First Week of April 2022

 

The railings of the two bedrooms' terrace, as well as that of the porch and main stairs, are fabricated and installed, ready for painting. The blue grass in the pocket garden has grown well, to be trimmed later.

The installation of spandrel exterior ceiling is nearly done. Construction of the low retaining wall for the 7-meter wide gravel driveway is under way. Back-filling of the driveway prior to gravel lining is also in mid-swing.

A large portion of the CHB retaining wall of the gravel driveway is embedded under the ground, only the last layer of CHB will be visible. Runoff water during heavy rains will be channeled to a selected flow path nearby, so the retaining wall should be sturdy enough to resist flowing water in case of spill-over.

The driveway and its retaining wall as seen from the rear - much back-filling has to be done to tame the rolling terrain into a gentle slope. A bahay kubo will be placed later underneath the mango tree at left.

The railing of the kitchen landing and rear stairs is done. The space beneath the landing will be utilized as a storage area for LPG tanks (connected to the main kitchen above through a long hose), as well as garden tools.

The split-type A/C units for the bedrooms and the common areas are all installed. Also seen in the photo are the downspouts leading down from the roof gutter to the catchment basins - all connected to the rain harvesting system. During downpours, rainwater maybe discharged to the water canal, or channeled to deep well no.1 (10,000 liter storage capacity) from where it will be pumped to the elevated water tank.

A utility electric pole is being erected about 60 meters to the rear of the outdoor kitchen and roughly 90 meters from the back end of the Orchard. This will provide power to the bahay kubo nearby (right), deep well no. 2 (to be dug shortly, as a backup water source), and to various power tools that may be used in the area. The solar powered floodlights that will illuminate the middle and rear portions of the Orchard will be installed also at this pole.

Power from the utility company will enter the Orchard through this entrance tower by the garage building beside the road. The garage building houses the power room that will contain the backup genset and the main distribution panel. Much work to improve the aesthetics of the fence still has to be done in the near future.

From the power room in the garage building, the power lines are connected to secondary racks at the water tower, for distribution to the farmhouse/outdoor kitchen/utility pole, caretaker's quarters and the water pumping system. The main line is 30 square mm in size - enough capacity to carry the Orchard's power needs.

Another low retaining wall is built in front of the garage building to contain the gravel bedding of the driveway. This retaining wall is cut in two to allow room for growth of the mango tree's trunk.

 

The sliding aluminum windows and grills of the outdoor kitchen had been installed. A new bahay kubo will be placed under the mango tree beside the outdoor kitchen. In the meantime, the open dining area serves as a venue for construction meetings.

 

 

Finishing touches are done to the grilling area by the outdoor kitchen. Inset are a pair of stainless steel grills that can be be used singly or combined into an 18 inch x 24 inch assembly.

Tile work for the laundry counter at the outdoor kitchen is nearly finished. This counter will also serve as a hand washing station, as well as a place to clean fish and other messy kitchen stuff.

Tile work for the outdoor kitchen counter has started too. The counter at the left is lower by 10 cm compared to that at right to allow for the additional height of the stove, making cooking and stirring less of a challenge .

Insulation, ceiling and electrical works have been going on for quite some time now. Floor tiling works will commence as soon as the ceiling is fully covered.

Finally, a panoramic view of the farmhouse and the gravel driveways - the one at right leads to the garage building, while that on the left passes in front of the farmhouse and outdoor kitchen, running towards the rear of the Orchard nearly 200 meters away.

Construction Update - First week of February 2022

 Here's a photo update of the construction work at the Orchard as of February 5, 2022.

 

OUTDOOR KITCHEN. Roof installation is finished and plastering work is done, ready for painting. The grilling counter at right will be painted in terracotta color to simulate the color of clay bricks. Partly hidden at the left side is the laundry counter. There will be a long dining table in place of the temporary table in the open area, and a new bahay kubo will be installed under the mango tree in front of the outdoor kitchen.

POCKET GARDEN. We planted blue grass at the pocket garden in front of the porch last week. This was done early so the grass will be green and grown by the time the main stairs will be finished. A walkway with stepping stones made of cast-in-place concrete will connect the landing of the main stairs to the gravel driveway. The stepping stones will be locked in place by the surrounding garden soil and blue grass. The outdoor kitchen is visible at left, while the 3-car garage/storehouse is seen at right in the distance.

FUTURE GARDEN. Past the main gate, to its left, will be the future ornamental plants garden. A 7-meter wide gravel driveway will run from the main gate to the front of the farmhouse, also giving access to the rear portion of the orchard. The tent frame by the side of the farmhouse temporarily supports several solar lights. This will be removed later to make way for more gravel-lined parking area.

 

 

 

GARAGE AND STOREHOUSE. Turning right after the main gate is another gravel driveway that leads to the three-car garage and storehouse. A bahay kubo that serves as a construction office sits beside the garage, in the shade of a line of mahogany trees. A toilet and bathroom, a power room and two store rooms (that can be used as temporary bedrooms) are housed in the garage building.

BACK OF THE FARMHOUSE. Clearing of construction debris at the back of the farmhouse is nearly finished. The ground surface in this area will be scraped later to channel rainwater runoff towards the right, away from the farmhouse. Guava, cacao, atis and Bangkok santol trees populate this part of the orchard. The catchment basins along the perimeter slab will gather rainwater from the roof and direct this to the main collection pipe of the rainwater harvesting system. To the right of the water tower, not visible in this photo, is the deep well. The rain water harvesting system has the flexibility to store rainwater in the deep well which has a capacity of over 12,000 liters.

DRIVEWAY BETWEEN STRUCTURES. A 3-meter wide driveway, soon to be lined with gravel, separates the outdoor kitchen from the farmhouse. Below the back stairs landing is a small storage space for LPG tanks and garden tools. Cooking gas will be fed from this storage space to the main kitchen of the farmhouse through a long flexible hose that snakes through a 1-inch PVC pipe embedded in the concrete, no need to carry the heavy LPG tank up the kitchen stairs.

GENTLY ROLLING TERRAIN. Beyond the farmhouse and the outdoor kitchen is the gently rolling terrain of the Orchard. Mango, mabolo, chico, atis, guava, star apple, duhat, langka, sineguelas, gmelina, mahogany, acacia, narra, buri palm and various trees abound in this large portion of the property. Distance from the outdoor kitchen to the rear boundary of the property is in excess of 150 meters, and the average width of the orchard in this section is about 70 meters.

 

The outdoor kitchen takes shape

Construction of the farmhouse and other structures has been slow, but deliberate. Procurement of materials is still quite challenging because of the varying movement restrictions imposed by the pandemic, and the erratic supply of steel products. As the small construction team takes a Christmas break, we were able to complete the outer shell of the farmhouse, including the roof. 

The perimeter slab allows one to walk around the farmhouse unimpeded, and this is now almost completed. It's tougher to build than expected because of the sloping ground. 

The perimeter slab houses five plumbing systems - water supply, septic line, kitchen waste water (separated to make declogging due to oil sludge buildup easier), bathroom waste water, and rain harvesting system. We have to hide these plumbing lines within the slab, and make sure that fluid flow will remain optimal given the sloping ground.

The sliding aluminum windows (with screen) and grills are installed, and the plastering/skim coating of interior and exterior walls is completed, ready for painting.

Meantime, on the western side of the farmhouse, the outdoor kitchen building takes shape. This small structure houses a covered and enclosed second kitchen, an open dining/lounging area with a view of the greenery, a laundry area and a grilling spot. A 3 meter wide driveway separates the outdoor kitchen from the farmhouse. Both structures will be connected by a covered walk later.

 

The roof trusses of the outdoor kitchen are in place. The purlins and roofing sheets will be installed in early January. Note the 3 meter wide driveway separating the perimeter slabs of the two structures.

Behind the outdoor kitchen lies the septic tank. A laundry area will be built below the two small windows on the right. The grilling area be will be at the opposite side of the outdoor kitchen.

A close view of the farmhouse - plastering is almost completed. The complex perimeter slab that houses the plumbing systems is likewise in place. In front of the farmhouse, a gravel driveway will be built.

Viewed from near the main gate, the garage building is to the right of the farmhouse. The walking distance between the parking building and the main entrance of the farmhouse is roughly 50 meters.

The front of the farmhouse faces south. There will be a small patch of Bermuda grass on the rectangular area bounded by the porch, the two bedrooms on the wings, and the driveway.

Beyond the farmhouse and outdoor kitchen, at the left side in this photo, are various plants and trees, as well as open grassy areas. The structures are located in the front portion of the orchard, with the rear boundary of the property about 180 meters to the back of the farmhouse.