Seeing the Philippines through a different wingspan
Welcome to Romy Ocon’s Wild Birds of the Philippines — a living photographic record of the nation’s extraordinary avian wildlife, built over more than two decades of patient fieldwork across Luzon, Palawan, and beyond.
Romy Ocon, who goes by the name Liquidstone in online birding communities, is a nature photographer who learned on their own and can’t see colors. They were born and raised in a village in La Union, Northern Luzon, Philippines. He will always be grateful for growing up near open fields, rivers, and orchards. This is something that he couldn’t have learned in a classroom.
He is trained as a civil engineer and a concrete technologist. He started working as a professional in 1989 and started his own business in 1997. When he was 39 years old, he did something very unusual: he quit his full-time job to focus on what he loved most: using honesty and skill to catch Philippine birds in the wild, where they lived naturally.
Because of that choice, one of the largest personal collections of Philippine bird photography exists. It includes pictures of hundreds of species, thousands of field hours, and places from coastal lagoons to the Cordillera highlands.
Raising Awareness One Frame at a Time
For birds, the Philippines is one of the most important places in the world for biodiversity. About 614 species have been named, and 194 of them are found nowhere else on Earth. More than 10% of these species are globally threatened. That is not a meaningless number. What Filipinos and people around the world see in the future will depend on the choices made today about forest cover, wetland drainage, and land conversion.
Romy has a simple goal: he wants to make the stakes clear by taking pictures of these birds in their natural environment and sharing them publicly. A kingfisher sitting in the light above a stream in Pangasinan, a Rufous Hornbill calling from the trees in Palawan, and an endemic flowerpecker that is only four inches long are all pictures that make the case for conservation in a way that numbers alone can’t.
Every picture on this site was taken near where the animals live. It’s not okay to bait, play back recorded calls, or take pictures without permission. This is how the birds act when they are left alone. That’s the only rule Romy works by.
What We Know — and What We Don’t Claim To
It is known that Romy Ocon has been taking pictures of wild birds and other animals all over the Philippines for more than twenty years. He knows how to identify animals in the field, how to take pictures of animals in their natural habitat, how to choose the right camera and lens for wildlife photography, and how to record bird behavior and sounds on 4K video. This site’s photographic standards, species notes, shooting data, and conservation commentary are all based on real, first-hand information that has been gathered over time.
The main focus of this site is wildlife photography and the variety of birds that live in the Philippines. Romy’s personal experience shapes the information he shares about bird species, field technique, gear, and habitat, and it is important to understand this in that light.
There are times when this site will have articles or opinions from outside authors that are about things other than wildlife photography. These could be about money, politics, regional news, economics, or other things. The writers of these pieces are not affiliated with Romy Ocon or the romyocon.net editorial team. They were contributed by outside sources or chosen for their unique perspectives.
Disclaimer:
This site sometimes shares opinions, news updates, and different points of view on financial markets, economic changes, and investment topics. These come from outside contributors or people who watch the industry. This information is meant to be useful, and the authors’ opinions are their own. It’s not investment advice, financial advice, or a suggestion to buy, sell, or hold any kind of financial asset or instrument.
People who read this site should talk to a qualified financial adviser before acting on any of the financial information they find here. Romy Ocon, Romyocon.net, its editors, and Romy Ocon are not responsible for any financial decisions made based on content posted here by third parties.
The information on this site about politics, government, local and regional issues, new laws, and related topics comes from public sources, contributions from outsiders, and opinion pieces from leaders and commentators in the field. This kind of content is republished or summed up exactly as it was written, reflecting the authors’ opinions.
It is important to note that Romyocon.net does not support any political position, party, candidate, or course of action. People who read this site should not do anything legally or civically based on political or legal content they find here without first getting independent legal advice from a qualified professional. These points of view are published to help, not to instruct.
If this site has news, updates, or opinions from outside sources about wildlife photography, politics, the economy, local and regional changes, or anything else, those items are posted as received and only reflect the views of the people who wrote them. Romyocon.net doesn’t promise that this content is correct, complete, or up to date. We collect and share these points of view as a public service. However, they should never be used instead of professional advice that is tailored to your specific needs.