Friday night I told Cynthia that I didn't have any plans to go birding on Saturday. Then I asked her if she wanted to eat out for breakfast. She replied, "Let's go to Rodic's at U.P. Let's bring our cameras just in case."
Saturday morning we set off for our planned breakfast. We took the usual route via White Plains to see if the resident Little Egret was still in its favorite spot on the waterway. But even before we reached the place, we saw a Large-billed Crow perched on top of an electric post.
Not far away from it, a Crested Myna was roosting on an electric wire.
It had been said that black birds forebode bad luck. Not in our case. It was the first time we saw both the Crow and Myna in this area, despite the many times we passed by here. And to me that in itself is good luck. As we looked into the waterway, the Little Egret was there, even closer than before!
We even got a bonus of Philippine Pied Fantail at a nearby tree.
I drove slowly scanning the trees across the street. As we passed by an empty lot, I saw a Collared Kingfisher perched almost at ground level! I made a quick u-turn but as soon as I got near, the bird flew away not to be seen again. However, we noticed some activity at the tall grass. Cynthia got some shots of a Scaly-breasted Munia.
When I joined her, what I saw were Chestnut Munias!
From there we proceeded to our breakfast place. It was full and there wasn't any parking spot available. Thanks to the help of the security guard we were able to get a parking space. We then enjoyed the best tapsilog there is. After the sumptuous breakfast we went to the MSI area in U.P. Feeding in an aratiles tree was a Red-keeled Flowerpecker. It was so active that I only got a documentary shot.
Then we took the obligatory photo of the Brown Shrike.
A family of Olive-backed Sunbirds were also feeding on a flowering plant.
High above a Black-naped Oriole was bringing food to its nestlings.
A Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker was already busy that early.
And so were the Golden-bellied Gerygones.
Next stop was at the Astronomy area for the Long-tailed Shrike.
Then at the place where the Grey-streaked Flycatcher hangs out.
On our way home we stopped by the Hardin ng Rosas. This time Black-winged Stilts were closer.
And the Common Moorhen was basking in the sun.
On the way out we saw a flock of Eastern Cattle Egrets perched on a tree.
We decided to make another stop over by the Marikina River. Again, this time the Egrets (a few Little and a single Chinese) were closer.
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| Little Egret |
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| Chinese Egret |
The Whiskered Terns were busy diving for food.
For an "unplanned" birding sortie, we were rewarded by quite a number of species and closer views of the more common ones.
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