All for the Bittern

With the gasoline prices going high, one of the options we had in loading up was in Taytay where the a liter is about 5 pesos lower than those at the area where we reside. My wife and I both agreed to pass by the birding area along Road 2000. Being the middle of the year we were not expecting to see a lot although a recent post in Facebook showed a Little Ringed Plover photographed there. When we arrived we were surprised to see a group of birders already there: Linda Gocon, Bom Gomez and his family, Bambi Martinez and Rhea GD (who saw the plover) We were later joined by Gwen (Yin Li So). We asked what they had seen so far and they replied "bitterns!" True enough all three kinds (Black, Yellow and Cinnamon) were there - all the the time flying at quite a distance. They were so far that I never got even one decent shot of any one of them! We all waited patiently for a chance that at least one of them would pose long enough for us to be able to get a photo. Thank goodness our patience were rewarded when a Black Bittern showed up partly immersed in water. Eventually it raised its head up and we all had a blast taking pictures of the cooperative bird.

It was while we were waiting for the bitterns when Linda pointed at a bird among the tall grass. "Watercock!" she announced to the group.

After we had our fill at photographing the cooperative Black Bittern that we turned our attention at the usual avian residents of the area: The White-browed Crake and White-breasted Waterhen.

Again, from a distance an Intermediate Egret and a Purple Heron came flying in and stayed long enough for us to get "documentary" shots at them.

At around 9 am and with no new birds to see, we bade our friends goodbye - but not without taking a groupie first.

Our thanks to our birding friends for showing the birds and for the nice companionship. Hope to see you all again!

JIF

JIF is the number one peanut butter brand in the United States. Lately, however, JIF acquired a new meaning here in the Philippines. Now JIF stands for Jacana In Flight - photos of which had become a common posting in Facebook the past several weeks. Like most bird photographers, we wanted to be a part of this growing community. Our friend and regular birding companion, Peter and I contacted Jonet T. Carpio - he is "the man" who rules over the Jacana territory. So it was arranged - we meet up at the Camella Homes in Bulacan between 6:30 and 7 Saturday morning.

At 6:30 we were there. Jonet gave us a detailed description of what to expect, where to look, and the best time to photograph our target species. For the next hour and a half we endured the scorching sun as we attempted (most of the time unsuccessfully) to get our JIF shot. I said unsuccessfully because the long-tailed birds were so unpredictable in their movements. You'll never know when they will decide to fly and if they did it was only for a short distance - oftentimes too short for our cameras to focus properly on the fast moving subject.

Thankfully, there were some passable photos that would be good enough to be included in the JIF posting in Facebook.

In between lulls when the Pheasant-tailed Jacanas were not up in the air, other species provided a respite, thankfully so. Interestingly, we were provided with BIF opportunities. Normally, BIF would mean "Bird In Flight" however, in our case that morning, BIF turned out to be Bittern In Flight. All three species went flying by, albeit at varying distances and at different times.

Black Bittern

Cinnamon Bittern

Yellow Bittern

Around 9 am, the jacana activity quieted somehow. A birding couple, Gilbert and Wilma Go, came and joined us. We stayed with them for another half hour with still very minimal activity from our target bird. 

At 9:30 with the heat becoming unbearable, we bade goodbye to our new friends and to our host. Our deepest gratitude goes to Jonet who took time off from his schedule to show us where the jacanas were and providing very important information about birds in the area and even setting up a hide for us photographers.

One of the slogans for the famous peanut butter I mentioned above goes: "it's terif!" That's exactly how we would describe our experience with our version of JIF.

Bittern than Before

"Let's go to Candaba this Friday", I told my wife with such conviction that she was momentarily taken by surprise. Cynthia has already gotten used to my waffling when it comes to deciding where to go birding. Perhaps it was the disappointment that I and my birding buddies Gabs and Edu experienced last Saturday that altered my decision making demeanor. My wife who opted to stay home that day was of course spared of such misery. When she noticed my unusual firmness she concluded, and rightly so, that I needed a redemption.


They say that you can tell how the rest of the day will go if the morning is started on the right path. Our right path on that cool Friday dawn turned out to be Cafe France. Yes, you read it right. Cafe France. 


Let me elaborate on that for a while: Our prayer and fasting regimen (an annual practice by the Victory Christian Fellowship group of churches of which we are members) ended the night before. So here we are ready to take on a full course breakfast for the first time in seven days. Normally, on any trip to Candaba, Cynthia and I would have our early morning repast at Jollibees in Baliuag. However, on this particular outing my wife remembered seeing a Cafe France (one of our favorite restaurants) along NLEX and decided to splurge a little to commemorate the ending of our weeklong fast. The omelet and ham and bacon and eggs with crispy croissants, believe it or not, paved the way for a fruitful, or shall I say bountiful, day of birding in Candaba.


We entered via the "backdoor" to the Sanctuary. After parking our car, I headed toward the berm but stopped short because there was a bird quietly huddled among the grass. A pipit? It certainly looked like one and I hoped it was not the very common Paddyfield. But for now I'm happy even if it was so. 

From the berm the flotilla of ducks can still be seen. As a matter of fact they are even closer now. The Northern Shovelers can easily be distinguished from the Philippine Ducks without the use of binoculars. The Chestnut Munias were once again quite plentiful only now they were less skittish.

A pleasant surprise was the presence of Common Greenshanks snoozing along with the Black-winged Stilts and Whiskered Terns. But the first "Woo-hoo!" of the day happened when a usually elusive Common Kingfisher alit at eye level thirteen meters away! 

The adrenalin rush had barely dissipated when Cynthia, bless her super sharp vision, pointed a bird to me. I was driving slowly scanning the lily covered pond for Purple Swamphens. Cynthia yelled "Stop!" I stopped.


"Look!" I looked. But couldn't see anything. 


I was waiting for "Listen!" but she was already frantically pointing at something "there!"


Sometimes I am just amazed at how my wife does it. She was sitting on the passenger side of our car and farther away from the pond. My body was even partially blocking her view. But she saw "it". Only after looking intensely at the dense vegetation on my left, where the Black-crowned Night Herons frolic, did I see "it".


"It" was a Black Bittern.

I thought everything would be sort of anti-climactic after these two fabulous photographic opportunities. But Candaba had more in store for us that morning. Maybe not as breathtaking as the Common Kingfisher and the Black Bittern but the additional birds we saw later certainly made up for the dearth of sightings last Saturday.


For one thing, the ducks were much closer now and I was able to get pictures of the Tufted Duck, a Green-winged Teal and a  gorgeously patterned male Garganey!

We ticked off several more birds like Yellow Bittern, Island Collared Dove, several Pied Bush Chats, more calling birds, three Waterhens, two Turtle Doves and a Grassbird in a bare tree.


As we were driving home I was telling Cynthia what a difference birding was today from the last time I was here. Today was definitely better than before. 


A Sinatra song even came to mind:


Birding is birdier, the second time around
Just as wonderful with both Rails on the ground


It's that second time you hear the Doves' song sung
Makes you think perhaps that birding like youth, is wasted on the young


Birding's more comfortable the second time you go
Like a friendly home with your dear wife in tow


Who can say what brought us to this miracle we've found
There are those who bet birding's just time spent
But I'm oh so glad we went 
the second time around


Now who says Friday the 13th is bad luck?