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The current attraction among birders and bird photographers is the White's Thrush at La Mesa Ecopark. Being an uncommon migrant, it drew a lot of attention among avian enthusiasts, at one time as many as 20 individuals who tried to a get a photo of this skulker.
Saturday morning, Cynthia and I decided to join the White's Thrush fan club. Not a lifer for us, as we've seen and even got good pictures of this species 6 years ago. We were there a little after 7 am and we joined fellow bird photographer Nes Santiago in the quest for the star bird. We also met young birder, Chet Chua, who took every effort to look for the legendary thrush for us. Unfortunately we were always too late getting to the place where Chet had seen the bird.
The Brown-headed Thrush, another uncommon migrant, however, was more cooperative since it enjoys feasting on the red fruits of the Mac Arthur palm trees.
Soon other bird photographers came, Rey Ibay, Marc Capistrano, and local birdman, Ferdie Llanes. Ferdie told us that to be able to see the White's Thrush, we have to wait patiently with minimal movement and talking. Half past ten, and my wife getting only a butt shot, we agreed to call it a day.
Perhaps it was because of habit that we woke up at 5 am. Normally at this time on Saturday mornings we are either already on the way to a birding destination or getting ready for one. Today, however, we did not have any plans to go birding at all. The reason for that is we will be attending a discipleship seminar at Ortigas Center at 10. We looked at each other and I subtly broached the subject of a quick sortie at the La Mesa Ecopark, after all it's just 15-20 minutes away sans trafic - to which my wife hastily agreed. We skipped breakfast (another deviation from the norm) and were at the park by 6:30.
Our primary targets were 1) the Indigo-banded Kingfisher and 2) Brown-headed Thrush. Although both species had already been seen and even photographed by us, the recent postings in Facebook by our friends sort of inspired us to make the same pursuit.
One look at the pond and I knew the kingfisher would be a no-show: the area "residents" had just awakened and were doing their morning ablutions and preparing breakfast. So I decided to pick on the thrush by positioning myself near the fruiting MacArthur Palm tree. Only to realize the vanity of it all. How could a self-respecting bird withstand the joggers, bikers and noisy crowds passing underneath the source of its breakfast?
Cynthia decided to roam around and try to look for other avian subjects. After an hour, she returned to where I was silently controlling my seething anger and told me that she got nada. Soon, our friend, Fr. Auckhs, came also with the intent of photographing the Indigo-banded Kingfisher. We apprised him of the situation but he had more confidence and patience than us.
At around 8, human activity waned to a tolerable level. I was still at the trail by the palm tree. I noticed some movement behind. It was the thrush I was hoping for. It was casing the joint, so to speak, trying to determine if it was already safe to pick some fruits. It was then that another boisterous crowd walked by and drove my target bird into hiding once again. Luckily I was able to get some shots, albeit a bit dark, before it was spooked.
At around 8:20, I told my wife that we have to go. We bade goodbye to Fr. Auckhs and informed him that we will go around the trail loop and head home from there. As I turned I saw the Brown-headed Thrush feeding on the palm tree! A short burst and then it flew off again. One shot turned out to be good enough.
We had a quick breakfast at nearby Jollibees and then an hour-long patience-trying, trauma-inducing drive back through a horrific traffic jam. Considering that we still have to go home, wash up and change our clothing, my wife and I did some thrush talking to alleviate our building anxieties (we're both punctual persons and getting late is something that we absolutely hate).
It was a miracle that we got to the seminar just in the nick of time.
My wife and I went to La Mesa Ecopark for just one purpose: to take better pictures of the Brown-headed Thrush! At 7:30 am we positioned ourselves in front of the fruiting MacArthur palm tree. Our friend, Bong, joined us thirty minutes later. As if on cue, our target bird appeared at 8:30 - the exact time we expected it to show up just as it did last Monday. After fifteen minutes our mission was accomplished!
We decided to go to the pond by the horses' stables to wait for the Indigo-banded Kingfisher which was Bong's target bird. We were joined by two Singaporean birders, Yam Tee Yong and Ben Quek, both of whom are my friends in Facebook. Unfortunately, the tiny kingfisher was a no-show and so was its' cousin, and another target bird for Bong and our Singaporean friends, the Spotted Wood.
At around 10:30 we returned to the Brown-headed Thrush milieu hoping it would make an encore appearance. It didn't.
Next place we went to was the Spillway and maybe, just maybe, at least one of the three raptors we saw last Monday would still be there. Not a single one showed up.
We got a couple of bonuses instead - a Barred Rail and a surprise appearance of a juvenile Cinnamon Bittern.
And with that, our visit to the La Mesa Ecopark came to a bittern end.
It had been an unproductive three-and-a-half hours that Monday morning at the La Mesa Ecopark. When our friend Peter texted me a little before 9 am asking if there were any birds, I promptly and tersely replied: not much.
Not a single Ashy Thrush nor Mangrove Blue Flycatcher showed up. The hoped for kingfishers - the Indigo-banded and Spotted Wood - were likewise absent. Our main target though was the Brown-headed Thrush. And indeed we saw it as it was about to feed on the bright red fruits of the MacArthur palm. Unfortunately as I was about to take its picture, the hood of my 100-400 lens fell producing a clanking sound which spooked the thrush. (Note: This time I opted for my smaller lens instead of the heavy 500 simply because I wasn't in the mood to carry such a load on my shoulders. There were bad and good consequences from this decision as I shall relate later.)
About 9:30 Peter joined us and we staked out the area where the tiny kingfisher was supposed to be seen. With the presence of bullying Philippine Magpie Robins and Philippine Pied Fantails, we knew our quarry would not be showing up anytime soon. We suggested to Peter that we go to the fruiting MacArthur palm and maybe the thrush would be more obliging.
Cynthia and I originally planned to leave at around 10 because she wanted to go to Antipolo for some business. At a quarter before ten, we told Peter that we would be leaving soon. It was then that there were some movement at the palm tree. I looked and was dismayed to see only a Yellow-vented Bulbul. "YVB," I told my companions. Then as I was peering through my camera lens, "Brown-headed Thrush!" "It's there just below the YVB!" I could hardly contain my excitement as I informed Peter and my wife.
This was the bad side of my short lens. Because I was just handholding it and the lens wasn't that good at dimly lit situations I only had so-so photos of the bird we came here to see.
After the Brown-headed Thrush left, we got ready to return to the parking lot. Peter suggested we stop by the spillway first. We agreed. Besides, Cynthia's appointment had already been rescheduled so we could stay a bit longer here.
At the spillway, we met fellow bird photographer Speed Reyes who told us that he had seen a Philippine Serpent Eagle dive down to the stream below. I was a bit skeptical since it didn't seem normal for that species to be doing that.
Again, aside from a couple of Barred Rails and a single White-breasted Waterhen, there were no other birds there. I was about to tell Cynthia that we should be going when a huge bird flew down to the stream below. "Raptor!" I shouted. It was, surprisingly, the Philippine Serpent Eagle, just as Speed had said. We took pictures as the raptor just stood there.
We then braced ourselves for a possible BIF (bird in flight) shot as we anticipated the Serpent Eagle to return to its roost. When it did, it was Cynthia who got the shot.
It settled on the branch of an acacia tree across the spillway, way too far for my and Cynthia's feeble lenses. But for Peter's 600mm plus extender, it was just perfect. After that encounter my wife and I were about to go back to our car when I saw another huge bird flying over the spillway. My shout of "Raptor!" once again filled the air. This time my smaller lens had the advantage as I was able to track the flight of the Crested Honey Buzzard.
By the time Peter was able to move his gear to a more open space, the buzzard was already gone. Then.."Raptor!" I shouted for the third time as another fly by occurred albeit at a farther distance. This time it was an Osprey and I was able to get some good shots at it, again thanks to a lighter lens.
On the way home, my wife was telling me how all of a sudden we had a plethora of birds just as we were about to leave.
Perhaps, God was saving the best for last, I told her.
She couldn't agree more.
The text message from USec Fred Serrano was very encouraging: We're having clear skies now. My wife and I looked at each other then at the clock. It was not yet ten in the morning. Just like the characters in a fast forward video, we showered, dressed up, packed our gears and jumped into our car.
There was quite a downpour that morning when we texted our dear friend who resides in Los Banos asking him of the weather situation in his neck of the woods. We had been constantly monitoring the weather reports in the internet the whole day Friday. When all the websites we consulted were unanimous in saying that it would definitely rain in Los Banos on Saturday we scrapped our plans of visiting the Makiling Botanical Garden.
The sun was shining brightly while we were having lunch at Burger King in Calamba. Another text from USec Fred: Sun shining here. We informed him that we were already nearby and will be there soon.
When we entered the campus of the University of the Philippines in Los Banos (UPLB) where the Botanic Garden was located, it began to rain. Not a mere drizzle but hard, pouring rain.
"Let's go to APEC first," I told Cynthia, "at least we can do some 'dude' birding there."
(Dude birding = birding while inside a car).
The rice had been recently harvested and the fields were fallow. A bunch of Wood Sandpipers and a solitary Little Ringed Plover, later joined by a Yellow Wagtail, were forlornly enduring the raindrops mercilessly beating on their bodies. The rain eventually eased into a slight drizzle. The Buff-banded Rails popped out from the grasslands while the Pied Bush Chats suddenly burst into insect-hunting activity.
When the first streaks of emerging sunlight appeared, my wife suggested we go to the Botanical Garden. Asap.
The mischievous weather thought it would be fun to drop some more rain at us as I eased our car into the Garden's parking lot. Undaunted and armed with an umbrella and a raincoat we proceeded to the fruiting "lipote" tree. Not an easy task because the road going there was uphill and quite slippery. Add to this the fact that I was lugging my 500mm lens mounted on a tripod. After several stops to catch our breath we saw the fabled tree. I was still setting up my equipment and wiping the endless sweat off my brow, when my wife approached and showed me a picture she had just taken.
"What bird is this?"
The image was a bit blurred perhaps due to Cynthia's excitement at seeing something she hadn't seen before.
"Handsome Sunbird," was my reply in a most insouciant manner as if this bird was just one of those you see at every tree in your urban neighborhood.
We were actually overjoyed at having seen a lifer and the very reason we came to this place. The skies celebrated with us by clearing up once again. Sunlight brightened the trees around us. And cranked up the humidity a thousandfold it seemed. Bathed in fresh sweat we took up different positions beneath the "lipote" tree. While my wife was trying to figure out what those tiny feathered creatures lurking in the shadows were, I saw a big bird alit on a relatively open branch. As I peered through my lens, the first thought that came to my mind was: What was an American Robin doing here?
A flurry of shots and it finally dawned on me: Of course it has to be a Brown-headed Thrush! I couldn't believe we got lifer number two in a span of about an hour!
This time Cynthia focused her attention to the bunch of Torch Ginger plants across the road. Soon she was signaling to me and pointing to a particular bloom. On top was a Sunbird. As I took several photos I dismissed the bird as one of those ho-hum Olive-backed Sunbirds. But then why is there orange on its breast? It couldn't be the aurorae subspecies which is only found in Palawan, could it? That night as I reviewed the results of our photographic endeavors I learned that that bird on the flower was a Flaming Sunbird! Not really a lifer but this was the first time we saw it in Luzon.
Back at the "lipote" tree, the activity somehow dwindled. Mostly the small but bullying Orange-bellied Flowerpeckers remained, chasing away any unwary newcomer. Except for one species. A kind of Sunbird which I initially thought as an immature Handsome. Again, after reviewing the pictures that night, this unfazed-by-flowerpeckers bird was a Grey-throated Sunbird - a recent split from the Brown/Plain-throated of Palawan and the Visayas-Mindanao areas. A third lifer for us.
Around three in the afternoon the onset of dehydration resulting from an ocean of perspiration was felt. We packed our gears and plodded back to our car.
There was another pluvial outpouring as we entered the Expressway. Despite that, Cynthia and I were happy and thankful at the outpouring of blessings in getting three lifers in a relatively short span of time. This was a redemption from the disappointments at not seeing the Scaly Thrush in spite of several attempts last year. Was it a coincidence that we just finished our prayer and fasting regimen last week?
