Seeing Green

It was one of those weird experiences where we saw green birds - two species from the Dove family - but were unable to photograph them. And that happened at the start and at the end of our three-day birding at Subic. Wednesday afternoon as we entered the Nabasan Trail, we saw a pair of Common Emerald Doves feeding on the ground. As I lowered our car window to take their photo, both flew away. We made a quick round trip, hoping they will be back at their feeding spot. We saw one but again it flew away even before we could lift our cameras. And then on our last day, as we were about to exit the Nabasan Trail, a flock of 5 Philippine Green Pigeons were perched on a tree by the road. But before I could even stop the car, all five flew into the forest, not to be seen again.

Other than that frustrating encounters, we had a very good birding time at Subic. It didn't start well though. For one thing the weather was gloomy that Wednesday afternoon. Most of the photos we got were disappointingly backlit. The first bird we photographed was a Common Sandpiper, taken at the seashore not that far from our hotel.

At the Nabasan Trail, we got some shots at the Luzon Hornbill, Blue-throated Bee-eater and Green Imperial Pigeon.

And that, sadly was how our first day ended. Thursday, surprisingly, was sunny which boosted our hopes of seeing more birds. One of the surprises was a Grey-faced Buzzard.

I thought that would be a good portent.  However, things went downhill after that. All we saw were the "trash" birds - species that we always see at our condominium grounds. So I took some obligatory shots.

Zebra Dove

Brown Shrike

Yellow-vented Bulbul

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Even more annoying was the White-throated Kingfisher. They were quite common but so skittish. Each time we would approach one (in our car, by the way) they would fly off, and land a few meters away. We would follow, and it would repeat that routine several times. And that was not just one individual! We encountered a few more and they did they same mocking attitude. Then I remembered a place we visited last year where that kind of kingfisher was more cooperative. So we went to the Ilanan Road and we were not disappointed.

That somehow changed our luck. Soon we were seeing species after species. Foremost was a Philippine Serpent Eagle that stayed put for a long time. And there were two endemics: the Coleto and the Guiabero.

Coleto

Guaiabero

Another species of the parrot family was even friendlier - the Green Racket-tail.

Before heading back to our hotel, we passed by the Volunteer Park hoping to get photos of the Brahminy Kite. And we did! 

With a bonus of a Grey Heron and a Great Egret.

The following morning and our last day of birding was once again a bit gloomy. Despite that we had good shots of a Balicassiao which landed on the electric wire just above us.

A Blue-naped Parrot also posed for us from a nearby tree.

The highlight of the day was getting good looks and getting photos of the three kinds of woodpeckers: The Northern Sooty Woodpecker, the White-bellied Woodpecker and the Luzon Flameback.

Northern Sooty Woodpecker

White-bellied Woodpecker

Luzon Flameback

The last bird we photographed was the skulking Philippine Coucal.

It was one of the most productive sorties we had in this place - considering that it didn't start well - so much so that I was turning into a grumpy old man. Thanks to my ever encouraging, always positive wife, everything eventually went well. Things may look grey, but there is always green at the end.

Missing Tit

Early Saturday (March 4) morning I got a Facebook PM from birding friend Bim Quemado. "If you're interested, the White-fronted Tit is easy here at Subic" was his message. A couple of weeks earlier, our friends from the Baguio-Benguet Birding Group also posted photos of this species. The White-fronted Tit was my nemesis bird. Cynthia and I never saw it despite our many attempts.

Sunday afternoon we drove to Subic and proceeded right away to the place Bim said he saw the Tit. Three hours of searching and nada. Early the following day we went back. Again, three hours of waiting and staring at the trees with red flowers and still no Tit. I thought I saw it fly across the road but somehow never found the place where it landed. Or was it just my imagination playing tricks on me.

Although not seeing our target was a heart-breaker, birding wasn't that bad at all. This is the time of year when the Blue-throated Bee-eaters start their nesting period. There were dozens of them congregating on the electric wires waiting for their turn to visit their respective holes on the ground.

Some even displaying a unique posture.

Having spent most of our time looking for the imaginary bird with a white forehead, we were not able to photograph much of the avian denizens of Subic. Here are some that we got:

Blue-naped Parrot

Large-billed Crow

Coppersmith Barbet

Coleto

Luzon Flameback

Oriental Dollarbird

Stripe-headed Rhabdronis

White-bellied Woodpecker

Subic Birding - Day 2 - A Lifer to End the Year

We were hoping for a bleeding heart but got fowled instead. Yesterday, Chris Chafer, a birding friend, told me via PM that there were Luzon Bleeding Hearts at the Nabasan Trail. Bright and early in the morning Cynthia and I began our search for the rare pigeon. Halfway inside the trail I saw them - no, not the bleeding hearts but a family of Red Junglefowls. In my excitement (this was a lifer for us!) I forgot to adjust the settings of my camera and so I only got one documentary shot of the male.

After negotiating the entire length of the trail and dipping on our target species, we returned to the junction where we saw the White-bellied Woodpecker yesterday. It wasn't there this time. In its place was a Balicassiao and a pair of Green Racket-tails.

Surprisingly, there weren't a lot of birds. We moved on and went to Hill 394. Again it wasn't birdy at all although we were lucky that a Luzon Flameback dropped by.

From there we tried the area across the Treetop Adventure Park. Here we got good shots of a nesting White-bellied Woodpecker.

Philippine Bulbuls were quite active here as well.

A huge flock (about 20 individuals) of Ashy Minivets passed by stopping at the pine trees for a few minutes.

After lunch we went to the Waterfront area. Other than a couple of Lesser Sand Plovers (?), there were no birds on the seashore.

On the way to the Volunteer's Park, we encountered a Crested Myna along the way.

At the park, the hoped for Brahminy Kites were absent. I'm sure it was because some people were already exploding fireworks by the lake and a Karaoke system was in full blast. As a consolation, my wife was able to photograph a Clamorous Reed Warbler.

To end the year, we had an obligatory shot of the migrant Brown Shrike.

Short, Sweet, Sour Subic

It was a short three-hour birding sortie in Subic. Our birding friend, Bim Quemado, graciously invited us to join him in searching for an uncommon bird. This bird had been seen recently here and since it would be a lifer, we thought a visit to this place would be a good idea. We even asked our friends, Rob Hutchinson and Melanie Tan, who spotted this bird just a week ago, for directions.

Those three hours were spent along the road from the Botanic Garden to the gates of the Orica Factory. Just as we were getting in, we already saw an Oriental Dollarbird basking in the early morning sun. Then it took off in the wild blue yonder presumably to search for breakfast.

Showing why it was called Dollarbird...because of the "dollar-shaped" spot on its wings.

There was one tree almost devoid of leaves that seemed to be a stopping point for quite a number of avian species. The sweetest, most cooperative of these, was the Green Racquet-tail.

Then a female Luzon Flameback flew in and began hammering the trunk for some goodies.

While Bim was enjoying himself taking photos of the Flameback (the male even joined in, he told me later) I wandered around and encountered a Blue-naped Parrot also enjoying an early morning meal.

Returning to the bare tree, we were surprised when twelve Ashy Minivets flew in. Twelve! This was the first time I have witnessed this many Ashy Minivets in one tree. Although in the Kennedy Guide it says that they do travel in flocks, I have always assumed that this migrant was a loner of some sort because every time I encounter this bird, there is just only one.

The other birds that came to the tree were Coletos, a single Grey-streaked Flycatcher and some Blue-throated Bee-eaters.

I was taking a short break when I noticed a female Luzon Hornbill on a branch with a strange pose. I called Bim and we shortened the distance between us and the hornbill. Soon the female flew and was replaced on the same spot by the male!

the male is lurking behind

By 10:30 we decided to call it a day but not without taking a gratuitous shot of a White-throated Kingfisher at the Nabasan Trail.

As I said earlier, our main purpose of going to Subic was to look for a particular bird. We were not so lucky to find the White-fronted Tit which was the sour part of an otherwise sweet birding morning. So to compensate for not showing of the White-fronted Tit we will just show our White-front Teeth.