And so summer eventually turned into the rainy days of June. Who would want to go out birding and be drenched in a sudden downpour? Certainly not these two senior citizens who are more prone to illnesses caused by the vagaries of a fickle weather.
Thankfully there were moments of sunshine in between the pouring rain. Thankfully, also, that there are places where we can bird and be able take shelter in our car in case of an unexpected shower. Such a place is in Antipolo.
Perhaps it was because of our long hiatus that our attempts at bird photography had not been as productive as we had hoped. A very good example was when we had just entered the subdivision when we saw two endemics - a Philippine Magpie Robin and a Philippine Pied Fantail in a non-friendly confrontation. I took some shots at the Fantail while Cynthia aimed at the Magpie Robin. Sadly both our efforts produced only blurry images.
Such misfortunes continued when I saw a White-bellied Munia (the first time we've seen this species here) associating with the plentiful Scaly-breasted ones. And...the results were either blurred or the bird was partially covered by blades of grass. At least we got some good shots of the Scaly-breasted Munias.
The Long-tailed Shrike was also cooperative enough allowing us sufficient time to make the right camera adjustments.
And then there were those heart-breaking misses - a Spotted Dove that flew off even before we could grab our cameras and a Golden-headed Cisticola doing the same thing.
Everything ended quite well though. As we were about to leave, a pair of Pygmy Flowerpeckers displayed themselves not too far away from us.
Due to the summer heat we missed practicing our hobby for about two months and based on our experience in Antipolo, it seemed like were back to square one in bird photography. Which meant that we need to go out more often. Hopefully, the weather would allow us that opportunity again soon.
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