Unexpected Thriller

My wife and I walk around our subdivision almost ("almost" being the operative word) on a daily basis. Not an easy task considering that half of the streets are about 40 degrees steep. Of course we always do some birding along the way - a good enough reason for us to catch our breath. Eurasian Tree Sparrows (ETS) and Yellow-vented Bulbuls (YVB) are the most common birds here - as in anywhere else in urban MetroManila. There are times when we get surprises - like Philippine Hanging Parrots or Asian Glossy Starlings. 

On rare occasions, I bring along my camera. Such as last Friday. Good thing I did. One of the very first species we saw (aside from the ETS and the YVB) were some immature Black-naped Orioles noisily calling from a tall mango tree.

Then came the usual suspects in our neighborhood. The Philippine Pied Fantail and the Zebra Dove.

Another surprise was a Crested Myna. It was perched on a rooftop and then slowly walked towards the edge - away from us - thus the really bad photo.

Lately we had been noticing the proliferation of the Golden-bellied Flyeater (aka Gerygone) in our neighborhood. These tiny birds were so hyperactive that getting a shot was an outright challenge.

Nearing the end of our walk, about two houses away from our home, I wanted so much to get a photo of a YVB (yup, you read that right - despite its being widespread, I still wasn't able to get at least one image). So when I spotted a movement in the tree next to us, I assumed it was my target bird. Aiming my camera at it, my jaws almost dropped when the bird came out in the open. It was a Pied Triller! Quite uncommon in our area and totally unexpected.