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Inasmuch as we have not done any birding for the past couple months mainly due to almost non-stop rains, we were resolute that we would go to Antipolo whether the weather was good or not. Unfortunately, the skies were gloomy when we arrived Saturday morning and it even had some short downpours the couple of hours we spent there. Despite that we had some good encounters with the local avifauna. The pictures were not that good though considering we had to deal with dark backgrounds.
Quite common were the Spotted Doves. Most were feeding on the streets and would fly off to a nearby tree when we approached them.
The most plentiful species were the Scaly-breasted Munias. Flocks would gather and feed on the tall grass in the neighborhood.
During the lulls between the showers, both Long-tailed Shrikes, Collared Kingfishers and White-breasted Woodswallows were taking opportunities to hunt for prey.
Sometimes associating with the Spotted Doves were the smaller Zebra Doves which preferred to just move down the street instead of flying off when we approached them.
Our hunt for the Pied Bush Chats ended up with only a female.
Finally, Cynthia was able to get a shot at our target bird, the Tawny Grassbird, albeit a fleeting one.
Even though we didn't see as many birds as we had expected, it was sufficient to satisfy the birding itch we've been having.
It was an impromptu decision to go birding at the campus of the University of the Philippines (U.P.) in Diliman. We did not make any plans because the weather forecast said it would rain Saturday starting at 9 am. So when that hour came and it was still sunny, we grabbed our cameras and headed to U.P.
Perhaps it was because we arrived late or maybe it was the numerous constructions going on that we only photographed four species! We heard a few more but they never showed up. The first one we saw was a pair of Black-naped Orioles calling loudly behind the MSI building.
After they flew away, we saw an immature Olive-backed Sunbird feeding off some flowers.
From there we drove around and at the usual spot, there was the Long-tailed Shrike, as we had expected.
We then rounded the elliptical road. Near the entrance where the famous oblation statue was, we saw several birds perched on the electric wires. Long-tailed Shrikes and Zebra Doves.
And that was just about it. Since we both were feeling the pangs of hunger, we decided to take an early lunch at Cafe Via Mare. At least the food there did not disappoint us.
