skip to main |
skip to sidebar
The ricefields inside IRRI in Los Banos is a haven for birds. However, it being a place for experimental rice farming, access is limited to their employees and their guests. Luckily our friend, Prof. Tirso Paris, has that access privilege. It was a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning when my wife and I together with friends, Irene and Bong, met up with Prof. Tirso at the IRRI gate.
All four of us were excited to go birding at this place because we hadn't done much birding for almost three months now. As I mentioned in my previous blog, blame the burning hot summer days then followed by the season of torrential rains for that. Prof. Tirso warned us not to expect too much because migration wasn't in full swing yet. Still, photographing any bird in the lush fields of IRRI would be enough for us.
Although we missed taking pictures of our target birds: the Greater Painted Snipe and the Barred Buttonquail, we were nevertheless thrilled at the birds we photographed. Foremost of these were the Wood Sandpipers which were practically all over the place. Irene counted almost a hundred of them!
Next would be the Zitting Cisticolas. Their incessant twittering filled the morning air.
As expected in any ricefield, both Chestnut and Scaly-breasted Munias were busy feeding at some of the ripening grains.
 |
| Chestnut Munia |
 |
| Scaly-breasted Munia |
The usually skittish Buff-banded Rails were sunning themselves, trying to get rid of the moisture from the early morning dew.
A surprise was a Pied Bush Chat.
Another surprise was when we saw a Cinnamon Bittern performing what we presumed to be a courtship display. Inasmuch as we didn't see the female maybe this was just its way of drying itself from the previous night's dampness.
The usual denizens of IRRI brightened up our morning. The Paddyfield Pipit was diligently hunting for food.
While the Oriental Skylark was already feeling the heat of the day as midmorning came.
It was a fruitful day of birding for us. We owe it all to Prof. Tirso who was our "guide" to the field birds of IRRI.
 |
| photo taken by Irene |
As per our friend, Prof. Tirso's suggestion we moved from the TREES to the IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) ricefields. It was a big change from craning our necks to looking below. From the frustration of not seeing the birds we wanted to see to getting good looks at our target species - lots of them even!
Not surprisingly, it was Prof. Tirso who first spotted them. We were all "dude" birding (birding from our vehicles) and Prof. Tirso drove ahead to scout the area for the Greater Painted Snipes. Soon we got a text message from him: "GPS here near where I'm parked". Tina and myself drove our respective cars to where he was. Bingo! Although the birds were skulking behind the tall grass, we still had nice views of several individuals.
But before this fortuitous event, we were driving on the muddy roads next to the ricefields looking for anything interesting to photograph. Once in a while we would stop when we would spot some movements on the rice stalks. Now why on earth did these birds always show up on Cynthia's side is beyond me. Also on occasion we would both get off the car and scout the surrounding areas on foot. We were returning to our vehicle after one these walking explorations that I saw my wife with a smirk on her face. I can tell from her expression that she had something to show me. I was already forming in my mind the new blog that I will perhaps be writing which would most likely be "Better Half Part 2". And of course, she did. It was an almost close-up shot of a Buff-banded Rail.
Add to that the photos she took earlier from her side of the car: A Paddyfield Pipit.....
---- and a gorgeous Zitting Cisticola
I had my "revenge" of sorts in a most interesting, even embarrassing way. I was answering the call of nature when to my surprise a White-browed Crake suddenly flew from nowhere and landed on the wire fence a few feet in front of me. I had with me Cynthia's camera at that time, the shorter 300mm lens. Let's just say I got a quick shot before the bird crake realized I was there and startled, it flew off.
Before we even realized it, it was almost noon. Prof. Tirso, gracious host that he already was invited us to a sumptuous lunch at Kamayan sa Palaisdaan at the nearby town of Bay.
It was a very interesting half-day birding in Candaba in the sense that three unique stories were born out of it.
Let's start off with a strange early morning experience with the Rallidae family. We planned to go to the sanctuary via the "backdoor" route - a narrow dirt road bordered here and there with overgrown weeds. It rained the night before and even now the skies were filled with clouds pregnant with rain. As we were parked by the side of the road to Paralaya wavering whether to throw caution to the winds and tackle the very likely rain-soaked, muddy trail or heed good ol' common sense. We were in this state of deep and serious ponderation when a local jogger who probably noticed our dilemma clouded faces, suggested that we take the other route near the school instead. That one is paved most of the way and certainly wouldn't pose a problem for our vehicle he assured us. We thanked our "angel" profusely and promised to heed his advice. And as we would discover later, very grateful that we did.
However, it was during our moments of cogitation that we noticed the rails. Lots of them! By the side of the road. Even crossing to the other side with such bravado when the mood strikes them. So we decided that before going to the sanctuary (via the paved ingress) we should drive a little further along Maharlika Avenue and get intimate with those supposedly skittish marsh birds.
Now imagine a video loop where a piece of action gets repeated over and over but without the ennui of monotony. For in this case the main subject kept changing in a surprising way. We parked the car on the grassy shoulder, got off and prepared our camera gears. A few yards ahead of us a member of the Rallidae family would be feeding by the roadside. In one case it was a White-breasted Waterhen in the company of a flock of Eurasian Tree Sparrows.
Not far from it another family member, this time a White-browed Crake, would ungainly walk - not run - across the street with its disproportionately huge legs.
At the other side of the road, the third member, this time pairs of Buff-banded Rails would insouciantly saunter by.
Switch these three species into those different settings and you get an idea of what we were up against.
Cynthia and I agreed that we would get more coverage if we stationed ourselves away from each other. So we would attempt to get near our subject rail of the moment, stalk it, get a picture until a speeding vehicle or a roaring motorcycle or a bike rider or a curious pedestrian would spook the bird which would then dive into the nearest clump of bushes. We would wait a few minutes and when our subject has determined that the coast was clear, it would reappear and resume its feeding thus beginning the loop once again.
After a while as human and vehicle traffic increased as the morning wore on and resulted in shorter photography sessions, we tried a new tack. We resorted to mobile photography with good results as well.
To say that it was an exhilarating start of a birding morning was an understatement. We have never seen so many White-browed Crakes, White-breasted Waterhens and Buff-banded Rails ever before. And they were in such close proximity to one another right at the edge of a provincial road! Viva Rallidae!
