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We had some pretty good luck birding a week ago at the back side of our condominium complex so we both agreed to give it another try Sunday afternoon. A few minutes after 4 and the heat was still intense. We looked at the poles beyond the fence and next to the Marikina river hoping to see the Common Kingfisher again. It wasn't there. We soon found out why. The migrant bully perched majestically on the pole as if daring the smaller kingfisher to try and kick him out of his throne.
We moved further into the worker's compound. Of course, it was Cynthia's sharp eyes that caught sight of a tiny bird almost invisible on top of one of the numerous poles in the area. "The Common Kingfisher is still here!" she assured me.
The bank on the other side of the river was peculiarly devoid of the usual Little Egrets. We saw one fly by but were not able to get a good shot. Even the number of Whiskered Terns were sparse. Of the two we saw, none perched on the protruding sticks in the middle of the river. Luckily, my wife got a photo of one as it dove for a fish.
While Cynthia was trying to desperately get better pictures of the couple of terns and one egret, I roamed towards the edge of the compound. The resident Philippine Pied Fantails were at their usual place.
A little before 5 pm, we walked back to our unit. As we passed by a couple of trees, my wife heard the usual twittering of the flock of White-eyes. It was a photographic challenge as the light was fading fast and our subjects, though plentiful, were extremely active and preferred the darker side of the trees. At least we got one good shot.
Although our foray this time was not as productive than the week before, we're just glad that our area of residence aptly named The Grove still offers some good birding opportunities.
Sunday afternoon at around 5 we went to the worker's compound in our condominium complex. Being a Sunday the usual throng of laborers were not around. This would be an opportunity for us to have a closer look at the Marikina River which is very close to the worker's area. We were so thankful that we added 4 more species to the list of birds seen at The Grove.
We've seen the Little Egret on our usual daily walk but it was quite a distance - they were on the other side. This time we got a bit closer and I was able to get photos of them.
Also lately we've witnessing Whiskered Terns hunting for fish. From the worker's compound we even saw several perched on poles sticking out of the water.
What really surprised us was a Common Kingfisher inhabiting the area on our side of the river.
Another surprise, and the fourth new species we got, was when we were about to leave we saw this bird fly by. At first we thought it was just another tern but it's mode of flight was so different. I was lucky enough to get a shot. Looking at the result I realised that what we saw was a Common Sandpiper!
The Philippine Pied Fantail was also friendlier this time and allowed us to get closer to them.
The sun was about to set so we decided to go back to our building tower. Just as we approached the entrance a flock of Lowland White-eyes having a last minute food hunting before calling it a day.
