Rain Cut

It was a holiday which meant traffic would be minimal. That was a very strong incentive for us to go birding. Off to Antipolo we went. The last time we birded this place was in November of last year. I thought it would be good to visit it once again.

The very first bird we saw was a rail. However, by the time I got our gear out, it already disappeared inside a clump of tall grass. Next, three Zebra Dove walked nonchalantly in front of our car. Cynthia got a photo of one of them.

Surprisingly the local birds seemed to be more skittish now than the previous times we were here. And fewer. A Golden-headed Cisticola was calling but it was perched at quite a distance from us. Not only that it was even backlit (backlighted?). So I managed only a couple of documentary shots.

The usual horde of Scaly-breasted Munias feeding by the roadside were replaced by a few individuals munching the grass seeds about a stone's throw away. 

Even the Spotted Doves that usually meander along the sidewalks were now perched high up on the tree branches.

As I mentioned earlier, birds were more skittish now, and that included the White-breasted Swallows. Common birds that used to pose for us on electric wires before sallying off in pursuit of prey.

Having circled the subdivision for about three times, we finally encountered a Barred Rail preening behind a clump of grass.

"You know we haven't gotten a picture of a Long-tailed Shrike yet" my wife reminded me. As if on cue one of them posed long enough for me to take its picture. On a branch even, instead of the usual electric wire.

Then it started to drizzle. Ominous dark clouds told us that soon rain will come pouring. Since we didn't bring any raincoats, we decided to cut short our birding sortie. I guess it wasn't really that bad for an hour's worth of bird photography.

Dearth Birder

Two things: We haven't birded as often as we used to. The weather had not been cooperative this year - either too much rain or too hot to get out of the house. And then old age seems to have finally crept on me. I no longer have the energy to go on long drives (almost a necessity when birding in the Philippines). The other thing was that somehow there was a dearth of birds at the places we've been to lately.

Yesterday was a good example of that. The Palos Verdes subdivision in Antipolo is one of our favorite birding places. We've seen some interesting birds during the many times we've been there, such as the uncommon Slaty-legged Crake. We've seen two kinds of cuckoos here, Mangrove Blue Flycatchers, Pygmy Flowerpecker, Philippine Cuckoo Dove, Golden-headed Cisticola, Barred Rail, etc. 

We arrived a little before 7 am and were surprised that the usual Long-tailed Shrikes and White-breasted Woodswallows were not at their usual spots on the electric wires. I eventually found the Shrike - a very skittish one at that. 

On the other hand, Cynthia was trying to get a clear shot of a Pied Triller who was having its breakfast.

Another obvious dearth was that of the Scaly-breasted Munias. Whereas before we've seen flocks of more than 20 individuals feeding on the grass just a few feet away from us, now we only saw about five flying over and only two came down near to us.

Another round and this time we saw some avian activity high in the tree tops. Golden-bellied Gerygones were in their usual hyperactive mode. My wife had the better shots as I was having a hard time focusing on the tiny bouncing objects.

One other species that weren't as plentiful as before was the Spotted Dove. We saw one perched on a branch. I just got a documentary shot.

Next was the challenge of taking pictures of the Grey Wagtail. It just kept moving and most of the time was in the shade.

Then there was this Zebra Dove that was more obliging as it walked nonchalantly not that far from us.

And what would birding be at this time of year without taking photos of the common migrant, the Brown Shrike. We saw one feeding on an unknown kind of insect. We were both in the car and this bird was on Cynthia's side, so she had an awesome opportunity to record the feeding habit of this bully bird.

By 9:30 and not seeing any more new species, we went to the Holy Garden Memorial Park hoping to get both the Paddyfield Pipit and the Pied Bush Chat. We got the the first and not the latter.

But we got a bonus in the form of a Collared Kingfisher.

As the year is coming to an end, we hope that we could get more opportunities to go birding and to see more species. We don't want to be a dearth birder. May the force be with us.

Whether or Weather

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's the Thought that Counts

I can't believe that it has been more than a year since we last birded in Antipolo. Especially since that place is one of our favorite birding spots. And now we're finally back.

We began at the area just past the basketball court. That brought back some memories: This place was where seeing a Grey-streaked Flycatcher was a sure thing. Since we haven't seen one for quite some time now, I hoped that we would be lucky today. But migration time is almost over so we probably won't see it, I thought to myself. Then voila! one flew in and landed just above me.

Cynthia, on the other hand, was busy taking shots at the constantly moving Elegant Tit.

We heard a lot of birds around but strangely couldn't locate them. So we moved on and as we turned a corner I pointed to my wife a White-breasted Waterhen preening out in the open. It was on her side so she started firing away.

As we rounded out the village, another thought came to mind: Where were the Scaly-breasted Munias that were so numerous in our previous trips here. Then, "Look!" Cynthia said as she pointed to a small group of munias, most of which were juveniles. Luckily we got good photos of the adults as well.

When we first entered the subdivision one of the first things I observed was that the two common species usually encountered here were conspicuously absent. That seemed a bit strange, I thought. It was only about an hour later that we finally saw the White-breasted Woodswallow and the Long-tailed Shrike.

"We haven't seen the Spotted Doves yet" my wife was thinking aloud. I shared the same thought. As we were driving, she saw a large brown bird. Before we could even pick up our cameras, it flew down and out of sight. We both jumped out of the car and tried to locate what we were sure was a Spotted Dove. Thankfully it was perched in the open and we got full views of it.

Finally as we were about to end our birding trip, Cynthia pointed to a Collared Kingfisher perched not that far from where we were. We were so glad that this species was still thriving here considering that an enormous house had already been built over its usual habitat. That was indeed a comforting thought.

It was a considerably short birding foray - about two hours or so - but at the end of the day it was all those thoughts coming to actualization that really counted.

Chat Time

It was as if a friend you haven't talked with for quite some time suddenly invited you to chat in Facebook.

That was the same feeling we had when we did a short birding foray in Antipolo. First of all it was not the best condition weather-wise. It was actually drizzling when we got there so our expectations were naturally low. Then came the unexpected - a plethora of Pied Bush Chat sightings. We've birded this place many times before and as far as I can remember we only saw this species not more than three times and only a pair at that. Yet this morning they were practically at every corner! 

The following photos were of different individuals taken at different places.

the females were more shy

How about a Pied Bush Cat?

Our encounter with the Bush Chats was of course the highlight of the day. But wait! There was even a bonus! A flock of about fifteen Ashy Minivets were busily foraging for insects from the tree in front of us.

Even though the sun shone for a fleeting moment,  grey clouds once more gathered ominously and it wasn't long before tiny raindrops started falling from the sky. That was our signal. Time to go back home.

Cloudy with a chance of Woodswallows

Bad weather = bad birding. And if you're into bird photography, it's even worse! With grey clouds covering the skies, what could be the chances of seeing birds?

Such was the case when my wife and I made an impromptu decision to go birding in Antipolo. Surprisingly, there were quite a number of birds taking advantage of the pre-rain atmosphere. The few species we photographed that were not black images in our screens were shaking off the dew from their feathers:

Pied Bush Chat - male

Tawny Grassbird

The rest were mostly silhouettes and were quite a challenge in post-processing (of which I am admittedly not very good at).

Perhaps it was because of the gloomy weather that of the once plentiful Scaly-breasted Munias, only one individual showed up and didn't stay long even. 

What surprised us was the great number of Artamus leucorhynchus. We've seen several of these birds snuggle together on an electric wire or on a bare branch..only to suddenly fly off as soon as we approached. Nevertheless, we were glad that the White-breasted Woodswallows were there inspite of the cloudy skies.

An hour-and-a-half later, it started to drizzle. Time for us to head back home as we're sure that the birds would themselves seek shelter from the oncoming rain.

A Trip to the Munias

Saturday, my wife and I decided to take a trip to see Scaly-breasted Munias. Actually, or plan was to go birding at the Palos Verdes subdivision in Antipolo City - a place only 15 kms away from our home though roads that relatively has lesser traffic (emphasis on the word "relatively"). And the species that could be seen there with certainty was the Lonchura punctulata.

Sure enough as soon as we entered the subdivision we were greeted by a flock of these tiny brown birds. Throughout the two-and-a-half hours we spent there, we encountered flock upon flock of munias.

Of course, there were other birds, too. Another species seen here regularly is the Spotted Dove. This one was limping as it crossed the road ahead of us. Other than that it looked healthy enough and even flew quite well.

One surprise was a Chinese Sparrowhawk being harassed by four Black-naped Orioles. I was only able to get a couple of shots (and not good ones either) as it quickly evaded the bullying of the yellow birds.

I was telling Cynthia that the migrant Grey Wagtails seem to have not arrived yet but as we turned a corner, there on the ground was one aggressively looking for food.

One of the highlights on that day was the Golden-headed Cisticola. A few of them were singing their hearts out as they enjoyed a beautiful sunny morning.

The other highlight was the Pied Bush Chat. This species is not that common here and we were surprised to find a young male.

Near the gate we got the mature male.

Later, after leaving Palos Verdes, we decided to go to the Heritage Park Cemetery to try for the Paddyfield Pipit. Target acquired just a few minutes after we got there. 

Even before we saw the pipit, a female Pied Bush Chat completed our family portraiture of this flycatcher.

We planned a trip to the munias but ended up chatting along the way.