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As irresistible as a cold drink on a hot muggy day - that's how the fields at IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) are to birders at the onset of autumn migration.
Inasmuch as IRRI is a research facility, access to its premises is strictly regulated. It was through the courtesy of Prof. Tirso Paris whose wife Thelma, works there that all four carloads of bird watchers/photographers were able to get in at that place early Saturday morning.
Thus began several hours of birding that padded our car-mates Peter and Irene's lifelists.
Indeed the paddyfields were teeming with migrants galore! I have never seen so many Wood Sandpipers before.
I was surprised and was even able to get a photograph of a lone Intermediate Egret.
And who could resist that cute, fluffy Cisticola that went zitting as it was sitting on top of a pole.
While the Cisticolas we were trying to follow, we noticed another bird on a stick - it was a lovely Barn Swallow.
How could you not write an ode to that Oriental Skylark insouciantly basking on the road?
After passing a corner and we made a turn, out in the open was an immature Cinnamon Bittern.
The stars of IRRI were of course the Greater Painted Snipes clothed in those quaint stripes, sometimes difficult to see with the naked eye for they so much resemble an icky, nasty cow pie.
Another surprise was a Swinhoe's Snipe, a skulking bird that always poses a challenge as to what type. Pintail, Common and Swinhoe's all look so much the same that makes identifying them quite a game. The reason I was certain of this snipe's name was because of Prof. Tirso's photo that showed in such great detail the tiny white feathers at the edge of the tail.
Even good times must come to an end. We bade goodbye to our friends - the birders (Doc Cha, Ruth and Chee-ann) were to meet other colleagues at the Botanic Garden.
The bird photographers (Steve and Paolo) decided to go home so they could see the results of their endeavors.
For us (me, my wife, Peter and Irene) and our host, Tirso, more irresistible goodies awaited ....and they were not just birds....
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.
Well, actually it was jacana, not Jack Hanna (sorry, googlers!)
Allow me to elaborate a bit: We were in Candaba, in the province of Pampanga. Here in the Philippines, it is a well known fact that the locals have a tendency to not pronounce the "h" when it precedes a vowel, i.e. "unter" instead of "hunter; and to add an "h" in front of a vowel when there was none, as in "hant" instead of "ant".
Now how does that all fit in my story? As I was saying, we were in Candaba for the primary purpose of looking for Pheasant-tailed Jacanas. Now in their breeding plumage, these birds are quite gorgeous with their long tails and golden napes. Surprisingly, they were quite easy to find. I was photographing one of these beauties when a curious local approached and asked what it was I was taking pictures of.
"Jacana," I replied.
"Jack Hanna?"
I was so tempted to say that the object of my photography was not really wearing any hat nor khaki pants while cuddling some furry animal and therefore could not be um, Jack Hanna. But since the inquirer would probably just scratch his head at my obvious nonsensical words, I just smiled and nodded.
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| The real Jack Hanna |
It was scorching hot at the Candaba Wetlands when we went early Wednesday morning. 8 am and we were drenched from too much sweat. Birds were not that plentiful at the usual places made even more apparent by the absence of the migrants. The usual thousands of Garganeys and Shovelers were no longer in their regular haunts. Even at the "other ponds" (thanks to our birder friend, Jun Osano, who gave us directions to get there) the migrant ducks were no longer visible. Only the Philippine Ducks, and even then just a few hundred of them, remained. On the other hand, Oriental Skylarks were bursting forth from the grasses like feathered skyrockets and Oriental Prantincoles were promenading on the trails like some Middle-eastern potentates.
Zitting Cisticolas were zitting on the grass ztalks, zinging all the while.
Back at the mayor's place, Cynthia spotted a pair of Wandering Whistling Ducks which elicited an excited "woohoo!" from me.
But it was the Jack Hannas that were the stars of the day. They were at the "other ponds". On our way back they were at the ponds by the mayor's house and as we were leaving, a pair was at the junction of the "back door" trail.
And so it was a fitting goodbye for us, being sent off by a pair of lovely birds with long tails and golden napes.
