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Having checked off 5 of the 7 species in our want list the day before, our guide, Totic, was determined to get the remaining 2 on our last day. He picked us up at 5:30 from our hotel and proceeded to Barangay Bahile. After a somewhat strenuous (for us septuagenarians) climb, Totic told us to wait. A few minutes went by then a beautiful song came from the forest and soon item # 6 on our list appeared. The colorful Falcated Wren-Babbler displayed its beauty before us.
With such an auspicious start, we moved on. This time we took the famous road to Sabang. After about an hour, we stopped by the roadside. We were waiting for item #7 to show up. While doing so, an unexpected White-bellied Woodpecker flew by and landed on a nearby tree.
A few minutes later, a male Olive-backed Sunbird of the aurora race flashed its distinguishing feature.
Then they came. A small flock of Palawan Hornbills came flying in and gave us enough opportunities to photograph them. Woohoo! We finally got the last species in our list!
Our next stop was at the Cacaoyan Restaurant. Our guide assured us that we would be getting good views of the Palawan Tit here. And indeed they came. At first the flock of about 5 individuals were flitting way up on the tree tops. Eventually, they moved closer until they came to about eye level. One even came to the ground!
After the Tits left, we stayed in the area since this was where we would be having our lunch. While lingering around, I saw a flash of red fly into the patch of forest nearby. "Red-headed Flameback!" Totic informed me. "I want!" I replied and we rushed to the place where we thought it landed. Unfortunately it seemed to have vanished in thin air as we never even caught a glimpse of that bird. Not even a sound. When we tried looking for the Flameback, Cynthia opted to remain near the restaurant. Good thing she did. When Totic and I returned from our unsuccessful hunt, my wife flaunted an awesome shot of the appropriately named Lovely Sunbird.
There was still ample time before lunch so I tried looking for the Sunbird to get photos for myself. It was during this time that a Palawan Bulbul decided to have an early lunch. Some red berries were at the bottom (!) of a palm tree and the Bulbul would fly in, grab a berry, swallow it, and then fly off again. This became such a routine that we were able to anticipate its moves.
After lunch we all agreed to continue on to Sabang and visit the Dabdab Resort and hopefully see the Pale Spiderhunter - a species that we failed to see at the Badjao Seafood Restaurant area the past two days. As fate would have it, the Spiderhunter was still a no show. In its place it was the Asian Fairy Bluebird that showed up.
On the way back we stopped by an elementary school where we hoped to see the Pale Spiderhunter. Once again, it never showed up. As a "consolation", a Copper-throated Sunbird gave us good looks.
That was a fitting end to our 3-day birding stint in Palawan. A million thanks to our very efficient guide, Totic Failana, for being able to show us all 7 species that we wanted to see - and more! Two thumbs up for him.
Day one of our trip to Palawan didn't start well. Our flight to Puerto Princesa was delayed for over an hour. We were somewhat ticked off - we had to wake up at 1:30 am so we could be at the airport about 2 hours before our schedule departure - and then had to wait (inside the plane!) until the mechanical problem had been fixed and we were finally allowed to take off.
We arrived at Puerto Princesa at past eight am. Since we would not be able to check in at our room at the Princesa Garden Island Resort until 3 pm, Cynthia and I decided to check out the premises if there were some birds. We did see some but opted not to take photos yet. At 9 am we went to Badjao Seafood Restaurant which was not that far. The area in front of this restaurant is a good place to see Copper-throated Sunbirds, Stork-billed Kingfisher and Pale Spiderhunter. Unfortunately none of these species were present when we arrived. As we walked on the boardwalk towards the dining area we noticed something yellow flitting among the mangrove trees. It turned out to be three Common Ioras - a species that have not yet been reported being seen here before. One of them even posed unbelievably close!
After the Ioras left, there was once again a dearth in bird activity. There were two kinds of kingfishers, the Common and the Collared, that showed up but both preferred to stay at quite a distance resulting only in some very bad documentary shots. After a delicious lunch, we again staked out the parking lot. Still nothing. Cynthia suggested that she would go back to the dining area and wait for the Stork-billed while I would remain to wait for the Pale Spiderhunter. While I was roaming around I noticed a Grey Wagtail perched on a branch. Not far from it was a Grey-streaked Flycatcher hunting for insects.
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| Grey Wagtail |
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| Grey-streaked Flycatcher |
While I was taking shots at the two greys, I heard a loud clapping coming from the motorcycle parking area. I looked and it was one of the caretakers. He was frantically waving at me and pointing to a nearby tree. I ran toward him and as I got close he directed my attention at some movement among the tiny orange flowers. It was a male Copper-throated Sunbird!
At 1:30 pm we returned to the hotel and thankfully we were allowed to check in. After resting and taking a short nap, we returned to the area behind the hotel. This time we took pictures of the birds seen there: A Great Egret, a Little Egret, and a White-bellied Sea Eagle.
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| Little Egret |
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| Great Egret |
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| White-bellied Sea Eagle |
A little after 5 pm, my wife went to the restaurant to order a take out dinner. It was during that time that a flock of Red-vented Cockatoos (one of our target birds) came flying in. They tried to perch on the tall palm trees but because of the blustery winds blowing from the sea, they had a difficult time doing so. Most of them did some thermalling and showed off the reason for their name. I called Cynthia and excitedly told her that the Cockatoos had arrived. She ran to where I was and began taking photos herself.
It was already getting dark so we decided to return to our room. Despite a bad start, our first birding day in Palawan ended well as we ticked off our first photo lifer.
The plan was to go birding at the Iwahig Penal Colony. However, the Security Guard at the gate stopped us and demanded a permit - something we thought was not necessary for birders. No matter what explanation or argument we made, he was quite adamant not to let us in.
That was a bit unexpected so we resorted to plan B - go birding at Irawan Ecopark. Even though we arrived early enough we didn't see the hoped-for birds. They were there alright judging from the calls emanating from the behind the thicket. It's just that they refused to come out in the open despite the gentle coaxing by Irene.
While our friend was hitting the trails searching for the elusive babblers, Cynthia and I stayed by the river to be refreshed from the stifling humidity. It was then that I saw something totally unexpected - a raptor silently gliding overhead. A few quick photos revealed that it was a Crested Serpent Eagle which made it a lifer for us.
We had a superb lunch at Badjao Seaside Restaurant which we consumed way before our designated pick up time of 1:30. We positioned ourselves in front of a tree with tiny orange flowers. I remembered our birding friends Gabs and Ely saying that this particular tree was frequented by the Copper-throated Sunbird - a species in our target list. Although we missed it last year, our expectations were still high that we would be able to see this colorful bird.
A few minutes passed and I saw something dark-colored fly into the flowering tree. Hoping that it was not just the local Pied Fantail who every so often also visits the said tree, I peered through my camera and was elated to discover that I was looking at our sought after lifer. For about an hour the sunbird pair would fly off and then return a few minutes later giving us multiple opportunities to take its photograph (which wasn't easy considering both were very active and preferred the areas with heavy foliage).
Our van arrived promptly at 1:30 but Irene wanted to get more shots of the Copper-throated. I was on the way back to the restaurant to answer the call of nature when I heard some loud screeching noises coming from the mangroves. I followed the source of that noise and saw two Stork-billed Kingfishers having a squabble. I ran back to where my companions were and pointed the bird (only one remained) to them. After I had finished my personal "duty" and emerged from the restaurant, the kingfisher was still there and allowed me to take its picture.
We met up with local guide, Rommel, at around 2:30 pm. As promised he took us to the "new" secret place where a pair of Spotted Wood Owls had been, um, spotted. Cynthia and I had been a bit worried that we might not be able to see this would-be lifer because even though it had been sighted in two different places before - access to those areas had become a little problematic lately. To have a third and even more easily accessible place was a blessing and quite unexpected.
To celebrate this serendipitous encounter, we all headed to Razon's for its delicious, refreshing halo-halo.
