Davao Trip: Day 3 - Eden, and then…..

It was because of the heavy downpour last night that we had to cancel our date with Pete Simpson for this morning. The original plan was to meet up with him at the Eden Nature Resort's gate and from there climb up the trail to where the Whiskered Flowerpeckers play. Last night's deluge made that steep trail the slide center of Davao. Concerned about the safety of our cameras - not to mention our antiquated bodies - we called off our appointment with Pete with heavy hearts. 

Surprisingly, the morning was sunny and bright! After a buffet breakfast, we birded the area around our cottage which was dotted with extremely tall trees. Once again, all we saw were Yellow-vented Bulbuls. I was already at the point of exasperation but my more patient spouse kept searching for some movement in the canopies. Finally she saw a flock flew in. Everett's White-eyes! This was our primary target species here at Eden Resort. As in any white-eye flock, the feeding group was frenzied in their movements.

Eventually the white-eyes moved on. I wondered why this flock was composed only of Everett's White-eyes. Normally a flock moving through the forest would have several species symbiotically feeding together. I half expected Sulfur-billed Nuthatches, Orange-bellied Flowerpeckers, maybe some kind of flycatchers or fantails to join them. That wasn't the case here.

Once again there was silence. Long, frustrating silence. There would be some movement…we would look….and it would just either be another Yellow-vented Bulbul or a bullying Brown Shrike. Are we in a forest in Mindanao? I kept asking myself because it certainly doesn't feel that way.

Another movement. I looked and was somewhat relieved to notice the bars on its breast. Finally, not a Bulbul or a Shrike. A female Violet Cuckoo was definitely a surprise. Problem was it was too far up for me to get a decent shot. 

Another problem that I encountered were the gnats! Those tiny flying insects must have had a convention that morning and agreed in toto to attack my eyes. Each time I removed my face from the viewfinder of my camera, wham! a gnat would smack into my eye. Then another. And another! You could almost hear the shouts of "banzai!" as they would zoom then slam into my organs of sight. So for the most part I had my eyes closed. Of course birdwatching wouldn't be what it was if the "watching" part wasn't there. Even worse was that I am slightly hearing impaired and therefore could not even listen for birds. To partially solve this nuisance, I covered my eyes with my hands and peered through the tiny gaps to look for birds. If I find a photographable one, I would paste my right eye to the viewfinder and close my left, then take pictures. After that it was a race on which gets to my eyes first, my hands or those pesky gnats.

As we returned to our cottage, I again saw the little brown bird that was perched on a tall fern frond yesterday. I couldn't make a proper identification then because it was rather dim (it was drizzling yesterday, remember?). Now that the skies were clear, I was quite sure that this was a Grey-streaked Flycatcher. 

Eleven in the morning and check-out time. We headed back into the city and stayed at the Court View Hotel (the same place we stayed at on our first day). As we were finishing lunch and thinking of a birding place to go to afterwards, we received an unpleasant news. It was so heart-breaking that Cynthia and I both agreed to just stay in our room that afternoon to mull over things and fight the depressing feeling that was overcoming us.

I got sick that night. High fever coupled with a sore throat made sleeping almost an unachievable task. The following morning we dismissed anew any plans to go birding. We ate breakfast just because we had to. Our flight back to Manila was scheduled for 1:35 that afternoon. When we got to the airport at around 11:30 am, we were advised that the flight had been delayed indefinitely. Dismay added to my already weak physical state. At last at 4:05 pm we were off. Everything was a just blur to me since then.

Coron Trip: Day 3 - Lunch, Lunch, Coke on my Pants (or going over to the Dark-Side)

We were about to have lunch just outside the house of local bird guide Erwin Edonga. The high humidity was causing my pores to spew sweat in quantities I never thought possible. When Erwin handed me the 2-liter bottle of Coke I grabbed it like a lifesaver thrown to a drowning man. As I twisted the cap the contents burst into several streams that would put all the fountains in Rome to shame. A few minutes of this and it finally died down leaving me with a half-empty (or half-full to you optimists out there) bottle of Coca-cola and my t-shirt and pants sopping wet. Note to self: do not open a soda bottle that just came from a bumpy motorcycle ride.

"I think I wet my underpants," I calmly told my wife as I nonchalantly poured my soda into a glass filled with ice cubes.

To her credit she didn't fall off her chair laughing but merely continued enjoying her fried chicken as if we were in a fancy restaurant.

Other than this pitiful (for me) or comedic (to you, i'm sure) circumstance, it was a wonderful day birding-wise. We were at Erwin's place bright and early Wednesday morning. Cynthia and I were amazed at the number of birds that inhabit this place. Blue Paradise Flycatchers and its almost look-alike cousin, the Black-naped Monarch, were already busy hawking for insects close to the ground.

female Blue Paradise Flycatcher

male Black-naped Monarch

While we were trying to photograph these active birds, Erwin, in his patented enthusiastic mode, called our attention to a tiny feathered creature silhouetted in a coconut tree.

"Lovely!" "Lovely!" he interjected while pointing to the tree.

We thought he was just describing the bird he was seeing. Then "ding!" I realized we were now looking at our second lifer of the trip - the Lovely Sunbird. Strange name for a male. The female clothed in drab yellow and brown, interestingly is also called "Lovely Sunbird". Of course, there is a Handsome Sunbird found elsewhere in the Philippines and the name applies to both male and female. And scientists who are responsible for naming birds are supposed to be smart people. Hmmm.

But I digress.

Erwin suggested we explore the Capayas Creek Nature Reserve now owned by our friend, Ramon Quisumbing. I wanted to photograph the three kingfishers that I saw here two years ago, and Erwin assured me that we will see two for sure, and maybe even the third one.

Cynthia decided to stay behind and wait for the furtive Hooded Pitta and Common emerald Dove - her excuse for not wanting to walk up the slippery trails.

The Ruddy Kingfisher was a no-sweat (I was speaking figuratively here inasmuch as I was already literally drenched in perspiration at this point).

The smaller Rufous-backed was a bit of a problem though. Everytime we would see it, it was in an unphotographable spot (too far, behind a leaf or a branch, etc). On our way back, I saw something brown alight on a branch. It would dart off after an insect and then return to its original perch. That is so flycatcher-y, I thought to myself. I was able to take a few photographs of it and looking at the results, I was perplexed. My first guess was that it was just one of them Grey-streaked ones, but somehow, something looks different. We did see two Grey-streaked Flycatchers later and I pointed out to Erwin the apparent differences from what we saw earlier. The Grey-streaked was smaller and the streaks were just too obvious. It was only after Cynthia and I got back home that I was able to properly identify (and confirmed by Desmond Allen) that it was a Dark-sided Flycacther! Lifer number 3 for us. Darth Vader would have been pleased.

It was while I was explaining to Erwin the difference between the two flycatchers that a Rufous-backed Kingfisher came out of nowhere and perched in full view just a few meters away from us!

Meanwhile back at the ranch, I mean where Cynthia was, she apparently had been busy as she was all smiles when we approached her.

"Cuckoo!" she said with a naughty smile.

"So are you!" I retorted.

Then she showed me the bird she photographed.

"A B-b-brush Cuckoo? Here in Coron?" I was incredulous.

I was still trying to assimilate this fact when "Cuckoo!" 

This time it was Erwin pointing to a brown thing perched on a branch.

I got a photograph. When I looked…..

"A Plaintive Cuckoo?"

Now I was going cuckoo in my mind. First there was a Brush and now a Plaintive!? Imagine that!

I was in this cogitative mood when it was announced that it was time for lunch.

And that was when I wet my pants.