It's back!

During our daily walk around our condo grounds we are always on the look out for birds. Occasionally we would bring binoculars and sometimes our cameras. Since we saw quite a number of birds last Wednesday, on Thursday morning I decided to bring my Canon 5D3 with the Tamron 150-600 lens with me. My wife and I also hoped that the Brown Shrike would be around. Since the beginning of September, we always looked at the places where the annual migrant used to hang out the previous years. And it was still a no show.

After watching the daily morning pilgrimage of the Yellow-vented Bulbuls (for the past couple of months we have observed their daily routine where small groups would fly from South to North stopping now and then on the tree tops by the river, and we wondered why this sudden behavior), we paused by the parking lot to watch the sunrise. It was then that Cynthia heard the twittering of the shrike. We moved closer to the wall and voila! Our hoped for migrant was finally back!

Happy that I got tons of shots of the cooperative shrike, we moved on. As expected the Yellow-vented Bulbul's "towncrier" was at its usual perch and calling loudly to its fellow "pilgrims" who were passing by.

Our next target was the Philippine Pied Fantail. As we approached its usual milieu, a small flock of very active Golden-bellied Gerygones were darting all over the place.

As if that wasn't enough, another flock, this time of Lowland White-eyes mingled with the Gerygones in hunting for their breakfast.

A little further down, the usual pair of Fantails showed up.

Having accomplished our goal (and even got a bonus) we walked back towards our building. Along the way, we heard a Zebra Dove calling. After some effort at trying to locate the source of the cooing, we eventually found the bird partly hidden among the leaves.

As we entered our building, I told my wife that I should at least take a photo of the very common Eurasian Tree Sparrow. Let's go the Great Lawn, she suggested, where this species is definitely a sure sighting. So we did and I got my list of local birds completed.

Birding Itch Satisfied

Because of the ECQ (Enhanced Community Quarantine) due the Corona virus, my wife and I, being senior citizens, were not allowed to leave the compound of the condo where we are residing. Thankfully, there are spaces here where we can do our daily morning and afternoon walking exercise. One area is called the great lawn which is an open space on the fourth story level between the six condominium towers. That place has a wide grassy area (hence the name) and another area with huge swimming pools. Along the borders are some trees and flowering shrubs. 
At the ground level is a road surrounding the towers and the pavillions. The back side of this road abuts the Marikina River while the left and right areas are next to huge vacant lots that are filled with trees. Because of the vegetation in these places, there are birds, albeit the more common ones such as Eurasian Tree Sparrows and Yellow-vented Bulbuls. During migration period, Brown Shrikes are also seen here.

In our recent walks while we were checking up on a Brown Shrike whom we named "haggard" because of its looks, we were surprised to see an immature Blue Rock Thrush. I thought it was just passing through on its way back north, but for two consecutive days it was still at its usual hang-out. Yesterday before we went to sleep, Cynthia suggested that we bring our cameras with us on our scheduled morning walk.

So we did. At the Great Lawn, a Brown Shrike (definitely not haggard, as this was quite chubby and had better colors) dove into the grass and grabbed a prey. It flew to a nearby tree and gave us some good photo ops. 

Surprisingly the very common Eurasian Tree Sparrows were quite sparse this morning and we were not able to take passable shot.

At the ground as we were getting to the place where the Thrush stays, we were greeted by a pair of Philippine Pied Fantails.

The Blue Rock Thrush didn't fail us. It was as if was actually waiting for our appearance. When it saw that we had arrived it gave us different poses.

After a while it flew off. Perhaps so that we could focus on the other birds in the area. True enough the Zebra Dove couple was on the ground not far from where the thrush was.

Then came "haggard". We were happy to notice that he was no longer as haggard as he used to be perhaps prepping up for the long journey that he would soon take.

High above an Olive-backed Sunbird was searching for its breakfast.

Not far from it, another surprise was an Arctic Warbler.

Round the corner, we finally were able to get pictures of the Eurasian Tree Sparrow.

After making our round, we returned to thrush site and voila! it was back, this time perched on a tree branch.

Having met our "quota" we walked back to our tower. Along the way Cynthia was distracted by some chirping coming from the tree near the wall. Unfortunately, the Lowland White-eyes were too active that we only got some documentary shots.

Of course, we have to take an obligatory shot of the Yellow-vented Bulbul

Despite the quarantine, we were glad that we were able to satisfy our birding itch. And even got an uncommon migrant at that.

Egret Start

Aside from the harrowing traffic in getting to U.P. Diliman - what normally takes less than 30 minutes became more than an hour's travel - we had a great birding morning. We started off with really nice shots of two kinds of egrets - the Eastern Cattle Egret and the Little Egret.

Eastern Cattle Egret

Little Egret

We proceeded to the pond but drew a total blank. As a consolation, I just had to take a photo of the uber common Eurasian Tree Sparrow.

At the Pagasa station, or what we usually refer to as the Long-tailed Shrike Territory, the eponymous bird was nowhere in sight. In its place was a lone Zebra Dove that was unperturbed by the passing bikers.

Eventually the Long-tailed Shrike did show up as it hunted for prey on the ground.

Not too far from it, a Pied Triller played hide and seek with us as we tried to get its photo.

Our next stop was at the parking lot of the MSI (Marine Science Institute) Building. A pair of Olive-backed Sunbirds were feasting at the flowers but we only got a good picture of the female.

And to cap things off, we also took an obligatory shot of the common Yellow-vented Bulbul.

Thankfully the traffic along Katipunan Avenue wasn't that bad on our way back.

Going for the Shrike

We first saw this annual migrant in our neighborhood a week ago. However due to inclement weather I wasn't able to take a photo of this bird. This morning, a gleam of sunlight finally broke through. I brought my camera and prepared to go for the Shrike. It didn't take us long to find it, albeit at quite a distance. Knowing its habit of not going far from its chosen territory, we followed its short flights from one tree to another and eventually got a good enough shot.

A small flock of Scaly-breasted Munias then flew in. It looked like these were siblings that were the result of a nesting couple we observed early last month. Two of them seemed like they were having a spat.

While we were enjoying watching these young Munias frolic around, three small birds came flying by and landed on a small tree next to us. To our surprise they were juvenile Olive-backed Sunbirds.

Happy that we got our target birds at the great lawn area, we continued our morning walk at the ground level hoping to get a shot at the Zebra Doves. Unfortunately, only one showed up and it was a "heard only" experience. As we approached the retail row area we hoped that we would encounter the Philippine Pied Fantails we saw yesterday. This time they were a no-show and we discovered the reason why. Another migrant bully was staking claim on that area.

Of course, I had to take an obligatory shot of the very common Eurasian Tree Sparrow.

As we were about to return to our condo, I saw a huge wader fly overhead. It was too high and backlit that I am not 100% sure of its ID. For now I'd say it was a Purple Heron.

And that ended our quick morning sortie around our condo grounds.

U.P. Quick

The month of May is not the best time to go birding in the Philippines. The heat and humidity of summer are the biggest deterrents to that activity. When I thought of doing a quick sortie at the campus of the University of the Philippines (U.P.) in Diliman, my wife told me to bring only my camera as she wasn't really into a photographic mood. She will just act as my spotter, she said.

To get myself into the mood, I took an obligatory shot of the urban trash bird - the Eurasian Tree Sparrow.

Unfortunately, the only good shots I got was of that bird and one other species. The rest of the local avifauna were either too busy looking for food or strangely very skittish. The Black-naped Orioles were too busy foraging the tree tops and were always hidden from view. A pair of Olive-backed Sunbirds never stopped moving and despite my many attempts I wasn't able to get even one good shot. Same thing goes for the Golden-bellied Gerygones.

The Collared Kingfisher that we saw was so uber alert that even my slow movement of getting out of the car made it leave its perch.

Thankfully, and what saved our day, was the Long-tailed Shrike that posed for me.

8:30 am and the heat was getting unbearable. We called it quits and thus ended our quick birding at U.P.

Answered Prayer

We always look for birds everytime we do our walk around our condominium grounds. Yesterday afternoon while watching a pair of sunbirds feast on the orange flowers we noticed a bird near the parking lot which looked different from the usual birds we see here. It was even unperturbed as I came a bit closer. "Ferruginous Flycatcher!" I exclaimed. I couldn't believe that this beautiful migrant would choose a parking lot to hunt for food. I grabbed my cellphone and took its photo to document such rarity.

That night before going to bed Cynthia and I prayed that the flycatcher would still be there. The next morning as soon as we woke up we both uttered the same prayer. After breakfast, I brought along my camera and did our regular morning walk. 

The first species that caught our attention was a female Olive-backed Sunbird feeding on the same orange flower but at a different location, albeit much lower and at eye level.

Then a bonus! We heard some Zebra Doves calling. While we were trying to locate the source of that call, I saw a bird which very seldom comes out in the open. A Spotted Dove was walking on top of the wall!

Thrilled at this unexpected sighting, we then proceeded to the place where we saw the flycatcher the day before hoping it would still be there. My hopes were diminished because we saw a driver standing idly just a few feet away from where the bird was yesterday. We walked past him, peered behind the parked cars and voila! our prayers were answered! It was perched on a wire and obliged me with some close shots. After a while it flew to the tree behind as if to say "you want a better background?" It flew off after I got its picture. As we  turned our attention to munias on the tree across. Our friendly flycatcher flew to the group of low trees next to the building. Satisfied that it had given us the answer to our prayers, it flew off once again to parts unknown.

This time the male Olive-backed Sunbird returned to its usual feeding ground so to speak.

The Philippine Pied Fantails were as you would expect them to be.

As we were nearing the retail area, a Eurasian Tree Sparrow flew between us as if saying, "you got photos of all the birds here except us!" and then perched on top of the gate just a few feet away. I, of course, consoled the poor bird and took an obligatory shot.

We made a second trip to the flycatcher site. Along the way, we got photos of the Yellow-vented Bulbul and the Zebra Dove.

Unfortunately our dear Ferruginous Flycatcher was no longer at its hangout.

Seasons in the Sun

Blame it on climate change or global warming but it seems that the summer season arrived very late this year. October weather normally is already a bit cool with occasional nippy breezes. This time however it was sweat-inducing hot! Even at 6:30 in the morning. Nevertheless we had joy, we had fun birding the premises of our condominium. Maybe not in that order but we still had seasons in the sun.

First off, the Eurasian Tree Sparrows were at their usual spot at the lawn. For the past week or so we found it a bit strange that the usual flock seemed to have deserted their favorite feeding grounds. 

Then there was the migrant bully whom I nicknamed "Brownie". He was surveying his realm while perched on top of a palm tree by the swimming pool.

Downstairs, at the adjacent grove of trees there was a quick flash of brown. The Zebra Dove who also had been off its regular habitats made a quick distant appearance.

The fun we experienced was with the  Scaly-breasted Munias. We observed this individual who would fly into into the bamboo grove, pick up some leaves then take it to the adjacent palm tree and use it to build a nest. This happened like a routine and gave me and my wife the challenge to take a BIF (bird in flight) shot with the leaf in its beak. And a challenge it was. Despite being able to more or less predict when it will take off, we still had a difficult time focusing on our subject. Did I say that there were several people washing their cars between us and the munia? We never got a good BIF shot but at least I had one when the tiny brown bird alit on the palm tree.

Blurred in Flight

Now the joy happened after we gave up on the munias. This time a pair of Olive-backed Sunbirds, unlike the munia, were very cooperative. Not only were they out in the open, the male even copied the feeding habits of their western counterparts, the hummingbirds!

Not even 8 am and we were already drenched in sweat. Time to take a much needed shower.