GPS Location

The term "GPS" is a device generally used for tracking and navigation. In our case, it had a different meaning, particularly on Saturday, April 1, at the Ninoy Aquino Park and Wildlife Center (NAPWC). It had been quite a while since we visited this place and our expectations weren't that high. After parking our car we walked to the edge of the pond. There we met three young ladies (Aly, Ria and Anj) who were doing some bird watching. After introducing ourselves and doing some bird talk, I looked at the pond and some birds of the Ardeidae family. Then at a distance, I noticed some movements and got excited when I realized what they were - a pair of Greater Painted Snipes! (Henceforth refered to as GPS). We did not expect this species to be seen here since they are quite uncommon. The last we saw some GPS were at the Camelia Homes Subdivision in Bulacan way back in 2017. Unfortunately they were a bit far that I only got some documentary shots. The female is the more colorful one.

After a while the pair of GPS left. It was then that took shots at the members of the heron family - Black-crowned Night Heron, Little Egret and Yellow Bittern

A pair of Pacific Swallows even landed not too far from us and offered some photo ops.

Happy that we got into the GPS location, our young lady companions took a group shot with us.

Camella's Back

We were invited by our neighbor and fellow birder, Chin, to go with him to Camella Homes in Bulacan. We've been to that place before and we had a great time with the Jacanas. Inasmuch as one of our target birds, the White-winged Tern, had been seen there lately, going back would be a good opportunity.

For almost three hours we stayed by the pond looking at a number of Pheasant-tailed Jacanas and Whiskered Terns cavorting all over the place. However, the hoped for flight of the Jacanas did not happen as we expected - only some short hops from one end of the pond to the other.

While waiting for our target bird to appear I observed an uncommon behavior from what I believe is a Clamorous Reed Warbler. Normally this species is a skulker -darting in and out of tall reeds while looking for insects. This one, however, was acting more Pipit-like, standing on top of waterlilies and grabbing an unfortunate bug. It looked like a Pipit, behaved like a Pipit, but Pipits are migrants and were supposed to be back up northern Asia by now. Our friend, Adri, later confirmed that this was indeed a Clamorous Reed Warbler.

Anyway, another interesting avian activity I observed was playing "king-of-the-hill" (or should I say a "king-of-the-pole") between two species. The Blue-tailed Bee-eater would perch on said pole then fly off to chase of an insect. A Whiskered Tern would then perch on the said pole before the Bee-eater could return. The smaller bird would then harass the tern albeit to no avail. Eventually the tern would also fly off to join its comrades in swooping for tiny fish. That would be now an opportunity for the Bee-eater to reclaim its throne, so to speak, and fend off the returning tern. But then the Bee-eater would of course had to eat so off it would fly again. That would be the go signal for the tern to return (pun intended). That scenario was repeated several times.

As in most of our birding trips there would be a bonus bird. This time it was a pair of Greater Painted Snipes! For a short while both male and female got out of hiding from the reeds and enjoyed a few moments in the sun.

female 

male

A little after 8 am, with the White-winged Terns not showing up and the heat and humidity becoming unbearable, we all agreed to call it a day. 

That IRRI Feeling

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.