Too Little, Too Late

Recent postings in Facebook of some beautiful birds taken in Infanta by our friends made us consider going there to try our luck. Again, because I was told that there are several checkpoints on the way, I was a bit concerned that we may not be allowed to go through, being senior citizens. Then Cynthia wisely said, we wouldn't know unless we tried.

Saturday we were set to go. To my shock, our car wouldn't start! I did a quick prayer and tapped on the battery terminal. Thank God the car started and never gave us any trouble afterwards. At the first checkpoint in Tanay, the soldiers were very strict. The vehicle ahead of us was asked to turn around. When it was our turn, the soldier asked where we are going. I replied (in English) that we plan to go birdwatching along the road in Real going to Infanta. To our surprise, he smiled and let us go through. 

As we reached our destination, our first stop was at Francis' house. Unfortunately he was at work. His wife was so nice and even pointed a Pacific Swallow perched just below their roof.

We thanked her and we moved on. Surprisingly, there weren't birds by the roadside probably because the hagimit trees were no longer in fruit. We proceeded to the area behind the chapel. There we met a group of bird photographers led by Mark Ghee. They told us that they saw an Amethyst Brown Dove and Philippine Fairy Bluebirds. As we waited for these birds to reappear, one of the guys pointed at a tiny bird moving around. We took some photos of the very active Buzzing Flowerpecker.

Without any more birds seen or heard the group decided to leave. Cynthia and I stayed behind hoping that some bird, any bird, would appear. Then came a flash of yellow-orange. "Scarlet Minivet!" I excitedly told my wife. This was the first time we've seen this species here in the Philippines!

Happy that we got good shots of this colorful species, we climbed back to where our car was parked. At an open space we saw a couple of Large-billed Crows at a distance roosting on a pine tree. I got a shot at one of them. 

That open space was where we used to see a Paddyfield Pipit. However, we didn't see any this time. As  we exited that place, by the roadside, we saw two Paddyfield Pipits!

It was almost 11 am and as we were about to leave, we made a short stop at Gina's Garden. There Cynthia was able to get a shot at a Philippine Fairy Bluebird.

It was quite disheartening that in more than 3 hours of birding we only were able to photograph six bird species! We were too late because the usual trees that attract the birds were no longer fruiting.

Bird and Breakfast - Part 2

Friday night I told Cynthia that I didn't have any plans to go birding on Saturday. Then I asked her if she wanted to eat out for breakfast. She replied, "Let's go to Rodic's at U.P.  Let's bring our cameras just in case."

Saturday morning we set off for our planned breakfast. We took the usual route via White Plains to see if the resident Little Egret was still in its favorite spot on the waterway. But even before we reached the place, we saw a Large-billed Crow perched on top of an electric post.

Not far away from it, a Crested Myna was roosting on an electric wire.

It had been said that black birds forebode bad luck. Not in our case. It was the first time we saw both the Crow and Myna in this area, despite the many times we passed by here. And to me that in itself is good luck. As we looked into the waterway, the Little Egret was there, even closer than before!

We even got a bonus of Philippine Pied Fantail at a nearby tree.

Driving along Temple Drive, I was surprised to find a Striated Grassbird (my nemesis bird lately) perched out in the open!

I drove slowly scanning the trees across the street. As we passed by an empty lot, I saw a Collared Kingfisher perched almost at ground level! I made a quick u-turn but as soon as I got near, the bird flew away not to be seen again. However, we noticed some activity at the tall grass. Cynthia got some shots of a Scaly-breasted Munia.

When I joined her, what I saw were Chestnut Munias!

From there we proceeded to our breakfast place. It was full and there wasn't any parking spot available. Thanks to the help of the security guard we were able to get a parking space. We then enjoyed the best tapsilog there is. After the sumptuous breakfast we went to the MSI area in U.P. Feeding in an aratiles tree was a Red-keeled Flowerpecker. It was so active that I only got a documentary shot.

Then we took the obligatory photo of the Brown Shrike.

A family of Olive-backed Sunbirds were also feeding on a flowering plant.

High above a Black-naped Oriole was bringing food to its nestlings.

A Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker was already busy that early.

And so were the Golden-bellied Gerygones.

Next stop was at the Astronomy area for the Long-tailed Shrike.

Then at the place where the Grey-streaked Flycatcher hangs out.

On our way home we stopped by the Hardin ng Rosas. This time Black-winged Stilts were closer.

And the Common Moorhen was basking in the sun.

On the way out we saw a flock of Eastern Cattle Egrets perched on a tree.

We decided to make another stop over by the Marikina River. Again, this time the Egrets (a few Little and a single Chinese) were closer.

Little Egret

Chinese Egret

The Whiskered Terns were busy diving for food.

For an "unplanned" birding sortie, we were rewarded by quite a number of species and closer views of the more common ones. 

Tuba Rich

We attended a wedding in Tuba, Benguet last Saturday. Prior to the ceremony Cynthia and I had ample time to go birding around the premises of the place where we were staying (Green Valley Village). Inasmuch as that place was a subdivision, we didn't expect to see a lot of birds. After a few minutes of walking we saw a patch of greenery. As we rounded a corner we spotted the migrant Blue Rock Thrush perched below a water tank.

As soon as we reached the patch of greenery, we noticed some bird activity on some bare branches. To my surprise, it was a female Red Crossbill with some fledglings.

After a while the crossbill family left. This time the activity was on a small tree across where the crossbills were. A small flock of Warbling White-eyes were busy hunting for food.

At the opposite corner a Turquoise Flycatcher perched almost at eye level.

We needed to get ready for the wedding ceremony so we started to walk back to our lodge. That was when we encountered a Long-tailed Shrike basking in the morning sun.

My wife heard some twittering and looking back to where we saw the Turquoise Flycatcher, there was a male Olive-backed Sunbird on an electric wire, singing loudly.

Along the way, I did the obligatory shot of the common Eurasian Tree Sparrow. I even thought of posting that picture in Facebook and jokingly labelling it as the Benguet Tree Sparrow.

Not far from our lodge there was a house that was still under construction. On it we saw a pair of Pied Bush Chats.

The wedding was held at a different place where we were staying. It was at the Picmar Heritage Lodge also in Tuba. The place had some greeneries as well and even had a vegetable garden nearby. Before the ceremony started we did a quick look at the said garden and saw a flock of Crested Mynas.

After the ceremony, we once again went to the garden area. This time it was a flock of Large-billed Crows that showed up.

The following morning, we again tried the area near our lodge. Somehow the birds were sparse. So I took a shot at the Yellow-vented Bulbul.

Some activity on a low tree attracted our attention. It was a very active tiny brown bird and it was quite a challenge to get a good shot at it. Reviewing my photos after we got back to our home in Pasig, I asked my friends to help me ID that bird. The answer I got was that it was an Arctic Warbler.

It was a really short time birding in Tuba, but I'm glad that despite being in a subdivision, the place was rich with birds - more than we expected.

Contrast that with our birding foray at the Camp John Hay Eco-trail the following day. The only bird we saw was a Sulphur-billed Nuthatch and it was just too far to be photographed even with my long lens.

Osaka Birding - Day 1

We’ve been walking for more than an hour and we still hadn’t reached our destination. Our research said it was only about 20 minutes away on foot. And to think that not only did we get directions from the concierge at the hotel we were staying in but I also used Google Maps to guide us. We eventually gave up and returned to the hotel. 

It was not a good start to our birding trip to Osaka. Our plan was to go to the Osaka Nanko Bird Sanctuary - a walking distance from our hotel. (The very reason we chose the Quintessa Hotel was due to its proximity to this birding site). At first I thought things would  be going well. The moment we stepped out of the hotel I spotted our first lifer - the White-cheeked Starling - feeding by the roadside. 

Of course, I had to take a shot of the most common bird in Osaka - the Eurasian Tree Sparrow.

Then it happened. Since it was a disastrous beginning - one whole morning wasted due to my directional ineptitude - Cynthia and I worked on Plan B. Inasmuch as our hotel provides a free shuttle to the Osaka Castle, a famous tourist (and may I add, birding) spot in this city, we took that option. We left promptly at 11 am and were at our destination in about 45 minutes. After having a quick lunch at Lawsons - a local convenience store - we proceeded to area A. There we saw a bunch of bird photographers standing idly seemingly waiting for something. A few were even napping on the benches. They were unmindful of Large-billed Crows that were everywhere.

Nearby was a rock with a small pool of water where birds come to drink or take a bath. It was here that we got another common species - the Japanese Tit - which was waiting for its turn to a take a dip.

Oriental Turtle Doves were so used to humans that they would come so close we could almost step on them.

While we were observing the “bathing” area, Cynthia heard something. “Woodpecker!” She said while looking up at a nearby tree. It was our second lifer, the Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker.

Then the bird photographers excitedly rushed to an area not that far from where we were. One them, who was napping earlier, told us “flycatcher!” We joined the group and oddly enough it was I who first spotted what they were hoping to photograph. The male Japanese Paradise Flycatcher was high up in the tree tops. It would show up for a short while and then suddenly disappear. It was this “now you see it, now you don’t” game that got the local bird photographers all stirred up. And because of that we only got a few “documentary” shots of the star bird of Osaka Castle.

Strangely, after a few times of showing itself, the flycatcher seemed to evaporate into thin air and was not seen again. My wife and I decided to explore the surrounding areas and got a selfie with the famed castle in the background.

We returned to where the bird photographers were hanging out. The paradise flycatcher probably hadn’t reappeared yet as they were all lounging around. To pass the time we took photos of the Large-billed Crows and White-cheeked Starlings. Then one of the photographers told us to follow him. We did and as we reached the upper level of the castle grounds, there were already bird photographers there shooting at something. Our “angel” then pointed at a bird flitting from branch to branch. We joined the group in capturing images of the female Japanese Paradise Flycatcher which was more cooperative than the male.

Eventually she also disappeared from view. It was already close to three in the afternoon so we both agreed to call it day considering we still had to take the local commuter train back to our hotel.

Despite a bad start we were still thankful that we got three lifers on our first day of birding in Osaka. 

Missing Tit

Early Saturday (March 4) morning I got a Facebook PM from birding friend Bim Quemado. "If you're interested, the White-fronted Tit is easy here at Subic" was his message. A couple of weeks earlier, our friends from the Baguio-Benguet Birding Group also posted photos of this species. The White-fronted Tit was my nemesis bird. Cynthia and I never saw it despite our many attempts.

Sunday afternoon we drove to Subic and proceeded right away to the place Bim said he saw the Tit. Three hours of searching and nada. Early the following day we went back. Again, three hours of waiting and staring at the trees with red flowers and still no Tit. I thought I saw it fly across the road but somehow never found the place where it landed. Or was it just my imagination playing tricks on me.

Although not seeing our target was a heart-breaker, birding wasn't that bad at all. This is the time of year when the Blue-throated Bee-eaters start their nesting period. There were dozens of them congregating on the electric wires waiting for their turn to visit their respective holes on the ground.

Some even displaying a unique posture.

Having spent most of our time looking for the imaginary bird with a white forehead, we were not able to photograph much of the avian denizens of Subic. Here are some that we got:

Blue-naped Parrot

Large-billed Crow

Coppersmith Barbet

Coleto

Luzon Flameback

Oriental Dollarbird

Stripe-headed Rhabdronis

White-bellied Woodpecker