Birding Taytay

There had been several postings in Facebook recently of birds seen in Taytay. That, of course, piqued our curiosity. Thanks to our birder friend, Linda Gocon, who gave us precise directions on how to get to the birding place, my wife and I went early Saturday morning.

We were surprised that on a small patch of wetland just beside the road were a number of birds! The first species that we saw were a bunch of Crested Mynas frolicking on the muddy area.

 

There was also a small flock of Little Egrets and a single Intermediate Egret feeding on the wetland.

 

Then we noticed small brown birds moving about. Upon closer look, we were surprised to see Wood Sandpipers, Common Sandpipers and a bunch of Little Ringed Plovers.

Wood Sandpiper

 

Common Sandpiper

Little Ringed Plover

 

There were also a few Black-winged Stilts.

 

Cynthia even got a shot of an immature White-browed Crake.

 

At around 8 am, someone came and waded through the said wetland, spooking all the birds there. And that ended our short birding trip in Taytay.

Baras Rings

It had been ages since I last used my 500mm prime lens. When I turned 70 four years ago, my aging body was already complaining everytime I hauled my camera gear to do some bird photography. So I bought the lighter Tamron 150-600 which I had been using everytime we went birding ever since.

Saturday, December 12, we planned to go to Baras. Inasmuch as birding there wouldn't involve much walking (most birds could be seen from the car), I thought, why not try using my old bazooka again. So I attached it to my old Canon 7D camera and to Baras we went.

I was still getting accustomed at using the heavy equipment so my first shots (at a Grey Wagtail) were below my standards. Our next encounter was with a pair of Pied Bush Chats, which surprisingly, were both on the road.

Male

Female

Paddyfield Pipits were all over the place. They were so unafraid of humans that I was able to get a full frame shot of one!

The Eastern Cattle Egrets were as usual quite plentiful.

At the waterway I was hoping to see the Blue Rock Thrush but it still wasn't there. I was surprised, however, to see two Little Ringed-Plovers! 

After that, there were fewer birds that we encountered. Now that I have gotten used to my heavy lens, this time I was able to get a full frame shot of the Grey Wagtail.

We also got better looks at the White-throated Kingfisher.

We went to the clubhouse where a flowering tree was said to attract various birds such as Philippine Hanging Parrot, Guaiabero, and Striped Rhabdornis. When we asked the photographers we met there what birds they were shooting at, they replied, "Yellow-vented Bulbuls". 

As we were about to go to the other end of the waterway, we met birder friend, Chin Fernandez. He told us where to find the Philippine Cuckoo Dove, Luzon Hornbill, Philippine Hawk-eagle and Violet Cuckoo. We thanked him profusely and proceeded to the place he mentioned. Perhaps it was the time (it was already mid-morning and the weather was sweltering) that we failed to see even one of those species Chin said were there.

As we made another round, we met another birder friend, Joel Dayao. He, too, told us about the place Chin referred to. So we made another attempt and failed once again. On the way down, we bumped into Chin again. He was taking photos of the Philippine Serpent Eagle perched in full view. We, of course, joined him.

I'd say it was quite a disappointing sortie for us, missing the star birds of Baras, which had been seen and photographed by the bird photographers who had been there. Not to mention my nemesis, the elusive Striated Grassbird.

Thankfully, the Little Ringed Plovers saved the day for us.

 

Sadder but Weisser

Our friend and neighbor, Chin Fernandez, PMed me in Facebook asking for directions to the Candaba Wetlands. I replied saying that if he plans to go on Friday, the 26th, I'll go with him. He said yes and so we did. My wife decided to stay at home this time.

The very first bird that we were able to photograph was a Barn Swallow doing its early morning grooming.

Other than that most of the birds (ducks, herons and egrets) were so far off that it was difficult to take pictures of them. Every so often a flock would fly and circle around the area. That was when Chin and I were able to practice our BIF (birds in flight) techniques. Black-crowned Night Herons were aplenty.

Surprisingly, a flock of about 15 Northern Pintails participated in the flight displays.

Of course, what would Candaba be without the endemic Philippine Ducks.

The Ardeids were more individualized in their flights. Such as this Purple Heron.

The Intermediate Egret..

..and the Little Egret.

What made our day was when fellow Wild Bird Club member Randy Weisser informed us that there were four (!) Eurasian Wigeons - one male and three females - in the pond near the entrance to the wetlands. Actually, he and his family were birding in that area while Chin and I were closer to the Mayor's House patiently monitoring a pair of Purple Swamphens gather nesting materials. 

I was surprised when I saw their van coming towards us. "I thought they already left," I told Chin. The van stopped next to me. Maria, Randy's wife, showed me a Kennedy Guide opened to the page showing the ducks. "If you want to see the Eurasian Wigeons, I'll show them to you," she said, pointing to the illustration of that particular species. I quickly informed Chin of the good news. We boarded his SUV and followed the Weissers. Randy was sitting on a stool peering through his spotting scope when we arrived. He pointed at the flotilla of ducks on the farthest pond. "They're there." he assured us. After some serious scanning using my long lens, I found them! Chin had to look through Randy's spotting scope to check the exact spot where the rare migrants were.

Having done their good deed for the day, the Weissers continued on their birding around the wetlands. We thanked them profusely as we enjoyed our bird of the day.

Everything was sort of anti-climactic after that. We were on the way out and I was lamenting the fact that we had not seen waders at all. "Where are the Sandpipers, Plovers, Stints and Stilts?" It was more a sad statement than a question. Then as serendipity would have it, a small group of Little Ringed Plovers and a single Wood Sandpiper paraded on the fallow fields to our right.

For us it was just a so-so day except for the uncommon Eurasian Wigeon. Who would have thought that there would be 4 of them in Candaba. It would have been a sad day of birding for us had it not been for the Weisser family. We sincerely express our gratitude to them for that.