Birding Between Rains

It drizzled as we passed by Antipolo on our way to go birding in Baras. Thankfully as we reached our destination the rain stopped. Upon reaching the rotunda, we saw Rufous-crowned Bee-eaters and Whiskered Treeswifts perched on eletric wires. It had been a while since we saw both species so Cynthia and quickly took out our cameras and took shots at them. We did get passable photos considering the lighting wasn't so good with the skies still being dark and cloudy.

From there we went to where the huge water tank is and surprisingly there were no birds! We then proceeded to the hilly area hoping to see the regular resident Long-tailed Shrike. Along the way Cynthia spotted a Barred Rail and was lucky to get some shots at it.

Further down the road we got another regular - the Paddyfield Pipit.

In one of the side roads we were able to finally get a picture of the skittish Spotted Dove.

As expected the Long-tailed Shrike was at its usual domain.

Perched on the wires were a bunch of White-breasted Woodswallows.

Along Nebres Road, we got the Pied Bush Chat.

Perched on the road was a Zebra Dove that looked like it was trying to warm up.

At the creek we were surprised that the Green Sandpiper was there because we thought it was a migrant and it wasn't the time for migratory birds to arrive yet.

Near Jeres we got really good shots at the Brown-breasted Kingfisher.

We then went to the falls area to look for the Indigo-banded Kingfishers (three individuals had been seen there) but we didn't see even one. It was strange that we didn't see a lot of birds this time. Perhaps it was due to the gloomy weather. It did rain while we were driving back home.

Pond-ering

A recent post in Facebook by our friend Benjie Jiao of a Grey Wagtail and Common Kingfisher seen at the "pond" in U.P. Diliman gave my wife, Cynthia,and I a reason to visit that place Saturday (Sept. 24) morning. But first, as had been our routine whenever we go to U.P., we passed by Greenmeadows Avenue and Temple Drive. We stopped by the small waterway where we've seen a Little Egret almost all the time. It was there alright but did not give me a good enough pose for a decent photo. As I was processing my pictures when i got home later that day, I was surprised to see that there was a Black-crowned Night Heron next to the Egret!

We moved on. Perched on a wire was a Striated Grassbird. Sadly the weather was a bit gloomy and so the lighting was not that good for photography and I only got a documentary shot.

Across the road I got another documentary shot this time of a Zebra Dove.

Further down the road, a pair of Crested Mynas were perched..guess where? On electric wires...and of course, one more documentary shot.

Near the Mormon church, we spotted a Brown Shrike and got a, you know, so-so picture.

As had been our custom, we had a sumptuous breakfast at Rodic's. From there we proceeded to the Child Study Center area. Unfortunately there were no birds at all! Our next stop was at the Astrodome Center and thankfully, the resident Long-tailed Shrike did not disappoint.

Then off to the "pond" we went. We did see our target birds but both were quite skittish. We pursued the Grey Wagtail and as we neared one of the waterways near the pond, we saw a Little Egret. But what surprised us was what was feeding alongside the Egret...a Javan Pond Heron! Of the many times we've birded U.P. Diliman, this was the first time we saw this species here.

Happy that I was able to get some good pictures of this rarity, we continued our chase of the Wagtail. Persistence finally enabled me to get a shot at it.

We went back to the "pond" and again patience got me a long-distance photo of the Common Kingfisher.

Happy that we got both birds that we came here for - and with a bonus at that - we decided to call it a day. As we were about to leave, the Little Egret came to the pond and posed for me.

At home as I was processing the results of our birding trip, I was pondering on our luck at the "pond" considering we even saw a very uncommon Javan Pond Heron

Target Acquired

Thankfully LA Mesa Ecopark (LMEP) is now open to seniors over 65 years old. That was good news to us because recently a Common Kingfisher had been seen (and photographed) there. Not that it would be a lifer for us but it had been quite a while since we've seen one.

Saturday morning we purposed to go to LMEP to see the kingfisher of course! But first we birded along the way, beginning at the Greenmeadows Avenue. Our first stop was by the small waterway where a Little Egret is almost always a sure sighting. We were not disappointed.

 

Just above us a Philippine Pied Fantail was frolicking.

 

From there we proceeded to the parking area of the Christ the King Parish church. The first bird we saw was a Brown Shrike.

 

Surprisingly an immature Black-naped Oriole was singing out loud on top of a bare tree.

 

Another bare tree has a Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker basking in the rising sun.

 

Of course we had to take the obligatory shot of the resident Zebra Dove.

 

Another surprise was a Spotted Dove.

 

Our next stop was at Rodic's in U.P. Diliman for our breakfast. After our morning repast we went to the Astronomy area and got the Long-tailed Shrike.

 

We made another round and this time it was the Crested Mynas that posed for us.

 

We also got a good enough shot of the migrant Arctic Warbler.

 

Then off to LMEP we went. The guards were so nice and very helpful in getting us through the entrance protocols. By the pond where the Common Kingfisher had been seen, we met fellow bird photographers Nelson and Benjie. They had gotten a shot of the kingfisher early in the morning and they were both waiting for it to show up again. Almost an hour passed and the kingfisher was still a no show. Cynthia and I were both considering to give up when I saw a bluish bird fly by and landed on a bare branch on the pond. We hurried to where we could get a better look at it and after some waiting it perched out in the open. We were surprised that there were actually two of them - an adult and an immature!

Immature

 

 

Adult

 

We were so happy that we finally got what we came here for. Target Acquired!

U.P. for Breakfast

To be honest, the reason I told my wife that we're going birding at U.P. Diliman, was because I wanted to have breakfast at Rodic's to enjoy the best Tapsilog there is. But before reaching our destination, we decided to stop over at the Hardin ng Rosas. We were surprised to discover that the pond was almost completely covered by vegetation! The Black-winged Stilts were gone and we didn't see any Moorhens also. Thankfully there were two immature Black-crowned Night Herons there.

 

We arrived at Rodic's just as they were opening. Inasmuch as they don't allow on-site dining yet, Cynthia and I both agreed to savor our breakfast at the parking lot of the MSI Building. Unfortunately, there were a few birds there and we noticed the Security Guard cordoning off some parts in the area. After breakfast off we went to the Astronomy place. The resident Long-tailed Shrike was there of course! I think there were two individuals even.

 

Behind the fence, three Collared Kingfishers were at their usual perch.

 

There were also a couple of Crested Mynas on the roof of the building.

 

As we were leaving and passing by the Genome building, we saw some Orioles frolicking about. I quickly parked the car and we were so excited  photographing a family of Black-naped Orioles at such a low level!

 

Other than these species, there weren't that many birds which was fine with us. After all we went to U.P. just for the Tapsilog at Rodic's.