Thanks to the Parrots

It was a short unproductive trip to Infanta last Saturday. The skies were gloomy and the birds were scarce. Despite that we still had some good encounters. There was this Sulphur-billed Nuthatch that kept on creeping and hopping all over the branches looking for insects.

Then a mixed flock flew by but we only had a good shot of the Blue-headed Fantail. The Elegant Tits and Yellowish white-eyes were just so quick or behind the leaves most of the time.

We finally got to the place where the hagimit tree was fruiting. I set up my tripod and waited for the birds to come. It seemed that the Orange-bellied Flowerpecker bullied the others because it was the only flowerpecker we saw.

A flash of green and a Colasisi flew in and feasted on the red berries.

Cynthia then waved at me and pointed to another green bird on her side of the tree. It was a guaiabero also enjoying the bountiful fruits.

Then rain fell. We stood under an umbrella hoping it would soon abate. After 30 minutes it even became a heavy downpour. It only made sense to call it a day. It was still raining heavily when we reached the town of Tanay so we both agreed that we made the right decision.

It would have been a disappointing birding trip but thanks to the bright green colors of two endemic parrots that saved our day.

Seen no more

Peter and I were standing near the edge of the valley having our take-out breakfast. Cynthia decided to stay in the car. Then Peter tersely said, "bird!" I looked at where he was pointing at but for the life of me couldn't see anything. Well, there was a slight drizzle and the skies were grey, so all I could see were shadows of what I presumed to be just leaves. My friend borrowed my camera, took a shot and then showed it to me. A plethora of emotions overwhelmed me: surprised that there were indeed birds as Peter said, angry because those birds were in a cage, amazed as to how a cage of that size with two White-eared Brown Doves in it be hung on a branch that could only be accessed by the most agile and daring human being, and finally, curious as to the purpose of such action. Perhaps it was to lure more birds into a trap? I wanted so much to grab that cage and release both hapless birds to their freedom but with my ancient body, such an endeavour would most likely result in my untimely death or severe physical injury. So we left with saddened hearts and I prayed that no other bird would be captured and that both doves would hopefully gain their freedom. 

Prior to these heartbreaking experience, I had missed a couple of opportunities of photographing lifers. As we entered the Infanta area, I saw a Rufous Hornbill soaring over the valley. I asked Peter, who was driving, to stop. He did. However as soon as we parked by the roadside, the said hornbill was seen no more. Further up the road, I saw another soaring bird. I yelled "raptor!" Even before Peter could stop, the Rufous-bellied Eagle was seen no more. Was it a coincidence that both species had the word "rufous" in their names?

At the area by the brook where the Cream-bellied and Yellow-breasted Fruit Doves had been seen recently, we met fellow bird photographers Cesar Espiritu, Mhark Gee, and Mags Ico who were stalking the said birds. We stayed with them for a while but both doves never showed up the whole time we were there. Mhark told us that a Rufous Paradise Flycatcher showed up earlier. Since then it was seen no more. Another, rufous=seen no more incident. Hmm.

So we moved on as we promised to take Peter to the Fire-breasted Flowerpecker site so that he could get his lifer.

Thankfully he did, and I got the constantly moving Sulphur-billed Nuthatch. Again.

Cynthia got a photo of a tailorbird. However it was too far and backlit for me to be able to identify it properly. My best guess would be Mountain (we were, after all, on a mountain).

Having gotten his lifer, we proceed to the area that Mags told us the White-fronted Tit can be found. We lingered there until about noon and were rewarded with three kinds of flowerpeckers: Buzzing, Orange-bellied and Pygmy. No Tits though.

Buzzing Flowerpecker

Orange-bellied Flowerpecker

Pygmy Flowerpecker

Our lunch at The Gathering was much better than the last time Cynthia and I ate there. That was a consolation from the seen-no-more birds.

Fire Alert

It was another productive trip to Infanta. At first, at the area near the trees with the "De Castro" sign, we encountered an early wave. Though some species were missing (Blue-headed Fantail and Citrine Canary Flycatcher), the others were quite plentiful. Such as the Elegant Tits, Sulphur-billed Nuthatches, and Yellowish White-eyes.

Elegant Tit

Sulphur-billed Nuthatch

Yellowish White-eye

After the flock had moved on, we drove up the road and encountered our fellow birders, Alex, Cel, Bert and Roy. I asked Bert the usual "What have you got?" question. He showed me a photo of a kind of Flowerpecker that I have never seen before. "They (note the plural) were feeding at the Hagimit fruits" he said, pointing at the said tree. I quickly got my tripod and all six of us waited for the return of the uncommon bird. Then after a while, "There they are!" Bert alerted everybody. We all had an exciting time taking photos of the yet unidentified species.

Satisfied at the result of our photographic endeavors, Alex looked at his book, the Kennedy's Guide to the Birds of the Philippines. "Fire-breasted Flowerpecker!" he gleefully told us. It appeared that all of us had been to Baguio in search of and did not find this high elevation dwelling species.

Having earned another lifer, Cynthia and I drove further on hoping to find more birds. Unfortunately, all we saw was a Paddyfield Pipit.

We returned to where the group was and had another photo session with the Flowerpeckers which also included the Bicolored, Buzzing, and the Orange-bellied.

Bicolored

Buzzing 

Orange-bellied 

It was nearing noon so my wife and I said goodbye to our friends, thanking them for alerting us on the Fire-breasted Flowerpecker.

Our lunch at our usual dining place was a disappointment and we both agreed that the fire seemed to have gone out of the quality of food and service here. 

Sick and Fine

The beginning of the year and I was sick with the flu. Friday, I was feeling a little better so I confirmed with our friend, Peter, that my wife and I will be at U.P. Diliman on Saturday morning. To do some birding, of course. 

Lately, the uncommon Naked-faced Spiderhunter had been seen at the area near the Marine Science Institute (MSI) building. That, of course, was our target bird. Another friend, Christopher, was already there when we arrived. There were actually 4 individual spiderhunters he informed us. Apparently these four had the habit of chasing each other all around the tree with few leaves. We just have to be patient and wait, Christopher told us. Soon we were joined by more friends, Gilbert and Wilma, Nes and Jops.

Fortunately, other species frolicked in that area. Black-naped Orioles were calling incessantly.

Another uncommon bird, the tiny Orange-bellied Flowerpecker, were flitting among the branches.

Then came our target birds. It was indeed a challenge taking their photos as they preferred the higher branches and don't stay put for long as they kept going after each other.

On the other hand, the Philippine Hanging Parrot, was most cooperative - posing for us for a while.

A couple of hours later, avian activity died down a bit with only the Lowland White-eyes staying around.

Cynthia and I decided to try our luck at the young Philippine Scops Owls at the nearby "frogs" area. It was my wife's sharp eyes that found the bird we were looking for.

After that, the three of us, me, my wife and Peter, decided to call it day. After all we already got our "quotas". Besides I wasn't feeling 100% well yet.

Hopefully, the rest of our birding year would be as fine as today.

I Got Handsome

Not that I was ugly before but I did get handsome. Let me put it another way: what my wife had before wasn't really good looking, but now I've gotten handsome. Before I start getting any movie offers, let me explain that further: Around this time about a year ago we were at the Makiling Botanic Garden. The lipote tree was in full bloom and birds were a-plenty. One such bird was the Handsome Sunbird -at that time a lifer for me and my wife. Cynthia managed to get an awfully blurred shot (I can't blame her, the tiny bird was hyperactive and preferred the darker parts of the tall tree). I did not even get a single shot.

When news that the same lipote tree was back in bloom and once again birds were a-plenty, we returned with high hopes of getting better photos of the Handsome Sunbird.

We did. After almost four hours of looking up - literally - and suffering stiff necks, we did.

Bob's version

Cynthia's version

There were other birds, of course. Thanks to the sharp eyes of our friends, Prof. Tirso Paris and Steve Albano, we were able to see four species of Sunbirds (Handsome, Grey-throated, Purple-throated and Flaming), three kinds of Flowerpeckers (Orange-bellied, Red-keeled and Buzzing) and Balicassiaos. We kept hearing the teasing shrieks of Colasisis but not a single one came out in the open frustrating Steve who came particularly for this tiny green parrot.

Grey-throated Sunbird

Orange-bellied Flowerpecker

Red-keeled Flowerpecker

Buzzing Flowerpecker

Balicassiao

Back home and looking at our photos I kept murmuring "I got handsome! I got handsome!" like some egotistical mantra. To which my wife commented, "But you've always been!" 

That's why I love her so.

Return to Dumaguete, Day 1 - Boat for the Best

We had just landed at Dumaguete airport when out of the blue my wife declared, "Why don't we go to Siquijor today?" Interestingly I was also thinking about the same thing. It was still early - not even 9 am yet - and we didn't have any specific plans to begin with anyway. After a quick check-in at the Royal Suites Inn we rushed to the pier to inquire about the next departure time. Thankfully there was one leaving at 10:15. We bought two round trip tickets and boarded the M/BCA Jaziel. The weather was perfect and the sea as calm as can be.

About an hour later we docked at Siquijor and were immediately mobbed, along with the other passengers, by tricycle and minivan drivers. Not wanting to be taken advantage of, we stopped by the Tourist Information booth for advice. Inasmuch as this was our first time to visit this island, we were completely clueless as to where to go. We told the tourism agent our dilemma. We just want to see birds we explained rather sheepishly. What about Coco Grove? we asked. A bit expensive came the reply. How about Salagdoong? Too far. Then as if a light bulb suddenly switched on, he suggested "Why not Mt. Bandila-an? It has a forest and definitely got some birds in it." Well that definitely got our attention. 


From the throng of drivers that met our group when we disembarked, only one had the tenacity to stick with us. He was there when we were consulting with the tourism guy and so when we finally decided to go to Mt. Bandila-an he was more than willing to take us there. We agreed on a price and off we went. We explained to Ronald that we would be looking out for birds and we would at times ask him to stop so we could get a better view. Which happened quite soon enough. We have started our slow ascent up the mountain road when I saw a Blue Rock Thrush by the roadside. We asked our driver to stop. I jumped out as soon as he did. But the bird flew off before I could even raise my camera to my eyes. Going after the thrush I saw another bird. It was partially hidden from view but I could tell it was brownish with a black crown. Deep in my heart I knew it was the Streak-breasted Bulbul - a bird found nowhere else but here in the island of Siquijor. And I was unable to take its picture! All the while that Cynthia and I were chasing these birds, Ronald was down the road following a bird sound. Soon he was waving at us and pointing to something at the edge of the forest. I quickly ran to where he was and looked at where he was pointing. To my utter delight, two (yes, two!) Streak-breasted Bulbuls were hopping from branch to branch, pausing every now and then to see if this guy with a camera would be a disturbance to their feeding activities. They eventually flew off to the deeper part of the forest and I walked back to where Cynthia was waiting with a huge grin on my face. We have barely started and we already got our target bird!

Our destination was Camp Bandila-an which basically was a patch of forest managed by the DENR. The three of us (by now Ronald the driver was so into birding as well) spread out along the roadside trying to trace where all those bird sounds were coming from. Once again Ronald's sharp ears and eyes were able to locate an Orange-bellied Flowerpecker busily foraging on a mistletoe. I furiously tried to follow the non-stop foraging of this tiny bird. 

A brief pause and our diligent driver told me, "Sir, may ibon pa dito." (Sir, there's another bird here) and pointed me to where a brown bird with a yellow belly was flitting on the low branches. At first I thought it was just one those very common Golden-bellied Gerygones. But then, when I looked through the camera lens, it appeared to be bigger and even had a white-throat. Not only that, it didn't have the hyperactive habit of a gerygone. Whistler! It had to be a Whistler of some kind. Only when we got back to the hotel that I was able to properly identify it as a Yellow-bellied Whistler (well duh! the yellow belly was so prominent I wondered why I didn't think of that right away.)

Soon it was time to go. We had to be at the pier before 3:45 pm for our return trip to Dumaguete City. As we glided down the mountain road, Cynthia and I were both glad at how our first birding adventure in Siquijor turned out. Two lifers in less than three hours was not bad. Not bad at all. Actually it was the best!