Take my word for it. Please!

I came. I saw. I photographed.


The wrong bird.


When fellow birder, Prof. Gerry de Villa announced that there was a Lemon-throated Leaf Warbler at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Cynthia and I were there first thing the following morning. And saw nothing but the uber common Eurasian Tree Sparrows, those little brown birds that liked to impersonate the more uncommon species. We were at the parking lot next to the Vargas Museum approaching a state of despondency when I heard a quacking noise. "That's your cellphone," my wife told me. I recently got a new iphone and I thought it would cute, and quite appropriate for a birder like me, to have a duck's quack as the ringtone for my incoming messages.


I quickly pulled out my cellphone from my pocket and looked at my incoming text. "Lemon-throated is here" was the curt message. We ran towards where the statue of the naked lady was and saw Prof. Gerry standing beside it and looking upwards. "Listen to the melodious and continuous trilling," he told us while pointing at some object up in the trees. Since I am a bit hearing impaired, I looked at my wife for confirmation. She nodded vigorously and began pointing upward also. Soon both of them were yelling, "There! There!" And I was saying, "Where? Where?"


Then I saw it. A tiny brown bird warbling incessantly (I can tell by its open beak and vibrating throat) and flitting from branch to branch. It had a slight yellowish tint on its throat and rump. I was convinced that we found our Lemon-throated Leaf Warbler and began taking its photograph.


As soon as we got home, I posted the picture that I took in the internet. With a certain amount of pride, I declared that I, Bob Kaufman, was able to document the presence of an uncommon bird found in U.P. Diliman. Only to be told by the experts that the photo I posted was that of the similar-looking Arctic Warbler! To avoid further embarrassment, that image is no longer in Facebook, FYI.


The following morning, Cynthia and I, together with friends Jun Osano and Peter Ting went to La Mesa Ecopark. We saw the Red-bellied Pitta calling early in the morning and later the Ashy Ground Thrush on its nest. I even had glimpses of the Grey-backed Tailorbird. But please don't ask me for photographs of these birds, for there were none. None worth publishing, that is. 


Later that afternoon, my wife and I attended a friend's wedding being held at the Valley Golf Club in Antipolo. Inasmuch as the venue was in an open area, Cynthia and I were entertained by the calling of several Black-naped Orioles (yes, I heard them, too!) in the nearby trees. While waiting for the ceremony to start, Cynthia was socializing with the other guests and I was sitting by myself admiring the bright blue skies. It was then that a small flock of birds came gliding overhead. From the wing shape, manner of flight and white underparts, I concluded that these were White-breasted Wood Swallows. What surprised me was when a bigger bird, slightly bigger than a domestic pigeon, flew along with the small flock. It has the same manner of flight and wing shape as the Wood Swallows, except that the wing tips were black. I can pretty much tell that it was some kind of a raptor. Inasmuch as there wasn't a camera within grabbing distance, I committed that image into my memory.


That night when we got home, I hastily consulted the Kennedy Guide and narrowed the possibilities to 1) Pied Harrier or 2) Black-shouldered Kite. I'm leaning towards the Kite because of its size and habitat. However, since there were no photographs nor a second pair of eyes to confirm the sighting, I decided not to include this species in my life list.


And oh, on our way home that evening after the wedding party, I saw a bright object in the night sky. It had a disc-like shape and emitted an intermittent light. After hovering for a few seconds, it zoomed silently into the darkness. It could only be a UFO, I thought to myself.


Just kidding! - on the UFO, but you'll just have to take my word on the others.

Oriole Happy?

The trees were laden with fruits. There I was staring unblinkingly at the tree before me lavishly adorned with bright red fruits like an overdone holiday decor. And hoping that some other bird would be attracted to these feasts other than the noisy, ubiquitous Yellow-vented Bulbuls.

Then came a "ki-kiyaw!" So loud that even my impaired ears were able to hear it. Then came another and another, each one louder than the one before. I held my breath. Soon a flash of yellow ungracefully swooped through the green leaves and red fruits and ungainly landed on a branch. Followed by another flash of yellow. Why do they have to perch behind those twigs and bunch of leaves? I waited. Their hunger finally getting over their sense of caution, the Black-naped Orioles gave me some photo opportunities as they plucked the ripe fruits and swallowed them whole.

Having had their fill of these bounty, the orioles left. Only to be replaced by a group of Coppersmith Barbets.

When once again only the Bulbuls were the only ones enjoying the fruits, I started walking back to my car. It was then that my friend and fellow bird photographer, Ralf Nabong, arrived. It was also then that the Philippine Hawk Cuckoo flushed from somewhere and alit on a branch not too far from us. I managed to get off one quick shot while Ralf struggled to assemble his gear. Just as soon as he was ready, the cuckoo flew to an acacia tree. We quickly gave chase but it flew again from tree to tree not allowing us to get a good look at it until the bird flew to where we would not be able to follow.

After calming down our frustrations, Ralf and I decided to go to where the Lowland White-eyes are found. As we approached the fruiting "alagaw" tree, I immediately saw the roosting Philippine Nightjar on the branch of a nearby tall acacia.

Turning our attention to the "alagaw" tree, we met another fellow bird photographer, Rey Sta. Ana. As always the fruiting tree was swarming with Yellow-vented Bulbuls. Once in a while a flock of Lowland White-eyes would fly in to feed on the fruits. All three of us enjoyed the challenge of photographing these constantly moving, tiny green birds that blend so well with the large alagaw leaves.

At around eleven, Ralf had to leave due to some personal duties. Rey and I went back to the cuckoo place but it was nowhere to be found so we too decided to call it a day.

Later that afternoon as I related to my wife our adventures that morning, she asked, "Are y'all happy?"

"Oriolelly am", I replied

U.P. Swing

Our birding activities went into a slight upswing as we met up with fellow birder photographer, Ely Teehankee, at the campus grounds of the University of the Philippines. It was about 6 am and as dawn brightened up the skies, a flock of birds congregated on a fruiting "bignay" tree. They were mostly comprised of the ubiquitous Eurasian Tree Sparrows and Yellow-vented Bulbuls.

"Lowland White-eyes!" Ely whispered as he pointed to the constantly moving tiny green and white birds. I just chalked up my first lifer for the day.


After a while, avian activity died down. Ely, Cynthia and I explored the other birding areas in the campus without much success, except for a forlorn-looking Brown Shrike.


When we returned to our original meeting place, Ralf Nabong was already there. He hasn't seen much either although birdsongs filled the morning air. It was when another member of the PBP (Philippine Bird Photographers) group, Doc Mando, showed up that things started to get interesting. Pretty soon he was directing our attention at about four Ashy Minivets (our target bird..and another lifer!) flitting high up in the tree tops.


Soon a pair of Black-naped Orioles began calling loudly to one another.


My wife and I wanted to stay longer but family commitments necessitated that we cut our birding foray short. We were happy, though, that we have added a couple of species to our lifelist.

Tanager Angst

So my BFF asked me if I wanna join her to go like, birdwatching, and I said, ‘whatever!’ We go to this place where there’s a lotta trees, and you know, stuff. We were walking and walking and I was kinda, like, bored, ya know? Then my BFF was like jumping and pointing to a like, whatever bird. So I looked and like, whoaaa! There’s this bird and it was like yellow and the head was like awesome red!!! I said, “Dude, that bird is like, way hot!” Later as we got ready to like, go home, my BFF asked if I enjoyed the walk, and I’m like, Duh! Totally, Dude.

August brings out the worst in me by way of humor. I just can't explain it. So I thought I'd describe our birding last Saturday through the words of a present day teenager (teenager/tanager - whatever, dude!)

Our original plan was to bird Santa Fe Dam but when we got there we were informed that there was an entrance fee of $8, and no they don't give senior discounts on weekends anymore. And I was even willing to pay the $4 senior fee. As I mentioned in my previous blog, I watch my wallet with the same ardor as I watch birds. So I did a quick u-turn and decided to go Eaton Canyon instead where the entrance is freeee! And as in any place that doesn't charge anything to get in, the place was packed with people. (Midmorning, Saturday, Summer, like, duh!) We spent the next couple of hours without seeing much. Thankfully (and curiously) the area behind the Nature Center was relatively quiet and almost devoid of people. My wife and I were trying hard to locate the Hooded Oriole(s?) that kept vocalizing but were frustratingly difficult to get a visual of. Then we saw a yellow bird fly into a low bush. Cynthia screamed, "There's the oriole! There's the oriole!" I pointed my big lens at the general vicinity and hoped, no, prayed that the bird would show itself. And it did. I quietly informed my wife that what we're looking at is not an oriole but a, hold your breath now, Western Tanager! I say that because we have birded this place quite regularly for the past five years and not once have we seen a Western Tanager here.
Oh, we eventually did see the Hooded Orioles - a whole family of them! Cynthia even got a shot of the young 'un.


For other (more serious?) birding blogs and photography, please visit:

Eye Candies

Imagine a parade of gaudy-plumaged birds appearing before your very eyes. Overwhelming your sense of sight to a certain degree of rapturous delight. And you’re not even in the tropics!

The place was Big Morongo Valley where we had an interesting encounter with a hungry Roadrunner and a staring contest with a couple of Long-eared Owl babies. At nearby Covington Park, colorful birds put on a show that made our long trip even more worthwhile.

Hooded Oriole:


Yellow Warbler:


Western Bluebird:


Vermillion Flycatcher:


Western Tanager:

The Hills are alive...

One nice thing about Pasadena is that it is close to a variety of avian habitats – well if you consider an hour’s drive close. Anyway with the onset of spring, we thought it would be nice to head for the hills. Nestled amidst the San Gabriel Mountains about 30 miles east of us is Placerita Canyon. Not a lot of people go there, as it lies sort of off the beaten track. And that could be a good thing.

Of course, little did we know that there was a school outing there yesterday. Thankfully, they stayed at the ampitheater and we were able to explore the trails undisturbed. The highlight of our day came when we were at the picnic grounds where there were always a variety of birds to be seen. Dark-eyed Juncos were just about everywhere and the Western Bluebirds were constantly swooping down on some insect. I was taking some pictures of the Juncos when my wife almost nonchalantly said, “Look, a sparrow!”

Sparrows weren’t really that unusual here, White-crowneds and an ocassional Golden-crown were regulars. But when I looked at the object of my wife’s comment, I was speechless for quite a while. Cynthia, after a few minutes of waiting for me to identify the sparrow, finally asked, “Well, are you going to tell me what kind it is?”

“White-throated Sparrow!” I finally announced breathlessly.

White-throateds are very rare in California and to serendipitiously find one here can make one lose one’s speech faculties.

Per suggestion of the local docent, we proceeded to the Walker Ranch area where not far from the parking area, a hillside of yellow flowers were in full bloom. Here we saw our FOS Hooded Oriole.
Rufous Hummingbirds were competing with the Anna’s for prime feeding territory.

We saw a lot of birds that lovely Friday morning and it even seemed like the canyon was bursting in song. Even to this slightly hearing-impaired birder.

Thick Take Two

Hoping to rack up a few more lifers before the year ends, Cynthia and I visited the South Coast Botanic Garden in Palos Verdes. Our target was the Thick-billed Kingbird that has been reported there. We were concerned that the rain and cold spell just two days ago would drive the Kingbird to more pleasant weather conditions.

As we approached the small pond, Cynthia's outstanding hearing prowess immediately located the bird puffed up high in a sycamore (it was very cold that Saturday morning). It was a bit too high for our camera lenses but we tried to take its picture nonetheless. We both agreed that if we hiked to the berm we might be able to get a better look at our quarry. As soon as we got to the berm, the kingbird flew off, destination unknown. The LACounty birding listserv reported that the Thick-bill would occasionally visit the trees close to the bridge over the stream. I suggested to Cynthia that we go look for that bridge and maybe we might be able to relocate our lifer.

Descending towards the bridge we spotted another birder/photographer who was already aiming his camera at the tree tops. Just as we approached, the Kingbird flew off. The birder/photographer turned out to be Steve Wolfe whom we met before when the Mississippi Kite was sighted (by him originally) here. We told Steve where we first saw the bird and all three of us went back there hoping it had returned to its original perch. Apparently it didn't and after several minutes of waiting, Steve said he would go back to the bridge while Cynthia and I would go around the lake to scout the area.

We eventually got back to the bridge where once again Cynthia's ears picked up the bird further east. Just like before it was way up at the top of another sycamore. Steve showed up and as we were pointing the bird to him, it flew. This time it landed much closer to us. And while all three of us were taking advantage of the kingbird's proximity, another bird landed just beneath the Thick-billed Kingbird. At that time we dismissed it as either a goldfinch or one the more common species that calls the garden home. It was when I was uploading our pictures that I noticed that it was actually a young Bullock's Oriole. Though not as rare as the Thick-billed, it is also not a very common species particularly this time of year.




Having had some satisfactory shots of our 88th lifer of the year, we bade goodbye to Steve. On the way home visions of Banh Mi (Vietnamese sandwich) danced above our heads. Guess what we had for lunch?