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We started our second birding day trekking in search of the Everett's Scops Owl. Our guides took us to a cemetery to meet up with Tripon, a local who knows where the owls are. Tripon said that our target bird could be seen from only a meter away. However, on that particular morning, it got spooked and flew to another place. A place where there was no path nor trail that leads to it. So as we followed our guide we had to weave through tall grass and low trees using our arms to create a way through the thickets resulting in some serious scratches. As we were about to give up due to sheer exhaustion, Tripon stopped and silently directed us to a small gap in the foliage. We got the owl.
From there we moved on to the Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape again hoping to see the Wattled Broadbill. A long wait and still the broadbill refused to appear. Driver Phil heard some commotion across the road. "Coucal!" he said while pointing to the source of the said commotion. Indeed there was a coucal but it was such a skulker that we only saw portions of its body. Its constant movement eventually revealed its head that showed what kind of coucal it was. The Black-faced Coucal was now added to our life list.
Lando and Phil then took us to the place where a pair of frogmouths had been seen recently. Again, after some trekking, this time on a steep trail, we got the male and female Philippine Frogmouth huddled close together.
After having a delicious lunch at the RDJ Mountain View Resort, we returned to Rajah Sikatuna. This time the focus was on finding the Northern Silvery Kingfisher. It was there but to be able to get good sights of it Lando suggested we go down to the creek. The getting down part was daunting for these senior citizens. Negotiating an 80 degree slope without anything to hold on to would be nothing short of suicidal for us. I informed our guide of that predicament, so Lando tried looking for other options. He went to the opposite side of the creek and after much searching, he waved at us. We hurried to where he was and stooped low and pointed at the kingfisher perched on a limb. Now stooping was another problem for me because once I am at that low position, getting back up would involve some groaning and straining. But I had to do it otherwise I would miss a chance to see a lifer. Thankfully, both Cynthia and I made it and got some passable shots.
The other lifer that was supposed to be in the same area was another challenge. The Yellow-breasted Tailorbird did show up but it was constantly moving and never stopped even for a second for us to take a shot at it. We then returned to the broadbill site. We waited for more than hour and it was still a no-show. Our guides gave up and we called it day. On our way out a pair of Brahminy Kites were hovering above the rice fields.
This was the last day that we would be going to Rajah Sikatuna. We thanked both Phil and Lando for their efforts in showing some lifers to us. I think that we were a couple of weeks too late since the nestlings of the Wattled Broadbill and the Yellow-breasted Tailorbird had already fledged and therefore both adults and young ones were on their own.
The egg that the Philippine Frogmouth had been sitting on already hatched.
Early Friday morning, Cynthia and I, together with friends Irene, Jasmin and Ivan, went to photograph the hatchling. As usual Mang Efren took us to the nesting site. Taking pictures of a frogmouth is probably the best thing that can happen to a bird photographer. It just sits there unmoving (except for an occasional sloooow head turn). The cute featherball remained just as still at its parent's feet.
We had a field day photographing the cooperative bird from different angles - all from a very safe distance. I was even able to experiment with the various settings of my camera. My wife, confident that I'd be able to get some good photos of the frogmouth, decided to explore the roadside. When I joined her, after having had my fill of the nesting endemic, she showed me photographs of something that I found unusual. A pair of White-eared Brown Doves (normally birds of the treetops) were on the ground. Feeding perhaps?
A short while later, our friends having their photographic "quotas"already filled, decided to call it a day. Before going our own separate ways, we rested from the long trek and away from the blistering sunlight. We all agreed on the ease of photographing the frogmouth. And we were at peace knowing that Mang Efren would not allow anyone to disturb this lovely bird from its nesting duties.
"Do you see the bird?"
"No, where is it?"
"There! It's right there!"
We squinted, stooped, knelt and finally saw what we thought at first as a stump protruding from the side of a tree. It was the Philippine Frogmouth. Now that we've seen it, comes the next step: photographing it. It was not an easy task as the frogmouth was behind branches and leaves and was actually only on a waist-high level. We stooped, knelt, crouched, were lying supine, or were lying prone just so we could get a good angle at our subject.
It was an eerie experience with the eye of the unmoving frogmouth following us as we changed positions. It was not unlike those portraits hanging on a wall whose eyes seem to look at you whereever you are in the room.
After about an hour or so, all six of us agreed that we have had our fill of the cooperative bird. We hiked back to the parking lot under the scorching morning sun. We were panting like thirsty dogs when our friendly guide, Efren, told us to rest for a while before we go look for the Savanna Nightjar (we later on discovered that it was actually a Philippine Nightjar).
A few minutes later, Efren beckoned us to follow him. Another trek.
"Do you see the bird?"
"No, where is it?"
"There! It's right there!"
We squinted, looked through binoculars and camera lenses but still failed to locate the nightjar. Efren was almost at the point of exasperation when Jun exclaimed, "There it is!" and proceeded to describe in detail the spot where the effectively camouflaged nocturnal bird lay sleeping.
Once again, we had our fill of taking pictures of the nightjar.
We were panting from the hike back as we thanked our guide profusely. It was only half past eight so we all decided to go to La Mesa Ecopark for more birding.
I was huffing and puffing when we got to the mini forest. Somehow my camera gear seemed heavier than before.
"Do you see the bird?"
"No, where is it?"
"There! It's right there!"
This time it was our friend, Peter, who was pointing at the Common Emerald Dove placidly sitting on its nest. It was safely located behind a clump of huge leaves.
Our main targets here at the Ecopark were the two species of Pittas: the Red-bellied and the Hooded. Unfortunately, we dipped on both. There was another bird on our wish list, the Pechora Pipit, but we didn't have much expectations of success on that one, it being a super skulker.
It was nearing noon and we still hadn't seen a lot of birds, except the Common Emerald Dove mentioned earlier and a pair of very confiding Mangrove Blue Flycatchers.
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We were on our way out when we saw fellow Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (WBCP) member Anthony Balbin. He looked very excited.
"Do you see the bird?"
"No, where is it?"
"There! It's right there!"
Then we saw the Pechora Pipit! It posed a real challenge in photography as it was constantly moving in the dark understory. Until, surprise of all surprises, it stopped and preened itself. We photographers went into a frenzy.
After it was satisfied that its feathers were in proper place, the Pipit continued in its perambulations. That's when the local bully called Ashy Thrush suddenly flew in and chased the poor little bird away.
We were panting as we got back to our cars. We celebrated our successful searches with a hearty lunch at Chic Boy.
Thanks to Jasmin who told us about the Frogmouth, to Guide Efren for showing us where it was with a bonus Nightjar even. Thanks to our friends, Jun, Jayce, Vincent, and Peter for making our birding enjoyable despite panting from the hot summer weather.
