Flame and Fortune

Having seen the recent posts in Facebook lately of the Flame-breasted Fruit Dove by our birding friends, I told my wife that I wanted to do that too. Early Tuesday morning, we drove to Infanta. 

It was foggy as we approached our destination. Despite the directions given me by our friend, Bong, I (being direction-challenged) still couldn't locate the place where the Fruit Dove was seen. It was good fortune that while I was pondering where to proceed, another friend, Loel, stopped his vehicle when he saw our car. He told us that he and his friend Joel were actually going to the Fruit Dove place and asked us to follow them.

As we entered the site we met fellow birders Fidel, Steve, and George. It was about 8:30 in the morning and Kamote (who is the caretaker of the place) informed us that one of the parent doves would leave the nest between 10 to 11 am and perch on a nearby branch. That would be the time for the photo-ops.

While waiting, we experienced some strange weather phenomenon (climate change?): It would drizzle a bit, clear up, then a bit of sunshine, followed by a heavy downpour. This happened about 3 times in a span of one hour. Once again, good fortune was on our side - at around 9:30 there was a lull in the precipitation. That was when one of the parents perched in full view. All of us took the opportunity to take photos of our target bird.

Having met our "quota" for the day, we told our birding buddies that we will explore the road until kilometer 106. Unfortunately, there weren't any birds along the way and when we got to Km. 106 there was another heavy downpour. 

After the rain ceased we saw a few Pacific Swallows drying up.

Along the road in one of our stops, a Philippine Serpent Eagle flew by taking advantage of the bit of sunshine.

A little after 11 am we checked out Kamote's place again. Apparently the Fruit Dove never showed up again after our encounter with it earlier. Except for Loel and Joel, the other bird photographers have already left. As we were about to board our car, Cynthia noticed some movements at the trees across the road. We were fortunate enough to add two more species to our list that morning: The Elegant Tit and the Flaming Sunbird.

Was it fortune that had our birding sortie start with a Flame-breasted Fruit Dove and ended with a Flaming Sunbird?

Seeing Green

It was one of those weird experiences where we saw green birds - two species from the Dove family - but were unable to photograph them. And that happened at the start and at the end of our three-day birding at Subic. Wednesday afternoon as we entered the Nabasan Trail, we saw a pair of Common Emerald Doves feeding on the ground. As I lowered our car window to take their photo, both flew away. We made a quick round trip, hoping they will be back at their feeding spot. We saw one but again it flew away even before we could lift our cameras. And then on our last day, as we were about to exit the Nabasan Trail, a flock of 5 Philippine Green Pigeons were perched on a tree by the road. But before I could even stop the car, all five flew into the forest, not to be seen again.

Other than that frustrating encounters, we had a very good birding time at Subic. It didn't start well though. For one thing the weather was gloomy that Wednesday afternoon. Most of the photos we got were disappointingly backlit. The first bird we photographed was a Common Sandpiper, taken at the seashore not that far from our hotel.

At the Nabasan Trail, we got some shots at the Luzon Hornbill, Blue-throated Bee-eater and Green Imperial Pigeon.

And that, sadly was how our first day ended. Thursday, surprisingly, was sunny which boosted our hopes of seeing more birds. One of the surprises was a Grey-faced Buzzard.

I thought that would be a good portent.  However, things went downhill after that. All we saw were the "trash" birds - species that we always see at our condominium grounds. So I took some obligatory shots.

Zebra Dove

Brown Shrike

Yellow-vented Bulbul

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Even more annoying was the White-throated Kingfisher. They were quite common but so skittish. Each time we would approach one (in our car, by the way) they would fly off, and land a few meters away. We would follow, and it would repeat that routine several times. And that was not just one individual! We encountered a few more and they did they same mocking attitude. Then I remembered a place we visited last year where that kind of kingfisher was more cooperative. So we went to the Ilanan Road and we were not disappointed.

That somehow changed our luck. Soon we were seeing species after species. Foremost was a Philippine Serpent Eagle that stayed put for a long time. And there were two endemics: the Coleto and the Guiabero.

Coleto

Guaiabero

Another species of the parrot family was even friendlier - the Green Racket-tail.

Before heading back to our hotel, we passed by the Volunteer Park hoping to get photos of the Brahminy Kite. And we did! 

With a bonus of a Grey Heron and a Great Egret.

The following morning and our last day of birding was once again a bit gloomy. Despite that we had good shots of a Balicassiao which landed on the electric wire just above us.

A Blue-naped Parrot also posed for us from a nearby tree.

The highlight of the day was getting good looks and getting photos of the three kinds of woodpeckers: The Northern Sooty Woodpecker, the White-bellied Woodpecker and the Luzon Flameback.

Northern Sooty Woodpecker

White-bellied Woodpecker

Luzon Flameback

The last bird we photographed was the skulking Philippine Coucal.

It was one of the most productive sorties we had in this place - considering that it didn't start well - so much so that I was turning into a grumpy old man. Thanks to my ever encouraging, always positive wife, everything eventually went well. Things may look grey, but there is always green at the end.

Nothing New

Honestly, I had my expectations at zero level even before we arrived at Infanta. The past 5 visits to this place had been sadly disappointing. To dip so badly while others enjoyed good views, some even quite close, of uncommon birds, of species that would have been lifers for me and my wife was heartbreaking. And now the promise of another potential addition to our list brought us back here.

As if our previous torturous experiences were not enough, not seeing our target bird for today added to our misfortunes. Perhaps it was due to the inclement weather that only a few birds showed up. The sunbirds were nowhere to be found and the usual wave of mixed flocks never happened.

There were birds alright, but nothing new - two species of flowerpeckers, the Buzzing and the Pygmy and a couple of endemic raptors, both of which were either backlit or simply too far for good photos. Remember, the weather was gloomy and even had drizzles, so photography was really a challenge.

Buzzing Flowerpecker

Pygmy Flowerpecker

Philippine Serpent Eagle

Philippine Falconet

At around 11 the drizzle turned into rain. As we drove through the downpour, I pondered on what just happened again. My inner self whispered: It's nothing new.

Halloween Birding

October 31. Halloween. The eve of All Saints' Day. This is when ghosts, ghouls and various evil spirits supposedly celebrate their allotted time before the saints take over the following day.

This was also the time when four birders decided to try their luck at the valley between Mt. Banahaw and Mt. San Cristobal. For me and my wife it was the desire to add two more lifers to our list: The Luzon Sunbird and ver rare Von Schrenck's Bittern. For our companions Ruth (who kindly did the driving) and Doc Cha, it was getting back into the thrill of watching birds once again.

Just before the resort parking area we saw the brothers Lepatan, along with the local guide Jason, photographing something. We joined them and were informed that there were both male and female Narcissus Flycatchers in the trees in front of us. Perhaps it was the halloween spirit that haunted us because we only saw glimpses of the female and none at all of the more colorful male (which I have failed to see despite several attempts for the past 5 years).

When we asked Jason about our target birds he informed us that we had to follow some protocol regarding the bittern. The space where it can be seen was quite limited and also they prefer that no more than 4 people be there at the site at any given time. Since there was already a group that was ahead of us, we were asked to wait for our turn which would depend on how satisfied the present viewers would be.

The Luzon Sunbird, on the other hand, had not been seen for about a week now. The flowers that they feed on were no longer in bloom, Jason said. But we can still give it a try he encouragingly told us.

While the Lepatans were waiting for their two more brothers to join them, Ruth, Doc Cha, Cynthia and myself were entertained by a Rusty-breasted Cuckoo atop a tree near the restaurant.

With the group now complete we all hiked to where the Sunbirds were last seen. It was also near the place where Jason would be showing the White-browed Shortwing to the Lepatans. 

While waiting for the brothers to return from the shortwing site, a Turquoise Flycatcher gave us some good view, although a bit far.

Then it was Ruth's and Doc Cha's turn to see the Shortwing. We didn't go with them because we've already photographed this species in the same spot about 3 years ago. While they were there my wife and I kept looking at the red flowers that the sunbirds supposedly feed on. No such luck however. Only a Red-keeled Flowerpecker showed up and it was so high up that we were not able to get a decent photo.

We did see other birds while we were waiting for our guide to return from the shortwing site. One of them was a Philippine Serpent Eagle flying over. 

It was also while we were in the "waiting area" that it rained off and on. In between downpours birds would reappear. That's when we saw a flock of Mountain White-eyes, and a Buzzing Flowerpecker.

Mountain White-eye

Buzzing Flowerpecker

After everyone had seen the shortwing, Jason got news from his brother Chris that the Von Schrenck's had not showed up yet. We hiked back to the restaurant and since it was almost noon we had our lunch.

After lunch we had a debate whether the bird we saw near the restaurant was the very common Brown Shrike or the rarer (and possible lifer) Mountain Shrike. We hadn't come to a definite conclusion yet so any suggestions would be appreciated.

Since news that the bittern was still a no-show, we tried for the Narcissus Flycatcher again and got the female this time.

At 2:30 pm it appeared that we would never be able to get the chance to see the bittern. With heavy hearts we all decided that it's time to go home.

It was a disappointment for me because I dipped on my two target birds for the trip.

Well, it was Halloween so all I could say was: Boo!

Two for the Road

We had to do it again. We hoped it would be better the second time around.

When Cynthia and I birded the long Marikina to Infanta road last September we were a bit disappointed with the scarcity of birds. We thought that it was because we started out a bit late and therefore missed the early morning activities of the birds in the area. This time we left the house at 5 am and were at the birding site an hour-and-a-half later. The sun was already shining brightly then and the birds were surprisingly few. A couple of Balicassiaos flew across the road, stopped for a very short while and then flew off.

My wife's sharp ears told her that there were some birds nearby. The problem was they were nowhere to be seen. Philippine Bulbuls, even a Tailorbird, Black-naped Orioles, White-eared Brown Doves, Coucals were all vocalizing but preferred to be hidden from view. "Flowerpeckers!" Cynthia excitedly peered through the dense leaves. A speck flew overhead and landed on top of the tree across from where we were. "Red-keeled!" I called out as we took several shots.

We resumed our driving after that. However after about 30 minutes we still have not seen anything exciting so we both agreed to turn back and try again the place where we saw the Red-keeled Flowerpecker. Indeed birds were still twittering when we got there. This time another flowerpecker copied the action of its cousin which we saw earlier. The Pygmy Flowerpecker perched almost at the same spot where the Red-keeled did an hour ago.

Cynthia then noticed a raptor flying overhead. It was a Philippine Serpent Eagle soaring despite some feathers missing in one of its wings. 

We were still looking up when a flock of about 20+ Grey-faced Buzzards glided beneath a clear blue sky.

With the raptors gone, I noticed some movement near a barren hillside. Getting closer I was amazed to see quite a number of Blue-throated Bee-eaters either digging a hole for a nest or checking possible sites to begin one. 

On several occasions, they would fly around and that was when we tried getting some BIF (bird in flight) shots.

It being the onset of summer here in the Philippines, the heat was already getting unbearable. It was not even ten in the morning yet. We agreed to call it a day. A kilometer down the road, however, I spotted a male Pied Bush Chat perched on a bamboo fence. As we got off our car we also noticed that there was also a female. Two of them actually.

male

female

Having had our fill of bush chats, we packed up and headed home. Although we didn't see a lot of birds (again!), we were glad that now we got some good shots of two kinds of flowerpeckers, two kinds of raptors and a pair of Pied Bush Chats. Not to mention scads of bee-eaters. Take two on this road wasn't really bad this time.