That IRRI Feeling

As per our friend, Prof. Tirso's suggestion we moved from the TREES to the IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) ricefields. It was a big change from craning our necks to looking below. From the frustration of not seeing the birds we wanted to see to getting good looks at our target species - lots of them even!


Not surprisingly, it was Prof. Tirso who first spotted them. We were all "dude" birding (birding from our vehicles) and Prof. Tirso drove ahead to scout the area for the Greater Painted Snipes. Soon we got a text message from him: "GPS here near where I'm parked". Tina and myself drove our respective cars to where he was. Bingo! Although the birds were skulking behind the tall grass, we still had nice views of several individuals.

But before this fortuitous event, we were driving on the muddy roads next to the ricefields looking for anything interesting to photograph. Once in a while we would stop when we would spot some movements on the rice stalks. Now why on earth did these birds always show up on Cynthia's side is beyond me. Also on occasion we would both get off the car and scout the surrounding areas on foot. We were returning to our vehicle after one these walking explorations that I saw my wife with a smirk on her face. I can tell from her expression that she had something to show me. I was already forming in my mind the new blog that I will perhaps be writing which would most likely be "Better Half Part 2". And of course, she did. It was an almost close-up shot of a Buff-banded Rail.

Add to that the photos she took earlier from her side of the car: A Paddyfield Pipit.....

---- and a gorgeous Zitting Cisticola

I had my "revenge" of sorts in a most interesting, even embarrassing way. I was answering the call of nature when to my surprise a White-browed Crake suddenly flew from nowhere and landed on the wire fence a few feet in front of me. I had with me Cynthia's camera at that time, the shorter 300mm lens. Let's just say I got a quick shot before the bird crake realized I was there and startled, it flew off.

Before we even realized it, it was almost noon. Prof. Tirso, gracious host that he already was invited us to a sumptuous lunch at Kamayan sa Palaisdaan at the nearby town of Bay.

The heat is on

When our friend, Prof. Tirso Paris, posted his bird photographs taken in Los Banos in the internet, we drooled. I was reminded of the comment the elderly lady made with regards to Meg Ryan's character at the deli scene in the movie When Harry Met Sally: "I'll have what she's having!"


So when another friend and budding birder, Peter Ting, asked where we plan to go birding on Saturday, I said "Los Banos" unhesitatingly. "I'll pick you up at 5 am", he said. I immediately communicated with Prof. Tirso and asked if he could show us where he got those fabulous photographs. He said yes. And even volunteered to take us inside the hallowed grounds of IRRI (International Rice Research Institute). Inasmuch as that is a research facility where they conduct experiments on the various strains of rice, access is understandably restricted. My wife and I already had quite an embarrassing experience at that place and so we were glad that our professor friend would be able to take us there. (Even then we always had an "escort" all the while we were inside their premises).


At 7:30 am, Tirso was escorting us towards the rice fields, he in his car and the three of us (me, Cynthia, and Peter) in Peter's SUV.  Prof. Tirso drove ahead and scouted the area, then he texted me: pratincoles and skylarks to my left. We followed and sure enough, those birds were there. I have never seen this many Oriental Pratincoles before, flying, simply standing or crouching on the dried rice fields.

That had been our course of action for most of the morning. Prof. Tirso driving ahead then texting me the kinds of birds that he just found. Soon we were also photographing the Oriental Skylarks and the Paddyfield Pipits. A Blue-tailed Bee-eater even perched on a nearby fence post for some good photo-ops.

Oriental Skylark

Paddyfield Pipit

Blue-tailed Bee-eater

This early in the morning, the heat has become almost unbearable. Peter turned on his car airconditioner even with the windows open (we were taking photos from the car) just so we can have some relief from the suffocating heat. 


Not surprisingly, most of the pictures we took of the birds show their beaks wide open in their effort to make the dry, oven-like temperatures more tolerable. 


We heard the low hoots of the Greater Painted Snipes but the blast from the morning sun kept them hidden under the rice stalks. The late-staying waders however seemed to be unmindful of the unusual warmth as they foraged in the ponds. Some were already in breeding plumage. Particularly lovely were the Little Ringed Plovers with their bright yellow eye-rings.

At past ten in the morning we all left IRRI and went to the APEC area but saw nothing! Where there used to be skylarks and pipits, an occasional buttonquail or even a rail crossing now was just an empty, simmering concrete road.


Even a foray into the forest near the TREES Hostel parking lot yielded nothing but a lone Stripe-headed Rhabdornis that perched at the tip of the dead tree. 

It was now nearing noon and we were all drenched in endless sweat. We bid our beloved professor goodbye and thanked him for being our host and guide.


Despite the 36 degree Celsius temperatures we still were able to get some good shots of the local birds of Los Banos. We may not have gotten as many and as good photographs as those that Prof. Tirso posted in the internet, but we were happy.

Bittern than Before

"Let's go to Candaba this Friday", I told my wife with such conviction that she was momentarily taken by surprise. Cynthia has already gotten used to my waffling when it comes to deciding where to go birding. Perhaps it was the disappointment that I and my birding buddies Gabs and Edu experienced last Saturday that altered my decision making demeanor. My wife who opted to stay home that day was of course spared of such misery. When she noticed my unusual firmness she concluded, and rightly so, that I needed a redemption.


They say that you can tell how the rest of the day will go if the morning is started on the right path. Our right path on that cool Friday dawn turned out to be Cafe France. Yes, you read it right. Cafe France. 


Let me elaborate on that for a while: Our prayer and fasting regimen (an annual practice by the Victory Christian Fellowship group of churches of which we are members) ended the night before. So here we are ready to take on a full course breakfast for the first time in seven days. Normally, on any trip to Candaba, Cynthia and I would have our early morning repast at Jollibees in Baliuag. However, on this particular outing my wife remembered seeing a Cafe France (one of our favorite restaurants) along NLEX and decided to splurge a little to commemorate the ending of our weeklong fast. The omelet and ham and bacon and eggs with crispy croissants, believe it or not, paved the way for a fruitful, or shall I say bountiful, day of birding in Candaba.


We entered via the "backdoor" to the Sanctuary. After parking our car, I headed toward the berm but stopped short because there was a bird quietly huddled among the grass. A pipit? It certainly looked like one and I hoped it was not the very common Paddyfield. But for now I'm happy even if it was so. 

From the berm the flotilla of ducks can still be seen. As a matter of fact they are even closer now. The Northern Shovelers can easily be distinguished from the Philippine Ducks without the use of binoculars. The Chestnut Munias were once again quite plentiful only now they were less skittish.

A pleasant surprise was the presence of Common Greenshanks snoozing along with the Black-winged Stilts and Whiskered Terns. But the first "Woo-hoo!" of the day happened when a usually elusive Common Kingfisher alit at eye level thirteen meters away! 

The adrenalin rush had barely dissipated when Cynthia, bless her super sharp vision, pointed a bird to me. I was driving slowly scanning the lily covered pond for Purple Swamphens. Cynthia yelled "Stop!" I stopped.


"Look!" I looked. But couldn't see anything. 


I was waiting for "Listen!" but she was already frantically pointing at something "there!"


Sometimes I am just amazed at how my wife does it. She was sitting on the passenger side of our car and farther away from the pond. My body was even partially blocking her view. But she saw "it". Only after looking intensely at the dense vegetation on my left, where the Black-crowned Night Herons frolic, did I see "it".


"It" was a Black Bittern.

I thought everything would be sort of anti-climactic after these two fabulous photographic opportunities. But Candaba had more in store for us that morning. Maybe not as breathtaking as the Common Kingfisher and the Black Bittern but the additional birds we saw later certainly made up for the dearth of sightings last Saturday.


For one thing, the ducks were much closer now and I was able to get pictures of the Tufted Duck, a Green-winged Teal and a  gorgeously patterned male Garganey!

We ticked off several more birds like Yellow Bittern, Island Collared Dove, several Pied Bush Chats, more calling birds, three Waterhens, two Turtle Doves and a Grassbird in a bare tree.


As we were driving home I was telling Cynthia what a difference birding was today from the last time I was here. Today was definitely better than before. 


A Sinatra song even came to mind:


Birding is birdier, the second time around
Just as wonderful with both Rails on the ground


It's that second time you hear the Doves' song sung
Makes you think perhaps that birding like youth, is wasted on the young


Birding's more comfortable the second time you go
Like a friendly home with your dear wife in tow


Who can say what brought us to this miracle we've found
There are those who bet birding's just time spent
But I'm oh so glad we went 
the second time around


Now who says Friday the 13th is bad luck?

Meeting San Juan

There's a place that I heard of. An almost legendary place for birding. Particularly during migration. Since migration had already begun in earnest, I longed to be there. I called on my fellow birdnuts and persuaded them to take me to this avian paradise where waders were reportedly frolicking almost within arm's reach. My persuasive powers must have been effective because eight other birdnuts decided to take that trip with me.

In the pre-dawn darkness of Friday, Sept. 10 (which was declared a holiday by President Aquino) seven birdnuts (Alain, Bong, Dennis, Jun, Rey, Toto and myself) left Ortigas Center aboard two SUVs. At the Shell station in Alabang another SUV with two more birdnuts (Tonji and Sylvia) joined our caravan. From there we all proceeded to San Juan, Batangas - a place I would be "meeting" for the first time in my life.

San Juan at 7am! Tall coconut trees dominated the tiny village of Pinagbayanan. The owner of the fishponds that we will be birding at, Ka Instik, welcomed us warmly albeit with a hint of sadness. He informed us that the migrants have not come in full force yet. As we looked at the ponds in front of his house we immediately knew what he was saying. They were empty! Except for an Intermediate Egret in the distance and a pair of Collared Kingfishers rattling nearby, the place was devoid of birds!

But we seasoned birdnuts are a bunch that doesn't get discouraged easily. To us every dark branch has a silver feather behind it. As we fanned out to explore the area, I got a glimpse and a quick shot of a Pacific Golden Plover! Not exactly a lifer but the first time I've seen it here in the Philippines. The hours slowly crept by and the birds we were seeing were those that can be found in places like the University of the Philippines campus.

My fellow birdnuts trickled back to where we parked our vehicles. Along the way I got two lifers, the Rufuous Night Heron and Oriental Pratincole. However, both species were flying high above that I only was able to get a bad shot of the heron and none of the pratincole.

Half past ten and we were in a dilemma. With such a scarcity of birdlife shall we stay and hope for a resurgence of bird activity? Or do we pack-up and head back home? Rey's face suddenly lit up and said that since Villa Escudero is only about half an hour away, why don't we have our lunch there and continue our birding adventures at that lovely resort. Jun immediately contacted Mela, the owner (and fellow birdnut), and announced that we would be visiting shortly. Tonji and Sylvia, however, opted to return home.

Torrential rain was pouring as we parked inside the resort. Did I mention that we are a very highly optimistic group? When we saw a flock of Pacific Swallows perched on a wire enduring the heavy downpour, we all took out our gears and started taking photographs of the drenched swallows.

The buffet lunch at Escudero is always something to look forward to. Seven hungry guys heartily partook of this heavenly culinary fare. As if on cue, the rain stopped as soon as we finished having lunch. Again we spread out in search of our individual target birds. Some went to look for Red-keeled Flowerpeckers while others waited for the Indigo-banded Kingfisher to show up by the river. As for me I just wandered around hoping I might find something interesting. During lunch Mela suggested that we look for the snipes which she saw while she was biking. They were found near the road on the way out, she said.

Later that afternoon when we were ready to leave, we followed Mela's advice and explored the roads near the exit. Being far from the hustle and bustle of the resort, we saw quite a number of birds here. The snipes were there, of course, but were just too quick for me to photograph. On the other hand, the Richard's Pipit, Common Kingfisher and White-browed Crake were quite cooperative.

I arrived home at around 8 pm, exhausted yet happy that the disappointment of meeting San Juan was turned to gladness in birding Escudero. I'm certain that later in the year San Juan would live up to its promise. I hope to be there when it does.

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A "song" for the holidays

Nuthatch posing on an open pine

Pipit bobbing on a stone

Say's Phoebe taking its time

And a Sandpiper looking so alone

Everybody knows that herons like to hunt for fish

And berries the bluebirds take

The trees have a kingbird and a finch

While buffleheads swim on the lake

Happy Holidays, everyone!

(Note: All of these pictures were taken in one morning's outing at Bonelli Regional Park using a Canon 5D Mk II with a 500mm lens plus a 1.4X extender.)

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