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2016 - It was quite a good year birding wise - we got 6 lifers here in the Philippines (3 of which made it to the top 10) and got even more as we visited two new countries: Panama and Australia. Our top ten this year included not only some of the lifers we got but also some species that had a story to go with them.
10. Pigeon Guillemot. We saw one several years ago perched on a distant cliff near Santa Cruz, California. Last March we made a trip to Monterey. I was surprised to find this species swimming by the pier. Quite close even.
9. Spotted Wood Kingfisher. Not really a rare bird but what made this one special was when it stayed near the "Frogs" area in the campus of the University of the Philippines in Diliman. It lingered there for quite some time that our birding friends flew in from HongKong just to get photos of this kingfisher. And they were not disappointed!
8. Red Junglefowl. Our last lifer for the year. I had always been hesitant to claim it a lifer whenever we see this bird. It looks so much alike the domesticated chicken that it is difficult to confirm whether it is indeed a wild junglefowl or not. When we encountered this one, however, we were in a forest in Subic, kilometers away from the nearest human habitation. Not only that, this rooster had that telltale white spot on its cheek.
7. White-browed Shama. When news spread that this usually shy bird had been seen in the open prompted us to visit the town of Dona Remedios Trinidad in Bulacan Province. Thanks to our host, Jonet Carpio, we got great photos of a lifer.
6. Changeable Hawk-Eagle. This was another serendipitous encounter. We were in a van that picked us up from the Busuanga Airport in Coron. Suddenly, Rodel, our driver, stopped the vehicle and pointed at a raptor perched on a tree. We quickly unpacked our gear and slowly approached the magnificent bird. Another lifer for us.
5. Rainbow Lorikeet. This is one of the most common birds in the Sydney area. These birds usually come in flocks and stay in the trees. There was a time though when a few of them came down and fed on the red bottlebrush flowers right next to the cabin we were staying in Lane Cove.
4. Powerful Owl. Thanks to our guide, Andrew, we were able to see and photograph this gigantic bird. Lucky for us, the time we saw it, it had its prey still in its talons - an Australian Possum.
3. Southern Lapwing. On the walls of the Radisson Hotel in Panama where we stayed was a picture of this species. All the photos of the birds on that wall had English names except for this one which they labeled as "Tero". I was skeptic that such a bird can be found in the premises of this hotel. I thought that Lapwings which are related to plovers inhabit places where there is a good amount of water. On our second day, as we walked towards golf practice area, I saw it! It had grown accustomed to this environment that it wasn't even bothered by golf carts passing by.
2. Bat Falcon. Another bird shown on the wall of the hotel. Once again I was skeptic thinking that falcons would prefer the forested areas. On our last day at Radisson as the sun was starting to set and we were getting ready to return back to the hotel after birding near the golf practice area that I saw a raptor fly overhead. I only managed to squeeze in four shots and thankfully one of them turned out to be good enough.
1. Narcissus Flycatcher. This species had been my nemesis bird for quite some time now. Five years ago one had been seen and photographed near the main library of the University of the Philippines. Several attempts at finding that colorful flycatcher all failed. Then in November this year news spread in the birding community that another male had been seen in a small garden near the Redemptorist Church in Baclaran. We went, we saw, we photographed. Nemesis bird no more.
Cynthia and I joined our friends Peter Ting and Alex Ting (who are not related to each other) on a trip to Bangkong Kahoy along the slopes of the majestic Mt. Banahaw.
Things did not augur well - the inefficiency of the staff of Jollibee's at SLEX where we had our breakfast delayed our arrival at our destination. So much so that we missed the mixed flock wave that passes by the balcony of the house of our friend, Ramon Quisumbing. Together with fellow bird photographer Prof. Reuel Aguila, who joined us there, we waited for another hour hoping another wave would come, but that didn't happen. Our guide, Cris, suggested we go to site where the uncommon skulker, the White-browed Shortwing makes it appearance.
After a strenuous (at least to my wife and I) 15-minute hike we arrived at the place. Inasmuch as the area that the shortwing frequents was quite limited in space, Cris suggested that we divide into two groups. While waiting for the first group to return, the other group can wait for the adult Sooty Woodpecker to visit its nest, was the agreed upon plan. Prof. Reuel and Alex went first. Peter, Cynthia and I kept a close watch at the dead tree where the nest was. About ten minutes later, Cris, Alex and Reuel returned with big smiles on their faces.
"We got it as soon as we got settled in" Alex told us.
Excitedly, the three of us, along with Cris, hurried to the place. Our guide instructed us where to place our cameras and pointed at the spot where the furtive bird was likely to appear. We didn't have to wait very long. Soon the dark colored Shortwing showed up. With overcast skies and dim surroundings, the tiny bird blended so well with its environment that we had a hard time adjusting our camera settings. A couple of minutes and the bird went into hiding again.
"Just wait a little bit more because it will return," Cris assured us.
Sure enough, the female Shortwing repeated its earlier routine. We were now ready and got some good shots of our newest lifer.
We returned to where our friends were waiting for the Sooty Woodpecker. We were comparing our shots of the White-browed Shortwing when I saw something black land at the dead tree where the woodpecker nest was. What followed was a shooting frenzy as the adult female slowly crept to the nest and then proceeded to clean the mess of its offsprings - by swallowing the debris!
When the adult flew off we went to our next target - the nesting Besra. The nest was at some distance and partially covered by the forest. Our presence never posed any threat to the female raptor who was standing over her four cute chicks.
After a sumptuous lunch at Dion's restaurant, we returned to Ramon's balcony, once again hoping that a mixed flock would pass by. A Mountain White-eye made a very quick stop over and a more cooperative Yellowish White-eye posed for a few minutes.
Then rain fell. Hard. For more than an hour. We anticipated that the birds would come out after the downpour but only a Philippine Coucal did and it was at such a far distance it might as well have been on the moon.
Cynthia wandered along the driveway. When she rejoined us later she showed me a photo of a bird she couldn't ID. The image was quite small and I had a hard time figuring out what species it was. It was Cris who confirmed my suspicion that it was a Bicolored Flowerpecker - a lifer for us!
Four in the afternoon and the hoped for mixed flock never came. It was time to go. We thanked Cris for his diligence in showing us where our target birds were. We then said goodbye to Prof. Reuel who will remain at Bangkong Kahoy with his Creative Writing seminar group.
It was a fun and exciting day with my wife and I getting two lifers (more for our two friends) and a great time with the two Tings we know.
