Rice-bite: Regular Week in Isabela

A short blog this week…

Firstly you will notice that I have posted this on Sunday, which as I mentioned last week I might not be able to do as I have been to Isabela since Monday. This post is due to us being super efficient and getting done a day early, so we managed to come home yesterday.

That aside it was a regular week away in Isabela to collect data. The trip up took the regular 9 hours by car and the hotel we stayed in, The Hotel Monte Carlo, was the same as previous trips. However, due to an event all week at the hotel we were treated to the local delicacy one evening. A desert made of rice, coconut milk and a type of bean (Sorry, I never caught the name). Served cold with some condensed milk on top. It tasted a lot better than it sounds, trust me.

My assistant, Renee, also managed to track down a new place to eat. Santiago isn’t huge and the majority of places we eat in, the evenings, is fast food, either Mang Inasal or Chowking. But she managed to find a ‘Grill’ which was recommended online. After a bit of travelling around the backstreets of Santiago City, we eventually found it. It was brilliant and I managed to get a steak which, even though was cheap, was delicious. This place has now found its way onto the ‘regular eatery’ list for our future visits.

We were also really lucky with the weather. This week has seen strong winds and rain come through the Los Banos area, with Clare complaining of getting rained upon and wind swept all week in the field. In Isabela we had heavy rain during the night and a few showers during the last day but they didn’t last long and didn’t stop us from getting the data.

Bird-wise it was rather quiet. The fields were harvested a few weeks back and the majority were either stubble or fallowing. The land also tends to be dryer than usual. So the majority of the birds seen were egrets and swallows. A female Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata) took us a small while to identify but, after we did, seemed to stay in the same area for the rest of the week.

At one site in particular the Grey Wagtails (Motacilla cinerea) have really become visual. Walking along bunds, wagging their tail and really showing off their bright yellow rumps. Though not a new bird for me (getting these in the UK) I still appreciate the beautiful colours they have especially against a brown back-drop of earth from the bund. I also have never seen so many in such a small area in the UK. Normally seeing 1 or 2, I saw about 5 or 6 dotting around at one time.

The Pied Harriers (subject of a previous blog) also seemed to have become less visual and we only saw them at one site this time. However, the adult male and female along with the juvenile male were all seen this week at the same spot. In fact the adult male was spotted by our driver, Nanie, as we were collecting data elsewhere. In previous trips I have returned to the car to see him wrestling with my scope trying to look at birds. So this time I brought along my spare pair of binoculars. This meant that whilst we were collecting data, he was also able to look around at the birds, which he got very excited about when he spotted the harrier.

Finally I noticed a lot more Grey and Purple Herons flying around this time. We have seen good numbers of these birds in the past and even though they did not seem to settle, they were still flying over us, causing great shadows as they do.

That is all really. Not a very long blog but without going into massive detail about my PhD (which I won’t do!) the trip was just average really. In the last blog I mentioned that next weeks blog might also be late, this is still true. We have had to book flights, so no chance of an early return, even if we wanted to. Therefore sorry for the late posting but HOPEFULLY it will be worth the wait…

Can Lightning Strike Twice??

After floating around on a birding high for the majority of the week, we decided to try Mt. Makiling again this weekend. Thinking of all the great birds we saw last week we wanted to see if they were going to stay around or if they have moved on elsewhere.

5am was a struggle this week. Having been up early for most of the week, then ending up going for dinner the night before (which led to a ‘few beers’ somewhere) I was really tired. So with only 4 hours of sleep in the bank, it was difficult. But the idea of seeing yet more birds up the mountain kept me going. Paul arrived shortly after I got to the meeting point and we made our way into the early light of morning.

Similar to last week, it didn’t take long before the birds made their presence known. At a similar spot to last week, movement on the road stopped us in our tracks. Ahead was a small bird making short jumps in the road. This gave it the appearance of a small kangaroo, as it bounced around in the headlights for a short time. It jumped over to the right, then down into an irrigation channel and then back up to the dirt, dug from said irrigation channel, then stood there preening. It was a juvenile red-bellied pitta (Pitta erythrogaster ). It wasn’t as colourful as the adult we saw last week but still a really nice bird. Having been here almost 10 months now and not seeing a single Pitta, I have now seen two in the space of a week!! They are just like buses!!

After the pitta flew off we continued up to the usual parking spot and left the vehicle. At this point the path was a little misty and as the early morning sun was trying to break through both the canopy and the mist, it left bright beams of light on the path. It gave the jungle an eerie sense of suspense, as you could never see too far ahead of you. Very similar to my early thoughts on the jungle being something out of Jurassic Park or Predator!

We passed by the spots we spent a lot of time last week which were full of new birds, but this week they ran quiet; the branches that the Ferruginous Flycatcher had been hunting on were empty, the spot on the path that last week was buzzing with activity gave us nothing this week. Though we heard a thrush-like call where I saw the Eyebrowed Thrush last week, no other signs of the birds existed. Such a contrast.

Before we reached the camp site near the top, we were treated to a Blue Headed Fantail (Cyanoptila cyanornelana), some Luzon Flamebacks (Chrysocolaptes lucidus) which provided brief glimpses, but mostly a low rhythmic thumping song as we traveled, and a Balicassiao (Dicrurus balicassius), not to mention a number of small flowerpeckers buzzing around the tree trunks and through some of the undergrowth. At one of the usual trees a small mixed flock seemed to be busying themselves. Mostly comprised of Elegant Tits (Parus elegans) and the Sulphur-Billled Nuthatch (Sitta frontalis isarog – though this has changed recently I believe).

We stopped again at the campsite, had a sit down and a drink of water. Hearing voices further up the track, we were probably not the first to walk up the mountain this morning, so it might explain some of the absence of bird life but not all of it. As we sat and chatted a large flock of Stripe-Headed Rhabdornis (Rhabdornis mystacalis) were fluttering around the same tree as last week. Sitting and trying to see each individual, Paul spotted a female Narcissus Flycatcher (Ficedula narcissina) and went to take pictures. As he did he also spotted another female and a male. Again, in the same tree as before. I managed to see a female a few times but the male eluded me.

The noisy people further up persuaded us to turn around and start heading back, no birds would be around that noise. It was even quieter as we descended, but we were still treated to a brief glimpse of a Pechora Pipit (Anthus gustavi). Half-way down I saw a tree that looked in need of watering, so excused myself briefly. When I returned to the path Paul was crouched down being a tree stump. He signed me to keep quiet and then mouthed the words Philippine Trogon (Harpactes ardens). I kept low and quiet. Sure enough, moments later a stunning male flew onto a closer tree branch and seemingly watched us on the path for a moment before disappearing off into the canopy. A stunning bird the trogon, definitely one of my favorites.

Just as we were approaching the bottom of the path, close to the car, Paul turned to me and said

“I can hear some kind of bird of prey”

I stopped and listened. Sure enough a high pitched call came through on the wind. It could be close. I started scanning the trees when Paul told me to look up. Gliding on the updraft from the mountain edge were two Oriental Honey-buzzards (Pernis ptilorhynchus), their typical long-necked silhouette gliding above us calling. At one point, one of them seemed to fly close to the other and then tumble downwards, very fast. I was hoping I was about to see some stunning breeding behavior  but they just returned to gliding at altitude. We returned to the car.

We stopped again half-way down to see if we could pick up any migrating raptors but the cloud was low and we didn’t see or hear anything else. We called it a day and returned home.

So did lightning strike twice on Mt. Makiling? Unfortunately not this time. We did see some great birds; the trogon, honey-buzzard and pitta to name a few. But the day was in the shadow of last week which was a stunning bird trip. I just guess that all the conditions were right last week and everything just felt like a short stay. But we wouldn’t have known unless we had a look…

I wanted to just drop a short note to explain that over the next few weeks I am due to be away. I leave for Isabela in the morning and am there all week. The following weekend I am on a trip away somewhere new, so I might end up posting blogs during the week after my return. If all else fails, normal service should resume on November the 11^th after what is planned to be an incredibly busy week!!

Many Migratory Visitors to Mt. Makiling

WHAT A MORNING!! I think this morning’s birding trip could have been the best trip up Mt Makiling EVER!! As we are within the autumn migration, Paul thought a quick trip up the mountain in the morning may be fruitful but we had NO idea what stunners we were going to get.

Having been there many times before, we know the route really well. There are a few corners where we have seen rarities in the past and we planned to spend a little more time there this morning but it seemed like around every corner there was something else new and exciting. The only possible way I can describe it is its like walking through your house one day and finding a celebrity sitting in each room. Someone you recognize but never actually seen in real life!

OK, maybe I oversold that last bit but you get the idea. In fact we saw the first stunner even before we got out of the car!! We were driving up the uneven road and the vehicles lights were bouncing all around the vegetation around us. As we turned one corner I saw something on the road jump up and flutter forward about a metre. I pointed it out to Paul. By now it had jumped up and flew into the undergrowth. As it flew I called out its most distinguishing feature, its red belly and knew it could only be one bird…the red bellied pitta!!

Regular readers will know that I have a longing to see a pitta!! These colourful ground birds often are seen flying away on mountain routes (road or path). In Bohol I had just missed out on another species as the guide in front scared it away. But I had seen this one!! A real non-birders bird, as in, it’s stunning to look at and even non-birders would enjoy seeing one. It has been a long time searching, but at last I saw one. We got out of the car and quickly found it again sitting in a branch in a nearby tree. The light wasn’t great (as the sun had just risen) but you could clearly make it out. What a bird.

We kept going up the road until we had to park up and continue on foot. After the pitta we had a feeling it was going to be a good day. Sure enough around one of the first corners Paul spotted a Ferruginous Flycatcher (Muscicapa ferruginea) flying out from a perch and back again, hunting, in a true flycatcher movement. With a slightly reddy/brown colour we stood and watched it hunt. Another spectacular bird.

Travelling up the trail we came across a number of flocks of mixed species. These are great for finding a number of different birds as they all fly around together. So lots of elegant tits and sulphur-billed nuthatch’s that travel up and around the mountain together. As we passed one corner we heard another call from the canopy and decided to investigate. It wasn’t long before a very rufous coloured bird came into view and, very considerately, sat on an exposed branch whilst we stood and watched. The Rufous Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone cinnamomea) is like no other and was easy to pick out of the forest background. It sat for a long time calling whilst we just stared.

The morning was really starting to become something special. Around another corner a different mixed species flock kept us busy for a long time. Pechora Pipits (Anthus gustavi) seemed to be everywhere and every new stretch of path seemed to provide us with a quick glimpse of another. A Philippine Trogon (Harpactes ardens) nosily made its way through the forest before landing in a perfect photographic position for Paul, its deep red chest advertising it from a great distance. As Paul was pointing up to take a picture, I saw movement on the ground and whispered “Don’t move, Ashy Thrush on the path” but just as we both looked down it flew off quickly. I described it to Paul and he didn’t think it was an Ashy as I had described an obvious pale eyebrow. Consulting the book later it turns out the bird was an Eyebrowed Thrush (Turdus obscuruc), another aptly named bird.

We reached the massive bolder which blocks the path over half-way up. This spot is where we normally come across the hornbills and macaques. It is also the spot where the leeches seem to start, so from now on I was extra careful to keep an eye out for the little blood-suckers making their way up my arms, legs and neck. But even this extra vigilance couldn’t stop me noticing the birds. Shortly after the boulder a very loud, yet musical, call came from the nearby tree. I knew it was something special as Paul looked at me with a look I have come to know as ‘What on earth is that?!’ After a short search we found the bird. A good size black-bird with bits of brilliant blue highlighting its head and parts of its wings. The Philippine Fairy-Bluebird (Irena cyanogaster) has been rumored up Makiling before but Paul has never seen it…until now. A stunner that, unfortunately, didn’t stick around for long. Unlike the next bird on a nearby tree that just sat there watching us walk by, a Drongo Cuckoo (Surniculus lugubris). This bird was black but through the bins I could see a number of colours shine through the black of its feathers, a bit like the gloss on top of oil. It sat there for a long time whilst Paul took some pictures and then we left it.

This was turning into an epic day. Paul kept mentioning that each bird was new up Makiling for him and how difficult some of these are to see, especially as most of them were migratory! I was truly being treated today. Then, as we reached the clearing near the top, Paul got sight of yet another beautiful bird. It took a while for me to find him as it was another flycatcher, so kept flicking around, hunting. I was scanning what looked like a dead bush and wasn’t entirely sure what I was looking for….until I found it! Sat there was a bird which I can only describe as an inverted tequila sunrise!!

With an orange throat that blended down into its bright yellow belly. The Narcissus Flycatcher (Eumyias panayenis) male is one of the brightest birds I have ever seen. Along with its yellow eyebrow that seems to cut through the black of its head, it gives the slight impression of a lightning bolt as it strikes out at its prey. It took me a while to find but when I did I couldn’t take my eyes off of it!! We watched it until it disappeared into the canopy and then started to check out the rest of the life around the clearing. We spent a long time checking out a small blur that kept disappearing into some vegetation on top of a tree. It was clearly a nest but what was it?? After seeing it arrive and then disappear a good number of times it turned out to be a White-Bellied Munia. We have these on the farm, so not really a new bird but you never know until you look.

I was exhausted by this point! So much excitement for so many birds! I don’t know why but the mountain just seemed to be alive this morning! We continued up the path but as we went we were overtaken by a pair of walkers. This generally means others will scare the birds away, so we decided to head back. Checking out all the spots with birds on the way back.

It was generally a quiet decent, but at one place we heard a noise and then whilst investigating an olive-green snake appeared out of the vegetation and VERY quickly made its way up the bank and away. This is my first land-snake and the shear size (about a metre) and speed was impressive. Then, near the car, Paul spotted a Grey-Streaked Flycatcher (Muscicapa griseisticta), our fourth flycatcher of the day and one he expected more than the others. We got back in the car and started on our way home. But the mountain still had one more gem to reveal…

We were halfway down the mountain road when Paul started shouting, jumped out the car, grabbed his camera and started chasing a bird which was fluttering between the branches in front of us. In the haste all I could make out was “National Rarity”. Fluttering in front of us was a Forest Wagtail (Dendronanthus indicus). The field guide portrays this wagtail as a brown-ish bird with a chest stripe, but it is SO much more. In ‘real-life’ the wings are also black and white and absolutely gorgeous. I was afraid that if I ever saw this bird I would mis-identify it as something else but now I have seen it, I know I won’t. Paul followed it for a time, taking as many pictures as possible as proof of its occurrence. I stayed back, not wanting to scare it away before Paul could photograph it, but still having a good look through my bins!! A brown shrike appeared and scared it away, but we had had some amazing views. What a morning.

I don’t know if it had something to do with the weather, the time of year or if Paul and I were just REALLY lucky today but the number of birds we saw was unbelievable. Every new stretch of path seemed to offer us something new and different, every movement in the tree was another bird and every bird seemed to show itself well for a short period of time offering us some great views. Bird-watching isn’t always like this but it’s days like these that make me so glad that I get up at the crack of dawn and walk long distances, for hours, because you really never know what is going to be around the next corner.

Paul has published some of his pictures here on his blog. Check it out!!

Rice-bite: Phantom of Manila

So this week has been crazy busy, mostly because it was a certain person’s birthday….NOT mine, but Clare’s. So I have spent the last couple of weeks trying to organize surprises as well as getting some presents sent over so I could spoil her rotten!!

As part of her birthday, Clare, Niamh and myself had gotten tickets to see the Phantom of the Opera at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), Manila. We had heard about the performance from my dad whom forwarded on a Tweet that the tour was coming to Manila. I have seen Phantom in London before as my own birthday treat but both Clare and Niamh had never heard, or seen, anything about it. So this was going to be an experience for them…

We had hired a car and by mid-afternoon were all dressed up, in some of our best clothes, and travelling into the capital. As the taxi driver had over-compensated for traffic we arrived with many hours to spare, so we stopped again at the Mall of Asia and grabbed a bite to eat, settling at a lovely Italian which overlooked the bay. As we were ‘dressed up’ we decided on this place because it looked like the kind of place we could get away with being ‘dressed up’ in. It was a great meal and a place we will no doubt return to. Then we jumped back in the taxi to get to the CCP.

Our taxi dropped us off at the door and we managed to go straight in. We spent a little time having our photo’s taken by the large poster as well as looking at some of the costumes, which they had on view, in a small display. Then we decided to take our seats.

We booked a few weeks ago and had decided for some mid-priced seats. We had heard that some of the ladies from the office had gone earlier in the week and they had needed binoculars to see all the action. This had made me nervous about where I had booked us, as I had no idea what the layout was like. As soon as we walked in I was relieved to see that it was a small auditorium and that our seats were perfect. We had to rise for the national anthem before the performance (that is a first for me) and then the lights faded, the auctioneers hammer came crashing down and the show had begun…

I do not wish to spoil the show for anyone who has not seen it, so I won’t go into detail. But it was fantastic. The music was great and the performances were stunning. Having seen it in London there were a few differences but mainly little things that I put down to it being a tour (for example some sets were on small platforms compared to the ones in Her Majesty’s Theater).

I have read the original novel (as well as a Terry Pratchett ‘Discworld’ version), seen several films and this was my second live viewing and I wasn’t disappointed. Both Clare and Niamh also enjoyed the performance and we were all singing/humming the tune for days. It has now closed here, off to somewhere else. So if it arrives near you, I recommend you try and get tickets!!

Birding Bohol on my final free morning!

Sorry for the late posting this week. After being away for the week it has taken me this long to catch up on e-mails etc.

If you have read my blog from last week you will know that last Monday morning I jetted off to find some more sites to survey for one of my PhD chapters. Without going too much into detail, I was looking at an agricultural scheme that they use on their rice and trying to find different sites to see how this affects the bird life in an island Eco-system. The island that is running this scheme is Bohol.

The 10^th largest island of the Philippines, Bohol is known for its jungles, Chocolate Hills and being one of the homes of the world’s smallest primate, the Tarsier. It is located approximately 450km South-East of Manila and takes around an hour to fly there. The North East quarter of the island is comprised of a lot of rice terraces/fields and this is where I spent the majority of my week. I left Friday morning free as a back-up in case I needed to meet someone/see something that I couldn’t in the previous days but, as luck should have it, it stayed free and I was able to organize a quick excursion before having to fly home. With the exception of a Pied Harrier seen out of a window on Wednesday, I hadn’t managed to see many birds, so as the alarm went off at 4am on Friday morning I jumped out of bed and was looking forward to my quick trip.

Because of its geographic location the diversity of birds on Bohol is different than that I am use to in the forests of Luzon. Some birds are similar, but a lot are those that can only be found in the Southern Islands of the Philippines. This gave me a great chance to see some new birds as well as some variations on others that I had seen already. I had done a little research, as well as spoken to Paul about his experiences on the Island, and had two species in mind that I really wanted to see. I was picked up from my hotel by a driver that was recommended to me from someone at work. He had a whole half-day planned but I was just interested in the birds (I only had a few hours, I had to make them count). As Clare had work this week she could not have joined me, the result of this being that I wasn’t going to try and see a Tarsier as this is something we are going to do when she is able to accompany me of a future trip.

After leaving the hotel at 4:30 we got to the site around 5:45. We had traveled to Camp Magsaysay the nature center of the Rajah Sikatuna National Park. I was informed that it was not an ideal time to bird as it was rainy season (though the island as a whole is suffering from a terrible drought) and that some of the birds were still nesting. I said I understood but was here because of work and thought I would take advantage of the free morning.

The first bird I came across is an odd case…whilst waiting for my guide a chicken seemed to run out of the underbrush, into the middle of a clearing and bellowed out an almighty “cock-o-doodle-do!!” Then was gone again. At this my driver turned to me and said “Junglefowl”. Now I was a little reluctant to call this one. The Red Junglefowl looks like a bird that I would call a ‘classic-cockerel’, from a farm. Having spoken about them before, I was told that they have bred with domesticated chickens and now it is very hard to distinguish between them. The only real clue is their behavior, with the domesticated chickens not being too afraid of humans. I still wasn’t convinced and pointed it out to the guide. He confirmed it was in fact a Junglefowl, even when I asked if it was ‘just a chicken?’, he swore it wasn’t  So there we have it, I have seen a wild chicken!!

Even before we left the nature center my guide pointed out a bird in one of the trees close by. It was sitting in the classic “I’m not a bird but a tree branch” pose, so took me a little while to find it. When I did it was beautiful. A small (but it was far away), brown hawk with bits of white speckled in. The light wasn’t great but my guide called out “Changeable Hawk-Eagle” (Nisaetus cirrhatus). The thing was just hunched there in the light misty rain we were having. It was also probably due to the rain that I could not make out its feathery quiff. It sat long enough for us to walk around it and see its face before it took off and flew into the canopy.

We left the site and started to walk down the road. With some vegetation on the road, as well as the rain, it was like walking on ice. I have mentioned before how unsteady I am on my feet with very poor balance. So to avoid embarrassment I spent a lot of time staring at my feet, walking slowly and trying not to fall over. We stopped under a tree and my guide said

“Frog-mouth Nest-” I looked up all excited, but he closely followed up with

“-but it went, short time ago”

So no frog-mouth for me. However I am informed the site gets them regularly at night, so I will have to plan another trip once I star data collecting here.

We walked along the road, passing many joggers from the forces base nearby. One of the main issues I had that morning, apart from just trying to stay on my feet, was all the birds tended to spend a lot of time at the top of trees, so it was a lot of vertical bird watching. At a road junction we spent forever trying to see some Drongos which were fluttering among the branches at the very top. Fortunately the rain had passed on, so at least I wasn’t distracted by rain-drops on my lenses.

We circled around and started up the side of the hill. It was called the ‘Tarictic Trail’ after the hornbills and it wasn’t long before they made their presence known. Again at the top of the trees, we kept hearing the noisy “ta-rik-tik”. These are a separate sub-species than the ones found on Mt. Makiling, though the most views I got were of dark shapes quickly moving through the canopy and away. At one point we were stood on the side of the hill with the hornbills clearly circling above us (we could hear them). We tried to hear where they landed for a better view but they just disappeared. Ah well.

It was here that I saw something fantastic…my guide turned to me and said

“You see flying Lemur?” I said no, because I haven’t. He then pointed to a nearby tree.

“There” he says, then takes my shoulders and points me in the right direction. Now I must admit at first I thought it was just a lump on the side of a tree. But as I studied it through my bins, I noticed the lump was furry.

“You want it to move?” my guide asked as I was desperately getting a camera out so I could take a picture*. I kept protesting that I could see it fine and to leave it alone but after a second the guide shook some leaves and branches and out of the furry lump came a face! It seemed to stare at the guide for a second with sleepy eyes (they are nocturnal, so it had probably just settled down). The guide shook the branches a little more and the lemur ran up the side of the tree. The only way I can describe how it moved would be to ask you to imagine Spiderman running up the side of a building wearing a light-brown (ish) slanket! That is what it made me think of anyway.

It climbed up until there were no branches close to it and settled down again. I told the guide we should get a move on, leaving the thing to get some well deserved rest. We were then distracted by a number of shapes moving through the forest. After a long trek, as well as trying to see through the leaves again, we saw a number of Coucals and Orioles. The day was starting to look up. Then as we turned a corner, my guide in front, he let out an excited “oh” closely followed by a let down “ah”. He turned slowly with a smile of his face

“Pitta. We missed it. Flew up and away”. Damn!! This was one of the species I really had wanted to see and I had missed it because I was in the back. I was gutted.

For those that don’t know, Pitta’s are small ground dwelling birds that are amazingly beautiful. There are a number of species here in the Philippines but I have yet to see one. On Bohol they have a couple of species but the one that I wanted to see was the Steere’s Pitta (Pitta steerii). A Philippine endemic, this individual is found in the Southern Islands and I was hoping to get it once I was here but I had missed it by being just a little behind. With a stunning blue/turquoise wings (that seems to give it the appearance that it is wearing a loud dinner jacket), a black cap and a slight bit of red between its legs. It had been in the middle of the path as the guide had turned the corner and taken off. As the guide walked on I waited patiently, hoping that my luck would stretch to a return visit, but it did not. I walked on…

To say this distracted me was an understatement. I was really (mentally) kicking myself for missing it when we started on the final descent back into camp. Then the whole world seemed to slow down and to my surprise I could see both of my legs stretched out in front of me. It was during this moment of slow and calm that I realized that the distraction of missing the Pitta and wet, slippy stones had gotten me again. Then came the realization that shortly gravity will claim me as a victim and I would greet the earth like a sack of potatoes! Sure enough, a split-second later my whole left side hit the stone steps and I slipped down the remaining steps until I rested on my bum in camp. Not really elegant.

I dumped my bag back in the car and checked for injuries. Aside from a sore side and a bump on my arm, that was the size of a large chicken’s egg, I had gotten away with it. Even my trousers (which I am also very good at ripping whilst birding) had survived. I was semi-impressed. The guide hunted for some ice, eventually finding some remaining ice cubes in a beer cooler from the night before. So I cold-compressed my lump whilst watching the guide and driver feed the fish in a small pond in camp.

Once the lump had started to reduce in size we set off. The guide offered to take me to the Tarsier center but I had to explain that Clare wouldn’t be happy, so he had a better idea. We drove down into the rice fields and parked next to an irrigation canal (as if I hadn’t had enough of these during the week!). We then started to scramble down the edge of the waterway, we were hunting the second bird on my wish list…

Similar to before, my driver kept seeing individual birds disappear further up the waterway. I was convinced that it was the same bird and that we were just chasing it further away. The path was muddy (I almost fell in again) and very thin, so I had to go behind again. We got a good way before it became un-walk-able, so we headed back. When I saw the car, my heart sunk, I had not seen either bird that I had wanted to. My driver convinced me to walk up a little further in the other direction to a head where I could scan with my bins further down the waterway. It was a great plan, so I agreed and moments later found myself stood on a little bit of land, in the middle of the waterway, scanning the nearby vegetation. The driver walked on and just as he vanished I saw a quick burst of movement and there it was…

Sat on a branch of a bush that had no leaves, overhanging the water, was a Silvery Kingfisher (Alcedo argentata)!! It had flown up from the waters edge, out of sight, and not noticed me there with my bins. At first all I saw was his back as he sat ‘bobbing’ his head in a classic kingfisher movement, looking at the water. He then did a quick jump and turn, ending up looking at me. He took my breath away.

Another small endemic kingfisher of the Philippines, the Kennedy et al. Bird Guide illustrates it as a small black and white bird with a dark bill, but in reality it is SO much more. A generally dark blue bird with a small white throat patch that seemed to really highlight the length of its dark bill. The feathers around its crown had a light blue, metallic speckling on the end of the feathers that, to me, gave the impression of a small bright crown. Finally, once it had turned around I got great views of its tiny, bright florescent orange legs. It either didn’t see me or I just didn’t bother it because I was able to crouch down and watch it for a long time before, what I can only assume as a fish, caught its eye and he was off.

We returned to the car and raced our way across the island (I had a flight to catch as well as wash, change, eat and pack). So I had driven many hours, trekked, only got glimpses of birds in the canopy and even fell (which is still sore now, in the middle of the following week) but was it worth it?? Of course!! The flying lemur was brilliant and I almost declared it a mammal day but at the very end the King-of-Fishers flew out and let itself be seen. Only occurring in the Southern Islands, I was VERY happy to have seen this amazing bird. I am going back to Bohol for work and will definitely drop in again…though hopefully next time it won’t be so literally.

*Unfortunately my pictures didn’t come out as the second I took my camera out of my rucksack it steamed up. Who knew the inside of my bag was so cool?!?

This picture (taken from http://www.arkive.org) showing what a stunning bird the Silvery Kingfisher really is!!