This blog is the fifth, in a number of blogs, from the beginning of January when I went away, with Paul, to see a number of new birds. Sorry it has taken so long.
I woke early, got dressed and was ready before the sun had come up. Today was the first day of three that we had hired our guide, Zardo, to take us birding in the area. Paul hadn’t been before so this was new territory for all. A small group of photographers from Singapore were going to join us for the rest of the week but today. It was just us, Zardo and our vehicle – a whole jeepney to ourselves!! Our day started with owling, after leaving around 3:30am.
There was a long road along the side of a forest and we had pulled over to search for owls. Armed with torches, we strained our eyes through the darkness to see if anything moved and then flashed a light if we thought we had seen something. The only thing bird we encountered was a Giant Scops Owl that called as we got close, but none of us managed to see it. We waited as the sun started to rise but didn’t get anything else, so we moved on to our next spot.
As we pulled up to our stopping spot, it started to rain. It had been raining hard during the night but had stopped, though temporarily, as we were owling, but now it was back. The road we were suppose to be walking was flooded. So in the dry breaks we tried to get in as much birding as possible, on what was left of the path. Though the weather sucked, the birds didn’t disappoint. First there were Pitta’s calling from all around us, seeing a number dive in and out of the bushes. Next up were a number of smaller passerines which dotted around the tall shrubs that surrounded the path.
As we reached the end of the road, or the beginning of the flood water, we could see for quite a distance around. Ahead we saw Writhed Hornbills on the tops of trees, calling, and a number of Tarictic hornbills. I use to have terrible luck with Hornbills, only ever seeing them disappear into trees above me, or catching the tail edge as they flew off. But these sat on top of an exposed tree, calling away for me to get a great view.
As we were returning up the road we stopped to inspect a flock of fast flying birds above our heads. In the middle of which were two Philippine Needletails, a species we had wanted to see up the trail, two days earlier, but had missed them. But there was no doubt, they were here!!
We made it back to our jeepney and rode up the road for a short distance until we came to our second stop. As we got out there was a flurry of activity in the tree that we had just stopped under. A mixed flock were making their way through and we happen to be in the right place at the right time. There were; Rufous paradise flycatcher, Spangled drongo, Philippine Oriole and Scarlett Minivets, just to name a few. Some of the best birds seen were the Naked-faced spider hunters (Arachnothera clarae) a species I had seen in the guide back in the UK and wanted to see in the wild. The Philippine Leafbird (Chloropsis flavipennis), a bird that Paul and I had spoken about, during the morning, which is uncommon and difficult to see as it is coloured the same green as the canopy. But as we stood by the back of the jeepney, looking out, we saw a few. Dotting around in the trees. It was amazing.
Out of nowhere there was a flurry of excitement as Paul got his eyes on yet another bird. The Black-bibbled Cuckoo-shrike (Coracina mindanensis), another uncommon bird, was sat further up the tree and we all got some great views before it disappeared off with the mixed flock. This was turning into an epic day.
But then the heavens opened up and it started to rain again. We planned to walk up and down the road for the rest of the day scanning the vegetation, but ended up hiding from the rain. It was common for us to find a good spot, see some birds but then the rain stopped play. We came to a spot just as the rain got very heavy, so we took shelter on a bench of a local home, which was under cover. We stayed there for a couple of hours, just letting the rain pass. We had unobstructed views of a HUGE tree trunk, which had no vegetation, but a hole near the top. As we were watching about 9 Philippine Falconets (Microhierax erythrogenys) flew in for shelter. I love these small birds of prey, a species that took a while to find once I first got here, but I now know a local spot where I can see them.
Once the rain had stopped for a small amount of time, we returned to the road and started travelling back, scanning the vegetation again. We saw a few of the same birds again but also a few Blue-crowned Racquet-tail (Prioniturus discurus) flying over as well as a Black-headed Tailorbird (Orthotomus nigriceps) which was dotting between some exposed roots, which took me forever to find, but once I did, was able to follow through my bins. A cute little bird.
We walked the road once more but didn’t see much else. So we loaded up the jeepney and traveled to a spot that Zardo knew for the Silvery Kingfisher (Alcedo argentata). We had just arrived as it flew to the middle of the pond, posed for a quick look on an exposed tree branch and then flew off. We tried to find it again at the edge of the pond, where it flew, but never saw it again. We got back into the jeepney and stopped off at a small airfield, just on the edge of town.
Basically a runway for a crop duster, the gate was open and we were able to wander in and walk up and down the runway, birding as we went. This is apparently a good spot for Grass Owls, but we never saw any on this visit. The fields were surrounded with agricultural land, a lot of it rice, so I was very familiar with a lot of the birds that I could see here. One new bird, however, we found at the very end of the runway, which was scrubby with a few grasses and weeds. Zardo, Paul and myself spread out in a line and then walked in the same direction and to my right I saw a little movement. There, running along the vegetation, was a pair of Blue-breasted Quail (Coturnix chinensis). From where I stood, they were tiny, with the male a lovely dark blue colour. There have been pictures of these on the IRRI farm, but I have not seen them before.
We returned to the jeepney, just in time for a heavy rain cloud to open up again. We went back to the hotel, showered and grabbed something to eat whilst we listed the birds we had seen for the day. It had been an amazing day, 59 species in total, a lot of those new for me. What a day! Tomorrow, however, had the potential to really be the cherry on top!! We were going to walk Road 42, a known route which had infrequent Philippine Eagle sightings. I was going to get another chance for the King of Birds!
As usual, Paul took some amazing shots which you can see here.
Ricebirder 