Guided Birding and nature tours to the Philippines
Birding Trip Reports
a season for wagtails
Dec 13th
(This is a cross-post from Birding Adventure Philippines’ blogger Trinket Canlas. Check out the original blog here)
i have never really paid too much attention to wagtails before. they came and went along with all the migrants, pretty much a given during the migratory season. at least the yellow and the grey wagtails.
there are four species of wagtails reported in the philippines: grey, yellow, white and forest. i had recently written about the hundred or so yellow wagtails i saw in lipa, and i had run into several greys in makiling and tanay during recent trips.
during a tour a couple of weeks ago, adri added the forest wagtail to his list… described as rare by the philippine field guide. he had seen it in makiling, where it had been reported a few times before the past few years. we had hoped to see it during our bonifacio day birding in makiling, and were disappointed. still, at the back of my mind, i was looking forward to adding white wagtail to my list (also described as rare), thanks to a tip from wbcp-er ruth f.
where would this rare wagtail be found? at la mesa eco park, a mere 20 minutes from my home !
i was hopeful that these were not merely passing through as they had been reported (and photographed) everyday of the week, the latest of the bird sensations to be discovered at the la mesa eco park.
how could i resist the twitch?
on friday i was impatiently looking for friends jops & maia and alex & tere online, wanting to set-up a date with the white wagtails for the weekend. thankfully, they were as twitchy as i was, and we set our date at 7am. (adri, unfortunately was on a trip to mindanao. but with his forest wagtail one-up, i didn’t think he’d mind i went ahead to meet the white one)
arriving at la mesa at 7am, i met up not only with jops, maia, alex and tere, but other birder/photographer friends! bong n. told us that we had just missed the targets, and showed us his photo. we hoped that the previous reports that the wagtails would return to the spillway like clockwork would hold true. so we made ourselves as comfortable as we could in the small space between a wire fence separating the spillway and a vermiculture plot. it was not hard to figure out the best place to be to spot the birds, as those who had come before us had done a bit of gardening on the vines which had covered the fence.
little heron, little egrets, common kingfisher, common sandpiper, grey wagtails. nuninuninu. osprey, zebra doves, collared kingfisher. another osprey. each high pitched peeeeepeeet had us all focusing on the bottom of the spillway several meters down. argh. another grey wagtail.
after around an hour and a half, at last! somebody declared, “ayan na sila! anjan na sila! (there they are!) ” all conversation stopped as several binoculars and several camera lenses focused on the black and white birds which had landed on the low wall at the bottom of the spillway.
this subspecies, leucopsis, was not even reported in the kennedy guide. i had always found black and white birds beautiful and elegant, and this pair was no exception. one was greyer than the other, and had a smaller dark patch on its breast. they went about the spillway with their wagtail habits, bobbing their tails as they picked up food from the surface of the ground/cement/water. each even spent a few moments preening. action moments included a white wagtail suddenly stealing the food from its cousin grey’s beak and a sudden air attack by a collared kingfisher.
they allowed us to enjoy our observation for over half an hour! despite the distance of the birds from us, it was a very, very good sighting.
white wagtail… check!
Trip Report: Mt. Makiling
Nov 10th
Our April 2011 Tour participant Tan Ju Lin writes about their experience in Makiling with us. Tan Ju Lin is a keen birder from Singapore and has been birding for many years now. She has traveled extensively in the Oriental Region and has seen a lot of Asian birds. She will be returning this April 2012 for another Philippine trip covering the more difficult endemics.
The Secrets and Treasures of Mt. Makiling.
Date: 10 – 23 April 2011
Places covered in the tour: Luzon, Mindoro, Negros.
Report covers: Mount Makiling.
Participants: Alfred Chia, Tai Ping Ling, Doreen Ang, Jimmy Chew and Tan Ju Lin. Write up by Tan Ju Lin.
Tour leader: Nicky Icarangal of Birding Adventure Philippines
Looking for buttonquails in the nice afternoon golden light
A land of 7,107 beautiful emerald islands, blessed with natural beauty and more than 600 species of resident and migratory birds. Of these, almost a third are endemic. With such a high level of endemism, the Philippines holds great attraction for the visiting birder. With visions of ground doves with bleeding hearts, a babbler with flames for temples and kingfishers wearing indigo bands, Alfred Chia, Tai Ping Ling, Doreen Ang, Jimmy Chew and myself planned a trip with Birding Adventure Philippines in pursuit of some of the most unique and beautiful birds in South East Asia. All of us had birded in the Philippines before and were hungering for more, except for Alfred who had previously been to the Philippines on 5 separate occasions, all for work, and claimed that he had not seen more than a Eurasian Tree Sparrow. We were determined to change his fate!
We contacted Adri Constantino and lead guide Nicky Icarangal from Birding Adventure Philippines to plan a trip that would bring us from the regular birding hotspots of Mount Makiling, Subic Bay and Candaba marshes to the more remote and less visited areas such as Mt Polis in northern Luzon, Sablayan Penal Colony in Mindoro and Mount Kanlaon in Negros.
This narrative covers in-depth account of our time in Mount Makiling, a place which holds a significant number of endemic species despite its proximity to Manila. And though this narrative is removed from the format of a traditional birding report, we hope you enjoy reading this account of our 2 days birding in Mount Makiling.
After a relatively short flight from Singapore to Manila via JetStar Airways, we arrived in Manila in the morning and were met by our guide Nicky Icarangal with an incredibly comfortable coaster that would be our transport for a good part of the Luzon leg.
Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker by tour participant Jimmy Chew
Birding proper for us began in the lush green campus of Los Baños Campus of University of the Philippines, on the afternoon of the 10th of April. We started birding at 4.00pm in the afternoon, when the sun was a little less fierce and when the birds started to emerge to feed before the end of the day. We drove to the known location within the campus grounds to look for the Indigo Banded Kingfisher. From the bridge where we stood we had great views of the male Indigo Banded Kingfisher, shimmering like a jewel, showing off its double blue bands and orangey rufous chest. And in the bamboo clump by the side of the bridge, some of us had views of another endemic, a Yellow-wattled Bulbul. Walking around the campus grounds, lifers for Alfred came fast and furious, with a pair of Philippine Pygmy Woodpeckers on low trees by the roadside. A Striped-headed Rhabdornis gave fleeting views, and it would take another day before we all saw them well. Other birds seen walking around the campus grounds were Philippine Bulbuls, Guaiabero, Colasisi, an Oriental Cuckoo and numerous Brown Shrikes. Next, we headed to the Animal Husbandry section of the campus, and I was looking forward to scoring my first lifer of the trip. Spotted Buttonquail!
We positioned ourselves on the sides of the path and Nicky told us to get comfortable, as it would be a waiting game for the Spotted Buttonquail to appear. Fortunately, we did not have to test our resolve, and a pair of Spotted Buttonquails came walking after about half an hour. My first lifer for the trip! Whilst waiting, we also had other distractions in the form of a Coppersmith Barbet, Philippine Hawk Cuckoo, several Oriental Cuckoos, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Striated Grassbird and Grey-streaked Flycatchers. In the fields in the area we also counted numerous Cattle Egrets, Plain Bush hen, White-breasted Waterhen, Scaly-breasted and White-bellied Munias.
Philippine Hawk-Owl by Jimmy Chew
At dusk we continued our quest for more Philippine endemics, with 3 Philippine Hawk Owls seen and an extremely uncooperative Philippine Nightjar, which flew in and promptly out of sight again. Philippine Scops Owl was heard and not seen, and we would not nail this bird until some days later. Still, it was the start of a reasonably good run of night birds seen during the 2 weeks of our tour.
The thing with birding in the Philippines is that the sun rises incredibly early. At most of our destinations, the sky would already be reasonably bright at 5.00 in the morning. This translates to early morning starts and waking up at an unearthly hour of 3.30 am on many days. Sometimes 4.00 am if we were lucky.
Ashy Ground Thrush - one of the rarest treasures of Makiling. Photo by Jimmy Chew
Our first morning of early starts was well worth our efforts, as bumping our way up Mount Makiling in a banged up jeepney, Nicky yells for the driver to stop and there in the middle of the path, standing in the headlights of the jeepney, stood an Ashy Ground Thrush! We froze momentarily as so did the bird, and recovering from our surprise, we quickly trained our bins on this amazing bird before it hopped off round the corner. Climbing gingerly out of the jeepney, and creeping round the corner we found the thrush again feeding on the ground. Jimmy even managed to set up his tripod and 500mm camera and secured quite a few shots before it took flight. That was Mt Makiling’s first hint not to underestimate what secrets and treasures its forests could hold. And reveal its treasures it did…!
The early morning calls of the Spotted Wood Kingfisher rang through the forests, and it was not long before Nicky spotted a male perched in the trees about 10 metres back from the path. And like many forest kingfishers, this Spotted Wood-Kingfisher managed to stay inconspicuous despite garbed in brilliant blues, greens, bright white and hues of orange. That morning, we also enjoyed good views of the Grey-backed Tailorbird, Philippine Serpent-Eagle, Red-crested Malkoha, Balicassiao, Elegant Tits, manic-looking Sulphur-billed Nuthatches racing up, down and round and round the trees and several handsome White-browed Shamas.
On the upper parts of Mt Makiling, the trails became narrower and we were stopped in our tracks by Nicky who hissed, “Pechora Pipit”! Lo and behold, walking on the side of the track was a Pechora Pipit with its defining “V” mark on its back. It continued walking in the opposite direction and soon melted into the forest.
The skulking White-browed Shama by Jimmy Chew
Surely, it was a sign of good things to come…. I held my breath as Nicky played the call of the Luzon Bleeding-Heart. It was a bird we all were secretly hoping for but did not think we would ever lay our eyes on. So, when we actually heard a response, it set our pulses racing and hearts beating! The calls came closer and closer and quite suddenly a Luzon Bleeding-Heart in its full glory flew onto an exposed branch, walked a foot or two, before turning around and flying off without any sound of wing beats! It was surreal, and it must have been that I so happened to be looking at the correct spot of the forest. I was elated and strangely disappointed at the same time for all the others in our group had not seen the bird! It must have been not being able to share in the joy of such a mega-tick. It was a good thing that Nicky is never one to give up and persists until everyone in the group has seen the bird. He soon called in a second bird further up the trail. This was clearly a different bird, as this individual had a bigger and deeper coloured patch of red on its chest compared to the first bleeding-heart, which had a smaller and fainter crimson wash on its breast. It walked about on the side of the trail above us, playing hide and seek with us amongst the undergrowth, finally giving almost everyone (but one person!) views. It was almost close to a miracle that Nicky managed to spot the bird again walking some 100 -150 metres from where we last saw it and the final person in our group (who shall remain unnamed!) saw the Luzon Bleeding-heart. Success!!
Other key species seen at Mount Makiling included Lowland White-eye, Yellowish White-eye, Philippine Hawk-Cuckoo, Blue-headed Fantail, Philippine Trogon and Philippine Falconet.
Small and chunky Guaiabero. Photo by Jimmy Chew
For a complete bird list of Tan Ju Lin and party’s April 2011 Tour, please click here.
Bridled Terns on an island called San Bernandino
Jul 23rd
This week I was rewarded with a lifer – a nesting colony of Bridled Terns on San Bernandino Island, an isolated rocky islet in the Pacific, off the coast of Sorsogon, Southern Luzon. The Philippine field guide lists this seabird as a rare resident and was previously recorded only in Apo Reef in Mindoro, Maturin Rocks in Catanduanes, Sulu Sea and in other isolated islands off the coast of Mindanao, Palawan and the Batanes and Babuyan Islands in the northern extremes of the Philippines.
It is a medium-sized tern with long wings and a deeply forked tail. The upperparts are dark brownish grey and the head is black with a distinctive white “V” on the forehead. It is mostly a pelagic species but returns to rocky islets to roost and to nest. Eggs are scattered in the inaccessible cracks on the islets’ sheer cliffs.
Bridled Tern, Sterna anaethetus
July 2011, San Bernandino Island, off Bulusan, Sorsogon, Southern Philippines
Bridled Tern, San Bernandino Island, www.birdingphilippines.com
Bridled Tern, San Bernandino Island, www.birdingphilippines.com
Bridled Terns resting
Bridled Tern, San Bernandino Island, www.birdingphilippines.com
It was an exciting trip, we had to take a 1 1/2 hour boat ride from Sorsogon to reach San Bernandino island. The waves were quite big considering there was no storm and we left early in the morning (when the Pacific Ocean should be relatively calmer). We rode a big, stable motorized outrigger banca designed to fit 30 people (we were only 4 plus the 3 boatmen) because at these times of the year the seas can become rough due to the monsoons. But when we reach the islet, we were rewarded with an awesome sight: a beautiful lighthouse on top of a hill surrounded by rocky cliffs, clear and wonderful reefs supporting a variety of marine life and of course the magnificent colony of seabirds roosting on the island. We were greeted by Eastern Reef Egrets in dark and white phases, then came the Bridled and Black-naped Terns. Our team was able to count around 220 Bridled Terns and 100 Black-naped Terns. Unfortunately, eggs of either the Bridled or the Black-naped Tern, or both, were being collected at the time of our visit from the larger island (with the lighthouse) by one man. Our boatmen reported that eggs are gathered regularly from the island. We reported the incident to the authorities since nesting colonies of this rare species are highly uncommon and this site should be protected at all cost.
San Bernandino Lighthouse “Parola”
San Bernandino Lighthouse / www.birdingphilippines.com
Black-naped Tern, Sterna sumatrana
July 2011, San Bernandino Island, off Bulusan, Sorsogon, Southern Philippines
Black-naped Tern/www.birdingphilippines.com
Many thanks to our hosts for this trip: World Bank – Philippines and the honorable Mayor Ronnel Lim and the Municipality of Gubat, Sorsogon.
Next week, something for the upcoming 7th Philippine Bird Festival!
Happy Birding!
Adri Constantino
www.birdingphilippines.com
Be sure to check them out before they leave…
Apr 18th
Local birders – go to UP Diliman now.
Be sure to check out this uncommon migrant – an Oriental Cuckoo, feeding on caterpillars in an Acacia tree in the University of the Philippines Diliman. This individual will be probably stay in the area for a few days more – fattening up with juicy worms for its long travel back to its breeding grounds.
Oriental Cuckoo
Also check out this Grey Streaked Flycatcher:
Grey-streaked Flycatcher
And this gorgeous Blue Rock-thrush in the Marine Science Institute grounds
Blue Rock-thrush
Be on the look-out as well for nesting Coppersmith Barbets, Colasisi and Pied Trillers.
It is so nice to have a birdy site close to the city!
The Great Philippine Eagle soaring high in Bukidnon
Dec 3rd
The Great Philippine Eagle flying high over Mt. Kitanglad Mountain Range
This is one of the highlight birds of the recently concluded 1st Asian Bird Fair birding trip to Mt. Kitanglad in Bukidnon, Mindanao last September 27 – October 3, 2010. This birding trip was organized by us in cooperation with the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines to showcase our wonderful birds to our Asian neighbors. The group was led by Nicky Icarangal and Adrian Constantino and was composed of birders from the Nature Society (Singapore), Hong Kong Birdwatching Society, Bird Conservation Society of Thailand, Wild Bird Society of Taipei and Asian Raptor Research Conservation Network. It was a two-part tour, with the first leg starting off at Mt. Kitanglad National Park to showcase Mindanao’s montane endemics birds. The second leg was in PICOP, Bislig, Surigao for the lowland specialties. The highlights of trip include the Great Philippine Eagle (shown above), Red-eared Parrotfinch, Apo Mynah, Apo Sunbird, Bukidnon Woodcock, Rufous, Writhed and Mindanao Hornbills, Short-crested Monarch, Steere’s Pitta, Philippine (Pinsker’s) Hawk-Eagle, among others.
Please be sure to check the trip report and the trip list here. More pictures of birds seen during this trip can be viewed in our galleries page while pictures from the trip can be seen by following us on Facebook.
The next Asian Bird Fair will be held in Taipei, Taiwan. To know more about the 1st Asian Bird Fair in Davao City, please check www.birdwatch.ph.
Custom Tour 2010: Valentines Day in Mt. Kitanglad
Aug 4th
Luzon, Palawan, Bohol Mindanao Birding for Michael and Patricia Palmer
A testimonial from Michael and Patricia Palmer, one of our custom groups from 2010. The birder couple spent three weeks in the Philippines visiting Luzon, Palawan, Bohol and Mindanao with their Mt. Kitanglad trip coinciding with Valentines Day. Valentines was celebrated over a few bottles of wine, fresh wild montane flowers and a date with the Great Philippine Eagle.
Here is what they have to say:
“During the past 20 years, we have made more than 30 birding/wildlife photography trips. None was better arranged and guided than our trip with Nicky in February 2010. We spent 3 delightful weeks birding in Luzon, Mindanao, Bohol, and Palawan, seeing 230 species, including the Philippine Eagle. The Lodges were pleasant; the food good; internal flights and road travel comfortable; but, best of all, was the pleasure of traveling with (and being guided by) Nicky and his partners from Birding Adventure Philippines.
We have learned over the past 20 years, that the best birding trips (and least expensive) are those arranged by a local Guide/birding company. In this case, we met Nicky at the August 2009 Bird Fair in England where the Philippines Tourist Office had a stand. Nicky had been selected to represent the fledgling Bird-Watching industry. Some months later we contacted Nicky by e-mail, and asked him to propose a 3 weeks tour. This process led to one of the very best birding experiences we have ever enjoyed”
Michael Palmer and Patricia email: mp32[at]mac[dot]com
Many thanks Michael and Patricia! Hope to see you birding here again!
Michael & Patricia Palmer
You can view Michael and Patricia‘s trip bird list here>
More pictures from their trip can be seen here>
