temmie
Well-known member
I have no interest / reason to doubt the ID, just pointing out the oddity of those streaks on the breast, either some variation in plumage or (as I suggested) not a full adult or... An interesting bird in any case!
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Philippines Return - Mindanao, Negros and Luzon (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter dandsblair
- Start date
dandsblair
David and Sarah
Djop is checking his files for a better photo, but he says "this is an adult bird already, juveniles have fewer and broader streaks on the chest"
temmie
Well-known member
That's what I thought as well, the suggestion it could be e.g. juvenile is because I don't have anything better to suggest, but I will ask some people, that should be in the know, about the streaking on this particular bird.
dandsblair
David and Sarah
Day 10 – return to Road42
The Jeepney called for us nice and early, and we agreed stopped at a new spot for Owling. We were in denser trees today as the moon was pretty bright and we hoped for better luck than we had at the ridge. Things had started promisingly as we stopped when a Phil Nightjar flew across and landed in from of us. The first call of Mindanao Boobook brought a bird close in but it didn’t land it then it got a little crazy, a Giant Scops Owl chased off the Boobook but then a Philippine Frogmouth flew across and moved the Scops Owl from the perch, all the while the Nightjars were hawking in the area, at least I was able to photograph the Frogmouth which was a lifer for us.
When we tried calling the Boobook again the Giant Scops Owl was very vocal and the Boobook went quite a distance away, in fact we thought they may have gone up to the ridge, so we got in the Jeepney and drove up the hill. First attempt at calling the Boobook we saw something fly in and after an age trying to find it in the spotlights we found a bird but it was a Chocolate Boobook not a Mindanao bird. A pretty good owling session but somehow we still hadn’t photographed the Mindanao Boobook so it stays on flight only list.
When we met Zardo he told us that Broadbills were very activein the area but it turns out that that last few groups hadn’t got a sniff of one and the reason he was trying to get a mixed flock together was to attract a Broadbill, so we don't know why he said this, my only experience of Philippine Broadbills is with the Visayan on Bohol and that just responded to calls not as part of a mixed flock and Djop hadn’t seen The Mindanao Broadbill as part of a mixed flock so we just tried the call for it at likely spots but didn’t hear even a whisper of a response so one of my big targets missed.
We did hear a few Mindanao Bleeding Heart calling in the forest but none responded to our calls. Instead we tried and eventually got the skulking White-eared Tailorbird to eventually show itself, a Philippine Leaf Warbler, Mindanao Blue Fantail, Elegant Tit and Rufous Paradise Flycatcher were the highlights of our only mixed flock of the morning.
We decided to spend the bulk of our time trying for the Monarch where Djop thought he had seen it a couple of days ago. In this area beyond the landslip we had Rufous-crowned Bee-eater, Buzzing Flowerpecker, Negros Leaf-warbler, Black-faced Coucal, Rusty-crowned Babbler before a small flock came close to the watch point (a small opening giving eye level views into the forest, Blue fantail, and Short-crested Monarch were nice but then Djop and I just pointed excitedly and we all got on a female Celestial Monarch, the bird only stayed for a few seconds and the three shots I got were just a blur albeit enough to show the diagnostic features of Yellow eye-ring, White belly and crest, this was one of our top targets, so result!
Djop didn’t manage to focus his camera so we have no decent photos of the whole bird but Djop says that even a poor record shot is better than most Philippine birders have of this difficult to see bird.
The Monarch was the highlight of the day and Buff-spotted Flameback, Little Pied Flycatcher, Writhed Hornbill, Philippine Drongo Cuckoo, Pygmy Babbler, Yellow-bellied Whistler were just supporting cast in the afternoon.
Our owling session was washed this evening and we couldn't re-find the Jungle Flycatcher.
The Jeepney called for us nice and early, and we agreed stopped at a new spot for Owling. We were in denser trees today as the moon was pretty bright and we hoped for better luck than we had at the ridge. Things had started promisingly as we stopped when a Phil Nightjar flew across and landed in from of us. The first call of Mindanao Boobook brought a bird close in but it didn’t land it then it got a little crazy, a Giant Scops Owl chased off the Boobook but then a Philippine Frogmouth flew across and moved the Scops Owl from the perch, all the while the Nightjars were hawking in the area, at least I was able to photograph the Frogmouth which was a lifer for us.
When we tried calling the Boobook again the Giant Scops Owl was very vocal and the Boobook went quite a distance away, in fact we thought they may have gone up to the ridge, so we got in the Jeepney and drove up the hill. First attempt at calling the Boobook we saw something fly in and after an age trying to find it in the spotlights we found a bird but it was a Chocolate Boobook not a Mindanao bird. A pretty good owling session but somehow we still hadn’t photographed the Mindanao Boobook so it stays on flight only list.
When we met Zardo he told us that Broadbills were very activein the area but it turns out that that last few groups hadn’t got a sniff of one and the reason he was trying to get a mixed flock together was to attract a Broadbill, so we don't know why he said this, my only experience of Philippine Broadbills is with the Visayan on Bohol and that just responded to calls not as part of a mixed flock and Djop hadn’t seen The Mindanao Broadbill as part of a mixed flock so we just tried the call for it at likely spots but didn’t hear even a whisper of a response so one of my big targets missed.
We did hear a few Mindanao Bleeding Heart calling in the forest but none responded to our calls. Instead we tried and eventually got the skulking White-eared Tailorbird to eventually show itself, a Philippine Leaf Warbler, Mindanao Blue Fantail, Elegant Tit and Rufous Paradise Flycatcher were the highlights of our only mixed flock of the morning.
We decided to spend the bulk of our time trying for the Monarch where Djop thought he had seen it a couple of days ago. In this area beyond the landslip we had Rufous-crowned Bee-eater, Buzzing Flowerpecker, Negros Leaf-warbler, Black-faced Coucal, Rusty-crowned Babbler before a small flock came close to the watch point (a small opening giving eye level views into the forest, Blue fantail, and Short-crested Monarch were nice but then Djop and I just pointed excitedly and we all got on a female Celestial Monarch, the bird only stayed for a few seconds and the three shots I got were just a blur albeit enough to show the diagnostic features of Yellow eye-ring, White belly and crest, this was one of our top targets, so result!
Djop didn’t manage to focus his camera so we have no decent photos of the whole bird but Djop says that even a poor record shot is better than most Philippine birders have of this difficult to see bird.
The Monarch was the highlight of the day and Buff-spotted Flameback, Little Pied Flycatcher, Writhed Hornbill, Philippine Drongo Cuckoo, Pygmy Babbler, Yellow-bellied Whistler were just supporting cast in the afternoon.
Our owling session was washed this evening and we couldn't re-find the Jungle Flycatcher.
Attachments
dandsblair
David and Sarah
Day 11 – Bislig to Davao City stopping at Panabo Coastal Road
This was a day and a half of filler trips as we couldn’t go to Mt Tagubud and couldn’t get an earlier direct flight to Negros – it seems this is lack of access is due to tribal security problems rather than anything to do with the insurgency.
To break up the drive we stopped at Panabo, there has been a Chinese Crested Tern here but it wasn’t a lifer for us so after a short session going through the Whiskered Terns on the various islands, we gave up on the Tern; on the marshes we had Pied Stilt, Grey Plover, Eurasian Curlew, Whimbrel, Red-necked Stint, Grey-tailed Tattler, Redshank, Greenshank, Javan Pond Heron and White-breasted Wood-swallow and Collared Kingfisher.
Our afternoon was spend at Malagos Garden Resort, where we had lunch and spent the afternoon chasing after a couple of birds we had missed elsewhere.
However, we didn’t see the Kingfisher or Sunbird that we needed but did get good views of Pygmy and Buzzing Flowerpecker, Garden Sunbird, Yellow-vented Bulbul, Asian Glossy Starling, Red-crowned Bee-eater and also a Flowerpecker that I photographed but doesn’t look like Red-keeled or Buzzing (a partial black band on front).
One of the site nature guides told us where the Kingfisher usually appear at first light, so we decided to visit the chocolate museum and then do a chocolate tasting (Sarah’s treat) before going to our hotel in Davao via a nice seafood restaurant.
Day 12 - Philippine Eagle Centre and Malagos
We headed to the Malagos resort to try for the Kingfisher and get breakfast, no sign of the Kingfisher but as we headed up to breakfast we did get the Orange-lined Sunbird. After breakfast we went to the Eagle Foundation Centre, there is some forest and a stream so some naturally occurring birds as well as the captive eagles. In the end all we added was Grey-streaked Flycatcher, Brown-throated Sunbird and Grey Wagtail before going into the centre.
Interesting exhibit with around 20 Philippine Eagle (most of whom will now never make it into the wild again). I was intrigued to see Viggo whose story Ben told me in Bukidnon.
He was a young Eagle who was released into the wild from a captivity in the Centre to forest near Cinchona, Bukidnon, however the bird wasn’t scared of man and would harass and eat the local village cats and dogs even when people were around, he wasn’t afraid to attack children if they tried to intervene. In the end they had to recapture the bird and he will now be kept in the centre for the rest of his live which could be another 20+ years.
The birds being held are either injured, been bred and held in captivity for too long, our like Viggo have failed to adjust to living in the wild. They are well kept and fed but ultimately captive and only allowed to fly very occasionally, it is really sad to see such fine birds being held here when there is suitable mountain forest available.
Anyway back to Malagos and we are sitting watching a dripping pipe, Asian Glossy Starlings, Yellow-vented Bulbul and Philippine Bulbul drinking at it when Djop calls “Silvery” but it is gone back towards the river and the Cacao fields before we can raise our bins.
We had messaged Ben who was here with his Singapore birders on the way to Bislig 2 days ago and he had seen the bird near a pond and little dam at the gate to the Chocolate Farm; so we grabbed some chairs and set up to just sit and watch this area, no sign by lunch and we were thinking this is going to be a miss but when we headed back to the seat the long way round we saw the little bugger fly down the river. Djop went over to the far bank of the stream and I crept along the near side with Sarah in tow, finally we got right to the dam and there he was, of course the Southern Silvery Kingfisher didn’t stay for long, he flew back to the gardens. A little disappointed at no photos we headed back only to have a worker from the farm ask if we were looking for the Kingfisher, “Yes” – well he is sitting on that bare tree next to arena. Excellent we got a few shots but he was moved on by an aggressive Black-naped Monarch, however I saw where he had gone to.
We walked slowly to the area (asking a workman on his bike to wait for 5 minutes before cycling past us and coming across the bridge) and grabbed some decent shots. A nice bird to finish with on Mindanao – our 5th Kingfisher so far.
Off to the airport through the Davao traffic to the airport drop off and say our good bye to Gio before grabbing some dinner in the terminal and getting a slightly late direct flight to Bacolod.
We meet our new driver Chris (Alain’s brother) for our 8 days on Negros and head to our hotel Henry’s Roost a bird themed hotel in the town centre. As we don’t get to bed much before midnight we agree a 6am start tomorrow, not 5 as originally planned.
This was a day and a half of filler trips as we couldn’t go to Mt Tagubud and couldn’t get an earlier direct flight to Negros – it seems this is lack of access is due to tribal security problems rather than anything to do with the insurgency.
To break up the drive we stopped at Panabo, there has been a Chinese Crested Tern here but it wasn’t a lifer for us so after a short session going through the Whiskered Terns on the various islands, we gave up on the Tern; on the marshes we had Pied Stilt, Grey Plover, Eurasian Curlew, Whimbrel, Red-necked Stint, Grey-tailed Tattler, Redshank, Greenshank, Javan Pond Heron and White-breasted Wood-swallow and Collared Kingfisher.
Our afternoon was spend at Malagos Garden Resort, where we had lunch and spent the afternoon chasing after a couple of birds we had missed elsewhere.
However, we didn’t see the Kingfisher or Sunbird that we needed but did get good views of Pygmy and Buzzing Flowerpecker, Garden Sunbird, Yellow-vented Bulbul, Asian Glossy Starling, Red-crowned Bee-eater and also a Flowerpecker that I photographed but doesn’t look like Red-keeled or Buzzing (a partial black band on front).
One of the site nature guides told us where the Kingfisher usually appear at first light, so we decided to visit the chocolate museum and then do a chocolate tasting (Sarah’s treat) before going to our hotel in Davao via a nice seafood restaurant.
Day 12 - Philippine Eagle Centre and Malagos
We headed to the Malagos resort to try for the Kingfisher and get breakfast, no sign of the Kingfisher but as we headed up to breakfast we did get the Orange-lined Sunbird. After breakfast we went to the Eagle Foundation Centre, there is some forest and a stream so some naturally occurring birds as well as the captive eagles. In the end all we added was Grey-streaked Flycatcher, Brown-throated Sunbird and Grey Wagtail before going into the centre.
Interesting exhibit with around 20 Philippine Eagle (most of whom will now never make it into the wild again). I was intrigued to see Viggo whose story Ben told me in Bukidnon.
He was a young Eagle who was released into the wild from a captivity in the Centre to forest near Cinchona, Bukidnon, however the bird wasn’t scared of man and would harass and eat the local village cats and dogs even when people were around, he wasn’t afraid to attack children if they tried to intervene. In the end they had to recapture the bird and he will now be kept in the centre for the rest of his live which could be another 20+ years.
The birds being held are either injured, been bred and held in captivity for too long, our like Viggo have failed to adjust to living in the wild. They are well kept and fed but ultimately captive and only allowed to fly very occasionally, it is really sad to see such fine birds being held here when there is suitable mountain forest available.
Anyway back to Malagos and we are sitting watching a dripping pipe, Asian Glossy Starlings, Yellow-vented Bulbul and Philippine Bulbul drinking at it when Djop calls “Silvery” but it is gone back towards the river and the Cacao fields before we can raise our bins.
We had messaged Ben who was here with his Singapore birders on the way to Bislig 2 days ago and he had seen the bird near a pond and little dam at the gate to the Chocolate Farm; so we grabbed some chairs and set up to just sit and watch this area, no sign by lunch and we were thinking this is going to be a miss but when we headed back to the seat the long way round we saw the little bugger fly down the river. Djop went over to the far bank of the stream and I crept along the near side with Sarah in tow, finally we got right to the dam and there he was, of course the Southern Silvery Kingfisher didn’t stay for long, he flew back to the gardens. A little disappointed at no photos we headed back only to have a worker from the farm ask if we were looking for the Kingfisher, “Yes” – well he is sitting on that bare tree next to arena. Excellent we got a few shots but he was moved on by an aggressive Black-naped Monarch, however I saw where he had gone to.
We walked slowly to the area (asking a workman on his bike to wait for 5 minutes before cycling past us and coming across the bridge) and grabbed some decent shots. A nice bird to finish with on Mindanao – our 5th Kingfisher so far.
Off to the airport through the Davao traffic to the airport drop off and say our good bye to Gio before grabbing some dinner in the terminal and getting a slightly late direct flight to Bacolod.
We meet our new driver Chris (Alain’s brother) for our 8 days on Negros and head to our hotel Henry’s Roost a bird themed hotel in the town centre. As we don’t get to bed much before midnight we agree a 6am start tomorrow, not 5 as originally planned.
Attachments
dandsblair
David and Sarah
Day 13 Gawahon Eco Reserve
Just as well we didn’t leave at 5, nothing is open in town and the 2nd McDonald’s on the ring road is just opening as we arrive, so we have McMuffin and coffee before setting off. Weather when we arrive at Gawahon is pretty poor but the local guide Ricky, calls me over to see the first endemic before Djop has even booked us in, sitting in the rain is a Visayan (Black-belted) Flowerpecker, a lovely little bird that poses nicely in a fern while the drizzle falls around him.
Ricky asks what my main targets are, no surprise to him that they are Flame-templed Babbler and Indigo-banded Kingfisher and then a surprise Lemon-throated Leaf-warbler, he says we have a chance of them all but the Babbler could be tricky. We head to the waterfall but the trail above is closed due to rain and the slippy rocks, that probably means no Jungle Flycatcher despite him having a spot for one from a few days ago but the Kingfisher had been seen regular around the falls, sure enough we see the Southern Indigo-banded Kingfisher within 10 minutes and see the male regularly throughout the day but only see the female at a change over as she comes out of her hole.
The rain gets really heavy so we retreat to a covered pavilion with views over the forest to the river. It is actually a very good spot as every 20-30 minutes a wave of birds pass us by, in the first we have a couple of Visayan Bulbuls, a Citrine Canary Flycatcher, a Magnificent Sunbird and a couple of Sulphur-billed Nuthatchs, the next round brings the addition of Visayan Fantail, Elegant Tit and Lemon-throated Leaf Warbler. Everytime we start out for a walk along the open trails the rain returns and we scamper back under umbrellas to the pavilion, after lunch we continue in the same vain but do make it to the closed trail end and luck is with us we have a Flame-templed Babbler in a mixed flock which I manage to protograph, Djop can’t believe that I’ve got a few recognisable shots of this bird that he thought we would be lucky to see let alone photograph. I was on a roll and also photographed a White-vented Whistler another tricky to see bird before the rain came in bucket loads.
When sheltering the mixed flock came back around to some trees with a little fruit just below us and amongst a group of Bulbuls, Fantail, Yellowish White-eye and Philippine Leaf Warbler the Flame-templed Babbler came out into the open very briefly to allow a few more photos, Djop said loads of his Philippine birder pals have tried many times and never got more than a glimpse or two of this bird so for us bothto have got a number of almost unobscured views is a great result.
That was almost it as the rain didn’t let up but we did in the gloom get a Buff-eared Brown Dove which hung around for us to study him and Pygmy and Bi-Coloured Flowerpeckers, also showed considering we didn’t walk more than 400m from the pavilion at any time, we had a very productive day – unsurprisingly no night birding due to the rain.
Just as well we didn’t leave at 5, nothing is open in town and the 2nd McDonald’s on the ring road is just opening as we arrive, so we have McMuffin and coffee before setting off. Weather when we arrive at Gawahon is pretty poor but the local guide Ricky, calls me over to see the first endemic before Djop has even booked us in, sitting in the rain is a Visayan (Black-belted) Flowerpecker, a lovely little bird that poses nicely in a fern while the drizzle falls around him.
Ricky asks what my main targets are, no surprise to him that they are Flame-templed Babbler and Indigo-banded Kingfisher and then a surprise Lemon-throated Leaf-warbler, he says we have a chance of them all but the Babbler could be tricky. We head to the waterfall but the trail above is closed due to rain and the slippy rocks, that probably means no Jungle Flycatcher despite him having a spot for one from a few days ago but the Kingfisher had been seen regular around the falls, sure enough we see the Southern Indigo-banded Kingfisher within 10 minutes and see the male regularly throughout the day but only see the female at a change over as she comes out of her hole.
The rain gets really heavy so we retreat to a covered pavilion with views over the forest to the river. It is actually a very good spot as every 20-30 minutes a wave of birds pass us by, in the first we have a couple of Visayan Bulbuls, a Citrine Canary Flycatcher, a Magnificent Sunbird and a couple of Sulphur-billed Nuthatchs, the next round brings the addition of Visayan Fantail, Elegant Tit and Lemon-throated Leaf Warbler. Everytime we start out for a walk along the open trails the rain returns and we scamper back under umbrellas to the pavilion, after lunch we continue in the same vain but do make it to the closed trail end and luck is with us we have a Flame-templed Babbler in a mixed flock which I manage to protograph, Djop can’t believe that I’ve got a few recognisable shots of this bird that he thought we would be lucky to see let alone photograph. I was on a roll and also photographed a White-vented Whistler another tricky to see bird before the rain came in bucket loads.
When sheltering the mixed flock came back around to some trees with a little fruit just below us and amongst a group of Bulbuls, Fantail, Yellowish White-eye and Philippine Leaf Warbler the Flame-templed Babbler came out into the open very briefly to allow a few more photos, Djop said loads of his Philippine birder pals have tried many times and never got more than a glimpse or two of this bird so for us bothto have got a number of almost unobscured views is a great result.
That was almost it as the rain didn’t let up but we did in the gloom get a Buff-eared Brown Dove which hung around for us to study him and Pygmy and Bi-Coloured Flowerpeckers, also showed considering we didn’t walk more than 400m from the pavilion at any time, we had a very productive day – unsurprisingly no night birding due to the rain.
Attachments
dandsblair
David and Sarah
Day14 – Mambukal Mountain Resort
Mambukal is a hotel and some lakes in the national park. There is road and parking and then some trails into the mountain foothills.
We did so well yesterday with Visayan endemics that we only had a couple of targets. The first was not a new bird but a sub-species of Kingfisher and we quickly found and photographed Spotted Wood Kingfisher, not sure how likely it is to be split from the Luzon birds but lots of other Philippine birds are being done.
The next bird is also a possible split (Visayan Mirabilis) Balicassiao, with a pure white belly and slightly different shaped tail it is surely going to be split soon.
We didn’t have many targets at Mambukal, just one bird that is only reliably found in this area, we went with a local guide up a mountain trail to a small stream; on the way we flushed a couple of Luzon Boobooks but we couldn’t find their day roost, only other birds on the way were Zebra Dove, Asian Emerald Dove and Grey Wagtail. When we got to the area just a few miles outside the resort we called the bird and heard a very melodic song from across the river, we tried calling for as long as I felt comfortable but only had glimpses of the bird. Our guide BigBoy decided to cross the river put his speaker on a tree by the water and then came back to join us before calling. This time the Visayan Shama showed in the open but he just wouldn’t come close enough for a photograph despite BigBoy’s best efforts, he was very disappointed that this was as good as we got as a few days before when he was leading the Wings group he had the bird singing within 5 meters of him and videoed it with his phone. He knew of another territory further up the mountain but it was a steep climb on a rough track, as we had seen the bird Ok we decided to just return to the park area for lunch and some more birding. Highlight was 50,000 Grey Rumped Swiftlets, under a bridge, then Magnificent Sunbird and loads of Philippine Fruit Bats.
This afternoon we targeted the sub species of Phil Pygmy Woodpecker and Coppersmith Barbet, not sure if there is any likelihood of splits but the guys reckoned the Visayan sub species were sufficiently different from the nominate that they could be in the future. It also became clear that a few Philippine Birders we spoke to are a little annoyed that the Philippines with its thousands of islands and almost 300 endemic birds doesn’t have a single endemic barbet, they would love for (Celestinoi, Cebuensis and Intermedia) all with red heads to be Philippine Barbet. I’m personally not sure if they are that different from the other 6 sub-species but no doubt when they do the DNA and vocal analysis of the birds we will see.
Only other birds were a close up Philippine Serpent Eagle and more views of Black-belted Flowerpecker.
We did also see the local race of Giant Stick Insect, the biggest stick insect I’ve ever seen.
Mambukal is a hotel and some lakes in the national park. There is road and parking and then some trails into the mountain foothills.
We did so well yesterday with Visayan endemics that we only had a couple of targets. The first was not a new bird but a sub-species of Kingfisher and we quickly found and photographed Spotted Wood Kingfisher, not sure how likely it is to be split from the Luzon birds but lots of other Philippine birds are being done.
The next bird is also a possible split (Visayan Mirabilis) Balicassiao, with a pure white belly and slightly different shaped tail it is surely going to be split soon.
We didn’t have many targets at Mambukal, just one bird that is only reliably found in this area, we went with a local guide up a mountain trail to a small stream; on the way we flushed a couple of Luzon Boobooks but we couldn’t find their day roost, only other birds on the way were Zebra Dove, Asian Emerald Dove and Grey Wagtail. When we got to the area just a few miles outside the resort we called the bird and heard a very melodic song from across the river, we tried calling for as long as I felt comfortable but only had glimpses of the bird. Our guide BigBoy decided to cross the river put his speaker on a tree by the water and then came back to join us before calling. This time the Visayan Shama showed in the open but he just wouldn’t come close enough for a photograph despite BigBoy’s best efforts, he was very disappointed that this was as good as we got as a few days before when he was leading the Wings group he had the bird singing within 5 meters of him and videoed it with his phone. He knew of another territory further up the mountain but it was a steep climb on a rough track, as we had seen the bird Ok we decided to just return to the park area for lunch and some more birding. Highlight was 50,000 Grey Rumped Swiftlets, under a bridge, then Magnificent Sunbird and loads of Philippine Fruit Bats.
This afternoon we targeted the sub species of Phil Pygmy Woodpecker and Coppersmith Barbet, not sure if there is any likelihood of splits but the guys reckoned the Visayan sub species were sufficiently different from the nominate that they could be in the future. It also became clear that a few Philippine Birders we spoke to are a little annoyed that the Philippines with its thousands of islands and almost 300 endemic birds doesn’t have a single endemic barbet, they would love for (Celestinoi, Cebuensis and Intermedia) all with red heads to be Philippine Barbet. I’m personally not sure if they are that different from the other 6 sub-species but no doubt when they do the DNA and vocal analysis of the birds we will see.
Only other birds were a close up Philippine Serpent Eagle and more views of Black-belted Flowerpecker.
We did also see the local race of Giant Stick Insect, the biggest stick insect I’ve ever seen.
Attachments
dandsblair
David and Sarah
Day 15 Liptong Woodland
Late start as we could no longer get access to Negros Forest Eco Park.
However we got some good news in compensation we can visit Denapa in a few days time. This is a protected area where some rare species are released into the wild and is not normally accessible to the public. We can go as long as were are happy to share with a German film crew – more than happy!
After breakfast we would head straight to Valencia (stopping only for lunch) on the outskirts of Damaguete. Here we would go to Liptong, this small woodland owned by Rene (“Tatay Ete”) Vendiola is a collection of native trees and plants which supports some rare birds, reptiles and insects. Tatay set this up after he heard Negros Scops Owl nearby (at his mother’s house) when he had just returned from a three day expedition to try to find the Owl with Tim Fisher and crew. Having established the owl and some other birds are here, he bought some land and gradually expended it planting more native plants each year. We met and spoke to Rene but we would be guided by his son.
We arrive mid-afternoon, unfortunately there are no current known day roosts for the owls, and they are not certain to be seen even at night, Rene says the owls are likely to be more visible when they are breeding in a couple of months, we don’t have too many targets so we just wander around the area, highlights are Phil Magpie Robin, Phil Coucal, Phil Hanging Parrot, Brown Shrike and then a lovely little Visayan Tailorbird that we eventually coax out into the open but the bird refuse to pose on a natural area, so photos are on the overhead cable.
Only other significant birds before dark are Visayan Flowerpecker, Visayan Bulbul and White-eared Brown Dove.
Our walk is along a dried river bed where the bird has been seen, although one pair of birders we met had missed it on their attempt. We walked for around an hour trying to call the owl and getting nothing but at the third spot there was a very faint response, we tried for ages trying to find the bird before Rene’s son called us all over, there in the spot was a cracking little Negros Scops Owl, we almost floated back down to the house and had a bonus of a Luzon Boobook just before the house.
(We did meet the guys who missed it a couple of days later and they got the Owl at the second attempt).
Back into town for a late BBQ dinner, fortunately being more touristy here restaurants stay open much later than on Mindanao.
Late start as we could no longer get access to Negros Forest Eco Park.
However we got some good news in compensation we can visit Denapa in a few days time. This is a protected area where some rare species are released into the wild and is not normally accessible to the public. We can go as long as were are happy to share with a German film crew – more than happy!
After breakfast we would head straight to Valencia (stopping only for lunch) on the outskirts of Damaguete. Here we would go to Liptong, this small woodland owned by Rene (“Tatay Ete”) Vendiola is a collection of native trees and plants which supports some rare birds, reptiles and insects. Tatay set this up after he heard Negros Scops Owl nearby (at his mother’s house) when he had just returned from a three day expedition to try to find the Owl with Tim Fisher and crew. Having established the owl and some other birds are here, he bought some land and gradually expended it planting more native plants each year. We met and spoke to Rene but we would be guided by his son.
We arrive mid-afternoon, unfortunately there are no current known day roosts for the owls, and they are not certain to be seen even at night, Rene says the owls are likely to be more visible when they are breeding in a couple of months, we don’t have too many targets so we just wander around the area, highlights are Phil Magpie Robin, Phil Coucal, Phil Hanging Parrot, Brown Shrike and then a lovely little Visayan Tailorbird that we eventually coax out into the open but the bird refuse to pose on a natural area, so photos are on the overhead cable.
Only other significant birds before dark are Visayan Flowerpecker, Visayan Bulbul and White-eared Brown Dove.
Our walk is along a dried river bed where the bird has been seen, although one pair of birders we met had missed it on their attempt. We walked for around an hour trying to call the owl and getting nothing but at the third spot there was a very faint response, we tried for ages trying to find the bird before Rene’s son called us all over, there in the spot was a cracking little Negros Scops Owl, we almost floated back down to the house and had a bonus of a Luzon Boobook just before the house.
(We did meet the guys who missed it a couple of days later and they got the Owl at the second attempt).
Back into town for a late BBQ dinner, fortunately being more touristy here restaurants stay open much later than on Mindanao.
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dandsblair
David and Sarah
Day 16 Nasulo Geothermal Plant and Twin Lakes
We were heading up to the Geothermal plant for a single target bird, a local guide Jac had obtained us access permits to the plant area and above.
We hadn’t really expected it to be so cold up here on Mt Cuernos, it was easily the coldest of any place we had been in the Philippines (on both our trips) and we hadn’t brought our jackets just light fleeces. Worse still Chris had mixed up the breakfast order and hadn’t brought warm coffee but cold bottles of coke up with us to have with breakfast. Fortunately Jac had a small thermos of coffee and we each had a small cup in a cut plastic water bottle half, two cups from a bottle.
We stayed up here for an uncomfortable three hours but only heard a Negros Striped Babbler once despite a mixed flock which Jac thought contained the bird passing us 4 times over this period, not even a glimpse of the bird. The only birds we actually saw were Elegant Tit, Phil Jungle Crow, Grey Wagtail, Turquoise Flycatcher, Visayan Bulbul, Citrine Canary Flycatcher, Warbling White-eye and Little Pied Flycatcher and we heard, but couldn’t see a Shortwing.
We were quite glad to go down to a café near some waterfalls to warm up and have some lunch – Philippine Spinetail seen here.
There was still plenty of time left in the day so we headed to Balinsasayo, for an additional stop. Also known as the Twin Lakes National Park this is quite a busy spot on weekends but despite the crowds and nose at the visitor centre and viewing area we added a few good birds, first we had a couple of Visayan Hornbills, then Magnificent Sunbird, before Djop got a White-winged Cuckooshrike in the scope, record shot also obtained, we then added male and female Maroon-naped Sunbirds and then tried for ages to get one of the Amethyst Brown-Doves types to show but it was heard only.
That was just about it for the day adding only Brown-throated and Collared Kingfisher at the small entrance lake.
We were heading up to the Geothermal plant for a single target bird, a local guide Jac had obtained us access permits to the plant area and above.
We were quite glad to go down to a café near some waterfalls to warm up and have some lunch – Philippine Spinetail seen here.
There was still plenty of time left in the day so we headed to Balinsasayo, for an additional stop. Also known as the Twin Lakes National Park this is quite a busy spot on weekends but despite the crowds and nose at the visitor centre and viewing area we added a few good birds, first we had a couple of Visayan Hornbills, then Magnificent Sunbird, before Djop got a White-winged Cuckooshrike in the scope, record shot also obtained, we then added male and female Maroon-naped Sunbirds and then tried for ages to get one of the Amethyst Brown-Doves types to show but it was heard only.
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dandsblair
David and Sarah
Day 17 – Denapa Nature area nr Bayawan
We had been to a breeding centre near Bacolod where they mentioned the nature reserve where they released recovered and captive bred, birds, deer and pigs into the wild. Some of the birds just released have radio receivers so that researchers can track and access the birds and see if they are breeding etc. The programme has been running since before the pandemic and there are at least 13 Negros Bleeding Hearts that have been released plus additional birds either chicks or birds attracted by those other birds
The researchers don’t believe that the population is strong enough to open up a corridor to wild areas nearby yet, although birds have been seen at Twin Lakes, so there could be natural coming and goings.
Our first bird is a bit of a struggle the researcher knows roughly where one bird is by his radio signal but it is along some very rough and steep terrain, the guide manages to see a bird, but no sign of transmitter and calls us across, Sarah says the terrain is too tough for her and urges me to go alone, using a stick I manage to get across the ditches and the ranger points out a female Negros Bleeding Heart sitting in some leaf litter. I eventually manage to see it and even get a photo, I ask the ranger to get Sarah, she is no longer worried about scaring the bird before anyone sees it so with help from Djop and the ranger makes it across and sees the bird, elation! When I showed the TV crew the photos later they thought the bird was nesting or looking to build a nest and were going to go back and hopefully film it in the same area and present it in next year’s film “Wild Philippines”. The ranger wasn’t sure as it was a youngish female.
Only other bird seen in this area was Philippine Magpie Robin.
We then went to the main camp area where the TV crew have set up and are filming a Visayan Hornbill nest, the female is locked in just a bill showing occasionally, with the male coming to feed every 4-6 hours, so it is slow work to get the shots the crew need.
The film company are German but the camera man (Richard) is from the UK and we share tales and info, he has just come from a 10 day stay up on a platform at eye-level filming a Philippine Eagle nest. It took weeks to find the nest and then days to build the platform and once up there all food had to be raised up and waste taken down, he could only nap for short periods and the male would stop by every 8-10 hours for just a few minutes, hardest thing is to stay awake when all you are doing is listening to music on your phone 24x7.
Anyway the hornbill nest is much easier with a climber just going up on ropes to change cameras equipment with operation of the camera from the ground.
We saw the male Visayan Hornbill in the forest but in our time here it didn’t come back to the nest hole, only other birds we saw before heading back to the lowland area was Blue-naped Parrot, Hooded Pitta, Pink-necked Green Pigeon and Coletto.
In afternoon the ranger told us that some of the Bleeding Hearts including some males came back to area where they were originally released. It felt slightly cheating that the guide using his antennae could tell as Red coming in from over there and we could position to see the bird, Purple from over there and Yellow from over there but if we hadn’t seen the bird with no transmitter this morning we would have been very excited at these views this afternoon.
As a treat we stopped at Bayawan and bought Yellow, Purple and Red rice cakes to remember the moment.
We also saw recently released Visayan Warty Pigs but no deer apart from those still held in the pre-release pens, we were told that these are very wary and even with trackers we couldn’t get near them.
We had been to a breeding centre near Bacolod where they mentioned the nature reserve where they released recovered and captive bred, birds, deer and pigs into the wild. Some of the birds just released have radio receivers so that researchers can track and access the birds and see if they are breeding etc. The programme has been running since before the pandemic and there are at least 13 Negros Bleeding Hearts that have been released plus additional birds either chicks or birds attracted by those other birds
The researchers don’t believe that the population is strong enough to open up a corridor to wild areas nearby yet, although birds have been seen at Twin Lakes, so there could be natural coming and goings.
Only other bird seen in this area was Philippine Magpie Robin.
We then went to the main camp area where the TV crew have set up and are filming a Visayan Hornbill nest, the female is locked in just a bill showing occasionally, with the male coming to feed every 4-6 hours, so it is slow work to get the shots the crew need.
The film company are German but the camera man (Richard) is from the UK and we share tales and info, he has just come from a 10 day stay up on a platform at eye-level filming a Philippine Eagle nest. It took weeks to find the nest and then days to build the platform and once up there all food had to be raised up and waste taken down, he could only nap for short periods and the male would stop by every 8-10 hours for just a few minutes, hardest thing is to stay awake when all you are doing is listening to music on your phone 24x7.
Anyway the hornbill nest is much easier with a climber just going up on ropes to change cameras equipment with operation of the camera from the ground.
We saw the male Visayan Hornbill in the forest but in our time here it didn’t come back to the nest hole, only other birds we saw before heading back to the lowland area was Blue-naped Parrot, Hooded Pitta, Pink-necked Green Pigeon and Coletto.
In afternoon the ranger told us that some of the Bleeding Hearts including some males came back to area where they were originally released. It felt slightly cheating that the guide using his antennae could tell as Red coming in from over there and we could position to see the bird, Purple from over there and Yellow from over there but if we hadn’t seen the bird with no transmitter this morning we would have been very excited at these views this afternoon.
As a treat we stopped at Bayawan and bought Yellow, Purple and Red rice cakes to remember the moment.
We also saw recently released Visayan Warty Pigs but no deer apart from those still held in the pre-release pens, we were told that these are very wary and even with trackers we couldn’t get near them.
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dandsblair
David and Sarah
dandsblair
David and Sarah
Day 18 Balinsasayou Twin Lakes
It was pretty misty and dull when we arrived at the main centre for breakfast, we were taking a boat trip to the second lake tower view point and looking for birds along the lakeside from the boat. Bleeding Heart had been spotted here a while back but we now weren’t too excited by this prospect after yesterdays sightings, on the boat trip we saw a pair of Yellow-breasted Fruit Dove, Little Heron, Brown-throated Kingfisher and Pink-necked Imperial Pigeon before we arrived at the other side of the lake and climbed to the view point of the slightly higher volcanic lake, fortunately the mist cleared occasionaly and we were able to get good views of Visayan Hornbill, Visayan Bulbul, Elegant Tit. Metallic Pigeon, White-winged CuckooShrike, Yellowish White-eye and Coleto.
Unfortunately the fog then set in and ourselves and another couple of pairs of birders including Nicky Icarangal who we realised we had met at the UK Birdfair just before we came previously to the Philippines, Nicky was on the Philippine Tourism stand handing out the two free Birdwatching guides they had produced (which included some of his photographs) – what a small world, we chatted and shared info will we waited for the weather to clear.
We were trying for Visayan Cuckooshrike, the others were still looking for White-winged Cuckooshrike, we walked to and from the entrance lake at different times but visibility was very poor and all we got was the Grey-breasted Brown Dove and better views of the Maroon-naped and Magnificent Sunbird. Fortunately they sold good coffee and snacks but at around 4pm Nicky and his client went to Liptong to try again for the Scops Owls (successfully it turned out) and we went via the coast, back to Damaguete, only adding Little Egret, Pied Stilt, Cattle Egret, Brahminy Kite and House Swift.
It was pretty misty and dull when we arrived at the main centre for breakfast, we were taking a boat trip to the second lake tower view point and looking for birds along the lakeside from the boat. Bleeding Heart had been spotted here a while back but we now weren’t too excited by this prospect after yesterdays sightings, on the boat trip we saw a pair of Yellow-breasted Fruit Dove, Little Heron, Brown-throated Kingfisher and Pink-necked Imperial Pigeon before we arrived at the other side of the lake and climbed to the view point of the slightly higher volcanic lake, fortunately the mist cleared occasionaly and we were able to get good views of Visayan Hornbill, Visayan Bulbul, Elegant Tit. Metallic Pigeon, White-winged CuckooShrike, Yellowish White-eye and Coleto.
Unfortunately the fog then set in and ourselves and another couple of pairs of birders including Nicky Icarangal who we realised we had met at the UK Birdfair just before we came previously to the Philippines, Nicky was on the Philippine Tourism stand handing out the two free Birdwatching guides they had produced (which included some of his photographs) – what a small world, we chatted and shared info will we waited for the weather to clear.
We were trying for Visayan Cuckooshrike, the others were still looking for White-winged Cuckooshrike, we walked to and from the entrance lake at different times but visibility was very poor and all we got was the Grey-breasted Brown Dove and better views of the Maroon-naped and Magnificent Sunbird. Fortunately they sold good coffee and snacks but at around 4pm Nicky and his client went to Liptong to try again for the Scops Owls (successfully it turned out) and we went via the coast, back to Damaguete, only adding Little Egret, Pied Stilt, Cattle Egret, Brahminy Kite and House Swift.
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David and Sarah
Day 19 Return to Balinsasayo Twin Lakes NP
We couldn’t go back up to try for the Striped Babbler as access wasn’t easy, it turned out that Nicky and his guy didn’t try for it either as he rated it not reliable at this time, so they also came back to Balinsasayo. Fortunately it was much brighter this morning and we were able to get better photos of the two Sunbirds, Maroon-naped and Magnificent, we also got a tip off for an area for Yellow-faced Flameback (extremely rare) but couldn’t locate it just a White-bellied Woodpecker seen, we did get type Arctic Warbler (not sure which one of the three now split species as it didn’t call) and good views of Visayan Balicassiao, Black-naped Oriole, White-vented Whistler and Black-naped Monarch.
In our 5th or 6th trip to the little lake at the park entrance we finally got our target the recently split Visayan Cuckooshrike, not in the near tree but viewable in the scope and even a distant record shot. We added Visayan Hornbill, Elegant Tit, Common Kingfisher and Phil Serpent Eagle before heading back to the viewing platform and cafe. Nicky had managed to get his French guy the White-winged on the tree we saw it from a few days before.
The weather started to turn, with mist coming in so we just birded around here, adding Buff-eared Brown Dove, finally getting a good photo of Grey-breasted Brown Dove, and last views of Orange-bellied Flowerpecker, Collared Kingfisher, Coleto and both sunbirds.
After lunch we decided to just head to Damaguete airport for our early evening flight, good news, down by the coast conditions were clear.
When we arrived in Manila, when met Maia who had come in to town to see us and then she went home with Djop.
Djop offered get us access to La Mesa or arrange for another days birding but we were happy to just relax for a couple of days and having been away for 3 weeks, I think Maia wanted Djop to spend a few days with her and their lad before he went off again next week.
Day 20/21 around hotel and resort area
No attempt at birding but we did see Kestrel, Tree Sparrow and Pacific Swallow.
We couldn’t go back up to try for the Striped Babbler as access wasn’t easy, it turned out that Nicky and his guy didn’t try for it either as he rated it not reliable at this time, so they also came back to Balinsasayo. Fortunately it was much brighter this morning and we were able to get better photos of the two Sunbirds, Maroon-naped and Magnificent, we also got a tip off for an area for Yellow-faced Flameback (extremely rare) but couldn’t locate it just a White-bellied Woodpecker seen, we did get type Arctic Warbler (not sure which one of the three now split species as it didn’t call) and good views of Visayan Balicassiao, Black-naped Oriole, White-vented Whistler and Black-naped Monarch.
In our 5th or 6th trip to the little lake at the park entrance we finally got our target the recently split Visayan Cuckooshrike, not in the near tree but viewable in the scope and even a distant record shot. We added Visayan Hornbill, Elegant Tit, Common Kingfisher and Phil Serpent Eagle before heading back to the viewing platform and cafe. Nicky had managed to get his French guy the White-winged on the tree we saw it from a few days before.
The weather started to turn, with mist coming in so we just birded around here, adding Buff-eared Brown Dove, finally getting a good photo of Grey-breasted Brown Dove, and last views of Orange-bellied Flowerpecker, Collared Kingfisher, Coleto and both sunbirds.
After lunch we decided to just head to Damaguete airport for our early evening flight, good news, down by the coast conditions were clear.
When we arrived in Manila, when met Maia who had come in to town to see us and then she went home with Djop.
Djop offered get us access to La Mesa or arrange for another days birding but we were happy to just relax for a couple of days and having been away for 3 weeks, I think Maia wanted Djop to spend a few days with her and their lad before he went off again next week.
Day 20/21 around hotel and resort area
No attempt at birding but we did see Kestrel, Tree Sparrow and Pacific Swallow.
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dandsblair
David and Sarah
Summary
We saw less birds than we did on our previous trip to the Philippines, this was always likely as we did Luzon and Palawan which are pretty birdy, as well as Cebu and Bohol last time. We also had less lifers but that is hardly surprising as a number of Philippine endemics / rarities we saw on our first trip also occur here.
I had a target of 70 to 80 life birds and we achieved that with 75 lifers and at least 4 or 5 future likely spits.
My top 5 birds were
Negros Scops Owl
Apo Myna
Flame-templed Babbler
Southern Silvery Kingfisher
Giant Scops Owl
We saw less birds than we did on our previous trip to the Philippines, this was always likely as we did Luzon and Palawan which are pretty birdy, as well as Cebu and Bohol last time. We also had less lifers but that is hardly surprising as a number of Philippine endemics / rarities we saw on our first trip also occur here.
I had a target of 70 to 80 life birds and we achieved that with 75 lifers and at least 4 or 5 future likely spits.
My top 5 birds were
Negros Scops Owl
Apo Myna
Flame-templed Babbler
Southern Silvery Kingfisher
Giant Scops Owl
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dandsblair
David and Sarah
Sarah's top 5 were
Philippine Trogon
Azure-breasted Pitta
Blue-capped Kingfisher
Negros Bleeding Heart
Black-belted Flowerpecker
I'll spell check and tidy up the report and put up a PDF version later.
Philippine Trogon
Azure-breasted Pitta
Blue-capped Kingfisher
Negros Bleeding Heart
Black-belted Flowerpecker
I'll spell check and tidy up the report and put up a PDF version later.
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dandsblair
David and Sarah
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