UP Birding Redux

It has been a while since we last birded in the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman campus so the scheduled guided trip was a great opportunity to go around the different birdy sites. There were more birders than participants so we had a relatively relaxed activity. Even before the participants arrived, birders were already enjoying views of four Coppersmith Barbets on our scopes.

Here's one of the four barbets perched on a tall tree near the library.

We moved on towards the Beta Ep walkway and were treated to a noisy Pied Triller "laughing" atop a tree. When it flew away from its exposed perch, we entered the path and were surrounded by chirps of flowerpeckers and sunbirds moving unseen through the trees. We met up with the second group of participants who were lucky enough to see a Grey-streaked Flycatcher by the entrance of the walkway.

Nearing the other end of the path, we took our time observing two White-collared Kingfishers nonchalantly bathing in the warm morning light.

One of the two kingfishers we saw.

Walking along the oval, we saw more Pied Trillers (there were so many that morning!), Golden-bellied Flyeaters, and Philippine Pygmy Woodpeckers. The high school students we were guiding also enjoyed watching a Brown Shrike dive to the ground in search of a meal. As we were trying to spot some woodpeckers in the trees beside the tennis courts, a raptor flew just above the tree tops! As birders looked at each other with huge round eyes, the unspoken message of "Let's go after it!" was felt for a heartbeat. But the call of duty to guide was stronger and we proceeded to the Lagoon instead of chasing after the unexpected raptor.

We were rewarded though by another excellent sighting: an immature Brush Cuckoo! We were trying to spot a Grey Wagtail when Maan and Jasmin called our attention to the young cuckoo perched on a tree. Some of us got too close and it flew around us to perch on a higher tree. It stayed there for a while and everyone enjoyed watching the bird while it ate a very hairy caterpillar.

The immature Brush Cuckoo resting after its "hairy" meal. Photo by Jops Josef.

The rest of the lagoon area was quiet with the construction going on. The group was able to spot some Zebra Doves along the path though. Our last stop was to check out the Philippine Nightjar in its now-popular day roost.

Sleepy Philippine Nightjar... sorry we woke you with all the ruckus.

We ended our UP guided trip with this beautiful bird and the promise of possible raptor sightings in the campus. I guess its time for quickie birding trips in UP to start again. See you there! =)