The Reluctant Twitcher Strikes Again

 For the Spoon.

I have become, admittedly, a somewhat reluctant twitcher. The past few years have been very slow in terms of birding for me, although I try my best to volunteer and guide for the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines as much as I can. So, one can only imagine the drive I have when it comes to twitching nowadays.

It felt like only a few months ago since I last went out in search of a particular bird - but it turns out that my last twitch was in April LAST YEAR for the Eurasian Oystercatcher. Which was a success, by the way, given that I decided to finally try for it quite late in the season.

After getting permission from the boss to go and spend a Wednesday morning twitching, I was still contemplating if I should really go, up until the night before. Reluctant twitcher indeed! But I pushed all hesitancy aside and repeated my good friend Mark's words about going out to find the rarest bird I will most likely see - For those still trying for it, Believe. Holy Grails can be found.

So off we went to Balanga, Bataan at 3AM on a Wednesday morning. Djop, Prof. Bert, and I chatted nonchalantly about small stuff during the drive and a quick breakfast stop, but deep down inside I was conditioning myself that we might dip on this bird.

We arrived at the entrance of the Balanga Wetland Park at roughly 6:30AM and were greeted by a large flock of egrets busy with their breakfast. We parked, got our stuff ready, and met Jenny and her husband Jason who would be our boatman that morning. Jenny was pushing a stroller which held a cheerful baby Jerson who I believed gave us good juju =)

We boarded our bangka and crossed the river, greeted by a beautiful sky as the sun continued to rise. 

After only a couple of minutes, we found ourselves standing and staring at an expanse of mudflats, silently praying to the birding gods that we find the lone Spoonbilled Sandpiper that made an appearance for the first time ever in the Philippines in this very area.

After a short discussion on our "gameplan", we immediately started scanning the area for the critically endangered species that had me squishing my way in the mud.

It took one hour before Djop found the bird and both him and Prof Bert were whisper-yelling me over to where they were standing - "MAI!" "MAIA!!!" then emphatically pointing to a spot near the water's edge. 

I think my heart stopped beating for a second or two before I started making my way to the guys. At the same time, a noisy bangka ran along the river, parallel to me, towards the bird!!! Noooooo! Would I have to outrun a motorized boat to the bird before the boat flushed it away?! 

Squelch squelch squelch. 

I don't know how I managed to walk that fast on slippery, treacherously soft mud without slipping or falling on my behind! Of course, the bangka reached the bird before I did, successfully flushing it....

towards me! 

It flew past me and banked further away before landing, but since the three of us had eyes on it THE WHOLE TIME we were able to reposition ourselves and put the bird on our scopes, bins, and cameras! 

HUZZAH! Lifer! Mega lifer!

Spoonbilled Sandpiper

This was the first official twitch of my Canon SX70 and what a lucky camera it is! The bird actively fed with a small group of Red-necked Stints, foraging between snails and, sadly, bits of garbage. We "lost" the bird a couple of time but reacquired it after a few minutes of searching.

"Found it!"

"Markers?"

"Just in front of the blue piece of plastic."

"The big one or the small one?

"The small one."

It is quite a sad thing that reference points to find the bird involved differentiating between sizes of trash or between shades of "SM blue" and "Watsons blue" plastic and it actually working - but here we are.

A critically endangered species feeding amidst, well, trash.

The sighting of this bird in Manila Bay should bring to light its importance and the need to protect the habitat. "It also highlights the significance of Manila Bay as a crucial feeding area for migratory waterbirds, including species of international importance." writes our birder friend Lu-Ann Bajarias in an article published on Inquirer.net (Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1919617/worlds-rarest-most-threatened-migratory-shore-bird-spotted-in-ph#ixzz8V7VAmlZq)

A successful twitch and surrounded by wonderful waders (the Pacific Golden Plovers were transitioning to breeding plumage!!!!), my birder heart was very happy and, yes, much relieved. Mark said to believe, and I did! 

Happy twitchers who were back to work in Manila after lunch

We returned to the other side of the river and took a celebratory selfie with Jason, Jenny, and Jerson who shared our smiles and happiness from finding the bird.

I also promised to volunteer to guide once a month for the rest of the year if I saw the bird. So, Mike... 😜

Sharing some video clips of this most awesome lifer!! Thank you to Mark, Jas, Mads, and Lu-Ann for the tips and good luck wishes! 💖

A "Late to the Party" Twitch

It was towards mid-February when photos of a Eurasian Oystercatcher began popping up on my Facebook feed. A lone individual had been spotted in the mudflats of Tanza, Navotas. This was the fourth sighting of this Near Threatened bird in the Philippines which is known to spend the winter months in eastern China and along the western coast of Korea.

The oystercatcher, a wader with a bright orange beak, has been on my "wish to see" list of birds ever since I opened the Kennedy guide but never really thought I'd get a chance to see it in the Philippines. So when the days, then the weeks ticked by with me having no extra time to go see the rare bird, I slowly accepted my fate that I was to dip on this extremely rare chance of seeing it.

But then... I couldn't stand it any longer. 

I'm sure many, if not all birders, know the tugging feeling of a possible lifer just waiting for you to come see it. But alongside that feeling comes the silent dread whispering "It may have already left though..."  Call it the Id and Superego of birding.... the tiny angel and devil on each shoulder each whispering in your ear: "Go for it! You deserve it!" cheers the angel, "It's a migrant! It's probably flying away right now!" sneers the devil.

What the heck. I asked Djop to make arrangements with Alfie of DENR-NCR for the following day I got the itch to twitch the Oystercatcher. Thankfully, Alfie was kind enough to update us on the bird (it was still there!!!) and accommodated us the following day. This was already March 22! More than a month after its first sighting!

Lifer! Photo by Djop

Digibinned by me

After a walk and a short boat ride, I was staring at a mega-lifer: Eurasian Oystercatcher! I breathed out a sigh of relief and literally shed some tears at our successful twitch. I honestly thought with my luck, we weren't going to see it. But there it was! I was still deserving of such success in birding!

It was my first time in the site and was amazed at the waders that were there. A flock of Pied Avocets greeted us when we arrived, as well as some Black-headed Gulls, lots of Pacific Golden Plovers, godwits, egrets, terns and many others foraging in the mudflats and shallows.  

Pied Avocets. Photo by Djop.

Our being on a boat piqued the curiosity of some of my birder friends (come on, guys...) So, for everyone's information, THIS was how far we were from the bird while on the boat:

See the bird? I can, I was there. 
I mean, honestly...

This was the closest we went
so as not to flush the object of our twitch away.

The Oystercatcher stayed unperturbed the whole time we were there observing and photographing it. Yes, a birdwatcher and a bird photographer in a boat to see the bird. It stayed there still nonchalant of us while our little banca was paddled back to the mangrove area to disembark, probably wondering why there were birders gawking at it under the broiling midday sun. 

We left after a few minutes as I was starting to get a migraine from the heat... it was a successful twitch already! As we made our way back to Alfie waiting for us by the mangroves, Djop spotted a "biggish" wader in the shallows. I quickly took a look through my bins, the haze making me more dizzy, whispered "Some knot. Let's go PLEASE!" feeling my brain slowly being fried already.

On the ride back to Quezon City, a quick review of the photos showed it was indeed a Great Knot! 

Great Knot posing for the camera. Photo by Djop.

It turned out to be a great twitchy Wednesday morning off from work (of course, I got my boss's blessing first!) and was back in my work-from-home desk (aka dining table) just after lunch. 

Not bad at all for a last minute twitch for a very obliging vagrant that seems to be enjoying its stay in Manila Bay... it's still here!!!

Thank you, Alfie! Will visit again soon and enjoy all the waders the site has to offer!

Me, Alfie, and Djop

I will celebrate this twitching victory as part of my 13th Birding Birthday tomorrow, April 9! 

Hooray for birds!

Hello Again, Manila Bay

A year after I last joined Arne's waterbird survey in Manila Bay, I found myself back in the Atlag fish port in Malolos, Bulacan, boarding a small motorized banca, and heading out to the bay. This was my third time to participate in Arne's survey and for this trip I was with Arne, Tinggay, and Harry.

Boarding our banca at sunrise

Arne discussing our "game plan" with our boatmen

The count officially started as we sped through the river heading out to Barangay Pamarawan. Egrets and terns were flying around us, out to get their first meal of the day, and night herons were flying overhead heading home to roost.

It was low tide that morning so our boatmen had to navigate slowly

At one point, Tinggay transferred to the smaller paddle boat and we were
pushed to deeper waters

We stopped at 8 different sites that day and some sites held quite a number of birds. There were some though that looked like a good spot to see lots of birds but sadly were empty of them. The fishing pens reliably had birds perched on the bamboo poles holding the nets together.

Black-headed Gull

Collared Kingfisher

Striated Heron

Our first stop was on a little "island" in Barangay Pulo-Pulo. There were good sightings there though quite far. We saw Whimbrels, Little Terns, and three Chinese Egrets among other waders.

Our small "office" in Manila Bay =)
Photo by Harry Miller

Chinese Egret busy foraging for food

Some Little Terns on a sand bar

After counting the area, we headed back out the bay and stopped at a place the boatmen called "Capiz Beach" in Bambang. The water was too shallow so Arne and I transferred to the paddle boat and headed to the beach to check for birds. We found almost none...

Arne scanning a potentially bird-y area for birds. Nada.

Our small and reliable paddle boat!
Photo by Harry Miller

As we transferred to our next stop, the fish pens and exposed rocks served as additional "sites" with Greater Crested Terns, Black-headed Gulls, Pacific Golden Plovers, and Ruddy Turnstones.

Terns and gulls in a row

Greater Crested Terns are always a delight to see =)

Pacific Golden Plovers on exposed rocks

The gems of the trip, for me at least, were the salt pans we visited. Aside from it being my first time to see actual salt pans, it was waders galore!!!

  

That's Harry on his scope, scanning for birds

We spotted a huge congregation of waders in the inner, empty plots of land so we went for a closer look and found a big group of 68 Far Eastern Curlews! There were also lots of Lesser Sand Plovers, Kentish Plovers, Pacific Golden Plovers, and Red-necked Stints. Another treat for me was seeing Curlew Sandpipers. It has been awhile since I last saw them!

Waders!!!

Part of the flock of curlews we saw

 

Tinggay, Arne, and Harry counting and listing birds

We finished counting at around 5PM, and we sped back, wet and tired, to the fish port in Atlag. We had a total count of 6,127 birds for the day. Not bad and especially since we were able to stumble upon that big flock of Far Eastern Curlews! I'm grateful to have played a small role in this endevor and I can't wait to read the final report on this project and see the results of Arne's efforts 😊

Traversing Manila Bay: From Navotas to Pampanga

I signed up to join a trip led by Arne J. to gather bird data in the northern part of Manila Bay. The plan was to take a boat and do a bird survey from Navotas and go all the way to Sasmuan in Pampanga. We boarded our boat at the Batasan River in Navotas and made our way out to the bay.

Happy (and dry) birders: Arne, Tinggay, me, Christian, Jasmin, and Ivan
Photo from Tinggay Cinco

Starting point in Navotas

We took a big motorized boat and a smaller paddle boat trailed behind us so that some of us could enter smaller and shallower areas to survey.

The birds were coming out as we made our way along the river. Collared Kingfishers, Common Sandpipers, Little Egrets, and Whiskered Terns could be seen on both sides of the river. 

Collared Kingfisher

Common Sandpiper

Whiskered Tern

Black-crowned Night Herons flew overhead and there were quite a number of Zebra Doves that perched on the mangroves and old structures along the river banks.

We scanned and counted all the birds we could spot from the boat, which was a challenge especially at the start when I had to get accustomed to the continuous movement while looking through my binoculars. The fish pens were carefully scanned for the birds perched atop the bamboo poles. Jasmin was really good at it ;)

Most were Whiskered Terns in varying plumage

We stopped at an old church in Baluarte in Obando, Bulacan. Arne told us that they've surveyed the area from that spot before and they saw large numbers of waders then.

Chapel at Baluarte

Arne scanning for more birds

There weren't so many birds in the area but Arne did spot a Peregrine Falcon flying among the fish pens and Ivan was able to put it on the scope when it perched!

We clambered back into our boat and headed out to sea again. We would stop at certain points to scan and count birds. In one area, the usual Whiskered Terns on bamboo were replaced with much bigger Whimbrels!

Chunkier Whimbrels on the poles

First time to see them perched like this!

Further along the coast, we could see a small sandbar with lots of waders. The water was too shallow for the big boat so Christian, Ivan, and Jasmin got on the smaller paddle boat to get closer to the sandbar and count the birds there.

On the smaller paddle boat through shallow waters

Much closer vantage point to count the waders

They were able to spot Lesser Sand Plovers, most in their rufous breeding plumage, Asian Golden Plovers, more Whimbrels, more Whiskered Terns, and Jasmin and Ivan's first lifer: Ruddy Turnstone. After their count, they headed back to the boat and we were on our way again. We stopped at a broken sea wall and scanned the exposed land and shallow waters behind it.

Counting more birds

I went up on the wall to take a look through the scope and see the Lesser Sand Plovers in their breeding plumage for the first time. I clambered back into the big boat just when Christian told us there were Little Terns! I admit there was a lot of hesitancy to climb back on the wall for this lifer but I eventually did. It was worth it =)

We all got back in the boat and continued to scan the bamboo poles. We were happy to see a number of Greater Crested Terns among the Whiskered Terns! They are such funky looking birds!

Larger Greater Crested Tern
among the smaller Whiskered Terns

Funky tern! =)

We continued this process whenever we would spot large groups of waders on rocks, bamboo poles, or sand bars.

Arne, Christian, and Ivan getting really close to a group of waders
on some exposed rocks

Sand Plovers and Little Terns on the rocks

We passed by large rocks jutting out of the water. A lot of them had Little Terns perched on them giving me really good views of my lifer for the day!

Pretty Little Terns! I didn't really have to clamber back on the seawall
to see them =P

Ruddy Turnstone

Pacific Golden Plover

We made it all the way to Bulacan and docked for lunch in Paombong. After lunch, we got back on the boat and made our way to the Pampanga River mouth. It was interesting since I've been to that area but through the road passing through Macabebe and Masantol and this time we were approaching the area from the sea!

Our last stop for the trip

We entered the river and counted the birds perched on exposed slabs of concrete. Jasmin, Arne, Christian, and Ivan got on the paddle boat to go on shore to count the birds by the road while Tinggay and I stayed in the big boat.

Black-headed Gull with lots of Whiskered Terns

When the others came back (after they saw a possible Lesser Black-backed Gull!) we made our way back to sea and started our trip back to Navotas. That trip was very wet! The winds picked up as we sped through the bumpy sea causing big waves to come into the boat, soaking us. Some engine trouble made the trip a bit more longer but soon we entered the steady and calm waters of the Batasan River.

It was a tiring and hot day for us at sea which we ended very wet but we were all still smiling and happy to be back on dry land. Arne still has the rest of Manila Bay to survey, but I'm glad I was able to help out even in a tiny way.

 

Wet, tired, but happy birders =)
Photo from Tinggay Cinco