I Dream of Optics

I started my September drooling over dream optics for birdwatching. Jops and I, together with lots of our WBCP birder friends, attended a digiscoping talk conducted by Swarovski Optik France Director Pierre Severy at the La Mesa Ecopark.

A gathering of scopes =)

He showed us amazing photos he took using a digiscoping set-up (camera plus spotting scope.) The highlight was being able to see, hold, and even try out the newest Swarovski spotting scope model!

Pierre demonstrating how to attach a camera to the new scope.

Testing the digiscoping set up at the spillway.

Adri trying out the set up.

Jops' turn to try it out.

A Nikon camera attached to the newest Swarovski scope! Dream setup!

Honestly, I am still very happy with my trustworthy Bushnell binoculars. But of course, I wouldn't mind my own pair of Swaro bins. I've tried out a pair of Swaro bins and looked through their spotting scopes and they REALLY provide brighter and clearer images! After all, the real essential tool in birding is a good pair of binoculars.

Here's a cool infographic from OpticsCentral about binoculars.

by mhars. Browse more infographics.

We Were Fledged Too

When our friend Mark Jason told us that he was the Philippine ambassador for Pledge to Fledge, the first thing I thought of was "Cool!" and secondly "The WBCP is doing just that!"

Basically, Pledge to Fledge is the flagship project of Global Birding Initiative. Its goal is to share and promote birdwatching by encouraging birders to take people out and go birding. The pledge is to fledge a new birder =)

The WBCP has been doing that through the guided birdwatching trips it conducts as often as possible. Jops and I discovered the wonders of birding and became members of the club after joining a guided trip in UP Diliman last April 9, 2010. We haven't stopped birding since =)

Photo from our first guided trip!
Photo by Jun Osano.

Jops and I, together with members of the WBCP, volunteer as often as we can to share the joys of birdwatching through guided trips. It is our way of "fledging" new birders, sharing the wonders of birding, and getting people to care more about the environment.

Now that there is a campaign for this, I paused and thought about who I've "fledged." Together with the club, we've fledged quite a number of new birders and gained new friends. I also realized that I've already fledged my mom! She already knows how to ID the calls of the Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker, Black-naped Oriole, Collared Kingfisher, and Colasisi! I think my dad was a birder before me, being familiar with some birds from his childhood in Tarlac.

I brought my brother Mark, sister Nicole, and her boyfriend Vinchi birding in La Mesa Ecopark last year and I think they enjoyed it =)

My sister Nicole and Vinchi spotting a lifer at the La Mesa Ecopark.

I think I've fledged my brother. When he is on out of town trips for work, he actually gives me a call when he spots a bird and describes its field marks to me over the phone. Jops and I owe him and his high school barkada a birding trip. We also owe Nicole and Vinchi a birding trip to Subic soon =)

The First International Pledge to Fledge campaign is set on August 24-26, 2012. Jops, Mark, and I will be conducting a guided trip on August 25 at the UP Diliman campus as our pledge to fledge some new birders. Hope you can join us! Or better yet, go and fledge a new birder of your own =)

You can also sign the online petition here. =)

Sunday Birdy Sunday

Just spent my Sunday with birder friends in two nearby sites to see some pretty amazing birds.

Birding at the tunnel entrance leading to the petroglyphs, one of the sites we visited last Sunday.

Sunday started early in La Mesa Ecopark to conduct a guided birdwatching trip. We entered the park and immediately saw some of our friends observing a pair of Ashy Ground-Thrushes, hopping on the ground. The beautifully spotted birds looked like they were gathering nesting materials!

When we all had our "fill" of the Thrushes, our group decided to proceed to the trail to try and spot the Slaty-legged Crake that has been seen there. A few meters down the road, an Emerald Dove flew in front of us to perch on a nearby tree. Some of us continued walking on while I spent some time observing the Dove with a few friends. Suddenly, the first group of birders started gesturing frantically at us! As we neared them, their news was: the Slaty-legged Crake just crossed the path in front of them! Wah! We missed it!

We waited a bit for the Crake to show itself but it didn't come out from the foliage. We proceeded towards the trail and waited. We saw more Ashy Ground-Thrushes hopping around AND I was able to see a Hooded Pitta! It was the first time I saw it there and even if it was only for a few seconds, I was really happy with the unobstructed view I got.

Jops, Jon J., Clemence and I headed back to the Drilon Orchidarium to meet up with Mike and the participants of the guided trip. It was a pretty amazing bird list for most of the first-time birders: Ashy Ground-Thrush, nesting Lowland White-Eyes, Collared Kingfisher, Philippine Coucal, Scaly-breasted Munias... not bad at all for their first set of lifers! We ended the trip birding at the old boating pavillion.

The birding group spotting an Ashy Ground-Thrush.

After packing up and grabbing a quick lunch, members of the WBCP (and a couple of very eager participants) convoyed to the Angono Petroglyphs in Rizal to see the family of Philippine Eagle Owls who have taken up residence in the site. When we arrived, we saw Vincent, fellow WBCP member who first spotted the owls. He said when he arrived a couple of hours earlier, two owls were perched on the trees but one flew away before we got there. We went up to the view deck and enjoyed the views of one Philippine Eagle Owl, peering curiously down at us from his high perch.

Digiscoped photo of the Philippine Eagle Owl.

We stayed just for a bit, also enjoying great views of a White-throated Kingfisher and a small flock of Elegant Tits which flew so close to us (thanks, Rob!)

Digiscoped photo of the very behaved White-throated Kingfisher.

When the thunder started rolling in and the sky got a bit darker, we packed up, said our goodbyes and headed back home. Great way to spend a Sunday: easy birding with great company =)

Black Bittern Surprise

I didn't imagine seeing so much Black Bitterns based on a "third-party" birding tip for an owl.

I checked the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines Facebook page and chanced upon such an ecstatic post from Joey (I do not know him personally) sharing his experience seeing his very first wild owl in flight. He also shared seeing herons and what looked to him to be mallards. I also learned a new word from his post, as he described seeing "crepuscular" birds in the site. After looking it up (as one should when encountering an unknown word), I learned that crepuscular is an adjective meaning "active or occurring during twilight." Cool new word for me! He ended his post recommending this site to birdwatchers.

The site he was talking about is the Acacia Estates in Taguig. This is quite a large area being developed into clusters of medium-rise condominiums. Part of this development however faces a fenced "grassland/wetland" area. When Jops needed to bring his Tita to the airport early Sunday morning, we decided to make a birding side-trip to the area on our way back to Quezon City.

We entered the Acacia Estates main gate with a salute to the guard (thanks Tonji for the tip!) and drove slowly along the main road. At first, it was just buildings but the left side soon cleared up to reveal an open area with lots of grass. This was fenced all the way to where it ended in a small creek and then some residential houses. Before we parked the car, we already saw herons flying in to land among the reeds!

We were able to ask a guard about the birds he noticed in the area and he told us about a white "kuwago" (owl) that comes out flying towards night time. We crossed our fingers for this but knew that with the early sunrise (the sun was out and shining before 6AM!), our chances of seeing a Grass Owl were slim.

We got out our bins and scope and started to scan the area. We saw almost a hundred Black-crowned Night-Herons roosting, almost hidden in the grass. LOTS of Clamorous Reed Warblers, clinging on to stalks of grass, calling loudly and chasing each other.

Clamorous Reed Warbler singing its heart out!

We also saw some Common Moorhens, White-browed Crakes, Yellow and Cinnamon Bitterns, and Bright-capped Cisticolas.

I was enjoying the warblers' cuteness when we saw a big black bird flying across the field. It was beating its wings more powerfully compared to a Black-crowned Night Heron and when I focused my bins on the bird,  I almost shouted "Black Bittern!" Jops confirmed my ID and when I put down my bins to look at him, he said "Meron pa!" (There's more!") I looked back up at the sky there were 5 of them flying!

We walked down the road to a small creek, and as we approached flushed a Black Bittern hiding in the floating vegetation! TSK! We were able to follow it to where it perched, semi-hidden in the grass. After a few minutes, it came back! I was able to digiscope it with my phone cam (so pardon the quality.) It stayed awhile, stretching its neck to reveal a thick beautiful cream streak plus thinner rufous, white and black streaks making it look almost like a snake!

We were amazed being able to see a Black Bittern up close, exposed and for quite a long period of time! Usually we just see this bird in flight and disappearing into the vegetation. When the bird finally flew into the reeds, we decided to call it a morning and get some breakfast. No Grass Owl yet but the Black Bitterns made my morning =)

Thank you again, Joey H.! =)

One for the Butterflies

Earlier today, Jops and I took a side-trip to the La Mesa Ecopark to deliver two field guides for the park and for the Nature Reserve (we recently conducted an introductory training on birdwatching for the park guides.) These were the Photographic Guide to Birds of the Philippines (by Tim Fisher and Nigel Hicks) which were donated by Ruben, a fellow WBCP member.

We looked for Sir Randy of the LMEP and were instantly directed to the new Butterfly Haven inside the park. We met him at the entrance and were invited in because it was their official launch! What luck!

The entrance to Butterfly Haven, just after the ticket booth of the park.

View of the park from the entrance steps.

We went to the pavilion which housed "cabinets" showing the different stages of the life cycle of a butterfly. A teacher's dream! 

Stage 1 shows the actual eggs of the butterfly on leaves!

Stage 2 shows small caterpillars a few days after they have hatched.

Stage 3 shows the caterpillars forming pupae and stage 4 shows the
butterflies emerging from their pupae!

I've taught this life cycle x number of times and the best material I've used then were time-lapse videos. This is way better! It is always amazing seeing life in different forms and it is even more wonderful seeing the metamorphosis as it unfolds in different stages. 

Dozens of brand new butterflies emerging from their pupae!

As we went around the butterfly park, we finally met the LMEP administrator Sir Dave Pardo and he then introduced us to ABS-CBN Foundation's Managing Director Miss Gina Lopez. He shared with her the efforts of the club to make the park more birdwatching friendly and she reminded us to support the fight against mining in Palawan.

Miss Gina Lopez (center) observes a caterpillar on her hand.

We also entered the "flight deck" which housed the new butterflies. Inside we observed 5 species of butterflies fluttering around, feeding on the flowers and on dishes with sugared water.

So, our short trip to La Mesa to turn over the field guides turned out to be a fun learning experience in their new butterfly park. More attractions for park goers. And more food for the birds? =)