Pink Dethrones Silver

For the longest time, the Silvery Kingfisher topped my list of favorite kingfishers. I first saw one in Bohol before the species was split into Northern and Southern types. Between the two, I've always preferred the Southern Silvery Kingfisher. It has been good to me—showing well every time I’ve gotten the chance to see it.

I lifer-ed it in February 2013 during an ocular trip toPasonanca Natural Park in Zamboanga, and again in 2014 during the 9th Philippine Bird Festival at the same site.

My very first Silvery Kingfisher in Pasonanca in 2013

In 2018, I got lucky again in Tacurong during the 12th PBF and Tacurong Bird Festival. At a later event, I was even gifted a beautiful painting by Tang Tuck Hong of the Wild Bird Club of Malaysia because we shared the sighting during that trip. The painting is framed and proudly hangs on my wall.

Thank you again, Tang, for this beautiful painting!

So yes, the Southern Silvery Kingfisher, with its dark palette and mesmerizing silver spots, reigned supreme on my list. Unbothered about being dethroned… until I found the pink one.

I didn’t even consider the possibility of seeing the North Philippine Dwarf Kingfisher anytime soon. Not even when my good friend Sean posted an AMAZING photo of the bird from one of his trips to Infanta in February this year. I just allowed myself to be jealous about it (and yes, maybe a little bitter haha!) but refused to dwell on the fact that I won’t be able to twitch it any time soon.

Post after post of the pretty little pink-and-orange-y Luzon endemic popped up on my Facebook feed from birder friends who have seen and photographed it. I swallowed the intrigue and kept my head down, focused on work, while it gnawed at my periphery. Until... Vinz messaged asking about a possible “twitch and run”, and I was raring to GO!

Surprisingly, no one had booked Francis (a local guide) on the Sunday we went. We picked him up and his son Mark joined us as an extra spotter. As always with a twitch, the nerves kicked in—more so because we had very limited time for this particular bird. We all needed to head back to Manila right after lunch! It was also the first time Vinz and I were forest birding together. We’d soon find out if we made a lucky combo or if we were jinxed.

We soon parked by the roadside and were slowly making our way down to the site the kingfisher has been seen. Thankfully, it was a very short walk and we were soon quietly scanning the trees for the bird. We stood on a ledge overlooking a slope, the air filled with the sound of rushing water, birdsong, and the occasional roar of passing engines.

Our view for the morning!

After fifteen minutes, Mark and Francis signaled to us —it was there! The tiny kingfisher suddenly perched at eye level, partially shadowed and hidden by leaves. I got a good look through my binoculars, snapped a few photos, and stepped aside so Vinz could view it too. It soon flew off and left us marveling at its quick appearance and my ticking off a lifer! Successful twitch! We were not a jinxed twitching combo! Should we go home now?

Of course not.

We waited for another appearance—and it did come back. This time, joined by a second North Philippine Dwarf Kingfisher, bringing food to feed the other one. 

The pair of North Philippine Dwarf Kingfishers - LIFER!

For the next four hours, we stayed in the area, being entertained by the appearances of the two beautifully-colored kingfishers. We were joined by Lau and we all enjoyed one kingfisher bringing food to the other.

The beauty of these kinds of sightings is that it allows you to observe the birds for a prolonged period of time, taking in all their minute field marks: the fine spots on the head, the ultramarine (ULTRAMARINE!) dots on the wings of the individual bringing the food, and their different shades of lilac, pink, and orange. Even their tiny bright red feet clutching the branches they perched on were a treat to observe. 

Ultramarine spots on the wings!

Such a pretty kingfisher!

Eventually, the kingfishers flew off and, having had our fill of the birds, our group moved on to a Scarlet Minivet nest nearby. 

Female Scarlet Minivet sitting on its nest waaay up high!

We left Lau at the site, dropped Francis and Mark at their house, and made our way back to Manila. We celebrated the kingfishers and our lucky twitching combo with pizza, sisig, and ice-cold Coke in a restaurant along the highway.

Happy twitchers with guide Francis and his son Mark

On the drive home, we reflected on our luck, the sheer beauty of the North Philippine Dwarf Kingfisher, and the feeding behavior we witnessed. It was then that I decided – or maybe realized – that it had dethroned the Southern Silvery Kingfisher from the top spot on my kingfisher list. I thought that wasn’t really partial to pink (most of my clothes are black or some neutral color or with some sparkle) but in this instance, pink trumps silver. Hands down.

Sharing a video of the two North Philippine Dwarf Kingfishers, one bringing the other a nice, big cicada. Enjoy!

Return to Candaba

 I honestly cannot recall the last time I was at Candaba. My last blog post about it was in 2018 when I volunteered for the Asian Waterbird Census that year... then nothing. The count in 2018 was dismal, with only a handful of birds and species seen in the overgrown plants and converted marshland. Gone were the hundreds of ducks taking to the skies. Gone were the rare migrants making their appearance.

But before the end of 2024, we decided to organize a club trip for members of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines to Candaba to check out what birds can still be seen in the forever-changed landscape. My expectations were low, scared to be disappointed by the urbanization and therefore, demise of natural habitat.

We did not venture into the old birding areas inside Bahay Pare, but instead kept to the road. We were greeting with a big flock of egrets foraging in an empty rice field by the side of the road. 

Hundreds of them against the backdrop of Mt. Arayat! The usual Yellow Bitterns, Brown Shrikes, White-breasted Waterhens, and White-browed Crakes were skulking in the foliage while swallows flew all around us. Beyond the tall grass, we spotted many ducks on water and we decided to investigate the area.

The rest of the group started arriving and we made our way inward through a dirt road - which was usually our exit from the Mayor's property years ago. 

Ducks. Hundreds of them! What a pleasant surprise to find so many Northern Shovelers and Garganeys in a pond so close to the road! 

We also saw Green-winged Teals, Northern Pintails, and a lone Philippine Duck (which was quite sad because... only 1???) Another surprise was the huge number of Eurasian Coots some distance away. It was the most number of Coots I've seen ever!

As we were looking out for more birds, our group spotted two men crouched on the grass on the other side of the pond, carrying what suspiciously looked like rifles. All binocs and scopes were directed at them and we confirmed that they were indeed hunters. 

I guess we weren't very discreet in our observation of them as they became conscious and started walking away from us. We monitored them and saw them raise their rifles a number of times to aim at a group of birds but they did not fire. I sent a quick message to former Candaba Municipal Administrator Ka Leny M. and asked him to relay the photos and report of hunters to the LGU.

We called it a morning shortly after that, refusing to dampen our birding trip with the presence of the hunters. We made our bird list for the trip, took some group photos, and went our separate ways. 

Birding in Candaba now lasts for just a few hours in the morning, instead of the full morning or full day activity it usually was back then. Sad to say that the glory days of Candaba as a premier birding site has now really passed, and birders now tell stories about it in the past tense. 

BUT there is still hope! The Paligue Wetland Center is set to be developed in Brgy. Paligue, the groundbreaking ceremony already conducted in early 2023. With the support of the local government, barangay, and community, partnered with conservation organizations, Candaba may yet return to its former glory as a haven for birds and birders alike.