It was a great morning to go birding. The skies were clear, the sun was up, and a cool breeze was blowing. All that was lacking were the birds.
The Mayor's pond still housed a number of bird species but the vegetation
was so thick, it was almost impossible to see most of the birds
January is Asian Waterbird Census "season" and I was happy that Djop and I were able to volunteer again for this year's Candaba count. The AWC in Candaba last year yielded a total of 6,466 waterbirds counted but things were looking a bit gloomy for the site for the 2018 count. Recent reports from fellow birders described the place as being overgrown, with many parts converted to rice fields which meant birds were few. I personally braced for a dismal count... and that was what we got.
Find the ducks! This was the most open patch of water in the pond that we spotted that morning
The 2018 AWC in Candaba had a total of 1,449 waterbirds counted, the largest numbers of which were the Black-crowned Night Herons (259) followed by the Purple Herons (226.) The sad numbers of ducks and even species of ducks seen, I guess, are the best evidence of how the place has turned for the worst.
The Black-crowned Herons were one of the most visible birds in the
Mayor's pond that morning
Can you imagine only 120 Garganeys, 40 Northern Shovelers, 12 Wandering Whistling Ducks, 54 Philippine Ducks, and only 1 female Northern Pintail counted? Even the plovers and sandpipers were in very low numbers, the total population counted for that morning not even going over a hundred.
Candaba "bird-scape" January 2018: A far cry from the hundreds (even thousands!) of ducks that used to take flight over the Mayor's pond
A lone Wandering Whistling Duck settled in an open spot of water, the rest were hidden in the vegetation
Our team scanned and scanned for any more birds that could be seen and counted for the census
I could go on and on about how bad the situation is in Candaba now, especially since I've seen it in better, more birdy-er days BUT it's a new year! And as I spoke briefly to former Candaba Mayor Gerry Pelayo, I saw a faint glimmer of hope and I think things may be looking up for Candaba. It's going to take careful planning, close coordination, and consistent implementation, but the wheels are in place and are ready to start turning, MAYBE there is real hope for Candaba's ecosystem to be restored to it's former health and beauty. We have to wait and see and hope for the best.
January for members of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines means AWC season. AWC stands for the Asian Waterbird Census which is a count of waterbirds in wetlands covering Asia and Australasia. The counts are done for a specified period in January so we get, more or less, a good idea of the current numbers of waterbirds in the region.
I have been volunteering for the AWC for the past years and we've consistently counted in Candaba. So this year, we were off to count again in the Candaba marshlands and see if the numbers improved or have dropped.
Good news is that the numbers actually improved! From last year's count of 5,177 this year's count is now 7,186. Still a far cry from the high count of 2012, but still an improvement from the past two years. Here's a simple graph I made to show the trend from the past years.
But I skipped all the exciting birding parts! Let's go back to the very start of our day in Candaba. Our convoy arrived at the former mayor's property before sunrise and after assigning people to teams and specific areas to count it, we were off!
My team was assigned to the large ponds in front of the mayor's house. It was quite overgrown with lilies and hyacinths but there were patches of water where the ducks were. The first bird we saw were some Little Grebes and Common Moorhens. Soon, the Purple Swamphens started coming out and they dotted the landscape like the chunky birds they are.
Purple Swamphen
We started counting the Purple and Grey Herons as well as the Wandering Whistling Ducks and Philippine Ducks that started to come out into the open as the sun rose.
Our team starting to count as the day lightened
I was pleasantly surprised to see two Javan Pond Herons fly in to roost with the Black-crowned Night Herons.
Javan Pond Herons
Our new birder friend JC pointed out this Black-crowned Night Heron
to me which was perched quite near!
As we rounded the bend, the sun came out bathing us and the landscape in a warm glow. It was such great weather for birding! It was nice and cool and made for no sweat birding.
The picturesque landscape of Candaba with Mt. Arayat in the background
I was tasked to count the duck species in the pond which I didn't mind since it was a good time to practice duck id skills. I scanned and scanned until my right eye got blurry from being closed too long.
We also checked out some empty rice paddies down the road. I was hoping for LOTS of waders but sadly, we only got a handful of Little Ringed Plovers and a couple of Common Sandpipers. We headed back to the ponds to complete our round. We got a better vantage point of the ducks and I continued my count and my scanning and we added Eurasian Teal and Northern Shovellers to our list.
We bumped into birder couple Tina and Wency and they generously shared some yummy hopia to our group =)
Thank you for the hopia, Tina and Wency!
After that yummy and re-energizing snack, I resumed my scan and found myself looking for ducks with orange bills. Our friends previously spotted a Mallard in the same area last month and I was hoping it was still there. Suddenly, I spotted orange bills! Three ducks among the Philippine and Wandering Whistling Ducks had orange bills! Not only that, I saw white speculums (colored patch on the wings) on them!
I called JC to check out the ducks on my scope and asked him to describe what he saw: orange lower bill, darker on the top bill; brown eyestripe; white patch on the wing, wings slightly raised from the body. I stared at my field guide as he was telling me the field marks he saw, and we both checked the plate and confirmed we were seeing female Gadwalls. Lifer! High five!!!
We called the rest of our team and we all got good looks at our shared lifer!
Enjoying the views of the Gadwalls
Later on, I reviewed my pictures and video and discovered that there was a male Gadwall too!
The male Gadwall with the grey head, darker on the top, with a
black tail was following the female with an orange lower bill!
We moved along the road and Riza pointed out something hanging from a low branch. It was wings! Only the wings... and an already eaten head. We guessed it was the leftovers of the Harrier which has been frequenting the area.
Harrier leftovers?
Soon we were on the path towards the mayor's house. We joined Mike's team as they were headed back as well. Their count wasn't so good as their area, which was supposed to be ponds, have been converted to rice fields, yielding very little birds.
This area used to be a pond, but is now a rice field...
We gathered at the mayor's house to have some snacks and also to tally our counts. Our total for the year was 7,186 which was a bit higher than last year. It was a good count, but can definitely be better.
Team Candaba 2015!
Photo from Becky Santos
After the official count, most of us went back to twitch the Gadwalls. It was already noon and most of the ducks were sleeping and had their heads tucked behind the wings making it difficult to find them. After patiently searching, everyone in the group got to see them!
Scopes all in a row, finding one target: the Gadwall
Here's a slow motion video of the male and female Gadwall we saw. They are the one's swimming on the upper part of the frame. Another female Gadwall pops into view while it is preening on the left side. Enjoy!
January is Asian Waterbird Census season for the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines. Volunteers from the club team up with personnel from the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) and local government units and count the waterbirds in various sites around the country. The count is also conducted in a number of other countries, all happening every January.
The past two years, Jops and I volunteered for the count in Candaba. We also volunteered for this year's count but due to bad weather, the Candaba census was moved to a date where we weren't available. But we still pushed through with birding that day =)
This year, our schedules allowed us to participate in the AWC in Balanga, Bataan. We were looking forward to volunteering for this count for the past year, Balanga having great birding sites. We drove to Bataan early Saturday morning for a birding-filled day and then headed to the City of Balanga to meet with the AWC team and spend the night at the Bataan Peninsula State University.
Sir Rudy (far left) conducts the pre-count meeting attended by WBCP
volunteers and personnel from the LGU, DENR, and media.
The WBCP team was divided into the 4 sites and Jops, Kuya Alan, and I were assigned to count in Bgy. Sibacan. After a 4AM breakfast, the teams rode their assigned vans and headed to our respective sites. We arrived Bgy. Sibacan before dawn. Our guides led us to the drained fishpond where we would begin our count. In the darkness, we could see a huge fishpond devoid of water, leaving wonderful mud perfect for waders! I couldn't wait for sunrise!
When the first rays of the sun began creeping up the sky, we could see big batches of egrets swooping in to land and start their breakfast in front of us.
Our count began as the sun rose
A huge flock of egrets settled in as soon as the day became light
We did our count in the area, seeing Black-winged Stilts, Long-toed Stints, and Little Ringed Plovers among the Great and Little Egrets. Our team then moved further into the fishponds where there were more egrets to be counted plus lots of Marsh Sandpipers.
Leaving the counted egrets behind and walking to another spot
After counting the birds in the fishponds, our very enthusiastic guides from the barangay called in a motor boat to take us "out to sea." Ma'am Opel from the DENR went with me and Jops and headed to the mudflats in the mouth of the river.
Riding the motorized boat, going out to sea =)
Jops scoping out birds from the boat
We were greeted by more egrets, waders, and terns. There were lots of Common Redshanks as well as Asian Golden Plovers. We were also thrilled to see a number of Black-headed Gulls resting on top of bamboo poles or walking around with the waders.
A handsome Black-headed Gull in the shallows
An Asian Golden Plover stands out among sandpipers and plovers
After surveying the area, we rode back to the barangay hall to have our mid-morning snack. Our guides brought us to another nearby site where we added more stilts, egrets, and plovers to our list.
We regrouped with the rest of the counters at the city hall (we were the last group to finish!), tallied the separate counts, and ended up with a total of 25,935 birds, an amazing number compared to last year's count of 14,899. This significant increase was reported in the local news. Cheers went up from the whole group and we all celebrated with a delicious lunch and refreshing fresh buko juice.
Counting birds IS challenging, especially with big numbers such as this, but it is also the reason why it's so much fun! And that's why we'll be volunteering again for next year's count =)
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