Rain, Mud, and Birds

Clothes, gear, and food were all set early Friday evening for our trip to Candaba the following day. The Asian Waterbird Census was scheduled for Saturday morning with a number of birders volunteering to count the waterfowl that have made their way to Candaba.

But at 4:21AM, I received a text message from Mike saying that the census was cancelled due to the bad weather and impassable roads going to the site. My heart sank... but only a little. Because I was 100% sure that we would still bird that day -- either in Candaba or some other site.

True enough, when Jops, Jun, and I arrived at the Shell gas station along NLEX, most of the AWC volunteers were there discussing "Plan B." After a while, it was decided that most of us will be checking out Barangay Paralaya, which is all concrete roads (so no danger of the non-4x4 vehicles getting stuck) while Christian in his 4x4 SUV would try to go the usual route through the rice fields all the way to the Mayor's house. They would then inform us whether the roads were passable or not.

So, our convoy drove through rain and dark to Paralaya to find all the fields planted with rice, meaning: no birds. Save for egrets that flew in when the drizzle let up, we saw just a handful of the usual suspects in the area.

Blue-tinted landscape matched the chilly weather in Paralaya.

We contacted Christian's group and they advised us that the roads were passable, muddy but firm. So, we turned our convoy around to drive towards the Mayor's property. We had to take a detour since the shorter route was impassable to vehicles according to the locals. We arrived at the area and found the road's surface slick with mud, but the road itself wasn't mushy and soft. With tires slipping, our convoy managed to navigate all the way to the house.

Slippery and thick mud clung to the tires, and later on to our shoes!

Breathing a sigh of relief that we didn't get stuck, we started to bird. Most of us joined the group to find the warblers that have been recently seen and photographed in the area: Dusky Warbler and Middendorff's Grasshopper Warbler. I was able to see the Dusky Warbler and am very happy I was able to compare it with an Arctic Warbler which was flitting in the same tree. Warbler's are tricky to ID!

Looking for the skulking warblers

Some of us went looking for the Middendorff's Grasshopper Warbler but I wanted to test out the new camera Jops gave me: a kick-ass Canon SX50 HS!!! =) So I stayed in the vicinity of the Mayor's house with some friends and was able to practice with a pretty Common Kingfisher, who very kindly perched quite a while allowing me lots of shots.

Other species seen were Purple Herons standing still among the reeds, the usual colony of roosting Black-crowned Night Herons, Wandering Whistling Ducks that would take flight noisily only to land completely hidden in the grass, lots of Common Moorhens, easily flushed Yellow Bitterns, and plump Purple Swamphens. There were also some Whiskered Terns and Blue-tailed Bee-eaters flying around looking for food.

Towards noon, the skies began to darken again and a soft rain fell prompting us birders to pack up, pose for a quick group pic, and drive home lest we get stuck in the muddy road. Even though there weren't much birds and I didn't get to take as much photos as I wanted, I did get a lifer and some awesome photos of the kingfisher =)

A Birdy Candaba Morning

After the guided birdwatching trip we conducted in UP Diliman last Saturday, Jops and I were still itching to bird over the weekend. The nearest adventure we could think of to go to on a Sunday was Candaba (plus its promise of waders, of course!) After coordinating with Sir Leny of Candaba about the road conditions and consulting the so-far-reliable Accuweather for the weather forecast, we proceeded with our plans together with birder friends Jun, Alan, and Alex.

We braced for the worst possible road conditions (we've been getting reports of bad road conditions from fellow birders) even if our group was bringing an SUV and a pick-up. I was bracing for a long walk to the mayors house and more the hot walk back. But, to our pleasant surpirse (and relief!), we were blessed not only with dry, solid roads but also good weather for a great birding morning.

Grey Herons atop on of the houses in the mayor's property.

We took the Balagtas exit from the North Luzon Expressway, took the bypass road, and found ourselves birding in the empty rice fields of Candaba at 6AM. There were lots of egrets and terns, as well as Black-winged Stilts already foraging in the rice paddies right before the t-junction. Waders were also flying in to start searching for food and we were able to see pretty-looking Marsh Sandpipers and beautifully marked Wood Sandpipers.

Wood Sandpiper

We also spotted another lifer here! We saw smaller looking waders running around, probing the mud with their bills... Long-toed Stints!

Our lifer for the day: Long-toed Stint.

We then moved to the t-junction, parked our cars on the side of the road, and were treated to great views of  a Common Kingfisher, Yellow Bittern, and even a fly-by Black Bittern. The usual Purple and Grey Herons were there and there were small groups of Wandering Whistling Ducks flying around the marsh. A flock of White-shouldered Starlings also flew in and out of the trees lining the road.

Common Kingfisher

Yellow Bittern hiding in the grass.

We drove further up the road and saw a lot of White-breasted Waterhens, together with some Barred Rails, Zebra Doves, and Red Turtle Doves.

White-breasted Waterhen on the road. In the background is a dove.

We parked our cars outside the mayor's house and decided to just walk the rest of the way, since we were unsure of the road conditions in that area. We were targeting the large area just beyond the old watch tower where lots of ducks congregate. And lots of ducks we saw! Though too far to ID all the ducks accurately, we were able to spot Philippine Ducks, Northern Shovellers, and Garganeys making up a huge mixed flock of thousands of ducks in the water! We also enjoyed watching a Little Grebe in one of the ponds.

Little Grebe - one of the birds I always enjoy observing!
Photo by Jops Josef

In the surrounding ponds, we also saw a small flock of Tufted Ducks and also a lone Eurasian Coot! I love how the coot looks, with its stark white frontal shield and beak forming a unique shape and contrasting with a black head and charcoal body. This wasn't a lifer for me but I got such great views of it!!!

Eurasian Coot digiscoped by Jops

It was getting very hot by the time we reached the watch tower and we soon headed back to our cars. We took quick short breaks in the shade of the trees and saw more stilts and a huge flock of terns flying over a portion of the rice fields. Before noon, we were packed up and driving to the expressway to get lunch. It was Alan and Alex's first time to go to Candaba and they were really amazed at the place and Jops, Jun, and I were very happy with our bird list of more than 50 species for a half-day of birding.

PS We missed you, Rob!