Wishful Thinking and Wishes Granted

I got my excitement back for birding at the right time: very close to a national holiday. That meant I had an opportunity to go birding for at least for half a day on Philippine Independence Day (which fell on a Thursday this year)! I wanted to check out a possible birdy site in Antipolo and that's where I drove to early on June 12. I was silently hoping to see a white morph coucal, especially since our friend Mark Jason texted me a few days earlier to say he had just also seen it! I crossed my fingers for it =) I arrived in the subdivision around 6:30AM and drove around some streets with vacant lots.

Just a couple of houses along this road

I rolled the windows down and immediately heard the distinct calls of Tawny Grassbirds coming from the grassy lots. I stopped and tried to stop them but the first birds seen were a couple of Barred Rails on the road. There were two birds out in the open were actually calling! It was the first time I actually SAW Barred Rails making all that noise! Usually, it's either you see them OR you hear them. I was so happy to have been able to see and also get a short video of this behavior.

A passing motorcycle flushed the birds away and so I drove on. Upon reaching a dead end and got out to survey the area. A small flock of Scaly-breasted Munias perched on some tall grasses close to the car while lots of Yellow-vented Bulbuls flew in the area.

Scaly-breasted Munias

The Munias soon flew off and we decided to turn back and explore another area. As I was heading back, I saw a couple of Tawny Grassbirds preening atop some blades of grass. It was nice getting to observe all their field marks out in the open as they are notorious skulkers.

Tawny Grassbird

While watching the grassbirds, a tiny Bright-capped Cisticola suddenly started calling from a very high and exposed perch. Silhouetted against the brightening sky, all I could really see was the shadow of a small, round bird! It flew away, calling noisily as it did. I decided to move to another area and stopped when I heard an Elegant Tit! I didn't see it but I saw some Buzzing Flowerpeckers joining the morning chorus.

I moved to another area and stayed there the longest. The birds seemed to be all coming out to sing and have breakfast. The Black-naped Orioles came out to sun themselves and the Collared Kingfishers started becoming noisy. As I was observing some flowerpeckers above, something white and chicken-like started gliding from one tree to the next! Was it really one of my most-wanted birds??? It was!!! A white-morph Philippine Coucal! It was soon followed by a Philippine Coucal. How exciting!

But, just like any self-respecting coucal, they both just stayed out in the open for a few seconds, just enough for a good, brief view through the bins, before skulking into the leaves to hide.

I FINALLY see the white-morph coucal!!!
Well, this photo shows only its back and tail...

It was followed by this regular Philippine Coucal

The white-morph even glided over the street I was standing in and settled into a mango tree, yes, unseen. I was thrilled at the sighting and I was thankful I had my wish granted! To top off the experience, a Plain Bush-hen also crossed the same street! Another bird I wanted to see, was a pitta. I laughed at the thought and then it started to drizzle.

I got in the car and decided to start driving back down. The rain started to pour but as I neared the exit, it stopped and the sun came out. Birding potential! I decided to explore a much greener part of the area and as I passed a thick clump of vegetation I heard it: Hooded Pitta. Would you believe, I found myself staring at a bright blue Hooded Pitta in the middle of an opening! Wish granted!

Spot the jewel on the forest floor!

I slowly got out of the car but as I did the pitta flew above to perch on some electric wires, giving great views of its bright red bottom =)

Such bright, wonderful colors!

The pitta flew back to the trail but was flushed further into the vegetation when a tricycle passed by. The people in the neighborhood were starting to go about their business and so were the Grey-backed Tailorbirds! One was singing very close to us and I could see it hopping around the low branches. I waited until it perched out in the open and sang!

Grey-backed Tailorbird
Really happy with this pic!!!

It sang and sang and sang until another motorcycle drove past. Two tailorbirds actually just stayed in the area, singing very loudly until I left.

I was starting to spot an Elegant Tit that started singing above when a group of young boys came out to inspect what I was doing. Luckily, we were able to spot the black and yellow tit and showed it to the boys through the scope.

When the bird left, a little birdwatching crash course was due for these curious boys. It was nice to see them genuinely interested in what we were saying. Soon they were calling to point out a bird that was singing (it was the Tailorbird.)

Before we left, I gave the boys the new brochure that friends Adri and Trinket put together for the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines featuring the common birds one can find in the city. Happy with the morning spent birding and with wishes granted, I left the kids with reminders to "just watch and don't catch" the birds. As I drove off, I saw the kids sitting on the sidewalk, seriously studying the birds in the brochures I gave them. =)

I hope they won't ever forget their first birdwatching experience
 and also the "lessons" they got that day =)

"Blind" Birder Gets a "Headless" Lifer

Jops and I decided to go to the La Mesa Ecopark Sunday morning for some easy birding and also to test his spanking new camera. We didn't rush ourselves, arriving in the park at almost 8am. We were setting up our cameras when I realized... I forgot my binoculars. For the first time in three years, I forgot my bins on a birding trip. I set aside my shock and frustration at my self for forgetting, put on my glasses, and went in the park, decided to go birding "blind" in the trail.

Surprisingly, there weren't many people yet and it was a nice quiet walk to the trail and we even saw a White-eared Brown Dove called loudly from a fruiting ficus tree just before the orchidarium. I wasn't able to see that up close but got to see a second one land and disappear into the leaves.

We approached the trail from the right side and saw a Barred Rail walking along the path. We followed it quietly but were distracted by the loud calls of some Grey-backed Tailorbirds. We tracked the skittish birds until one of them finally went out from the brush long enough for a decent photograph (well, decent based on my standards =P)

This friendly Grey-backed Tailorbird gave me a decent photo
and let me view it through my camera's LCD =)

A male Olive-backed Sunbird started calling loudly from the heliconias along the edge of a clearing and entertained us while it fed on the flower's nectar. It stayed quite a while, diverting our attention from the tailorbirds that stayed almost hidden in the brush.

Male Olive-backed Sunbird balancing on a
heliconia flower

And then a black bird perched on a low branch near us... could it be the elusive Philippine Drongo Cuckoo?! It was! I focused my camera on the bird and took a shot. I was pleased to get a good enough view through my camera but the photo of my lifer was headless though =P

My "headless" lifer for the day:
Philippine Drongo Cuckoo

The bird flew around us, picking up a small worm along the way before disappearing into the tall trees. We refocused on the tailorbirds but we heard a very loud, metallic-sounding call. Then lots of Black-naped Orioles started sounding out their alarm calls very noisily. All the ruckus seemed to come from the top of the hill beside us. For some reason, I was able to spot a silhouette of a large bird perched atop an acacia tree. A raptor! Jops and I tried our best to find a good vantage point to better see the raptor and these are the best shots I got:

The long neck and pale eye was very evident

Got some help from friends and identified this as an
Oriental Honey Buzzard

The huge raptor flew down the other side of the hill after quite a few minutes looking around its perch and being swooped in on by agitated orioles. Jops and I finally got to enter the trail after spending an hour in just one area (and got a lifer too!) The effects of the heavy rains of the past week were quite evident, leaving muddy patches here and there and empty "streams" where flood waters flowed.

We kept an eye out for the pittas but found none. We checked on the nest of the Ashy Ground Thrush and saw two chicks peeping out. A lone adult thrush was seen foraging nearby.

We were happy to see that the nest survived the strong rains

We left the nest and rounded the trail. I lagged behind a bit when I thought I heard some scratching on the ground when I saw Jops gesturing urgently at me. I hurried to where he was standing and he pointed out an orange bird, flitting from perch to perch. The Rufous Paradise Flycatcher! It was back! I finally got to see it in LMEP!

As a bonus, I got a documentary shot of the Rufous Paradise Flycatcher!

It flitted deeper into the trees and was soon out of sight. We waited a bit but the bird didn't come back to the area. We rounded the trail, shushing some very noisy park goers along they way. We didn't find any additional birds and since it was nearing noon, decided it was time to go.

Birding without my binoculars wasn't as bad as I expected but I did want to see the birds up close through them. Jops very generously would lend me his whenever we saw birds but I didn't want to deprive him good views because of my forgetfulness. I hope I don't forget them again as I don't want to go birding "blind" again!