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!

Mixed Flocks and Last-Minute Hornbills

I literally could not see anything! It was 4AM and we were on the Marilaque Highway, navigating through dark roads and fog, meeting an occasional horse or cow in the middle of the road. Thank goodness for Spotify and birding friends who shared the same taste in music (more or less hehe, my age got in the way), I was not too stressed with the lack of visibility while Djop drove us safely to the meeting point. Signal disappeared completely and Spotify conked out just as the Cranberries were building up to the chorus of Zombie, but by then the sky was lightening up a bit. Whew!

This was a Club Trip of members of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (WBCP) and I haven't joined one in years (except Guided Trips, of course!) 

We caught up with the first car of birders by the highway and I finally completely relaxed as I took in the cool air, surrounded by trees and the beginnings of the dawn chorus. The air was still damp with fog and a very light drizzle so birds were scarce when we started scanning the trees, save for the swifts darting through the sky and some early Blue-headed Fantails. 

As the day started heating up, more birds appeared and we were treated to a mixed flock of Flowerpeckers, Elegant Tits, Yellowish White-Eyes, and Philippine Bulbuls. As the weather cleared, we were greeted by Philippine Fairy Bluebird, Guaiabero, Yellow-bellied Whistler, and Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker.

Birding in the fog

After a while, we decided to move to a different spot and try for Rufous Hornbills, which was a most-wanted bird for many of us. We parked alongside the road and were greeted by a friendly old lady manning the sari-sari store, telling us the Kalaws were in the trees just before we arrived. In classic birding fashion, the birds disappeared before any of us could find them and did not show in the area for the rest of the morning. Entertained myself with bugs and butterflies in the area instead 🦋

Luzon Grass Dart

We moved to the small trail and were rewarded by a very active mixed flock! Male and female Scarlet Minivets, lots of Sulphur-billed Nuthatch, more Blue-headed Fantails and Elegant Tits, and even a pair of Yellow-wattled Bulbuls gave the group good views! I also got an unexpected lifer: a female Short-crested Monarch! Ok, maybe half a lifer since I did not see the male 😅

Got my unexpected lifer on this trail!

The Rufous Hornbills called us back to the roadside again but still did not show. By this time, more and more motorcycle riders were also making their way up and down the highway. The group decided to have an early lunch since most of the group needed to head back to the city before lunch. 

Thank you, Karen, for organizing this club trip!

After the mandatory group photo, our group – Djop, Denise, Joshua, Noel, and I said our goodbyes to the rest of the group and decided to head to Palo Alto for a quick side trip since everyone in our car did not need to be back early. 

A quick stop to view the sunbirds at Sidlakan gave us good views of Flaming Sunbirds – male, female, and immature. Suddenly hungry, we decided to have a quick lunch before reaching Palo Alto and Denise treated us to celebratory pizza for her whopping 19 lifers that morning!

Male Flaming Sunbird resting from
actively feeding on the red flowers

The early afternoon heat yielded not too many birds in Palo Alto but we still racked up around 18 birds in our list that afternoon including White-throated Kingfisher, Whiskered Treeswift, Pied Bushchat, Barred Rail, Paddyfield Pipit, Pacific and Striated Swallows, and a Lesser Coucal.

Male Pied Bushchat

Pacific Swallows and a Striated Swallow

While waiting for birds, I was also able to photograph some beautiful butterflies also which I have not done in a while. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many of them flitting around! Was able to ID most of them thanks to the my copy of A Naturalist's Guide to the Butterflies of the Philippines! Yay for field guides!

Brown Pansy

Common Mapwing

Dark-branded Bushbrown

Malayan Cruiser

Riding on Denise’s high and coffee-boost (she added more lifers to her 19!), we celebrated with semi-cold drinks from our cooler while we packed up our gear. Just as we were winding down - all optics already secure in our bags - Luzon Hornbills called loudly from the roadside! We initially did not try to find them, but when they called LOUDLY again – that got us brisk walking back down the road!

Spotting the pair of Luzon Hornbills!

With drinks clasped in our hands instead of binoculars or cameras, the pair of hornbills sat for a while before flying off into the trees. What an ending to a great birding day!