Garden to Forest Birding

There are some lucky birders that have a very bird-y backyard or garden or work very near a wonderful birding site. These places have fruiting and flowering trees and plants that attract birds and make for a relaxed and wonderful birding experience in their homes or offices. 

Last weekend, I found myself birding in the garden of Prof Tirso in Los Banos and in JC's office "front yard" - Mt. Makiling and the Makiling Botanic Gardens.

Secret Garden

Prof Tirso has been accommodating many groups of birders in his home in Los Banos for the past few weeks - us included. We all came to see the Purple-throated Sunbirds that have frequented the blooms of the ornamental banana plants in his garden. When I went the first time, I did not bring my birding bag which had my binoculars and camera and just sat and enjoyed the company that day. This time, I had my binoculars freshly cleaned and my camera's battery fully charged!

Djop and I arrived at Prof Tirso's "secret garden" and joined Tito Bob and Tita Cynthia, Wenxing, and Peter who had also driven up for the sunbird. It was quite a wait but we were happy with the sightings we got of a male, female, and immature male Purple-throated Sunbird. 

A male Purple-throated Sunbird

They would come to feed on the banana flower's nectar but only for a few
seconds before flying off again

A young male also came to feed, the colors of its feathers just barely
beginning to show

While waiting in between their appearances, we chatted with each other and entertained ourselves with the many beautiful butterflies flitting around the plants in the garden. Some Yellow-vented Bulbuls and Eurasian Tree Sparrows also fed around the garden and a Coppersmith Barbet also made a brief visit. We had some flyby Large-billed Crows and a single White-throated Kingfisher too. A very chubby skink also showed itself to us just below the banana plants.

Djop and I stayed for lunch with Ninong Prof while the rest of our friends said their goodbyes and tried their luck at the APEC fields. After lunch, only the young male sunbird showed and as the skies grew darker with rain clouds, we said our thanks to Prof and went on our way.

Mt. Makiling and Makiling Botanic Gardens

The following day, we were joined by Willem, Nikdye, and JC. We had our breakfast at the TREES Hostel and hoped for some sunbirds to show. Sadly, most of the banana plants had fallen due to the bad weather and only a single un-open blossom was there. We spotted a small group of Luzon Hornbills in some far away trees but that was all the bird activity in the area. We chatted a bit with Kuya Danny, the caretaker and after, set off for the Mt. Makiling trail. 

We were hoping to see a Philippine Trogon! Was that too much to ask? ;)

Visitor Registration center of the Mt. Makiling Trail where you have to log in,
pay the entrance fee, and leave a valid ID.

As we went up the trail, we could hear the hornbills calling around us. We encountered some Guaiabero's high up a tree but that was about it for bird sightings. Thankfully I was in good company and I learned a lot about plants, insects, spiders, lizards and more that morning =)

We turned into the trail towards the Flat Rocks. We encountered a big flock of Luzon Hornbills in a noisy feeding frenzy a number of times but we never got long, good, out-in-the-open views. So we just enjoyed being surrounded by the noisy hornbills.

Along the trail to the Flat Rocks

My one and only shot of a female Luzon Hornbill from that morning

We (or more accurately THEY) discovered a lot more along the forest floor: worms frogs, and longhorn beetles kept the walk very interesting in the absence of birds.

Spot the frog

Djop photographing the large Longhorn Beetle on a rock

This was the beetle, a Mango Longhorn Beetle Batocera rubus
Thank you, JC for the ID!

We reached the Flat Rocks at the end of the trail and after a short rest and survey of the area, we started our walk back out. 

  

Just before exiting the trail, JC and Willem spotted a Forest Dragon and everyone got excited (even me because it was my first time to encounter one!) We spent some time photographing it and it obliged, not moving from its position up a large tree trunk.

Forest Dragon
Gonocephalus sp.

We exited the trail and had a taho break at the entrance before transferring to the Makiling Botanic Gardens.

It wasn't a birdy day for us that morning: no sunbirds, no kingfisher, no birds basically... save for a lone Spotted Wood Kingfisher that Willem saw but flew before we could all spot it. We did see more butterflies and spiders though, and those kept us entertained.

JC pointed out this hoya

Lots of bird spiders along the trail

This butterfly enjoyed its salty snack ;)

First time I've photographed a birdwing!

As we headed back to the gate, we took a short break and waited for some sunbirds to show among some flowering ornamental banana plants. Still no birds for us so we decided to call it a morning and have lunch. It wasn't as birdy as we all hoped it would be, but as always, the good company made the morning a great one. We ended our morning with a yummy Thai lunch and ice cream for dessert. 

We'll be back, Makiling, and we'll see all them birds next time 😊

"Listening Walk" in Makiling

We planned a morning side-trip up Mt. Makiling before a birdwatching talk and activity in Sta. Rosa, Laguna  later in the afternoon. Jun, Jops, and I headed straight for the trail which was recently opened to the public again and had high hopes of seeing lots of birds. Unfortunately, we didn't.

Perfect setting for a Luzon Bleeding Heart... OR
our Makiling listening walk

The trail was actually very noisy with birdsong. We could hear tailorbirds, flowerpeckers, shamas, even hornbills calling from the trees but we saw very little. I did get to see a Greater Flameback for the first time in Makiling. We heard it hammering away on a high branch before Jun was able to spot it.

A very busy Greater Flameback

Further up the trail, we could constantly hear a Black-chinned Fruit-Dove as well as more White-browed Shamas, tailorbirds, flowerpeckers, and Philippine Bulbuls. Our "heard only" list was getting longer and longer! But we did get to see a White-eared Brown-Dove feeding on the small flowers of a tree.

On the way up, a lot of bikers and hikers caught up with us. The hikers came in large, noisy groups and we decided their noise would drive away any chances of seeing any more birds. We headed down the trail. We heard a raptor calling loudly from above us and saw a Crested Serpent Eagle soaring over the forest. We were also able to see a Yellow-bellied Whistler perched quite low and near the trail. Additional birds we heard on our listening walk were some Colasisi and a Philippine Hawk-Cuckoo. That cuckoo has been evading me!

Of course, we also turned our attention to the other creatures in the forest. I was able to take a photo of this Flying Dragon Draco volans, showing off its yellow dewlap (the fold of loose skin on its throat.) I always like seeing this in the forest given that they have such great camouflage when seen against the tree bark.

I think I actually "heard" it land on this tree trunk!

I was also very pleased with myself being able to take a nice photo of this butterfly I haven't seen before. Or maybe I have and just didn't look close enough to see its beautiful circular wing patterns. Good thing it stayed still long enough for at least one good photo!

Mycalesis ita
Thanks to my friends who id'd it for me =)

It was the same scenario going down... lots of listening going on =) The only additional birds we saw were a couple of Balicassiao near the trail entrance. Plus a huge Golden Orbweaver on its web.

Spiders make lovely subjects... until they start moving!

We left the trail mid-morning with quite a good list of mostly heard only birds. We dropped by the Philippine Carabao Center to buy some fresh and chocolate milk (yum!) and also passed by one of the small bridges in the UPLB campus. We were hoping to see the Indigo-banded Kingfisher but didn't. We did get to see a couple of Yellow-wattled Bulbuls though! We were also treated to top views (and side views, and bottom views) of lots of Striated Swallows flying around the area.

I think they are my favorite kind of bulbul =)

So, it wasn't such a birdy morning but we did get to bird all the same. I think one full day of birding in Makiling is due very soon =)

Birthday Birding in Makiling

This year, I was blessed to celebrate my birthday birding in Mt. Makiling. Jops and I, together with friends Jun, Rob, Mark Jason, Leni and Jon J., braved the rainy weather and pushed on with our birding plans.

Welcome the Monsoon
We planned to leave for Laguna by Friday at noon, pick up friends along the way and meet up with Leni at TREES in the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB) campus. Just our luck that a storm signal was raised Thursday evening over Catanduanes, south of Manila, marking the start of the monsoon season. Great. I hoped and prayed for good weather but I didn't expect much sunshine. As we exited the South Luzon Expressway, I got a text from Leni saying that she was entering the UPLB campus and that "the rain was letting up." I crossed my fingers and toes that the rain won't spoil our weekend.

Quails Come to Those Who Wait
We arrived at TREES a little past 3PM and found Leni birding in the area. It was quiet in the area, but we did see a lone Coppersmith Barbet atop the dead tree. After checking in, we proceeded to the DTRI area to bird in the grasslands there and hopefully see some quails. That would be Jops and my first quail species!

Very cloudy view of the grasslands we would bird in (and see some Barred Buttonquails!!!)

It was rainy almost the whole time we were in the area. We stood in a moderately falling rain for almost an hour! But then the rain finally stopped and we saw them: Barred Buttonquails on the dirt road! Lifer! We first saw a male BBQ (Barred Buttonquail) with some chicks on the path, scurrying about, staying close to the edge of the road. We were also treated to amazing  views of two female BBQs, clearly seeing the beautiful barring on their throats and bellies as well as their yellow beaks and amazing rufous necks! We stayed a bit seeing some Oriental Magpie Robins, Bright-capped Cisticolas, a Lesser Coucal and listening to the calls of a Philippine Hawk-Cuckoo that refused to show itself.

Dinner with Paul
We headed back to TREES and prepared to go out for dinner and some owling afterwards. We met up with fellow birder Paul Bourdin at the Thai restaurant just outside the UPLB campus. Over good food and great company, we exchanged stories about birds and birding =)

Happy birders getting ready for a Thai dinner =)

It was also a celebratory meal for getting
excellent views of the Barred Buttonquails! 

Owling Time
After dinner, we said goodbye to Paul and our group headed back to TREES to try and spot some owls. As we headed out into the night, a soft rain started to fall. It came together with the loud calls of some Philippine Hawk-Owls!

Birders in the night, looking and listening for owls =)

The Hawk-Owls were calling from almost all sides! It was amazing hearing their different calls... and they call so loudly! Finally we saw them! At first we saw one, then two, and amazingly three Philippine Hawk-Owls chasing each other in the canopy of the tree above us! It was such a great display for all of us! When finally the owls "settled down" we were able to observe one of the owls who perched in the open for a few minutes.

This is a photo of two of the Philippine Hawk-Owls we saw.
Rob took this picture and shared it with me for my birthday! Thank you, Rob!

The owls soon flew off just as the rain really began to fall, making us run for cover. We spotted two Glossy Swiftlets on the ceiling of the lobby and, of course, took the time to observe and photograph them before calling it a night.

Up the Muddy Mountain
We woke up early the next morning to steady rainfall. After getting some take-out breakfast, we waited at the hostel for the jeepney to arrive. It didn't come since the driver assumed we wouldn't proceed up the mountain because of the weather. Good thing Mark Jason had a back-up plan and after an hour, a Looney Tunes jeepney came to take us up. The rain was getting weaker as we rode up the mountain, but it did leave patches of mud that made parts of the trail too slippery for the jeepney. Finally, the driver gave up and said he could go no further. We all got out of the jeep and started walking up the forest trail. I expected my heart to sink... with the weather, the trail... but I didn't. It was my birthday week and I was going to enjoy it any way it turned out.

And it turned out very well indeed =)

When we started up the trail, the rain finally stopped (praise God!) =) Some parts of the trail came alive with bird song and we soon got to see a Philippine Trogon (Jops' lifer!) Moving further up the trail, we spotted a White-browed Shama engaging Mark Jason in a sing-off! It perched really close to the trail and sang for us a long time!

This White-browed Shama put on a show for us!
 This photo is a gift from Jun =) Thank you, Jun!

Further along the trail, we saw Spotted Wood Kingfishers. It was the first time I saw them on Mt. Makiling. We tried looking for a Bleeding Heart and some were able to hear one calling but none came out. We started to head back down the trail, and on the way down we encountered a mixed flock of Elegant Tits, Yellow-wattled Bulbuls, Yellow-bellied Whistlers, and a male Flaming Sunbird.

Birders in action! =)

Winding It Down
We got back to TREES happy with the amazing sights of the amazing birds we saw on the trail. We checked out, said goodbye to Leni who had to go home, and drove to IRRI for lunch. We relaxed a bit in a gazebo before heading to the APEC area for a last birding stop before going home to Manila.

In the APEC rice fields, we saw Common Moorhens, Greater Painted Snipes, and Scaly-breasted Munias bathing in a puddle. There were other birds in the field but the highlight was being dive-bombed by White-breasted Woodswallows as some of us passed by its nest and chicks atop an electric post! That was something else! We drove around and spotted some Oriental Skylarks looking handsome in a small field.

Last stop was back at DTRI to buy some chocolate milk. We were treated to another lifer: Asian Palm Swifts flying low over a field!!! Wonderful way to end my birthday birding trip! =)