More Owls in the City!

Jops and I have been waiting for the family of Philippine Scops-Owls that spent many nights in their backyard last year. We weren't really actively looking for them since it was still a few months early from when we last saw them (we saw them April last year.)

Call it a brilliant stroke of birding luck, but Jops was able to hear the call of the immature Philippine Scops-Owl when  he drove his mom to church one evening. He was able to spot three immature owls and got glimpses of the adults too!

Intermittent viewing schedules for birders and bird photographers were organized soon after. Each trip offered different experiences with the owls. On one night, the adult owl perched really low and in the open, showing off a dead, headless rat in its claw. It then proceeded to feed it in chunks to its three hungry owlets. Yum.

As they days wore on, the owlets were becoming more and more active, flying from tree to tree. It made for more difficult views and photos but still an experience in itself. I tried for several trips to take a photo of any of the owls but failed miserably. When the owls did show well, I didn't have my camera with me! =(

Finally, last Thursday, Jops and I accompanied Adri, Trinket, and Singaporean birder Albert to view the owl family. We decided to go to the area a bit earlier than usual and hope to see them before they actively flew around. I was a bit anxious since I did not want to go home empty-handed yet again. But I was blessed this time =)

We were able to see the three young owls and one adult owl perched in a line on a high branch, partially hidden by branches and leaves.

From left to right: adult owl, young owl, young owl, young owl

We spent some time watching the owls through our bins and through the scope. We could see them beginning to stir from their perches, the young ones moving their heads in a circular motion. As the sun began to set, they started moving to different branches but still staying close to each other.

Do you still see the four owls? And can you see the immature owl
with a cute (or creepy) 90° turn of the head? 

After just seconds, they all moved a bit further away from each other. By this time, the sun had almost completely set and the light was fading on us.

The adult owl perched out in the open while
two of the young owls perched above it.

And then in an instant, they all flew off in different directions! We were able to track the adult owl to where it perched and it sat quietly, looking around while the young owls continuously pssssst-ed around us. It transferred to another low tree before it flew away into the night. The young owls were continuously calling but were very hard to spot as they moved to higher parts of the trees. Before we left, we were able to get one more glimpse of the owls before they flew off again.

It would be nice to think that these owls are the next generation from the owl family we saw last year. Hopefully, they will continue to breed and allow us birdwatchers to see them as they grow and raise their families in the middle of a bustling city.

Two Thrush Lifers!

We spent another early evening owling with friends Adri and Trinket who brought Singaporean birder, Albert along to see the Philippine Scops Owls in the city. After owling, we all went out to have dinner and they mentioned they will be going to the La Mesa Ecopark the next morning and invited us to join them. Over sizzling sisig and after much internal deliberation, it was decided that any other morning plans (i.e. work) would be set aside so we could all bird.

Honestly, this was a twitching morning for most of us, having heard of a Brown-headed Thrush being seen and even photographed in the park recently. We were hoping to see it before it moved on up north.

After our group observed a very hungry Red-bellied Pitta near the entrance of the trail, we bumped into Bram in the trail and we tried to spot the thrush. We basically stayed in the area near the fruiting palm trees, waiting for the thrush to show. It didn't. High up a gemelina tree, we were able to spot some of them! But they flew off revealing quite a big flock of around 8 thrushes. They would come closer to us in smaller batches, and one individual gave us good views of its underside and side profile.

One of the Brown-headed Thrushes

Here's a short video of the Brownheaded Thrush downing a ripe berry:

The birds would fly in, usually on the fruiting palm tree, eat a berry or two, then fly off again. Their appearances would last only seconds to just a couple of minutes, but long enough for us to observe them and their field marks.

During one "appearance," Adri pointed out the very distinct white eyebrow on the thrush: Eyebrowed Thrush! We all focused on the bird again before it flew off. We all looked at each other and everyone definitely saw the white eyebrow. We actually couldn't believe we were seeing two kinds of new (for me, Jops, and Trinket) thrushes this morning.

After a few minutes of waiting, the thrushes returned to feed and we were all able to see both the Brown-headed and Eyebrowed Thrushes! Two thrush lifers for me, Jops, and Trinket and one thrush lifer for Albert, Adri, and Bram!

Eyebrowed Thrush. Note the diagnostic white eyebrow.

When the birds flew off again, we decided to check out the trail again. We saw a very handsomely spotted Ashy Ground Thrush perched on an open branch, warbling softly without opening its beak. When the bird flew away, Jops and I said our goodbyes as we still had to catch up with the reality that it was a workday after all. =P

Bram walked with us to get a drink in the food kiosks and along the way, we were able to see a pretty Emerald Dove as well as Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker busy boring a nest hole. It definitely was a morning very well-spent =)

Common Emerald Dove

Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker

The Scaly Thrush Teaches Me A Lesson

It was the first time I really felt frustrated with the lack of birds. My companions and I were in the La Mesa Ecopark for some post-Christmas birding and I was hoping for the best. The park wasn't so full and the trails were almost deserted except for us and the occasional passerby. But all we saw after a couple of hours birding were Black-naped Orioles and Brown Shrikes. Good thing we saw an Osprey in flight on our way into the trail. 

We moved further into the trail hoping to see the Red-bellied or Hooded Pittas, but the surroundings were so quiet. A light rain would fall in intervals, alternating with songs from unseen Golden-bellied Flyeaters and yes, more Orioles. Good thing the Ashy Ground-Thrushes were a bit active that morning or else I would have felt really down.

We rounded the trail without seeing any additional birds. No Mangrove Blue Flycatchers. No Tailorbirds. No Crakes. No Pittas. Not even a Yellow-vented Bulbul! I was really beginning to feel sad. I decided to take our birder friend, Tinggay's advice to actually talk to the birds. I did (quietly.) I talked to the Red-bellied Pittas hiding in the brush to show themselves even for a few seconds. They didn't.

By this time, I was feeling really sad already so when it was suggested that we leave the trail to bird somewhere else in the park, I just pouted and followed my fellow birders as they started walking out the trail. There wouldn't be any more birds this morning.

It was then when a bird decided to teach me a lesson: no matter how frustrating and hopeless a situation may seem, God has something much, much better in store for you.

Walking out the trail, I saw what looked like a gigantic wader atop a fallen log. It flew off into the trees as soon as we stopped to take a better look. We followed it and saw a huge bird foraging on the ground. It was speckled... the spots looking like burnt fish scales. That's when it hit, we were actually looking at a Scaly Ground-Thrush (White's Thrush).

It was very easily flushed, flying off even when we were standing really still. I wasn't able to take a docu shot of my lifer before it flew away. Along the trail, we bumped into Bram and Kath. While we were waiting and scanning the area for the larger thrush, Bram saw a Red-bellied Pitta who apparently decided to answer my request earlier that morning and posed for their cameras. 

I guess talking to the birds really helps. I started talking to the Scaly Ground-Thrush (White's Thrush), this time asking permission for us to photograph it. We saw it one last time, perched a few meters above the ground, before we finally headed out the park. 

Thank you, Scaly Ground-Thrush, for teaching me the lesson I needed to learn the most =)