5 Years, 14 Hours, and 1 Lifer in Subic

I went birding for the first time ever last April 9, 2010. Five years and 200+ lifers after, I wasn't able to go out birding on the exact date unlike the past 4 years. I made up for it 3 days after =)

We drove to Subic before dawn last Sunday for a whole day of birding. I left the navigation to the boys and the first spot they chose set the mood for the rest of our day: awesome views of awesome birds!

I took my time getting down from the car, still groggy from getting up before 3AM. But Jun was already pointing to Luzon Flamebacks and White-bellied Woodpeckers right in front of us! Bins, cameras, and scope came out and any cobwebs of sleepiness disintegrated.

One of the Luzon Flamebacks we saw in that area.

It was such a rush! Especially since both male and female woodpeckers were showing so well those first few minutes we were birding! Best birding is being able to take in all the details of the bird, especially if the birds look like these:

Male White-bellied Woodpecker

Female White-bellied Woodpecker

Soon, the forest came alive with bird song of Philippine Pygmy Woodpeckers, Asian Koels, Colasisis, and Guaiaberos. Large-billed Crows also came swooping in from all directions and a Philippine Green Pigeon decided to sun itself.

Getting some morning sun! We'd see a lot more of them later.

A female Asian Koel made an appearance but kept to the shadows of the trees giving us good views but horrible photos. A Green Racket-tail perched right above us, distracting us from the Koel.

This was the exact view I got of the Green Racket-tail!

We explored further down the road and saw Elegant Tits, Black-naped Orioles, Philippine Bulbuls, and some Brown Shrikes. We tried to find some Spotted Wood Kingfishers calling from both sides of the road but did not find them. As we drove away, a White-throated Kingfisher posed for some photos.

White-throated Kingfisher

As we were driving by a residential area, I spotted an unusually big bird for a regular backyard and asked to back up a bit. There, sitting under a small trellis in someone's front yard was a raptor! As we observed it, we saw it chase a Eurasian Tree Sparrow around the trellis before flying away.

I saw it perched like this! Cool huh!

The three of us were thrilled by what we saw but couldn't properly ID the raptor because we just got glimpses of its underparts. It was either a Chinese Sparrowhawk or a Besra. We moved on but decided to go back to the house with the trellis and hope the raptor would return. It didn't. BUT! We got some pretty good views of a Blue-naped Parrot!

My first good view of this parrot!
I'm so thrilled I got a photo too!

In the area, we also spotted a female Blue Rock Thrush on a roof, some Coppersmith Barbets, and more crows.

Female going solo!

Pok-pok-pok!

We transferred locations and tried for the White-fronted Tit which was absent that day. We did get to see some Luzon Hornbills and Rough-crested Malkohas in the area. There were also a lot of Coletos, their metallic song ringing through the trees.

I cannot seem to get a good photo of this malkoha!

The boys looking for tits =)

We moved to the more popular Nabasan Trail. It was midday already and birds weren't that visible. We could hear White-browed Shamas and Trilling Tailorbirds singing hidden from us. There were more Coletos, plus Whiskered Treeswifts and Blackish Cuckoo-Shrikes. There were also Brahminy Kites and Philippine Serpent Eagles circling overhead. I saw a large raptor which wasn't a Brahminy Kite and we were happy to see it was a Grey-headed Fish Eagle!

It was getting quite hot so we took a break and got some lunch. Afterwards, we took a drive in another residential area and chanced upon a nest of Large-billed Crows! It was our first time to see their nest which was neatly built from twigs and was high up in a tall tree.

The chick inside was cawing loudly which got our attention

As we drove away, Jun spotted something on a tall tree. As we backed up, it turned out to be a raptor very similar to the one we spotted earlier in the morning! Now with good views of its underparts, we could positively identify it as a Chinese Sparrowhawk!

Documentary shot of the raptor

We left the area, drove around a bit, and did some dude birding. I sat by the side of the road and enjoyed good views of Guaiaberos, Luzon Hornbills, Green Imperial Piegons, and Green Racket-tails around me, one was even in a nesting hole!

Perfect nest hole!

We moved again and the boys started shouting at me, pointing to two different birds, on opposite sides of the road! I was so rattled but was able to see one: a male Luzon Hornbill! I missed the other one which turned out to be a Blue-naped Parrot. Turns out there were a number of fruiting trees in the area! The hornbill transferred to another tree but allowed me to get close.

My first close encounter with the bird =)

As the bird activity quieted down, we tried again for the tit. As we drove down the road, we flushed a Philippine Serpent Eagle which was perched on an electric post! Thankfully, it perched on a nearby tree before flying away. 

Another very close encounter!

Sadly, the White-fronted Tit did not show but we did get to add a few more species to our growing list: Red Junglefowl (both male and female), Philippine Coucal, and Philippine Falconet. It was getting late so we transferred locations again for some owling. 

As the last remaining light dwindled, we were treated to good views of a Sooty Woodpecker, the only one we haven't seen that day! While observing the woodpecker, Great-eared Nightjars took flight and glided all around us.

It was now night time, and as we were enveloped in darkness, the calls of Luzon Hawk Owls surrounded us. They refused to show but a friendly Chocolate Boobook came out in the open and called in front of us! Finally, without any doubt that it might be a Northern Boobook, I can tick it off as a lifer!

Lifer for the three of us!!!

We had been birding for 14 hours already, listed 50 species, and it was finally time to go home. It was another epic birding trip to Subic and even as I didn't expect getting a lifer on our 5th year as birders, we still got one =)

Sunrise to Sunset in Subic

Our group left Manila at 3:30AM. Most of us had little or no sleep at all! But our party of 8 - me, Jops, Jon V., Willem and Nikdye, Jayjay, Luke, and Matthew - was on the road that early for a whole day of birding in the forests of Subic.

We arrived at our first stop, near the entrance to the Nabasan Trail, where we were hoping to see some owls before the sun came up. A Chocolate Boobook was calling from deep within the trees as the dawn chorus began. We were soon surrounded by the calls of Asian Koels, Philippine Bulbuls, and Balicassiao, the birds now awake but calling unseen from the trees. We also saw some early Guaiabero and Coletos. We weren't lucky to see the owl so we proceeded to our next stop to try to find the endemic White-fronted Tit.

When we arrived at the spot, it didn't take long for us to hear the loud song of the little bird filling the air. We soon located the singing bird, perched atop a tree. It moved closer to our group a number of times, giving us great views! The encounter had me wide awake even before 7AM!

First lifer for the day: White-fronted Tit!

To add even more excitement to our group (and to wake up those who were still feeling groggy), a pair of White-bellied Woodpeckers also made an appearance while the Tit was busy singing around us. I actually missed seeing the woodpeckers as I was focusing all my early-morning attention on the Tit!

We made our way out slowly of the area, stopping midway to spot a flyfby Blue-naped Parrot as well as some Sooty Woodpeckers, a Green Imperial Pigeon basking in the first rays of daw, and also Luzon Flamebacks. A Philippine Green Pigeon also made a brief appearance. It was such a great start to our birding day: seeing three species of woodpeckers already!

Green Imperial Pigeon

We headed back to our first stop this morning and birded in the Nabasan Trail. Along the road, we stopped when we saw some Whiskered Treeswifts perched on some electric wires, enjoying the early morning sun.

Whiskered Treeswift - such a uniquely-marked bird!

We parked the car near the entrance to the trail where a Philippine Falconet welcomed us. It has been a while since I last saw this bird and it was a nice seeing it in Subic.

Philippine Falconet - looking like the tiny raptor that it is

When the falconet flew away, we moved into the trail where a some Asian Koels were calling loudly. I saw Jayjay pointing at something up in the trees, and next thing I knew, a huge black bird perched on the low tree above me. I focused my binoculars on it, and I finally got to see my first Asian Koel! It flew back towards the other birders and we all got good views of two male Koels and one female! The female looking completely different from the all-black males with its rufous color and heavy streaking. Amazing to see all of them skulking on one tree!

I already got two lifers and the morning had just begun! Along the trail, we saw lots of Blue-throated Bee-eaters, some Bar-bellied Cuckoo-shrikes, and more Coleto's. There were quite a number of them flying around the forest. A small group of Rufous Coucals skulked among some trees but refused to come out for clearer views.

I was getting excited to see my next possible lifer. Our friend, Mark Jason, was kind enough to help us out the night before and I did get to see it! After a number of trips to Subic, I finally got to see my first Green Racket-tail! We would see a few more later on during the day and I absolutely loved seeing their tiny, delicate rackets!!!

Green Racket-tail (with one racket)
(Thank you, Mark Jason!)

We moved further along and saw more woodpeckers: a large, male White-bellied Woodpecker landed really close to us on one occasion! We could also hear them loudly hammering away from the forests on both sides of the trail. 

The day was starting to get hot, so we boarded our "school bus" and drove to see the Flying Foxes. It was a treat having Nikdye and Willem join us, being the biologists they are. I learned a lot from them about the huge bats that roost in huge numbers in one area in Subic. Turns out, there are two species of Flying Foxes there: the endemic and endangered Golden-crowned Flying Fox and the resident Giant Flying Fox. 

Endangered Golden-crowned Flying Foxes
Notice their lighter, golden colored crowns/heads
According to Willem, there are only several hundred left in the wild

Giant Flying Foxes
They have darker, rufous heads

We chatted a bit with the roaming guard and then headed to check out the Blue-throated Bee-eater nest site. The birds were all there, perched on wires and on the slopes on the sidewalks which was dotted with their nesting holes.

One of the many Blue-throated Bee-eaters tending to its nest

We suddenly heard a loud high-pitched call coming from the trees behind us: parrots! We scanned the big tree from which the calls were coming from, which was tough since the leaves would generally be the same shade of green as the parrots we were looking for. After a couple of minutes, Jon finally spotted the parrot! Another Green Racket-tail, busy cleaning out a hole on the tree trunk.

Can you spot the parrot?

The spot was really birdy that morning. We also saw Pygmy Swiftlet, a Purple Needletail, White-breasted Woodswallows, and more Colasisi. 

It was nearing noon and we were getting hungry. We drove to get lunch and finished eating before 1PM. It was too hot to go birding (and besides, the birds wouldn't be out in the heat too) so we drove to a nice, quiet, shady spot. We took our positions, some in the van, others on the grass and side of the road, while others went to do some birding in the area. The group was momentarily disturbed by a flock of noisy and curious Elegant Tits!

One of the noisy Elegant Tits that woke the
sleeping birders

Eventually, the flock moved away and people returned to what they had been doing before they were disturbed by the tiny birds. The forest was not that quiet: Philippine Bulbuls would constantly call and fly among the trees, a Grey-backed Tailorbird would call occasionally from the brush, and Whiskered Treeswifts stayed a while too. 

Soon, the sun relented and the air cooled. We regrouped and birding once more commenced. As we were getting ready to leave, two raptors started thermalling overhead! They raptors caused quite some excitement as to what they were. They turned out to both be Brahminy Kites, which we saw quite a number of during our trip.

We finally boarded the van when Jayjay spotted a chicken on the side of the road! Female Red Junglefowl! We all got out again and observed the bird but it was quickly flushed away by a passing jogger.

As we were heading back towards the van, Jops spotted something quite big in the trees. It was a male Luzon Hornbill! Our first for the trip!

A male Luzon Hornbill having a late lunch

It ate a few large fruits from the tree before flying across the road and disappearing among the trees. We finally boarded the van and headed back to Nabasan for more afternoon birding. When we passed the roosting site of the Flying Foxes, we found many of them flying around, possibly disturbed by something.

Flying Foxes in flight too early in the afternoon

We reached the trail and it was not as noisy as early that morning. The Asian Koels were still calling from the forest, though their calls were not as taunting as before (we've seen it after all!) We waited in an area where we heard a Luzon Hawk-Owl call. While waiting, we studied a curious-looking flycatcher. It looked very similar to a Grey-streaked Flycatcher but had different marking on its chest and flanks. It was grey but definitely not streaked...hmmmm. We discussed our observations and our best ID was that it was a Dark-sided Flycatcher! Good thing it stayed long enough to be observed properly and that a Grey-streaked Flycatcher also made an appearance allowing us to compare the two.

While waiting for dusk, we saw more Green Racket-tails, one more male Luzon Hornbill, Whiskered Treeswifts, Bar-bellied Cuckoo-shrikes, and another unexpected lifer for me, a Japanese Sparrowhawk! We bumped into Mark W. and his friends and were able to show them a pair of Sooty Woodpeckers crawling up a tree.

Male Sooty Woodpecker

We tried calling the owl but it refused to show. We decided to head out to the start of the trail where we began our birding that morning. We arrived to find a number of Great-eared Nightjars actively flying about, feeding in the dark sky. I really enjoyed watching them soar above us, observing their long slender wings and rounded tails, silhouetted against the night sky (I think I was giggling and clapping my hands.) It was another awesome lifer for me, bringing my total for the trip to 6 =)

We tried calling the owls, and quite a number were calling from the dark forest, but none came out. We decided to call it a day, aching feet and all. We were all up for at least 16 hours already! We did our bird list after dinner and came up with a total of 57 birds seen and heard! It was really a wonderful day birding. Jon had a better word for it: it was EPIC. =)