Bangkong Kahoy Valley 12th Nov

After hearing about a resort on Mt. Banahaw called Bangkong Kahoy Valley I decided to check it out for myself. The directions were good, and the road was fine (apart from the last half km). An excellent area at the foot of Mt. Banahaw which looks to be very well vegetated. It's quite a bit higher than Mt. Makiling, and has the possibility of some different birds. After meeting Ramon Quisumbing (the photographer whose photos prompted me to try the area) I had a look around. Quiet at first, my first bird of any sort was a Bicolored Flowerpecker, followed by a fantastic Green-backed Whistler, of the brown-backed race crissalis. This is a bird I've been hankering after, but have failed to find at Makiling, or elsewhere.

Above the forest were several Pygmy Swiftlets, some Glossy Swiftlets, and some larger birds that could have been Island Swiftlets, or even Philippine Swiftlets, I shall have to look again to be sure. Also soaring high were a pair of Philippine Serpent Eagles, and a Grey-faced Buzzard.

This was only a recce, and I only stayed a couple of hours, but the quality of the area is clear, and I shall definitely return.

Green-backed Whistler, ssp. crissalis. Supposedly common, this does not appear to be present in the forest at Makiling, and I dipped at Mt. Polis in August. It is fairly quiet, and sits very unobtrusively high in the trees, an easy bird to overlook.

This particular race has fairly uniform brown upperparts, making the name a rather poor one.

Two Philippine Serpent Eagles circled high overhead, one of them seemingly ready to moult its tail feathers...

Several Pygmy Swiftlets were feeding over the forest, and gave reasonably good views. The narrow white rump is very clear and easy to see...