Another great day on Makiling! Up to the upper trail at dawn again, with Richard and Claire. The birds started early, with a pair of
Philippine Hawk-Owl showing themselves at the parking spot. Thereafter it was slow going, with
Luzon Hornbill, and
Philippine Trogon the only birds of note. Close to station 14 however a great find. A
Luzon Bleeding Heart hopped onto the trail 5 yards in front of me, and waddled along the path for 5 seconds or so before taking off in an explosion of feathers. A fantastic sighting, sadly too unexpected for me to even get my bins on them, let alone take photographs. Fortunately we all saw the bird, though neither Richard nor Claire had anywhere near as good a view as I did.
The rest of the morning returned to the very low intensity of the early part of the walk, with little new to report. A flock of
Ashy Minivets were the only remaining highlight.
We decided to try our luck at the Botanical Gardens on the way home. Over the forest there were at least a dozen or so
Purple Needletails, with a flock of
House Swifts a little further away.
White-eared Brown Dove
Red-crested Malkoha
Angle-headed Lizard
Green Paddy Frog,
Rana erythraea. At the Botanical Gardens.
Golden Striped Skink sp.
Hello Paul,
ReplyDeleteI hope to visit the mountain in about a week and am hoping you can answer a few questions. Can it be done on foot? What are the nearest accommodation?
It certainly can be done on foot. The lower slopes have a wide road for the first 3 km or so, though it is in terrible condition with most of the wheeled traffic being the occasional motorbike. Once you get past the coconut sellers it becomes much quieter, and better for birding. Mt favourite areas are about 3km past the coconut sellers, where the road becomes a walking-only trail. Birds can be seen anywhere on the trail, though I find the lower slopes can be very quiet sometimes.
ReplyDeleteTREES lodge is the place most visiting birders use. It's conveniently situated right at the start of the trail, though I'm unsure as to the quality of accommodation. The email is trees@laguna.net and the phone number is +63-49-5362639, +63-49-5362268 or +63-49-5362736. If that's full try the SEARCA guesthouse +63-49-5363482, though it's not as close to the trail.