Makiling Botanical Gardens - 5th Dec

Having heard about a sighting of Ashy-breasted Flycatcher in the Botanical gardens at Makiling last weekend I have been shooting back from work every day trying to catch sight of this elusive endemic. The first bird I saw on Monday was a Forest Wagtail, my second of the winter. It was present each day thereafter, and hopefully will hang around long enough to get some decent photographs. A pair of Indigo-banded Kingfishers also showed well on Monday and Tuesday, but nos sign of the Flycatcher yet. I plan to take another shot this weekend!

Indigo-banded Kingfisher near the bridge in the Botanical Gardens.

This looks like a different bird, in a very similar spot to the first, a few minutes later. The red loral spot as well as the brighter red mandible look different from the first bird, but are not indicators of sex, that is restricted to the breast bands (2 for males, one for females). It is of course possible that the differences are down to lighting and angle of view!

My second Forest Wagtail of the winter. They have been seen in a couple of other places this winter (La Mesa Eco Park for example), so maybe there's an influx this year. This was present on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week, each time in company with a Grey Wagtail. It is a much less confiding bird however, being very hard to approach.