San Cristobal, Mindoro - 7th April

The long weekend gave me a chance to explore a patch of forest near San Cristobal on Mindoro where a Mindoro Bleeding Heart was seen by Mark Wallbank in early February. Richard and I met our guides Ed and Ente in Victoria, and were joined by visiting birder Simon Lloyd from Abu Dhabi. We tried to make an early start to look for night birds (we were somewhat delayed by late transport), and got to the edge of the forest at about 5:15. On the way in I'd seen a Philippine Nightjar on the road, and we heard several more as we waited for the light.

When it was light enough we started down the broad track. The first birds seen were a small group of Mindoro Bulbul, these were to be the commonest birds in the forest. After a while the forest improved, and we started the hunt, walking very slowly along the track, keeping an eye on the path ahead. This tactic proved very successful in finding Red-bellied Pittas, of which at least 5 were seen. Little else was visible, apart from a few Balicassiao, and several mindorensis Philippine Coucals. Plenty of birds were heard, not least a deep booming call that none of us could place, and Ente claimed was 'Bleeding-Heart' (Checking the recordings with other birders proved the calls to be Pink-bellied Imperial Pigeon, nice but not our target!).

As we were returning down the track, with very little to show for our efforts I spotted a medium sized dove walking down the track away from us. Ente hadn't seen it, and my imprecations to him to stop were enough to startle the bird which immediately took off and flew into the forest. All I saw was the back, which was a fairly uniform very dark greyish, almost slaty. There was no band on the rump (so not Emerald Dove), and the tail was short so not a Cuckoo-Dove (which would very rarely be seen on the ground in any case). The slate grey colour of the upperparts would also rule our White-eared Brown Dove (which does sometimes visit the ground). Assuming my impression of the colour was accurate then the only bird it could have been was Mindoro Bleeding-Heart, however it was an extremely unsatisfying view!

After this frustration we continued our walk home, with only a Philippine Serpent Eagle being added to the day-list.

One of five Red-bellied Pitta that we found today on the trail. This seems to be a real hotspot for the species.

 Calling Philippine Serpent Eagle

Makiling - 31st March

The trail up Makiling was reopened a couple of weeks ago, and this was my first chance to get up there. I was accompanied by Richard and a birder from Dubai, Simon. As it was clear, and quite hot, birding was limited to the early hours of the day. Bird of the day was a great pair of Spotted Wood Kingfishers perched on vines just before the Buko sellers. Several Luzon Hornbills called throughout the morning, but only one showed itself. A small group of Sulphur-billed Nuthatch were joined by an Elegant Tit, but it sadly didn't form into a larger party. Both Philippine Bulbul and Yellow-wattled Bulbul were noisy and obvious, as were several Ballicassiao. A small group of Red-crested Malkoha were also present at the lower part of the trail. Several Chinese Goshawk were seen at various spots, and over the forest were a couple of Philippine Serpent Eagles, and a pair of Pacific White-rumped Swift, my first of this species for a long time.

Heard-only birds included Grey-backed Tailorbird, White-browed Shama and Black-chinned Fruit Dove.

Male Spotted Wood-Kingfisher

Male Luzon Hornbill

Chinese Goshawk

Philippine Serpent Eagle

Botanical Gardens and ISH - 17th March

A not very early start at the Botanical Gardens for Richard and myself, and it showed. Birdlife was very thin on the ground, with a flock of Ashy Minivets and a single Pechora Pipit the only birds of note in the forest. A flock of 9 Grey-faced Buzzards overhead prompted us to try a little raptor watching from the staff housing complex. There were lots of Blue-tailed Bee-eaters, and 6 Purple Needletails, but no further raptors. Lots of sunbirds were coming to the flowers in the staff gardens, but overall it was a quiet day.

Blue-tailed Bee-eater.

Male Olive-backed Sunbird.

 Male Purple-throated Sunbird.

Flying Lizard.

IRRI - 2nd March

A short walk on the upland farm this morning with Richard and Michael. The morning started slowly, with only Philippine Nightjars before sunrise. A few commuting Black-crowned Night Herons passed the groups of Cattle Egrets going the other way, hot-bedding the roosting spots. The morning was very bright with hardly a cloud, so it heated up fairly quickly. Birding was a little slow, but there were a few things of interest. Several Snipe spp. flushed from various grassy areas, one of which also held Singing Bush Lark, which allowed a very close approach while it sang from the ground, possibly nesting nearby. A passing Brahminy Kite provoked some interest, it was soon seen off by a pair of Large-billed Crows, possibly that's the reason we don't get so many raptors, the crows operate a closed shop?

The fruiting trees along the stream held Black-naped Orioles and Pied Trillers, and Philippine Bulbuls were just inside the forest.

A Singing Bush Lark, with no sign of the rufous primaries that are supposed to be its main identification feature.

Brahminy Kite, my first in over a year here and only the third I've seen at IRRI at all. It was soon chased away by a pair of Large-billed Crows.

Female Pied Triller.

Spotted Buttonquail in the garden - 28th Feb

A quiet week birdwise mainly due to an increased workload. The best bird of the week by far was a pair of Spotted Buttonquails crossing the road by my house on Thursday. I've seen a pair of these several times over the last few weeks, always in the late afternoon crossing the road from my garden going to the house opposite. They seem to be on a bit of a regular circuit, hopefully I can get some better pictures soon.

Female Spotted Buttonquail.

Grey-streaked Flycatcher. In the staff housing compound at IRRI.

Striated Swallow. On the upland farms in the early part of the week.

Green Paddy Frog. Easy to find in the fountain just inside the entrance of the Botanical Gardens at Makiling, these make brilliant subjects!

IRRI upland farms - 16th Feb

I tried a different area near the IRRI farms today for a change, and it was excellent. I had initially wanted to do a bit of owling around the university, so set off at 4:00am, just as the main group of revellers was returning from the annual festival on Baker Field in the middle of the campus, so no luck there! I instead went to the upland farms to wait for sunrise, and look for nightjars. Several Philippine Nightjars were singing, but none showed themselves. The first bird of the morning was a very close fly-by from a beautiful Grass Owl.

I decided to explore the ranks grass areas near the edge of the forest, and was rewarded with views of several birds I haven't seen often at IRRI, including two separate Plain Bush Hens, Barred Rail, Clamourous Reed Warbler, and a brown shape diving into a bush that was probably a Siberian Rubythroat. Other interesting birds included 5 Guiabero, Pied Triller, Black-naped Oriole, White-throated Kingfisher, Tawny Grassbird, Pygmy Flowerpecker and Lesser Coucal. Aerial feeders over the forest and adjacent farmland included Asian Palm Swift, Glossy Fwiftlet, Island Swiflet, Striated Swallow, Pacific Swallo, Barn Swallow and a bird that flashed past me as I was driving home that had to have been a Sand Martin.

Two White-throated Kingfishers having a bit of biff. It had started out quite calmly...

The bird on the left had been raucously declaiming his/ her presence, when the bird on the right swooped in and perched nearby, yelling its head off...

This was too much for bird #1 who almost immediately attacked the Johhny-come-lately in a stuka-like swoop that was extremely effective....

.....leaving the first bird in full possession of the field!

Tawny Grassbird

Island Swiftlet

Week ending 10th Feb - IRRI, ISH, Makiling Botanical Gardens

With the Makiling Trail closed until March all my birding recently has been in the rice fields at IRRI, around IRRI staff housing and the occasional wander in the Botanical Gardens. While there has been nothing too spectacular I've seen and heard a good selection of birds.

Makiling Botanical Gardens: I visited this spot on both of the last two Sundays. The best bird was an Ashy-breasted Flycatcher high in a tree about halfway between the gate and the bridge on the right hand side. It didn't pose very long for photos, disappearing for long periods, but over the space of an hour I had enough detail to be happy with the identification of this elusive endemic. Other good birds over the last two visits included Red-crested Malkoha, Luzon Hornbill, Bar-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike and Grey-throated Sunbird.
 
IRRI staff housing: A pair of Spotted Buttonquails crossing the road outside my house one afternoon were my first of this species in a couple of years. Other birds around the complex include regularly calling Philippine Nightjar, Philippine Hawk-Owl and Philippine Scops Owls.

IRRI fields: The state of the rice fields is such that there is little open mud, so very few waders are around. The Peregrine is still on its pylon, and winter visitors such as Common Kingfisher and Brown Shrike are still everywhere.

 Red-crested Malkoha

 Pygmy Flowerpecker outside my front door, my most reliable spot for them!

Female Bar-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike ssp. striata, with a combination of grey throat and breast with black and white barred belly. Quite different from the male which is almost unbarred in this race.

 Long-tailed Shrike

 Pied Bush-Chat

 Green Paddy Frog

 Skink spp.