Pandan Island, Palawan - 7th to 8th June

Leg two of my Palawan trip. I took a jeepney from Sabang, changed to a tricycle at the main turn off and booked a boat at the pier for Honda Bay. The boat cost PHP 2800, and they agreed to let me stay overnight. At first they were adamant that it was a day resort only, but once I let them know that I was prepared to camp, and expected no facilities they relented.

Once the main visitors had left (@4pm) I deposited my gear with one of the stall keepers, and went birding. The island is pretty small, and can be circled in an hour or so. The fruit trees are the key to finding the pigeons, and I found quite a few Grey Imperial Pigeons (10+). They were easiest to see and photograph in the morning, but were findable in the afternoon too. At the north end of the island (opposite from the main resort) the scrub is quite dense, with no trails through. There were several Hooded Pitta here calling in the morning, and responding well to playback. A Tabon Scrubfowl was also here in the morning. Off shore this is the shallowest area, and had a few Grey-tailed Tattlers, Whimbrel, Greenshank (3) and Greater Sandplover (2). An offshore sandbar held Black-naped Tern (2), Great Crested Tern (3), Common Tern (10+), Little Tern (5+) and White-winged Black Tern (1). Lots of Little Heron here, often perched on the emerging mangrove seedlings.

The Eastern side of the island has lots of mangroves with several White-collared Kingfisher, and a pair of Stork-billed Kingfisher. A Great-billed Heron flew past here as the tide was dropping, eventually being tracked down to the shallows at the north end of the island.

The southern part, with the resort, has the tallest trees, and was where I eventually found Mantanani Scops Owl. They had not been active at all at sunset, possibly due to some rain and a little wind, and is wasn't until 2:00am that I was awakened by their calls. Half an hour later I finally got views of this strange island endemic. I also heard a few Large-tailed Nightjar here.

Grey Imperial Pigeon. The birds on Pandan do not have the "pinkish grey head, mantle and underparts" that are a feature of the nominate race, D. p. pickeringii, hence my assumption this is of the endemic race langhornei. The only Imperial Pigeon I found, this was fairly common. Easiest to find in the late afternoon and early morning when they were quite vocal.

Stork-billed Kingfisher, ssp. gouldi. I found these at the mangroves in Sabang (mixed fresh/ salt water), at Pandan (salt), and on the forest stream at Iwahig (fresh). Clearly a very adaptable species, I wonder why it is not more widely distributed within the Philippines? Possibly it cannot compete with the smaller, but more aggressive White-collared Kingfisher, which this individual is defending itself against (unsuccessfully, it departed shortly after).

Little Heron. Using the mangrove saplings to hunt from on the receding tide.

Great-billed Heron. This was my first view of this hard to find Asian bird. I tracked it down to the reef at the north of the island, by then it was several hundred metres away...

... however the next morning I found it roosting on top of a tree at the north end of the island giving fabulous views. A second bird was on the west side.

Mantanani Scops Owl, possiby nominate ssp. mantanensis. This birds did not call at sunset, unlike their counterparts on Boracay (see my post). I eventually heard, then saw them, between 2 and 3 am

Hooded Pitta, ssp. palawanensis. The size of the black spot on the belly seems bigger than that of the bird I photographed on Pandan Island in Mindoro, but they are said to be "hardly seperable ... and may be considered synonymous". Possibly the difference in posture of the two birds accounts for the apparent size difference.

Female Brown-throated Sunbird, ssp. paraguae. The birds in Luzon and the north of the Philippines have been split from this, and are now considered to be an endemic species, Grey-throated Sunbird, Anthreptes griseigularis.

Sabang, Palawan - 4th to 7th June

The first stop on my week-long trip to Palawan to try and mop up those endemics that I'm still missing. The first three days I spent at Sabang. The main target were the Philippine Cockatoos which have been found to roost in mangroves just off the main road into town. It took 2 days of visits, hiring a motorbike to take me there morning and evening, dodging rainshowers all the time, but eventually I scored, having a group of 6 birds come in at sunset on Tuesday afternoon. The site is pretty easy to find, 12km out of Sabang, just before the village of Tegabinet. Other birds here included Lovely Sunbird (recently split from Handsome Sunbird), Palawan Flowerpecker, Hill Myna, Dollarbird, Black-headed Bulbul, Ashy Drongo, Pin-striped Tit-Babbler, Green Imperial Pigeon. After dark several Large-tailed Nightjar were on the road back to town, plus another, smaller nightjar I couldn't identify.

The rest of the time was spent in the forest between the mangrove river and the first ranger camp. The main target here was the Falcated Ground Babbler, but there was hardly a sniff, with just one brown shape moving on the trail being a possibility. There were plenty of other birds here, including Crested Goshawk (1), Tabon Scrubfowl, Koel, Palawan Hornbill (2), Hooded Pitta (1),  Yellow-throated Leafbird, Ashy-fronted Bulbul, Sulphur-bellied Bulbul, Palawan Bulbul, Spangled Drongo, White-vented Shama, Rufous-tailed Tailorbird, Lovely Sunbird, Pale Spiderhunter.

The mangrove river was still marvelous, producing a pair of fantastic Ruddy Kingfishers, as well as Spot-throated Flameback, Stork-billed Kingfisher, Pin-striped Tit-babbler, Common Iora, Blue-naped Parrot and on the beach by the mouth a pair of Malaysian Plovers, and several Eastern Reef-Egret, including a white phase individual.

Around Sabang itself garden birds included Asian Fairy Bluebird, Pale Spiderhunter, Ashy-fronted Bulbul, Sulphur-bellied Bulbul, Palawan Bulbul and Palawan Flowerpecker in the fruit trees at Dab-Dab, and Brown-backed Needletail overhead.

Ruddy Kingfisher, ssp. linae. One of a pair that showed on each of the three trips I took on the mangrove river. Very approachable individuals, this endemic race can be hard to find.

Eastern Reef-Egret. Several birds moving between the beach at the north end of Sabang beach and the mouth of the mangrove river.

A white phase and dark phase Eastern Reef Egret together. The white phase seems to be quite scarce.

Crested Goshawk, ssp. palawanus.

Malaysian Plover. A permanent fixture on the beach at the mouth of the mangrove river. This male in breeding plumage had a female in attendance.

Island Swiftlet, ssp. palawanensis. Mostly overhead near the Cockatoo viewpoint.

Lovely Sunbird Aethopyga shelleyi. A recent split from Handsome Sunbird, this is a 'new' Palawan endemic. The main distinguishing feature is the extent of the iridescence on the crown, the absence of a violet cheek spot, and the presence of red streaking on the yellow breast.

Philippine Cockatoo. The main target species. They roost at a regular spot 12km from Sabang. Mainly visible up to 6am, and after 4pm as they travel to the roost, which is over 1km from the viewpoint, and presents rather poor views.

Pale Spiderhunter Arachnothera dilutior. Another recent split, from Little Spiderhunter, creating another Palawan endemic. The main feature is the absence of bright yellow flanks and lower belly.

Asian Fairy Bluebird. This had become something of a bogey bird, until I finally turned one up in the garden of a restaurant in Sabang.

Water Monitor. Common, particularly in the mangroves.

Mangrove Snake. Common in the mangroves, I have yet to take a boat trip up the mangrove river without seeing one (7 trips)

Displaying male Philippine Flying Lizard. This was the culminating point in a 10 minute battle between two (presumably) male Flying Lizards that chased each other between several trees. They finally faced off, about 2 feet apart, with wings and throat-flap fully extended, in a what appears to be a threat display.

Red-tailed Squirrel. Common in all forest types, the best views I had were in the palm trees around Sabang.

Butterflies and Lizards - ISH - 3 June

Family duties kept me out of the forest for the first couple of days of the long holidays, but I managed to persuade my 4 year-old to come for a walk along a small stream adjacent to the housing compound at IRRI. Birdwise it was fairly thin apart from a surprise glimpse of Indigo-banded Kingfisher on the stream, my first for months. White-throated Kingfisher, Glossy Swiftlet, Island Swiftlet, Asian Palm Swift and Striated Swallow were the only other birds.

It was a great day for butterflies though, and I managed to take photos of a couple of lizards too, so all in all pretty productive.

Green Dragontail, Lamproptera meges

Cruiser, Vindula erota

Great Eggfly, Hypolimnas bolina. Thanks to Lydia Robledo for the ID.

Common Bluebottle, Graphium sarpedon...

.. very fast, this is a hard butterfly to photograph in flight!

I believe this is a Tree Yellow, Gandaca harina.

 Common Sailor, Neptis hylas.

 Unidentified

Skink sp.

Flying Lizard, Draco sp.

Week ending 27th May - IRRI

A quiet week birding-wise as family duties took my spare time (Fiona being off in Malaysia all week). I did spot a Plain Bush-hen on my way in to work on Tuesday, but my only other birding was on Sunday afternoon when I took the youngest into the paddies to 'see some cows'. All passage birds having departed the main interest was the breeding behaviour, with plenty of song, plus several species with young already. The Blue-tailed Bee-eaters and Oriental Pratincoles were among the most visible, but there were plenty of Striated Swallows today, many with youngsters in tow. A Barred Buttonquail had a lovely dust-bath right in front of us, and Oriental Skylarks and Fan-tailed Cisticolas sang their hearts out.

Male Barred Buttonquail, having just completed a dust bath...

 Oriental Pratincole

 White-breasted Waterhen

Striated Swallow, lots about today, including plenty of juveniles...

This Oriental Skylark was belting out a song from the deck before deciding we were too close...

... and without missing a note it took off into its aerial song flight.

Fledgling Philippine Scops Owl - 19 May

On Saturday a neighbour brought in a fledgling Philippine Scops Owl she had found on the road in the compound. Very fluffy still, but with primaries and tail feathers developing. We haven't located the nest yet, but as it's not responding to feeding our plan is to return it to the vicinity it was found and hope the adults come back.

Subic - 12 & 13 May

A last-minute decision to go to Subic for the weekend saw myself Richard and Claire making the 4 hour drive to one of the best lowland forest patches on Luzon. Saturday afternoon was spent exploring the bat colony (both Philippine Giant Fruit Bat and Golden-crowned Fruit Bat photographed) and the lower section of roads connecting the bomb bunkers. A good selection of birds here including Whiskered Tree-Swift, Coleto, Philippine Green Pigeon, White-eared Brown Dove, Green Imperial Pigeon, Philippine Serpent Eagle, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Brahminy Kite, Red-crested Malkoha, Guiabero, Chestnut-headed Bee-eater, Luzon Flameback, Luzon Hornbill and best of all, Green Racquet-tails. The Racquet-tails were quite noisy, but impossible to see until they moved by which time only a few seconds of in-flight view was possible, still a great bird though!

Sunday morning was devoted to the forest trail up to hill 394. While none of the 3 Subic specials I was gunning for showed themselves (White-fronted Tit, White-lored Oriole and Rufous Coucal) we did get a good selection. Great views of White-bellied Woodpecker, also Sooty Woodpecker, Yellow-breasted Fruit Dove, Purple Needletail, Bar-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike, Blackish Cuckoo-Shrike, Philippine Falconet, Emerald Dove, along with many of the same species seen on Saturday. On the way back we were shaken out of our reverie by an almighty racket made by 4 or 5 Rufous Hornbills shouting their heads off. Despite the obvious close proximity of the birds we didn't get so much as a glimpse, extremely frustrating!

The long drive home was made a little less tedious by the sight of a dozen or so White-winged Black Terns in breeding plumage bouncing around over a pond.

Philippine Giant Fruit Bat, Pteropus vampyrus lanensis.

The majority of the bat colony at Subic comprises the Philippine Giant Fruit Bat. Extremely large, and with a reddish coat becoming dark on the head...

Giant Golden-crowned Fruit Bat, Acerodon jubatus. Far fewer of these very smart bats here. I didn't in fact notice them on the day, only identifying them when processing the photographs!

A Philippine Giant Fruit Bat with a youngster clinging on to it!

Philippine Serpent Eagle, carrying what I thought to be a snake, but may in fact be a stick. It was circling slowly and calling when it did this.

Whiskered Tree-Swift, posing obligingly

Rufous-crowned Bee-eater, Merops americanus. A recent split from Blue-throated Bee-eater.

White-bellied Sea-Eagle

Barred Rail

Male Luzon Hornbill

Week ending 6th May - UPLB

As a break from climbing mountains on Saturday I tried to answer a question that has been perplexing me recently, namely where are the Indigo-banded Kingfishers?They are usually seen on the stream that runs through the UPLB campus, but I haven't seen them for at least a couple of months. The stream is only easily accessible at a few spots, so I decided to get down to the stream bed and follow it, so that I would be able to cover the entire stream, the theory being they must be on a stretch of water that I can't see from any vantage point. Needless to say this was not what happened. Firstly the stream bed is difficult to get to due to lots of undergrowth, some of which is vicious. The bugs also took exception to my adventures, and lastly the water was pretty rank, adding several unpleasant skin diseases to the list of potential hazards. Bird-wise it was also a disappointing day. Aside from several parties of Yellow-wattled Bulbuls the only birds of interest were a pair of large dark birds that flew down the stream in front of me, and which I took to be Barred Rails.

All in all an unsuccessful day. Tomorrow will be better!

 Yellow-wattled Bulbul

Philippine Bulbul