Our April 2011 Tour participant Tan Ju Lin writes about their experience in Makiling with us. Tan Ju Lin is a keen birder from Singapore and has been birding for many years now. She has traveled extensively in the Oriental Region and has seen a lot of Asian birds. She will be returning this April 2012 for another Philippine trip covering the more difficult endemics.
The Secrets and Treasures of Mt. Makiling.
Date: 10 – 23 April 2011
Places covered in the tour: Luzon, Mindoro, Negros.
Report covers: Mount Makiling.
Participants: Alfred Chia, Tai Ping Ling, Doreen Ang, Jimmy Chew and Tan Ju Lin. Write up by Tan Ju Lin.
Tour leader: Nicky Icarangal of Birding Adventure PhilippinesLooking for buttonquails in the nice afternoon golden light
A land of 7,107 beautiful emerald islands, blessed with natural beauty and more than 600 species of resident and migratory birds. Of these, almost a third are endemic. With such a high level of endemism, the Philippines holds great attraction for the visiting birder. With visions of ground doves with bleeding hearts, a babbler with flames for temples and kingfishers wearing indigo bands, Alfred Chia, Tai Ping Ling, Doreen Ang, Jimmy Chew and myself planned a trip with Birding Adventure Philippines in pursuit of some of the most unique and beautiful birds in South East Asia. All of us had birded in the Philippines before and were hungering for more, except for Alfred who had previously been to the Philippines on 5 separate occasions, all for work, and claimed that he had not seen more than a Eurasian Tree Sparrow. We were determined to change his fate!
We contacted Adri Constantino and lead guide Nicky Icarangal from Birding Adventure Philippines to plan a trip that would bring us from the regular birding hotspots of Mount Makiling, Subic Bay and Candaba marshes to the more remote and less visited areas such as Mt Polis in northern Luzon, Sablayan Penal Colony in Mindoro and Mount Kanlaon in Negros.
This narrative covers in-depth account of our time in Mount Makiling, a place which holds a significant number of endemic species despite its proximity to Manila. And though this narrative is removed from the format of a traditional birding report, we hope you enjoy reading this account of our 2 days birding in Mount Makiling.
After a relatively short flight from Singapore to Manila via JetStar Airways, we arrived in Manila in the morning and were met by our guide Nicky Icarangal with an incredibly comfortable coaster that would be our transport for a good part of the Luzon leg.
Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker by tour participant Jimmy Chew
Birding proper for us began in the lush green campus of Los Baños Campus of University of the Philippines, on the afternoon of the 10th of April. We started birding at 4.00pm in the afternoon, when the sun was a little less fierce and when the birds started to emerge to feed before the end of the day. We drove to the known location within the campus grounds to look for the Indigo Banded Kingfisher. From the bridge where we stood we had great views of the male Indigo Banded Kingfisher, shimmering like a jewel, showing off its double blue bands and orangey rufous chest. And in the bamboo clump by the side of the bridge, some of us had views of another endemic, a Yellow-wattled Bulbul. Walking around the campus grounds, lifers for Alfred came fast and furious, with a pair of Philippine Pygmy Woodpeckers on low trees by the roadside. A Striped-headed Rhabdornis gave fleeting views, and it would take another day before we all saw them well. Other birds seen walking around the campus grounds were Philippine Bulbuls, Guaiabero, Colasisi, an Oriental Cuckoo and numerous Brown Shrikes. Next, we headed to the Animal Husbandry section of the campus, and I was looking forward to scoring my first lifer of the trip. Spotted Buttonquail!
We positioned ourselves on the sides of the path and Nicky told us to get comfortable, as it would be a waiting game for the Spotted Buttonquail to appear. Fortunately, we did not have to test our resolve, and a pair of Spotted Buttonquails came walking after about half an hour. My first lifer for the trip! Whilst waiting, we also had other distractions in the form of a Coppersmith Barbet, Philippine Hawk Cuckoo, several Oriental Cuckoos, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Striated Grassbird and Grey-streaked Flycatchers. In the fields in the area we also counted numerous Cattle Egrets, Plain Bush hen, White-breasted Waterhen, Scaly-breasted and White-bellied Munias.
Philippine Hawk-Owl by Jimmy Chew
At dusk we continued our quest for more Philippine endemics, with 3 Philippine Hawk Owls seen and an extremely uncooperative Philippine Nightjar, which flew in and promptly out of sight again. Philippine Scops Owl was heard and not seen, and we would not nail this bird until some days later. Still, it was the start of a reasonably good run of night birds seen during the 2 weeks of our tour.
The thing with birding in the Philippines is that the sun rises incredibly early. At most of our destinations, the sky would already be reasonably bright at 5.00 in the morning. This translates to early morning starts and waking up at an unearthly hour of 3.30 am on many days. Sometimes 4.00 am if we were lucky.
Ashy Ground Thrush - one of the rarest treasures of Makiling. Photo by Jimmy Chew
Our first morning of early starts was well worth our efforts, as bumping our way up Mount Makiling in a banged up jeepney, Nicky yells for the driver to stop and there in the middle of the path, standing in the headlights of the jeepney, stood an Ashy Ground Thrush! We froze momentarily as so did the bird, and recovering from our surprise, we quickly trained our bins on this amazing bird before it hopped off round the corner. Climbing gingerly out of the jeepney, and creeping round the corner we found the thrush again feeding on the ground. Jimmy even managed to set up his tripod and 500mm camera and secured quite a few shots before it took flight. That was Mt Makiling’s first hint not to underestimate what secrets and treasures its forests could hold. And reveal its treasures it did…!
The early morning calls of the Spotted Wood Kingfisher rang through the forests, and it was not long before Nicky spotted a male perched in the trees about 10 metres back from the path. And like many forest kingfishers, this Spotted Wood-Kingfisher managed to stay inconspicuous despite garbed in brilliant blues, greens, bright white and hues of orange. That morning, we also enjoyed good views of the Grey-backed Tailorbird, Philippine Serpent-Eagle, Red-crested Malkoha, Balicassiao, Elegant Tits, manic-looking Sulphur-billed Nuthatches racing up, down and round and round the trees and several handsome White-browed Shamas.
On the upper parts of Mt Makiling, the trails became narrower and we were stopped in our tracks by Nicky who hissed, “Pechora Pipit”! Lo and behold, walking on the side of the track was a Pechora Pipit with its defining “V” mark on its back. It continued walking in the opposite direction and soon melted into the forest.
The skulking White-browed Shama by Jimmy Chew
Surely, it was a sign of good things to come…. I held my breath as Nicky played the call of the Luzon Bleeding-Heart. It was a bird we all were secretly hoping for but did not think we would ever lay our eyes on. So, when we actually heard a response, it set our pulses racing and hearts beating! The calls came closer and closer and quite suddenly a Luzon Bleeding-Heart in its full glory flew onto an exposed branch, walked a foot or two, before turning around and flying off without any sound of wing beats! It was surreal, and it must have been that I so happened to be looking at the correct spot of the forest. I was elated and strangely disappointed at the same time for all the others in our group had not seen the bird! It must have been not being able to share in the joy of such a mega-tick. It was a good thing that Nicky is never one to give up and persists until everyone in the group has seen the bird. He soon called in a second bird further up the trail. This was clearly a different bird, as this individual had a bigger and deeper coloured patch of red on its chest compared to the first bleeding-heart, which had a smaller and fainter crimson wash on its breast. It walked about on the side of the trail above us, playing hide and seek with us amongst the undergrowth, finally giving almost everyone (but one person!) views. It was almost close to a miracle that Nicky managed to spot the bird again walking some 100 -150 metres from where we last saw it and the final person in our group (who shall remain unnamed!) saw the Luzon Bleeding-heart. Success!!
Other key species seen at Mount Makiling included Lowland White-eye, Yellowish White-eye, Philippine Hawk-Cuckoo, Blue-headed Fantail, Philippine Trogon and Philippine Falconet.
Small and chunky Guaiabero. Photo by Jimmy Chew
For a complete bird list of Tan Ju Lin and party's April 2011 Tour, please click here.
This is a video of a family of Black-chinned Fruit-doves seen during one of our sorties in one of our favorite birding destinations in Luzon: Mt. Makiling.
The Black-chinned Fruit-dove is one of the 19 endemic doves / pigeons in the country. Their soft and hollow rooooooo can sometimes be heard resonating in the lowland forests of all the major islands in the Philippines. The field guide lists this bird as an uncommon; the best way to look for this endemic is to find fruiting trees in the forest where they feed regularly.
The first part of the video shows an immature while the adults can be seen in the later part. The adult male is white on the head and the neck/upper breast (seen on the right side) while the female with the greenish neck is a bit hidden on the branches on the left. You can also hear a Spotted Wood Kingfisher calling in the background.
Happy birding!
Black-chinned Fruit-doves, Ptilinopus leclancheri
May 2011, Mt. Makiling Forest Reserve, Luzon, Philippines
Pittas belong to this majestic, very colorful group of birds that live on the moist tropical rainforest floors of Asia, Australia and Africa. They are brightly adorned with different shades of red, green and blue feathers but despite their stunning plumage, they can be incredibly hard to see - hopping away into the dark forest floor with the slightest movement, or staying still looking like a dried leaf or branch.
There are 5 species of pittas found in the Philippines, 2 of them are endemic: the Steere's (Azure-breasted) Pittaand the largest of all Philippine pittas, the Whiskered Pitta. One out of the 5 is a rare migrant (Blue-winged Pitta) while the remaining two are resident pittas that can be found also in other countries: the Hooded Pitta and this Red-bellied Pitta, Pitta erythrogaster
This calling Red-bellied Pitta was videoscoped in a mountain resort a few hours south of Manila. You can also hear other birds in the background: the loud and pulsing call (like a sewing machine badly needing an oil change) of the Grey-backed Tailorbird, the coooing White-eared Brown-dove and the melodious call of a White-browed Shama. Click on the links to see the other birds or visit our galleries here.Red-bellied Pitta, Pitta erythrogaster
May 2011, Mts. Palay palay - Mataas na Gulod National Park, Cavite, Luzon, Philippines
The Philippines is a treasure-trove for an amazing number of endemic doves and pigeons. There are 33 recorded birds belonging to this family and 19 of them are endemic. The most famous of the doves/pigeons are the Bleeding-hearts, very shy, ground-dwelling birds that have a red patch on their white breast, looking like a bleeding bird stabbed with a dagger to the chest. Then there are the fruit-doves like the stunning Flame-breasted Fruit-dove from high elevation Luzon, and this Yellow-breasted Fruit-dove from Mindanao, Southern Philippines. The more common forest doves are the Brown-doves such as this White-eared Brown-dove and the one featured in this video: the Amethyst Brown-Dove.
The Amethyst Brown-Dove is described as a locally-common dove found in the lowlands and up to montane forests. It is very similar to the White-eared Brown-Dove with both having a white "ear" below the eye but the Amethyst Brown-Dove is distinguished from its brown-dove relatives by being the largest, with a larger, more prominent bill, less conspicuous “white ear”, and a violet upper back. It has a nice soft call hooot, hooot hoot and can be found singly or in pairs often in fruiting trees from Luzon, Mindanao, and other bigger islands. Hear the call at around 0:30 into the video.
Amethyst Brown-Dove, Phapitreron amethystina
from two clips: June and August 2011, Mt. Makiling and Mt. Bulusan, Luzon, Philippines
A sure way to rouse a sleeping birder out of his/her sleep is to yell out a sighting of a special endemic nocturnal like this stunning Philippine Frogmouth. This uncommon Philippine endemic is a regular in Mt. Kitanglad Range National Park in Bukidnon, Mindanao, Philippines but can also be found in Luzon and satellite islands, Bohol, Leyte and Samar, and Negros and Panay.
Philippine Frogmouth, Batrachostomus septimus
July 2011, Mt. Kitanglad Range, Bukidnon, Mindanao, Philippines
It is a strictly nocturnal bird and has a smallish hooked bill and a wide mouth like a frog (check it out at around 1:05 in the video) used in hunting for insects, flying out from a perch to catch its prey on the wing. The long bristles extending from the face (seen clearly in this photo) as well as the base of the bill are thought to protect the eyes from prey and also to detect subtle movements in its forest environment.
Sometimes, you get really lucky and find the classic daytime frogmouth pose on a nest! This photo of the frogmouth trying to look like a broken branch was taken in Raja Sikatuna Protected Landscape in the laid-back island of Bohol in South Central Philippines.
Hope you enjoyed this video. If you are looking for more videos using our Swarovski Digiscoping Setup be sure to visit this page.
The Rufous-headed Tailorbird is one of the 10 tailorbirds ranging in the Philippines. The one featured here is a high elevation Mindanao endemic and can be seen singly, in pairs or sometimes in mixed flocks in montane forests above 800 meters. It was previously lumped with Mountain Tailorbird but some naturalists treat this heterolaemus race as a separate species based on the differences in plumage and bird calls from birds from Luzon and Palawan.
This individual was videoed in one of the country's best birding spots: Mt. Kitanglad Range in Bukidnon, Mindanao, Southern Philippines.
Digiscoping note: Here is an example of a bird that is difficult to photograph using a digiscoping set-up. Firstly, this bird is very small, 4 1/2 inches from the tip of the beak to the end of the tail so getting it to fill the frame will be quite a challenge. Secondly, this tailorbird is very active and skittish and will not perch on a spot for very long so you'll have to be quick in order to get usable shots. It is very difficult to get but it can be done with the right equipment, lots of patience and practice (and luck). It also pays to know the habit of the bird so you can somewhat predict where the bird will perch next. Happy digiscoping!
Rufous-headed Tailorbird, Orthotomus heterolaemus
September 2010, Mt. Kitanglad Range, Bukidnon, Mindanao, Philippines
This is the continuation of the blog post: Dung-on-a-twig: Mistletoe and Birds last week.
Here is another video showing how mistletoes are propagated. This time a Pygmy Flowerpecker, Dicaeum pygmaeum does the job of pooping the very sticky mistletoe seeds and wiping it off a branch. The Pygmy Flowerpecker is a common and widespread endemic ranging in most Philippine Islands including Palawan. This flowerpecker is particularly fond of Loranthus mistletoe and prefers lowland forest up to 1000 meters. The call is similar to tapping two pebbles together and is given almost continuously while foraging on fruiting and flowering trees.
See the bird stretching first and then pooping next at around 0:40 into the video clip.
Next week: Last installment for this series. Happy birding!
Pygmy Flowerpecker, Dicaeum pygmaeum
January 2011, Mt. Makiling, Laguna, Philippines
This White-cheeked BullfinchPyrrhula leucogenis is a high elevation Luzon, Negros and Mindanao endemic that favors the canopy and understory of montane forests above 1250 meters. This particular bird was seen feeding by the roadside in the highlands of Mt. Polis, the Cordilleras, Northern Luzon, Philippines last January during our trip with UK-based tour operator BIRDQUEST. The field guide lists this bird as uncommon but it is fairly noisy and conspicuous when feeding on mistletoe (yes, we have mistletoes in the Philippines) and dried sunflowers (just like the Mindanao endemic Red-eared Parrotfinch with picture here and video here.)
White-cheeked Bullfinch, Pyrrhula leucogenis
January 2011, Mt. Polis, the Cordilleras, Northern Luzon, Philippines
Continuation of last post about mistletoes and birds up next. Check it out soon!
A mistletoe growing on a host tree. Photo by Marites Cervero
Yes, we have mistletoes here in the Philippines. Mistletoes are botanically interesting plants as they are hemiparasites (or partial parasites). They usually grow on trunks or branches of trees and send out roots that penetrate the host tree's branches. They can generate their own food through photosynthesis but they can also extract some nutrients from their host tree.
Mistletoe comes from two Anglo-Saxon words: "Mistel" meaning dung and "tan" which is a word for twig. So, mistletoe means "dung-on-a-twig." This name came about when early botanists observed mistletoe would often appear on a branch or twig where birds had left droppings.
And this is how mistletoes are spread: A bird (like this immature Buzzing Flowerpecker) eats the very sticky berry fruits of the mistletoe and then poops and wipes it off another branch. This flowerpecker, by the way is a common, widespread Philippine endemic found in most islands except Palawan.
Next week: another bird showing this interesting behavior. Happy birding!
**Update: Check the rest of this series here:
Part 2: Pygmy Flowerpecker
Part 3: Fire-breasted FlowerpeckerBuzzing Flowerpecker (immature), Dicaeum hypoleucum
July 2010, Mt. Polis, the Cordilleras, Northern Luzon, Philippines
Do we have hummingbirds in the Philippines?
This is one of the most frequently asked questions during our guided bird walks for the non-birder public. And to this we enthusiastically reply that what we have are sunbirds, feathered friends that are almost the same size, same diet, same habits and as equally charming as the hummingbirds from the Americas.
In fact, The Philippines has 12 kinds of sunbirds, 7 of which are endemic or found only in our country. They live in a wide array of habitats, among them the most common, garden-bird Olive-backed Sunbird, the mangrove-dwelling Copper-throated Sunbird from Palawan, the localized and high-elevation Apo Sunbird from Mindanao and this lowland forest-dwelling Handsome Sunbird from PICOP, Bislig, Surigao del Sur, Mindanao, among others.
The Handsome Sunbird is one of the smallest sunbirds in the Philippines and ranges in most Philippine islands except Palawan where it is replaced by the similarly-looking Lovely Sunbird. The sunbird featured here belongs to the bella race and can be seen frequenting flowering and fruiting trees in forest and forest edge, feeding on nectar and sometimes small insects.
Handsome Sunbird, Aethopyga bella
January 2011, PICOP Forest, Surigao del Sur, Mindanao Philippines
