The AstroBirder: Birding in Naga and Nearby Areas

I had several free birding days during my vacation in the city of Naga where I grew up. Naga city is a relatively small city by land area. Several towns beside Naga city proper are only a few kilometers away, suitable for a leisurely bike ride and birding. One place I visited was Calabanga.

Calabanga, Camarines Sur

This is a coastal town, only 16 kilometers from our place in Naga. I planned to ride a bike to the sea and possibly see some waders. Along the way, I saw several striated grassbirds, olive-backed sunbirds, brown shrikes and other common birds. I was disappointed when I reached the sea though because I found out that the coast line is gone, covered with concrete. :(

Clamorous reed warbler

Pacific swallow

My bike

Striated grassbird

Olive backed sunbird

Sto. Nino Memorial Park

I also visited a local cemetary one afternoon. When I arrived there, the first bird I saw was a Blue-tailed bee-eater. I also saw a small group of Chestnut-cheeked starling on a tree, which is a lifer for me. After a few minutes, more groups of starling arrived and the group on the tree flew up and joined the new arrivals. Soon more birds came and the group of tens became hundreds of birds. I was so excited with the starlings that I ignored other bird calls. I kept on following the birds until it was too dark to bird before I went back home.

Blue-tailed bee-eater

Chestnut cheeked starling

The following day, I returned to the park and saw a similar group of hundreds of birds. I also tried looking for other birds and saw a red-keeled flowerpecker that posed nicely for me.

Red-keeled flowerpecker

Panicuason

One day, I also tried biking to Panicuason, a barangay at the foot of Mount Isarog. It was a tiring uphill climb but I was able to capture a few bird shots along the way.