Birding at MacRitchie Trail and Nature Reserve 2013-04-23

I got up early, had breakfast, took the MRT to Marymount station along the circle line. With only the  knowledge of the general direction to the reserve, I wasn't sure where the entrance to the reserve was. So I asked some passersby until I reached the place. I initially took the trail far from the reservoir where I simply followed the sign to the treetop walk. I was a bit worried that I might not see many birds along the way, because there are many joggers sharing the trail with me.

The first birds I saw was the Pompadour green pigeon and a couple of Drongo-cuckoo, followed by a banded woodpecker.

 Pompadour green pigeon

 

Banded woodpecker

After a few kilometers of walking, I reached the treetop-walk and was surprised while traversing the bridge when I saw the Racket-tailed drongo.

 Greater racket-tailed drongo

On my way back to the exit, I stopped due to the rain, thinking that I'll won't get very wet if I stayed under a canopy. I was wrong so I had no choice,but to brave the heavy rain until I'm completely soaked.

After the rain stopped, I tried to dry my shirt before proceeding to the next trail along the reservoir. I was able to see some other wildlife along the trail and also saw a Drongo-cuckoo that I was able to photograph.

Drongo-cuckoo

White collared kingfisher

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.

 Barred rail

Pied bushchat

At home

Outside the house, I also observed a couple of munias gathering nesting materials into a cluster of vine at my parent's house.

Chestnut munia

Frogmouthing at La Mesa 2013-04-13

A few days earlier, a few of us planned to go to La Mesa Nature reserve during the weekend. As planned, we meet up at McDonalds before we proceed to the reserve. When we arrived there, a guide approached us and told us he was the one who guided our local La Mesa expert Jasmin to the birds. After a short introduction, Efren lead us to where he saw the frogmouth. On the way, we saw a guaiabero (a lifer for me), some yellow vented bulbuls, a gray streaked flycatcher, some noisy golden bellied gerygone and white breasted woodswallows.

Guaiabero

He lead us to a small clearing branching from the main trail and stopped at a cordoned off area. Then he pointed to us the Philippine frogmouth which looks a lot like a branch if you're not aware of its' presence. Everyone with a camera started shooting the bird which seems distracted by our presence and tries to follow our movement with its' eyes. The branch was a bit low that some of us have to lie down to get a good shot. After what seems like an eternity, we're satisfied with our shots of this very cooperative bird and left.

Philippine frogmouth

Mang Efren told us to rest a bit after we reached the main area on our way back. After a few minutes break, he lead us to where the nightjar can be found. When we reached the area, he made a quick peek and told us that the bird is on the ground. At first, we could not see it. The nightjar was able to blend with the surrounding and hide really well. It took us quite some time to find the location of the bird which was only a few meters from us.

Philippine nightjar

Group shot

After the usually shooting frenzy, we took off. It was still early, so we decided to go to Eco Park. There, we saw the previously reported birds in the area, like the ashy ground trush, the mangrove blue flycatcher plus the pechora pipit. We also saw a nesting emerald dove, black naped orioles and other common birds.

Ashy ground trush

Emerald dove

 Pechora pipit

After birding, we had lunch at Chic-Boy, a local chicken/pork grill restaurant, then go home. It was a nice birding experience for me and I was able to add 3 species to my life list.