Lifers on the Boulevard...day 1

A boulevard is defined as a large road running through a city.  Think Champs Elysees in Paris.  Closer to home, we have Roxas Blvd in Manila. We have no such thing in Coron yet there is a place in town that native Coronians refer to as the boulevard. Part of our former governor's grand plan was to build a seaside boulevard from the poblacion (town proper) to the port in Bgy Tagumpay.  Unfortunately, only the first part of the project, the reclamation, was completed during his term.  It was at this area that I decided to go birding last September 26th.  

I arrived in Coron for my regular business trip on September 23.  I was going to be in Coron until the 30th and was planning to go birding several times.  Unfortunately, it started raining on the night of the 23rd and continued almost non-stop until the morning of the 26th.  The rains eased in the afternoon so I went birding. However, due to the things to do at the lodge, I was able to go only at 4:30pm 

Upon arriving at the reclaimed area, I immediately saw a flock of Terns on the zipline cables. I immediately took several bursts.  Terns are migratory birds.  They come from as far north as the Arctic circle and fly to the warmer climates of Asia and Oceania.  

The big one on the upper left part of the photo was identified by fellow WBCP member Adrian Constantino and Jun Osano as a Common Tern.  Lifer # 1.

Here is a closer look at the Common Tern.

I was also able to get some BIF (Bird-in-Flight) shots of the Terns.  Here is a photo of a Whiskered Tern:

... and another one...

Then I saw a lone Grey Wagtail on an electric wire/cable.

After seeing the Wagtail, I saw a lone Little Egret flying by.  It landed on a pool of shallow water.  The image quality is not so good because the Egret was too far and this photo is heavily cropped but the black beak, black legs and yellow green feet are indicative of a Little Egret.

I then saw three or four small birds scurrying about.  I got excited because these were not familiar to me.  With the help of Ornithologist Desmond Allen and fellow Birdwatch Palawan member Vivian Obligar-Soriano the birds were later identified as a lone Kentish Plover (Lifer # 2) and three Red Necked Stints (Lifer # 3). Both of these small birds are migratory.  Here are the photos:

Kentish Plover

Red Necked Stints

After following the Kentish and the Stints for a few minutes, I espied another unfamiliar bird.  Lifer # 4 for the day.  After consulting my Kennedy Guide, I thought it was an Asian Golden Plover. This was later confirmed by Desmond Allen and Geoff Dobbs.  

Asian Golden Plover

It is amazing that these Asian Golden Plovers breed in the Arctic circle but spend their winters in some islands in the Pacific

I stayed a few more minutes and was able to take a few more shots of the Plovers and the Stints.  But since it was getting dark, I decided to call it a day.  All in all, seven (7) species, including four (4) lifers in one and a half hours of birding (and I was not even in the forests of Capayas).  Not bad at all.  This made me resolve to come back the following day.... and that will be the subject of my next post... 

Why Chiwit?

I have thought about having a blog for quite sometime now, but somehow have never started one.  I was not sure what topic to write about and I was not sure if I have what it takes to write a blog.  Birding finally answered the first concern.  As to the other, well, there's only one way to find out, so here goes...

Once I made the decision, the next question was, what to I call it. After some thinking I settled on The Chiwit Chronicles.  Why you ask? Basically, because I wanted the blog to reflect both birding and Coron.  "Chiwit" is the Cuyonon name for the Olive-Backed Sunbird (the bird's call sounds like chee-weeet).  More importantly, this is what I consider my spark bird.  To my non-birder friends, in birding parlance, a spark bird is defined as the bird that got you hooked to birding.  

Growing up in a farm in Dipulao, Coron, Palawan, I was literally surrounded with birds.  My parents bedroom wall had a painting of a "Tutulyaw" (Black Naped Oriole), painted by my uncle.  The actual live Orioles, could be found in the trees surrounding our house. Aside from the Orioles, the trees were teeming with birds of different sizes and colors. Offhand, I can remember, doves and pigeons, crows, egrets, and a few others.  On a Duhat tree beside a stream in front of our house, a red-orange Kingfisher would perch regularly.  Knowing what I know now, I believe this was probably an Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, (alternatively known as Rufous Backed Kingfisher).   In my father's ricefield, there was plenty of "Tariwakwak" (White Breasted Waterhen). We (our houseboy and I), would even set snares for them (shame on me... but I was a kid...).  We also did this to the "Umbok" (Button Quail?).

Everyday, a hawk or two would be lazily circling overhead. At night, we could hear the Gokgok calling (according to my friend Rommel Cruz, this is the Spotted Wood Owl).  Of course, our superstitious househelps always said that the Gokgok was the "mangalok" (I am not sure what the English translation is, but I guess the nearest is witch or maybe vampire, hahaha).  Amidst all these birds, the one that always caught my eye was the "chiwit" which would always be in the Balimbing tree beside the window of my parents bedroom.  My father had an L-shaped desk in one corner and I would always play with my toy soldiers there.  All the while a couple of "chiwits" would be feasting on the balimbing fruit a feet from me. I was so fascinated with their colors that I asked my Lola what kind of birds they were.  She told me they were Hummingbirds.  And that's what I thought they were until I became a birder and discovered that the correct english name is Olive-Backed Sunbird.  

Sometime in 2010, while swimming with my kids in our pool at Darayonan, I was so happy when we saw a male Olive Backed Sunbird perch on a flower nearby.  Today, the Olive backed Sunbirds are a regular fixture in our garden at Darayonan Lodge.

The resident male OBS of Darayonan.

Darayonan's female OBS

The purpose of this blog is to entertain, (by relating our adventures and more often than not, misadventures, while birding), and also to educate by creating awareness about birds and the environment that they live in.  Hopefully, I will be able to do both and inspire others to take up the hobby (birding and bird photography) and the advocacy (sustainable tourism).  Hint: Ella, Luis and Leon.