Birthday Birding

One of the new and hottest birding sites near Metro Manila is in Infanta, Quezon.  Raymond Dan, one of the leaders at WBPP "discovered" the site and announced it to the group sometime in late June, if I remember correctly.  Like everybody else, I wanted to visit the new site but work commitments coupled with bad weather prevented my many attempts.  During my last trip to Manila, I promised to myself that I will visit Infanta but again, as (bad) luck would have it, I fell ill on August 11. That meant I missed going to Infanta with my Thailand mates, Alex Ting and Homer Pialda.  There was another scheduled trip on August 17 but again, I was not able to.  Since I was leaving August 20th, I knew that August 19th would be my last chance.  It was also my birthday.  

I was set to meet Conrad Olayres, my Thailand roommate, at 3:30am August 19th then meet up with Ed Santos, Steve Albano and Olanski Balbido. However, we had to attend a gathering on the evening of the 18th and got home at 1am.  I contemplated staying up straight because I feared not being able to wake up.  But tiredness won out so I slept for about an hour, woke up at 2;30am and met Conrad a little after 3:30.  Times like this, I question the sanity of birders...leaving the comforts of one's bed, drive bleary eyed for ninety kilometers over zigzag roads...all the while praying that the target bird will show up and give good photo opportunities.  

Anyway, back to our story.  Conrad and I picked up another WBPP birder, Christopher Ferrer and soon we were off.  Per Ed's instructions, we will just meet at the site, to save time.  At about the 80km point, Ed's group caught up with us and being a newer car, over took us, the nerve! Hehehehe.  We caught up with them a few minutes later and after the high fives and handshakes, we all set up our gear.  The main targets for the day were the Flame-breasted Fruit Dove, Philippine Trogon and Philippine Fairy Bluebird.  Personally, my main target was the Flame-breasted Fruit Dove and whatever other lifer that nature will present to me. 

Soon the sharp ears of Christopher and Conrad detected the call of the Fruit Dove and they walked ahead to look for it. A few minutes later, I saw them calling us.  We hurried to their spot and they pointed to the trees where four (4) Philippine Fairy Bluebirds were perched.  Not very ideal shooting conditions though. Still, it's not a common bird, and a lifer for me. 

Philippine Fairy Blue Bird, Lifer # 315

We waited for sometime, alternating between the site of the Blue Birds and our parking area where we were staking out the Trogon, a distance of about 35 to 40 meters.  Soon we saw Christopher and Conrad shooting at something so again we made our way to them. Flame-breasted Fruit Dove! Inside the trees.  We craned our necks, strained our eyes and did our best to locate the bird.  Finally we saw it but it was covered by twigs and leaves! Arrggh!

My first glimpse of the Flame-breasted Fruit Dove, Lifer # 316, my birthday wish.  

Well, I got my wish to see the bird, but no nice photos &%$#@.  I kept praying and hoping, calling on my patron saint to present us with at least one good photo opportunity. While waiting, a few other birds flew around.  There were several Philippine Bulbuls, a lone Philippine Serpent Eagle made a brief appearance up high, and we could hear some others chirping.  I was hoping to see the Olive-backed Flowerpecker but unfortunately, it did not show up.  I did see a Yellowish White-eye.

Yellowish White Eye, playing peek-a-boo

We staked out the area where the dove made an appearance.  By now we have had a few looks and we already knew that there were two of them.  We were scanning the trees when I suddenly saw it perched on a branch in front of us.  In my excitement, it took me a split second before I could blurt Fruit Dove.  And soon we were all clicking away (even if the bird was partially covered).

Flame-breasted Fruit Dove, not a wide open shot but I felt that my wish has been granted! 

Thank you Lord!

At the end of this session, we were all sporting silly ear-to-ear grins.  Hindi kami uuwing luhaan!  (We will not go home in tears!).  We stopped for a break and soon a mixed flock came by.  I was laos hoping for a really close-up shot of the Blue-headed Fantail but it never went that close to me so this is the best that I could manage.

Blue-headed Fantail

Another common bird in the area was the Sulphur-billed Nuthatch.

Sulphur-billed Nuthatch

And then it rained...nothing to do except wait.  When it stopped, we saw a couple of Citrine Canary Flycatchers perch on a tree in front of us so we all started shooting.  A few minutes later Olanski, who was about fifteen meters away, called us and said there were some Yellow-bellied Whistlers in the area.  So we waited.  But they were a no show.  Luckily, the Citrine Canary Flycatchers started perching on a branch about six meters away. So what else can we do but oblige...

Citrine Canary Flycatcher

The Citrine kept us entertained for sometime.  We were also hoping that the Fantail would perch in the same branch but it stayed higher.  Then Olanski blurted something (I could not recall what), but the Flame-breasted Fruit Dove was suddenly in front of us, about eighteen meters away.

Flame-breasted Fruit Dove, an open shot, birthday wish REALLY granted! 

Then it went behind some branches and started feeding.  With no clear shot I took a couple of short videos (this is unedited)

.

After a few minutes of shooting the Flame-breasted Fruit Dove, Chirstopher arrived saying that he saw another bird several meters away. So we all scooted over to the site and found another lifer.

Amethyst Brown Dove, Lifer # 317 for me.

We broke for lunch and feasted on the pork adobo brought by Ed.  Afterwards, I bid the group good bye as I needed to be home for my family birthday dinner.

What a day it has been!  Three lifers in just half a day.  Thank you!