New Normal Birding

Pittas and kingfishers are among the most colorful birds making them favorites for birders -  photographers and watchers alike.  The Philippines has six Pitta species on record.  One of them, the Blue-winged Pitta is an accidental or rare migrant so the chances of seeing it here are very low.  It was last seen at the Liptong Woodland, Bacong, Negros Occidental in 2018.  Before that, the last sighting was 111 years prior.  The Fairy Pitta was only seen once in the Philippines - in Palawan in 2013 - so that is even a rarer and more accidental migrant.  The remaining four are all residents - Whiskered Pitta, Black-hooded Pitta, Azure-breasted Pitta and the Red-bellied Pitta (recently split and renamed as Philippine Pitta or Blue-breasted Pitta).  The Azure-breasted is found only in Mindanao, Bohol, Samar and Leyte, so good luck with finding that at this time.   I already have great photos of the Whiskered and Hooded so they are not that high on my photo priority list.  But the Philippine Pitta on the other hand remains a high priority because I am not yet fully happy with my shots (bird photographers are greedy, they always want a better shot 😁😁😁).  So when Loel Lamela, my Bird Race Teammate (we were Team Culion with Olanski Balbido), posted a great shot of the Philippine Pitta taken recently, it immediately caught my attention.  

After some haggling on the date and securing the proper birding visas from higher authority, we set July 31 as our D-Day.  Loel has birded a couple of times but for me this was my first birding sortie since Feb 29.  

My habit when birding at the sites near Metro Manila is to prepare everything the night before - my gear (camera, lens, batteries, memory cards, tripod, mosquito repellent, camera rain cover, Madrigal hide, trail food, water, cooler, foldable stool, portable speaker), clothes that I will wear (shirt, pants, socks, shoes, lucky hat), extra shirt, rain jacket, and now things like alcohol, masks, and face shield.  Doing all these preparations felt so good.  Waking up at dawn, a quick shower, dressing up, buying breakfast at Shell Select, meeting up with Loel and driving early along the zigzagging Marilaque Highway with the music of Queen on the playlist never felt better.  

Before long we were entering Palo Alto in Baras, Rizal.  Along the road, we came upon two masked birders who turned out to be Christopher Ferrer and Elmer Budomo.  Pre-Covid, we would stop, disembark and there would be high fives, warm greetings, and some ribbing,  but in keeping with the times, a nod and a wave with a hello at a distance was all we could do safely.  

The first bird we saw was a Whiskered Tree Swift perched on a wire.  Then I saw a Scale-feathered Malkoha fly across the street and perch on top of a tall tree out of my sight. A hundred meters or so, another Malkoha flew across and again entered a clump.  Typical.  Several minutes later, we were at Loel's Pitta site.  We parked and waited inside our cars so as not to spook the bird.  It did not take long before I saw the Philippine Pitta on the ground on the opposite side of the canal.  Aim. Fire. Bird disappears from my site only to see it a split second later chasing after a Hooded Pitta. Both birds disappear.  I check shots, they appear blurred.  I fumble for my reading glasses, and after putting them on, they were indeed blurred!  Aaargh!!!!  I do not know if I was too excited, too out of practice, whatever... to say that I was disappointed is an understatement.  

Here is one of my disappointing shots... 😢😢😢

We waited patiently for more than two hours.  I messaged Loel that if he wanted to go around, he could leave me because the Pitta was really my target.  He decided to leave at around 9:30am.  By 10:30, I decided to drive around and ran into Loel who showed me a nesting Black-naped Monarch.  I stayed for some time at this site and was able to create some good images...

Papa Blue-naped Monarch feeding its chick/s

Mama Blue-naped Monarch

Papa and Mama Monarch

Papa Monarch handing something to Mama Monarch

After getting my fill of the Monarch, I went back to the Pitta site and found Loel gushing about the White-eared Brown Dove that perched in the open (the man has all the luck!).  After an hour or so, Loel wanted to shoot the Monarch.  Along the way he showed me a nesting Balicassiao. I waited for the parent bird to perch and feed the chick and when it did, a leaf covered the head of the adult bird!

Presenting the headless Balicasiao...

The "headless" Balicassiao and its chick

After an hour with the Balicassiao site, I decided to go back to the Pitta site. It was already almost 2pm and I wanted to leave by 3pm.  We played calls occasionally but there was no movement or answering calls whatsoever.  Earlier in the day, we could hear it call from somewhere nearby but not at this time.  At around 2:43pm, I noticed movement under the bushes, Philippine Pitta! It was foraging on the ground but covered, then something spooked it because it suddenly darted back to where it came from.  

Philippine Pitta, foraging under the bushes 

Wait again.  After maybe five minutes, it was there again but it darted back again.  Soon it was 3pm and I was now debating if I should stay or leave already. But knowing that it was just there made me decide to wait a few more minutes. And my waiting was rewarded because it appeared again at around 3:06 and this time it walked into the open (briefly!), allowing us a few captures.  Sharing the most decent of the lot....

Philippine Pitta

It is still not THE shot I am pining for but I will take it. For now...  the quest continues... (bird photographers are a greedy lot...)

I reached home a little before 5pm, tired, but happy that I got to bird, and forget the pandemic for at least a day.  Thank you Lord for the day.  And thank you to my teammate Loel for birding with me.