Rendezvous with a Colasisi

Kulasisi is a Pilipino slang for the other woman... so when a man has a rendezvous with one, his wife better not find out or he's history 😆😆😆.  But just to make things clear, my rendezvous was with a Colasisi, a Philippine Hanging Parrot at Palo Alto, Baras, Rizal.  Several birder friends, notably Christopher Ferrer, Elmer Budomo, and Henrick Tan recently beautiful photos of the Philippine Hanging Parrot, Philippine Cuckoo Dove, Naked-faced Spiderhunter and a couple of Raptors taken at Palo Alto.  So finding a hole in my schedule, I did a half-day trip to Palo Alto last December 12th.

This was a solo birding trip.  I arrived at Palo Alto past 6am and immediately proceeded to the hilltop road.  I wasn't sure of the exact spot so when I reached the end, I parked and waited.  I was soon rewarded with sightings of one of my targets - the Philippine Cuckoo Dove, the largest dove species found in the Philippines.  While it may not be as colorful as the other doves, this dove is one of my favorites but as (bad) luck would have it, I do not yet have a "to die for" shot of this bird. I was hoping I would get one on this trip.  

I spent quite some time in this area hoping to get great shots of the Cuckoo Dove.  Unfortunately, I will have to try again. These are the most decent among the shots I got.

Philippine Cuckoo Dove (decent docu shots)

Soon a car came along and it turned out to be Joel Dayao and his wife.  Joel pointed to a pair of Luzon Hornbills on a tree on the left.  And we concentrated on these for a while.  But somehow most of my shots turned out lousy.  Here is one of the better ones. 

Luzon Hornbill, male

A Blue-throated Bee Eater also made a short appearance while we were shooting the Hornbills.

Blue-throated Bee Eater

I left the area around 10am and proceeded to the Club House area for the Philippine Hanging Parrot and the Naked Faced Spider Hunter.  Along the way, I saw two familiar birders - Bob and Cynthia Kaufman.  We exchanged hello's and I gave them directions to the hilltop road. When I reached the Club House, I saw one lady birder who turned out to be Trinity Gatuz.  

There were plenty of birds. Unfortunately, most were Yellow-vented Bulbuls!  I took the obligatory shot of course...

Yellow-vented Bulbul

Several other birders arrived at the Club House which I felt made the area too crowded (increasing the risk of Covid), so I decided to leave and drive around.  I went back to the hilltop area to look for the raptors.  The hawk-eagle was a no show but there were a couple of Serpent Eagles on a very tall tree. 

Philippine Serpent Eagle

It was almost noon by now and I needed to be back home already.  But before leaving, I went back to the Club House for another chance at the Colasisi and the Spiderhunter. The birding gods decided to give me a parting gift of sorts.  

Distant and docu shot of the Naked-faced Spiderhunter

Stripe-headed Rhabdornis

I had almost given up on the Colasisi and was about head back to my car when I heard it's distinctive call. And as pa-consuelo, it perched on a nearby branch. 

Philippine Hanging Parrot aka Colasisi

After the successful rendezvous with the Colasisi, I felt it was the perfect time to head home.

The Usual Suspects at Capayas and Darayonan

After being quarantined in Metro Manila since March 16, I was finally able to manage a short trip to Coron last December 16-19.  The main purpose of the trip was to check on Darayonan and attend a couple of important meetings.  Of course I brought my birding gear along... 😁😁😁

I went to Capayas on the morning of the 18th hoping to photograph the three kings and the usual suspects. But the feeding stations were washed out by recent rains and the property owner of the opposite bank did some clearing.  So the kingfishers were a no show at the tree house that morning.  I did see a Common Emerald Dove perched in a buho (small wild bamboo).

Common Emerald Dove, Mamatad in Cuyonon

After some minutes, we boarded Erwin's tora-tora and went to the area where the leucistic Pied Fantail was usually seen.  But we did not see it.  All we saw was a White-vented Shama.

White-vented Shama, Saya-saya in Cuyonon

Then we went to the big river in search of the kingfishers.  We did see the Blue-eared and the Rufous-backed Kingfishers but they were quite far and the pictures I got were of the docu-shot variety.  We also saw a male Blue Paradise Flycatcher, female Black-naped Monarch and Grey Wagtail.  I wanted to get some close up photos so we went back to Erwin's house.  We found a mixed flock in the trees in front of Erwin's house.  

The first bird was a Hair-crested Drongo but I was not able to get good photos.  However, as we have observed in the past, this bird is usually followed by a Chestnut-breasted Malkoha.  True enough, a few short minutes later, we saw a Malkoha.

Chestnut-breasted Malkoha, Manok-manok in Cuyonon

Then the usual suspects began making an appearance one by one...

Yellow-throated Leafbird

Ashy-fronted Bulbul, Tabeleklek in Cuyonon

Palawan Bulbul

Palawan Flowerpecker, female

Palawan Flowerpecker, male

Ashy Drongo, Salang-ikog in Cuyonon

Soon, it was time to go.  I reluctantly bade my avian friends goodbye but happy with my photos.  None of them were lifers and I have hundreds, maybe thousands of photos of them.  However, I have not seen them for more than nine months and have missed taking the usual easy-birding and close-up photos that Capayas is known for.  

When I got to Darayonan, while having my lunch at our bar, our resident Olive-backed Sunbird made an appearance.  So what else am I to do but oblige.

Olive-backed Sunbird, male, Chiwit in Cuyonon

Thank you Lord for a productive trip (business and birding wise).