The Chiwit Chronicles: 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.