The 5th PPUR International Bird Race Day 1: Quality vs Competitive Birding

In 2015, one of Palawan's foremost bird photographers, Atty Carlo Benitez Gomez, was appointed City ENRO of Puerto Princessa and one of his first projects was the PPUR Bird Race.  Due to a previous commitment, I was unable to join that year and the following year.  In 2017, Ven Rojas and I formed Team Coron together with Keith Sundiang (aka Shoot Mee) as our third member.  However, on the eve of the race, my mother was hospitalized prompting me to cancel my participation.  In year 4, I was also unable to join because of a family vacation.  But I vowed to myself that I will join the 2019 edition.  My problem was, almost everybody already had a team.  So when USec Alain Pascua approached me during the WBPP Anniversary last September, and if I would like to join a team, I readily said yes.  However, told him, I am not sure how competitive I can be.  He assured me that it was not an issue but asked if I was okay with being a member of Team Culion. (The producer of the movie Culion wanted to form a team to help promote the film).  Of course I agreed, (It was a no brainer).  We had three teams in our group:  Team Bird Finders, composed of Prof. Bert Madrigal, Dr. Armando Somintac, and Djop Tabaranza, was to do competitive birding.  Team Haring Ibon, composed of USec Alain Pascua, Roy Daantos, and Maia Tanedo, will do easy birding.  Team Culion, composed of Loel Lamela, Olan Balbido and myself was going to do quality birding (and gun for the best shots awards).  

We all arrived in Puerto Princess on November 7, except Alain who had a meeting. They all took the early morning flight from Manila and did birding as soon as they arrived in Puerto.  I, on the other hand, came from Coron (via Clark!) and arrived noon time and joined the group for a late afternoon birding near the Princessa Garden Resort (where we were going to be billeted).  This is what we got (along with many other birders)... the Spotted Wood Owl which we locally call the Gokgok.  Not really a Palawan endemic, but in the Philippines, it can only be found in Palawan.

BIF against a backlit and overcast sky

Spotted Wood Owl, "Gokgok" in Cuyonon

Towards sunset, I went up to the 4th floor of our hotel building and waited to the Red-vented Cockatoos that roost in the coconut trees behind the resort. I was able to capture a few keepers.

Red-vented Cockatoo or Katala

Later that night, during the welcome dinner, while discussing our strategy for the race, Team Culion decided to be competitive on Day 1.  Our Day 2 game plan will depend on our standing (in Day 1).  

We set off early the following morning and agreed with Team Bird Finders that we will meet up in Napsan. They left ahead of us since their van was already there and ours took a few minutes more to arrive. Meanwhile, Team Haring Ibon had to visit the PSU Campus to represent Alain at the Katala Festival. 

The first bird I shot for the race was a Eurasian Tree Sparrow (what else!), followed by the Red-vented Cockatoos perched on the coconuts near the resort. Next was a flying Little Egret then some Asian Glossy Starlings within the resort grounds.  This was followed by a Spotted Dove perched on a wire across the gate of the resort.  When our van arrived we swung by the owl area but it was nowhere to be seen however, we did see an Ashy Drongo on a far away tree.

We headed out to Napsan and birded along the way.  We saw and photographed the following: Zebra Dove, Barn Swallow, a flock of Egrets,  a female Olive-backed Sunbird, a female Palawan Flowerpecker, its male counterpart, Black-headed Bulbul, White-collared Kingfisher, and male Olive-backed Sunbird.

Barn Swallow

White-collared Kingfisher

Nearing 8am, we decided to stop at the Crocodile Farm to get the Palawan Peacock Pheasant and Pale Spider Hunter.  While walking towards the forested area, I was able to photograph a Striated Heron.

Striated or Little Heron

Soon, we were at the area where my teammates saw the Pheasant the previous day.  We waited a bit, and soon it was there in the bushes. I was told that this bird was once a captive but was released at the Crocodile Farm. And apparently it has stayed there.  The caretakers give it food from time to time (just like the one at PPUR which the park wardens also fed with rice).  There are some who would not consider this a true wild bird.  It may be more tame than a bird that truly lives in the wild but so was the one at PPUR. Whatever the circumstances that brought it to this place, there can be no denying its beauty.  So even if we were in a race, we could not help but spend several minutes shooting this beautiful Palawan endemic.

Palawan Peacock Pheasant

After the Pheasant, we waited for the Spider Hunter a bit but it was a no show.  We did get the Scaly-breasted Munia, and a Paddyfield Pipit, at the Croc Farm before we left. As a bonus, I got a couple of Asian Glossy Starlings up close.

We proceeded to our rendezvous with Team Bird Finders, but making many stops along to the way to do birding.  From time to time, we would see (and greet) other teams but unlike in a normal WBPP birding sortie, there was no talk of what birds were present in a particular area.  Everybody was being competitive!

Among the birds we saw along the way were: Pink-necked Pigeons, Palawan Hornbill, Crested Goshawk, Crow, more Egrets, and more Starlings. Most of the images I was able to create were of the distant and docu variety.  However, there were a few decent ones like these:

Palawan Flowerpecker, female

Rufous-tailed Tailorbird

Sometime during the lunch hour, we stopped near a bridge and found several other birders.  After several minutes of standing around, Loel Lamela, my teammate quietly nudged me and pointed (with his pursed lips),  at something in the trees in front of us.  It was quite dark and it took me a couple of seconds before I could see the bird.  After a couple of clicks, we pointed the bird to Olan so he could also get it.

A docu shot of a Dark-throated Oriole, my first lifer of the day

In that area, we also saw several Spot-throated Flamebacks, an Asian Fairy Bluebird, a Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, and a Lovely Sunbird. 

After lunch, and not finding Team Bird Finder, we decided to head back and bird along the way.  We saw a Palawan Bulbul, Ashy-fronted Bulbul, Grey Wagtail, and Hair-crested Drongo.

Ashy-fronted Bulbul, Tabeleklek in Cuyonon

While trying to get a shot of the Hair-crested Drongo, I saw something red flit by and blurted Lovely! (thinking it was a Lovely Sunbird).  But as soon as my focus locked in, my heart beat a little faster as I realized I was looking at another Lifer - a Fiery Minivet!  It turned out there were three males and one female in that tree. 

Fiery Minivet, male

Fiery Minivet, male

Fiery Minivet, female

Fiery Minivet, male

Fiery Minivet, male, 2nd lifer for the day

After the minivets left, our marshal cum guide, whose name escapes me at the moment, pointed towards the bushes and before long, a Lesser Coucal emerged.

Lesser Coucal, Kolokok in Cuyonon

By this time, we had given up on meeting up with Team Bird Finder and decided to head to Iwahig Penal Colony where we saw several other teams.  We were able to photograph the Chestnut Munia and a Common Sandpiper at Iwahig.  Then we proceeded to Irawan EcoPark for the Palawan Flycatcher and the Blue-eared Kingfisher.  We were not disappointed.

Blue-eared Kingfisher

Palawan Flycatcher

After acquiring our two targets, we quickly boarded the van and rushed to the area near our resort to catch the owl.  Upon arriving we saw several teams posing for selfies.  We actually ignored their calls for us to join them as we scanned the nearby trees for the owl (or owls).  We were not disappointed. 

Spotted Wood Owls

We quickly boarded the van and a short debate ensued - do we go to Badjao Seafront Restaurant for the Copper-throated Sunbird and the Pale Spider Hunter or to the PPC City Hall grounds for the Palawan Frogmouth?  Since Badjao was nearer, we decided to swing by.  Alas the birds were nowhere to be found and it was getting dark.  We hurriedly boarded the van again and rushed to the City Hall grounds.  After some searching, we Team La Mesa Birders staking out the Frogmouth.  We could hear the bird but we could not see it.  Soon Team La Mesa decided to call it a day.  We remained for another fifteen minutes before doing the same. It was almost 7pm by the time we made it back to the van so memory cards were swiftly removed, placed in individual envelopes, labeled, and submitted to our marshal. We then boarded the van, went back to Princessa Garden Resort to wash up before going to Badjao Sea Front for dinner.  Other teams were already returning to the resort as we made our way to Badjao.  When we reached the Badjao parking lot, I got a call from Atty Carlo Benitez, saying that they could not find any photos in Loel's CF card!  With that info, we slowly trudged to the dining hall thinking that we have just lost at least a third of our score.

As it turned out, we were the last team to have dinner. In fact only Team Haring Ibon and Team Bird Finders were at the restaurant when we arrived. I remember Djop Tabaranza, asking, "Akala ko ba quality birding kayo?''

We ate quickly and headed back to the resort.  Loel went to the tabulating area while Olan and I had beers with USec Alain (who arrived a hour earlier), and the rest of the group.  We all heaved a sigh of relief when Loel arrived and said that his photos were not erased after all. 

We were still in the game! This was what was in my mind as I went to bed that night.