breathing space

Thursday, June 13

the butterflies (& birds!) of radar hill

since we had traveled all the way to ilocos norte for the great spimp twitch, we decided to spend an additional morning exploring other birding sites in the area. one area which looked good to explore was radar hill. off the main highway, a road around 9 km long, led up the hill and ended at a military camp, the jose paredes air station, around 550 masl.

the area looked quite promising, many parts looked like they were part of a well-forested area spanning several hillsides. we did see and hear several birds on the road. philippine coucals and blue-throated bee-eaters were quite common. several whiskered-treeswifts were perched on the trees by the road. there were philippine pygmy woodpeckers, colasisis, white-browed shamas, blue-headed fantails, elegant tits and black-naped monarchs. there were also white-throated, collared and spotted wood-kingfishers. hooded pitas were quite common too, we heard a different one calling at almost every turn. a small spotted buttonquail was seen twice at the same stretch of raod.

one of several whiskered tree-swifts

a trio of bee-eaters in a row

we had a surprise raptor too! actually 3 of them: 3 common buzzards flew above us heading northeast! unusually low altitude as they are most often reported in the high mountain provinces of the cordilleras. it was an extension of our raptorwatch for migrating birds of prey last month!

on a not-so-good note- there were only a few doves: pompadour green-pigeon, white-eared, yellow-breasted, black-chinned, reddish cuckoo-, and common emerald doves were all heard or seen. however, we had a feeling there must be some hunting going on as they were all extremely skittish, as were the other medium-sized birds like the blackish and bar-bellied cuckoo shrikes. we also observed a lot of old large woodpecker holes on the wooden posts along the road, however, we did not glimpse a single one!

we did observe at least one pair of birds who had successfully fledged their young: a pair of yellowish white-eyes were busy feeding 2 young birds perched below their nest, probably having just left the nest that day. (we also saw some lowland white-eyes, unusually overlapping in habitat with the yellowish!)

a yellowish white-eye busy looking for food

a fluffy white-eye fldgeling under its nest
(can you see the other fledgling and the nest near the top of the photo?)

mom/dad with food! each fledgling had its turn getting fed, very efficient!

we also observed a pair of scale-feathered malkohas who were just starting out: they were in the process of building a nest. definitely not nest parasites these relatives of the cuckoos.

one of a pair of scale-feathered malkohas building a nest

as the others walked ahead of me, i got distracted by the many, many butterflies flying around!

we first noticed them puddling underneath a huge tree. fine drops were falling to the road, was it dripping tree sap that was gathering butterflies underneath its shade?

several of these papilios were puddling under a tree

the papilios' wings showed varying degrees of wear and tear

quite a beaten specimen of one of my favorite lycaenids: caleta roxus

there were a lot of interesting looking plants as well. at one area, all the duhat trees were host to a now familiar mistletoe. the bright red flowers were a beautiful sight, and many of them invited olive-backed sunbirds to sip their nectar.

the trees were dripping with the red flowers of the mistletoe amyema incarnatiflora

a female olive-backed sunbird taking a sip of nectar

by the side of the road i saw at least two different kinds of vines, both with clusters of star-shaped flowers.

this reminded me of a hoya but the flowers and leaves weren't so succulent

one of them grew profusely over the small trees, and its flowers attracted quite a few lycaenids and pierrids.

a lycaenid (one of those whose identity eludes me: it had a bright orange upper side)
sipping nectar from the flowers of a very profuse vine.

caleta roxus joining the lycaenid in the previous picture (do you see its false head?)

some of the butterflies were attracted to less pleasant things: a pair of cruisers were joined by a skipper another nymphalid taking in minerals from the remains of a dead lizard.

a variety of butterflies attracted to a dead thing on the road!

as i hurrried to catch up with the others, i saw that they were in the same predicament as i was. they were being distracted by the butterflies! how could they not be? several small lycaenids were perching on our shirts, bags, and even our hands and faces!

a fresher specimen of c. roxus on adri's bag

another lycaenid stayed perched on my hand as i walked for several meters!

some of the butterflies were perching on the road and the rocks by the side of the road, bathing in the hot mid-morning sun!

another cruiser on a lily flower planted near a grotto

a common jester perched on the grotto walls

how i wish i got a better photo of this skipper!

i was not familiar with this sunning nymphalid so i took pictures of its underside...

... and its upperside!

a tiger sipping from the rocks

and a crow sipping from the concrete road!

many of the them were chasing each other, perhaps guided by the scent of another chemical (not salts nor flowers nor decay but love!): pheromones!

the chase of ages

guided by the scent of lurve!

it's too bad that radar hill is quite far away from metro manila. it looks like such a promising place to watch both birds and butterflies!

Monday, June 10

spotting the spimps*

little did i imagine that i would travel all the way up to ilocos norte to see a bird.

or that i would go back to ilocos norte within the space of a month. to see another bird!

back in the same company of alex, tere and mang boy, with the addition of leni and jude, adri and i headed up north for the third time this past summer to meet up with richard in ilocos norte. we had originally planned to go after our sagada trip, but then decided to go with the others upon learning that they had planned to go too.

the bird to be seen this time was neither small, nor a migrant nor by itself. richard had reported flocks of the endemic spotted imperial-pigeons, normally shy forest dwellers, were coming down to the seaside! it was unusual behaviour we had never heard of, so the chance to see this endemic which had been on my most wanted list since i started birding was well worth the trip!

early in the morning, richard led us to the site. the rocky beach could be seen across an expanse of meadow. the grass was kept naturally short by the rocky soil and the ocean breeze. jagged limestone rocks and eternal tide pools dotted the landscape. the scenery was dramatic, it probably endured harsh weather for a good part of the year, but on a summer morning it was almost serene. a cow and its calf were but a pair of many bovines and caprines grazing quietly, probably wondering what this group of humans was up to.

richard's pipits ran about the grassy ground, pompadour green pigeons perched on nearby vegetation, philippine cuckoo-doves flew back-and-forth, and invisible magpie-robins and mangrove blue flycatchers sang melodiously.

barely had we arrived and takenin the sights and sounds when we sighted a flock of pigeons coming in from the east. 23 spotted imperial-pigeons! richard was delighted and we all oohed and aaahed! it was a long-awaited lifer for us all (except richard of course!)

they flew above us as a flock of domestic pigeons would, turning in unison as they surveyed the expanse of pasture. they circled back and soon disappeared from sight.

as if the long views of this large endemic pigeon in flight was not enough, on a second fly-by: bam! a few of the birds landed several meters right in front of our group on the bare grassy beach!

as the pigeons foraged in the foreground, the waves crashed on the beach behind them. it was an astonishing sight! what prompted these forest-dwelling birds to come out in the open landscape? perhaps the nesting season drew them to the seaside to supplement much needed minerals, salts and calcium?

what call were these pigeons heeding by exposing themselves to such a vulnerable situation? because exposed they were! in the golden light of morning on the grassy field the patterns of their plumage could clearly be admired, the vibrant colors of their eyes and beaks lumnious through our binoculars and scopes.

the mystery of the pigeons coming to the beach has probably yet to be solved, but we were all thankful for the chance to meet on neutral ground.

* SpImp is spotted imperial-pigeon. Just as GrImp is the more common green imperial-pigeon.

(a thousand thanks to richard for once again sharing the avian wonders of his "backyard"!)

Friday, June 7

nymphs, lycans and ruby red flowers

the leeas are starting to bloom!

while in subic a few weeks back, the familiar ruby red blooms of the leeas were starting to dot the landscape. the flowers are pretty in themselves, but i always pay special attention to them because they seem to attract their fair share of butterflies plus other insects!

even if most of the flowers were still buds, they were already a beacon to many butterflies, including one of my favorite lycaenids: the club silverline.

in fact most of the butterflies i saw feeding were an assortment of lycaenids, I saw at least 4 kinds.

there was also a single nymphalid, a type of crow, fluttering around one of the inflorescences quite skittish compared to the lycaenids which seemed intent on savoring the nectar.

it was not only butterflies attracted to the leea flowers, there were flies, hornets and strange beetle-like insects (any ideas on what kind they are?)

meanwhile, other members of the nymphalid family, most probably of the mycalesis genus (bushbrowns), seemed to be immune to the call of the leea blooms. i saw at least 3 kinds lurking in the shaded parts of the vegetation.

another pair of lycaenids were neither on the leea blooms nor any vegetation. they were on the ground, preoccupied with procreation! let the butterfly-watching season begin!

Thursday, June 6

summer is family in subic!

summer is family time not only to humans, but to many resident birds as well! when the migrants start leaving, many of the resident feathered creatures take the opportunity for continuation of their species: breeding time! many birds are in the process of nesting or fledging their young, quite a vulnerable time for them.

a quick trip to subic in may gave us a chance to check on the blue-throated bee-eater apartments. the bee-eaters were busy catching not only bees, but hornets, dragonflies, butterflies and other 6-legged creatures.

the bee-eaters with an assortment of insects caught on the wing

they would perch on the electric cables and carefully (if not suspiciously!) observe their surroundings before flying in to the entrance of their nest holes. the food is then quickly passed to a partner inside the burrows. the exchange happens in a flash, and the hard working parent is back gracefully catching insects on the wing.

dingdong!

food delivery!

at nabasan, we spotted another family at work. well, adri did first. a small, green parrot was sitting quietly on a branch, perfectly camouflaged looking like the green leaves around it.

an unusually quiet parrot

at first i was confused. it was all green and had a whitish grey beak. was it a guiaiabero?

it was a green racquet-tail! but it didn't have any racquets! and it was unusually quiet. then a second racquet-tail flew in, also quieter than normal. it started face rubbing and feeding the first one. it was a parent racquet-tail and it was looking after a young one, maybe even newly fledged! it was an "aaaaw!" moment.

mom/dad comes in with some food and a cheek-to-cheek rub

soon the parent stepped away from its offspring, took a a little time to preen, then flew off again, leaving the younger bird. barely moving, the parrot melted back into the leaves.

are they not the exact same color as the leaves?

there were many other birds that day.

a troop of rufous coucals moved about in the vines and tangles. it's always amusing to follow their movement. individual birds move about one after the other, mimicking the movement of the previous bird, often landing on the exact same perch or following the same flight path, almost like they were playing simons says. a group of four gathered on a branch and then left one at a time.

four rufous coucals! three rufous coucals! two rufous coucals! one! one rufous coucal!
ahahahaha! (lightning and thunder in the background)

there were many tarictic hornbills out also, honking as they flew from tree-top to tree-top. woodpeckers flew in pairs, the balicassiaos were also their usual noisy selves, as were the blue-naped parrots.

hello mr hornbill! where is the mrs?

hello mr sooty woodpecker!

a balicassiao scratching an itch

one of many (noisy) blue-naped parrots

it was a good birding day. as the sun set and a half moon lightened the forest around us, we heard the soft grunts and hoots of owls and the haunting call of the great-eared nightjars. again the chocolate boobook called from the branches high above us. did i finally get to see it this time? of course not. (this may not be the day AGAIN boobook, but i will get you! one day i WILL get you!)