We haven't been going as often though, and the past two visits were way back in April, and this last weekend, in August. Both were very short half day visits, just to get the birding itch scratched.
Summer heat in April...
We were greeted by a pair of Whiskered Tree Swifts perched on branches just above where we parked our car. It was cool to watch them fly off from their perches and do their little calisthenic stretch of wings when they landed back on the same branch.
Bar-bellied and Blackish Cuckoo-Shrikes chased each other around us, calling noisily to each other. In the distance, some Philippine Green Pigeons were resting up in the trees.
Luzon Flamebacks circled around us, and left as quickly as they came. But a pair of Sooty Woodpeckers arrived and drummed loudly on a tree trunk. They kept out of sight though, ducking on the hidden side of the trunk when they saw us, peeking around the girth of the tree to check if we were still there.
It was a HOT summer morning, with the sky a blinding blue and hardly a cloud in the sky. We drove around, glimpsing the usual suspects as we did: green parrots calling loudly as the flew over head (Blue-naped, Green Racket-tails, Guiaberos and Colasisis); pigeons flushed from their perches (Green Imperial Pigeons, White-eared Brown Doves, Philippine Cuckoo Doves and Common Emerald Doves); coucals, cuckoos and malkohas moving quietly (well, except for a riotous troupe of Rufous Coucals) in the tangles. Many of our views were brief, but the heat of the morning had made us impatient as well.
We were happily surprised to come across a Spotted Wood Kingfisher as we rounded a corner. It had given off its distinctive barking call and we (Adri, of course) finally spotted it (a female) sitting still deep in the undergrowth.
It was strangely silent, even the soaring Brahminy Kites and Philippine Serpent Eagles hardly making a sound. The stillness was broken by the loud, ever-cheerful singing of an Elegant Tit.
When it finally flew off, only the loud, monotonous sound of cicadas surrounded us and birding became a sluggish affair.
And to confirm the lack of birds, the butterflies began to catch my attention.
Mycalesis (bush browns) flashed their owl eyes at me as the fluttered at my feet.
I couldn't resist eye contact with a friendly Hypolimnas (eggfly).
The Leeas were starting to bloom, attracting insects to their ruby red inflorescence. Yellow pierids were drinking greedily.
And of course there was no shortage of my favorites: the gossamer winged Lycaenids.
The other lycaenid regular, Cheritra (hairstreak) was also about, but as usual, perched on some leaves (I've never seen it feeding at the leea blooms).
I spotted something new too, one I've never photographed, and this was later identified at the Philippine Lepidoptera facebook page as Hypolycaena thecloides philippina Staudinger 1889. Happy to have had my photo included in the PhiLep website galleries.
Noon was approaching and we had a quick lunch near the Blue-throated Bee-eater nesting colony. After lunch we parked under the shade of the rain tree across the bee-eaters and enjoyed watching them as they caught insects on the fly.
The nests could not be located at a more picturesque site dressed in the colors of summer to match the bee-eater plumage. The bougainvilleas exploded in bright magenta in front of the nests and above them a banaba tree was heavy with purple bloom
Most of the catch went to the hungry nestlings in their burrows. Neighboring birds guarded their nest holes fiercely, and while the holes look all the same to me, I guess the birds knew which was theirs as easily as I knew my own house from my neighbor's.
I got obsessed with trying to get a shot of the parents leaving and entering the nests but these mid-air flight photos are all I got:
After hanging our for an hour, we decided to head back home. The heat was making us sleepy and lazy - just as summer's day should.
Up next... Subic in August
