breathing space: migrants

Showing posts with label migrants. Show all posts

Thursday, September 6

Mekeni, mamilang tamung ayup!

("Come, let's count birds!" in Pampangueño)

Migratory birds are currently on the move for Autumn migration, and I look back to last February where we joined the indefatigable Arne J to check out the environs of Manila Bay to survey the waterbird population. Our group was composed of myself, Adri, Tinggay, Angelo and Arne. We were ready to count birds!

Manila Bay is a significant feeding and staging area for migratory waterbirds, and needless to say, the changes around its shores in the name of development and progress may be to the detriment of our feathered world travelling friends. It is important that regular surveys are performed, especially during peak migration to keep records which may be useful for future decisions. Arne has extensive experience with the Manila Bay area and has worked with Wetlands International, providing valuable data. Of course we were thrilled at the chance to join him on a survey!

Our initial plan was to explore a few mudflats along the coastlines accessible by boat at the northern part of Manila Bay where the Pampanga River meets the sea. A few Kentish Plovers were scuttling on the beach, while Whiskered Terns flew above us. There were also large numbers of black-headed gulls were flying overhead towards the sea, so we were excited to get going. We also got a single Caspian Tern flying overhead! It was a lifer for me!

Because of the low tide, we had a difficult time getting to the bangka, having to balance and strategically step through the thick mud. We finally got to the bangka, but then, we couldn't move! We were stuck in the mud! The water was too low and we were grounded! Our bangka got stuck in the mud and we weren't getting anywhere. It looked as if our initial plans could not push through. So we got out again and walked back through the mud back to the beach. After washing off the mud from our legs, it was decided that we just explore the banks of the Pampanga River.

We started off walking along the road on the west bank of the Pampanga river.

Wow! There were a lot of Black-headed Gulls. A LOT! They looked like little white islands from the distance, sparkling in the hot sun. But a look through the scope revealed them to be flocks of gulls and terns! Most of them were preening, but some seemed to be resting or asleep.

There a several waders as well: egrets, sandpipers, stints, plovers, greenshanks - mixed in with the large flocks. We also spotted several more Caspian Terns mixed in with the flock, their larger size orange bills making them easy to spot.

We spent the entire morning counting on the west bank of the river, breaking for lunch at midday. Tinggay provided us with a wonderful meal, which we enjoyed by the roadside under the shade of a tree.

We got back on the highway and crossed a bridge over the river and then proceeded to find our way to the opposite side of the river.

This time, in the afternoon, it was mostly resting Whiskered Terns which we counted!

The heat was stifling under that hot sun, and the east river bank provided even less shade than the sparsely tree- and bamboo-lined west bank. We took refuge in the shade of the tall grass when we could.

There were also several Black-winged Stilts feeding in the shallow waters, accompanied by a few Common Greenshanks. Always elegant, whether standing on the impossibly long pink legs, or flying above the water, Black-winged Stilts are among my favorite waders.

Every now and then Adri would spot a large flock of incoming waders: sometimes terms, sometimes plovers or sandpipers. They were flying so high up in the air!

Most of the east bank nearest to the sea was occupied with large fishponds.

Their fences provided perches for many of the terns. This guard dog didn't mind the birds but it sure made quite a racket barking at us walking on the dirt path several meters away!

Arne and Angelo made it all the way to the shores of Manila Bay, I think! We ran into them already walking back and so we made a u-turn as well.

It was getting late in the afternoon and the shadows getting longer. The earth was cooling down a bit and the scenery was very tranquil.

We thought we were already done with our counts, but wait! There was more! We spotted a few more waders at the beginning of the asphalted road on our way back. There was even a Peregrine Falcon patrolling the fields at sunset, perched on a low dike!

In the end we came up with a count of more than 30,000 waders and wetland-associated birds! Spending an entire day counting on the survey was exhausting and so I appreciated Arne's enthusiasm and professionalism even more after the experience. At the end of the day as we drove off with the sun setting behind us we were in the good company of passionate birders, the total numbers were amazing and it was all well worth the back breaking and eye-crossing job of counting waders for almost 12 hours.

In the morning after our retreat from the original plan!

Tuesday, August 21

After 100+ years

(No, I'm not referring to how long I've been away from this blog!)

It was our furthest twitch ever!

When news of a migrant last recorded to have been seen in the country in 1907 in Basilan (and only one previous record before that in Palawan in 1898, both records according to the Kennedy field guide), Adri and I began to consider flying all the way to Negros island to see this jewel of the forest.

I was still on a break from school and we had planned on a road trip. Instead, we found ourselves booking an early morning flight to Dumaguete, one of our favorite provinces. We touched down at 630am and headed straight for Valencia.

Tatay Eti (Rene Vendiola) was there to meet us at his beloved Liptong Woodland. He had actually first observed the bird in March. Thinking it was the the usual Hooded Pitta in an unusual immature plumage, he kept an eye on it. He was surprised that after several months, its plumage still had not changed! He took a photo of it and shared it on Facebook where it resulted in a rare bird alert. The news of course spread like wildfire among birders!

We were not the only hopeful visitors that morning. Our friends from Cebu, Clemn and Mares, arrived a few minutes after us and we exchanged warm hugs and greetings! Who would have thought that we would meet in Negros because of this hot bird of the moment!

"I first spotted it foraging here just by the house,"said Tatay Eti. "Now it's moved across the road on that incline," he motioned with his arms where the bird was photographed a few days before. He quickly accompanied us up a short path uphill and pointed to the base of a mango tree which was overgrown with low brambles, grass and fresh shoots of pungapong (Amorphophallus).

Of course not two minutes after we arrive (in fact I think it was maybe less than one!), I spot some movement on the ground. It was, predictably, none other than our target bird! It hopped quickly behind the roots of the mango tree. Wow, the speed of the spotting certainly made up for the length of the trip to get here!

Clemn, Mares, Adri and myself positioned ourselves strategically and waited for a better view. All our optics were ready. We were not disappointed. With patience, our views of the pitta got better and better.

Our first quick glimpse: the pitta hopping in the grass.

Blue-winged Pitta:
a rare migrant last recorded to have been seen in the country in 1907!

It turns out this particular pitta, the Blue-winged Pitta, is not very shy. It went about its business a few meters from our feet, casting a wary glance at us every now and then. Amazingly, despite its colorful plumage, once it sits very still, it can actually disappear into the background!

The patience of birders and bird photographers:
quietly waiting can have outstanding rewards.

Even when a noisy group of school children on a field trip came to visit Tatay Eti, the pitta still continued to forage actively. Even in a sudden short downpour which had us running to the shade of our vehicles, it continued to hop around the leaf litter.

School kids on an educational field trip to the Liptong Woodland seeking shelter from the rain.

Though the rain put an abrupt end to the school children's field trip, we stayed a bit longer. And we were rewarded with a wonderful close encounter.

Probably attracted to the earth made soft by the rains and the easy access to earthworms, the pitta got very comfortable and began to forage just a few meters from where we were standing.

The pitta foraging in the leaf litter... showing of its beautiful plumage.

It could not resist scratching the muddy path for some earthworms.

And you know a bird is comfortable when it starts fluffing out its feathers and preening in front of you!

That is one fluffy bird!

It is certainly a great country record. Although the Blue-winged Pitta is common in Thailand, this would be just the third country record for the Philippines. Had this Pitta lost its way during migration? Adri and I were discussing how it looked like a young bird, with still the tiniest bit of yellow on the gape. How fortuitous that it found it's way to Liptong Woodland and the observant eyes of Tatay Eti. The Liptong Woodland is no stranger to birders, who visit it in hopes of seeing the very cute Negros Scops Owl, so Tatay Eti is no stranger to birders. Tatay Eti is one person who can truly say that he has planted a forest, having nurtured and reforested the Liptong Woodland with native trees. He continuous to plant trees and share his knowledge in forest restoration with young children, college students, and various interested individuals from all over the Visayas who visit him to learn. He is truly an environmental hero.

A pair of draco lizards chasing each other on a coconut tree.

Lots of butterflies too at Liptong Woodland. Here is a resting Wallacean (Zethera musides Semper 1878), posing for a photograph.

Thanks Tatay Eti, for many things! But that day we thanked him especially for sharing this wonderful bird sighting, the first after 111 years!

All smiles and thumbs up for a great twitch! Mares, Clemn, Jac (from the Negros Oriental tourism office), Tatay Eti, Adri and myself,

Post-script:
The rare bird alert actually made it to the front page of the Philippine Daily Inquirer a week after our visit. A great article by fellow birder Mads Bajarias with great photos by another fellow birder Forest Jarvis! It's always a thrill when natural history and conservation stories make the front page.
Read the article here: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1019373/rare-bird-sighted-after-111-years

Thursday, May 4

Stilts at LPPCHEAA

On the 1st of April, a few WBCP-ers (led by Mike L. and Arne J.) attended the groundbreaking for a wetland park at the LPPCHEA (Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area). Finally! Hopefully, this project, led by Sen. Cynthia Villar, will focus on the importance of the mudflats as a wetland (it is a declared RAMSAR site!) and as a green space in a city choked by urban developments lacking environmental planning.

Adri and I were there but unwittingly skipped the ceremonies as we were captivated by several Black-winged Stilts foraging along a relatively clean beach. We had lost track of the time and got caught up documenting the graceful stilts as they were feeding along the waterline.

When we arrived at sunrise, I was delighted to see that much of the trash along the coastline had been cleared (still a lot left of course, I would think it almost impossible to clean all of it up, with more trash coming in daily with the tide). The beautiful shell beach was exposed - revealing a diversity of gastropods and bivalves, together with a bit of plant litter: seeds, twigs (and sadly some plastic knick knacks). It was definitely a bit of beauty one seldom would expect to find along the Manila beaches of the bay.

I could only imagine all the possibilities of having a clean beach in Metro Manila for the city-dwellers to enjoy.

A lone Common Sandpiper was busy preening in the golden monring light, stanind on a bit of muddy, discarded rubber/canvas/plastic.

A few stilts were on the beach at first, some resting and preening, others busy foraging for food. Many of them were quite vocal, twittering loudly.

There were few other migrants at the beach, although in the distance at the river mouth we could see several egrets, some herons and quite a number of waders.

A few Common Greenshanks flew past us, twittering loudly.

It was not only the birds out foraging, a man and his two young boys were also busy looking for shellfish in the shallow waters.

As the shadows receded with the rising sun, more and more stilts began flying in. It was nice to see varying plumage, from the usual greyish markings of younger birds to elegant black and white plumage of the full adults.

Adri and I found a nice large log to sit on, under the shade of the mangroves. The birds soon got used to our presence and began to get comfortable.

We practice in-flight shots with two Whiskered Terns.

And got a good laugh trying to outdo each other with stilts-in-flight shots.

Some of the stilts were flying back and forth right in front of us! Sometimes they were too close!

We were not the only humans on the beach, several meters away was a man busy with his boat, being ignored by most of the birds.

A few greenshanks decided to join the stilts.

And one of the beach dogs also came out to inspect the debris that had been carried in by the tide.

Soon the tide began to turn and we could tell the ground breaking event had finished, because we could see large groups of people descending on the beach. In the distance, a large group in orange jackets were busy cleaning up the coast.

Nearby, a group decided to take the DENR trash boat (it had a huge net to catch floating trash out at sea) for a quick spin. The Black-winged Stilts paid no attention to the people (probably because the people were not paying any attention to them either!)

The tide was eating up the thin stretch of beach so we decided to start heading back. We ran into some of the participants and volunteers who were with Rey Aguinaldo (DENR Region IV and LPPCEHA Project Manager). We were happy to show them some of the stilts through the scope. They expressed their surprise at the number of birds along the beach, even commenting that they were happy that the event (with its many people and loud sound system) did not flush or scare them away.

As we walked back to the car along the more shaded inland trail, we spotted other migrants: a noisy Brown Shrike and a confiding Arctic Warbler.

We also ran into several groups of Barred Rails and Common Moorhens foraging under the mangroves.

At the end of the beach near the car, we saw a small group of three enjoying a swim in the water. It was not something I would recommend! I am still hopeful though, that one day, Manila Bay will be clean enough for more recreational activities. With the threat of reclamation looming, perhaps a wetland park is just what LPPCHEA needs. Not just for humans, but for all the other wild ones that need it too.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Sunday, April 16

Kites and other fishers

Operation Sagip Sawi (Save the Grey-faced Buzzards) was in full swing in Northern Luzon, and I was off for the weekend with Jelaine and Lala to support Alex, Tere and the ARRCN (Asian Raptor Research and Conservation Network) Japanese contingent on their visit to Ilocos Norte and Cagayan Valley.

But... we had a few hours free in the morning to bird with Laoag-based Richard R. He had once again spotted a rare migrant visiting his birding spot and was keen to show it to birders who traveled the long road north to see it. For our trio, the opportunity was perfect for a twitch.

And so, fresh off the bus from Cubao, at 500am, a smiling Richard picked us up at the terminal, and we were on our way (with a breakfast stop at Jollibee, of course!).

Walking along the banks of the Laoag river, many fishers were already out and about. In the far beach where the river mouth opened to the ocean, we could see through our binoculars that they were already unloading their catch, large jacks (talakitok), catching light in the morning sun as they were transfered to baskets.

Along the river, men and children were alredy preparing a new set of nets, baiting them with small fish, mostly halfbeaks (looking weird with their "beaks" snapped off).

We parked ourselves at the last of a series of public terraces, excellent (i.e. roofed) vantage points to watch out for our target.

People were not the only the early fishers out. Dozens (literally: I counted 28 perched on one tree across the river) of Brahminy Kites were already busy catching their breakfast.

Several egrets, mostly Great Egrets, were also perched on the fish pens, un-moving sentinels shining white in the golden light.

While waiting, we scanned the trees around us. And sure enough, in less than 5 minutes from our arrival, we spotted it!

Do you see it? Not the white headed raptor in the foreground
but the dark one in the background, silhouetted against the sky.

Quite a distance away, in the direction of the fishponds (we had previously visited) perched on the very top of a tree, was a kite much larger than the many Brahminys flying around us: a Black Kite!

It was busy preening, despite the distance, we could clearly see the forked tail and the dark plumage.

This one!

We kept Richard's scope trained on it, and it stayed put for so long, even the locals had a peek through it to see.

It didn't seem like it had any intentions of moving, so while waiting for it to take flight, we entertained ourselves with the Brahminy Kites flying and fishing close by.

On a small house on top of the riverside, a man was busy cleaning and drying out his fish. He cleanly sliced each fish open, gutted and salted it. After he had finished with all the fish, he strung them up to dry.

They joined several other fish drying in the sun - soon to be someone's breakfast: daing (dried and salted fish) with fried garlic rice and a sliced tomato. Yum.

Back to the birds...

The Black Kite was still immovable, now joined by a Brahminy Kite on a neighboring branch - just to clearly show the size and plumage difference.

Another fisher was perched nearby: a White-throated Kingfisher. It didn't seem to favor that spot though as it only stayed for a bit before flying off to find some other fishing ground.

When next we looked over the Black Kite, he was gone!

With his disappearance was a flurry of duck activity with hundreds of Philippine Ducks taking to the air.

We were hoping for it to do a close flyby like the Brahminy Kites, but luck was no longer on our side. We waited for as long as we could, but no sign of it along the river.

We took a quick trip to the fishponds to see if it was hanging out in that area, but no luck there either.

Still, it was a successful early morning twitch. Thanks again to Richard who is always alert and on the lookout at his birding patch, and always generous with sharing information. Laoag is such a rare migrant magnet!

Our weekend adventure had just started and we were off to join up with the Sagip Sawi group!

To be continued...