breathing space: rail

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Tuesday, June 13

Golf cart birding at QC: birdies on the green!

As June rolled in, the rainy season official on its way, we were already becoming lazy in planning any weekend birding trips. So I was excited when Anna G. invited us to bird at a site around my area of the world: Capitol Hills Golf and Country Club.

Although I had been to the surrounding commercial and residential areas in the vicinity of the golf club, I had never actually been inside the 18 hole golf course. It had been in existence since I was born, but it had recently been under the management of Ayala Land, who was also developing the nearby residential areas.

I literally pass by the boundary of the golf course almost everyday of my life, but have only had glimpses of the course. And while most Universities, parks and cemeteries are easily accessible, this green space was membership (or at least golfer-) only.

We met up Anna and George (of ALI) and WBCP-er Willem at a row of restaurants which overlooked the greens of the course before our ocular. It was a relief not to be troubled by early rising or traffic - we leisurely sipped our coffee before starting. Already (beginning at the parking lot) we had seen several Golden-bellied Gerygones chasing each other. Black-naped Orioles called loudly as they flew from tree to tree. Yellow-vented Bulbuls gurgled all around us. We could hear a hidden Philippine Magpie Robin singing melodiously behind the buildings and shrubbery. A Collared Kingfisher was patrolling nearby. This patch of sprawling greenery was probably an oasis for the city birds!

As we exchanged morning pleasantries, we were entertained by a Glossy Swiftlet gathering some fiber from a nearby fishtail palm.

A few Black-crowned Night-herons also flew overhead, probably traveling between hunting ground and day roost sites.

Soon, we were off! We were joined by one of the managers, Gino, who would show us around. We were paired of and each of us given our own golf cart to drive around the course! Silently I added "golf cart" to my list of birding vehicles which have so far ranged from the comfortable air-conditioned coaster, to the barely manageable breathing four-legged pony!

Almost immediately we spotted several Long-tailed Shrikes watching from various levels of viewpoints along the holes.

The edges of the greens were kept "wild", the grasses grew long and wildly - obviously serving as great refuge for city wildlife. We soon stopped at a nearby pond and waterway. To our delight, a very friendly family of moorhens was foraging! I think, it was the closest encounter I have ever had with these waterbirds! Though alert to our presence, a pair and a fluffy chick came as close as a few meters to our group. They wove in and out of the greenery.

A more skittish White-breasted Waterhen also made a brief appearance as it dashed across the short water line.

As we drove along the winding pathways, through tunnels and over bridges, Gino showed us a much larger pond. Again, we saw several Moorhens, going about their business. Another young moorhen was up in a fig tree at the water's edge opposite from us, sunning itself.

A noisy pair of Collared Kingfishers were calling from a residence at the edge of the course. Above us a pair of Pied Trillers was foraging for insects in the canopy of a huge rain tree. A playful pair of Philippine Pied Fantails chased each other noisily around the nearby vegetation.

It was not only the birds out to enjoy the morning sun. Several skinks were out sunning themselves, hardly paying heed to the golfers or the gardeners.

As we crisscrossed the property, passing through gated residential communities, we saw several pairs of Crested Mynas flying above us, slashing their white wing markings as they flapped their wings. Once in a while a Large-billed Crow would also fly overhead. Noisy Striated Grassbirds would call from the tops of bushes and fences.

Soon we came across an even larger pond! Again, several Moorhens were at the water's edge, preening and foraging. There was even one individual swimming across the surface! On the far edge of the pond, we could see a White-breasted Waterhen taking a morning dip. A closer look revealed a downy chick beside it! The darkly plumaged young bird was perfectly camouflaged among the rocks.

Several dragonflies and damselflies danced along the grass at the edge of the pond.

Sadly, there was also a dead Cinnamon Bittern at our feet. Its eyes were still fresh and bright, indicating that it was a recent death. It had no obvious injuries or wounds, save for a few damp and ruffled feathers. We were discussing what the cause of death could be, considering that we could have interrupted a monitor lizard with its meal. Throw in a little mystery to our morning bird walk!

Again, we appreciated how the edge vegetation was kept a bit overgrown, and just to emphasize our point, another White-breasted Waterhen walked in and out of the long grass.

As we rounded the curve of the pond, we stopped to catch a glimpse of a White-throated Kingfisher flying off. We stopped a while at the shade of a rain tree, surprised by some movement and the sight of a Common Moorhen preening quite near to us!

Some of the tall grasses were in seed, and Adri spotted a couple of Scaly-breasted Munias picking at the grains.

Even on a weekday, there were a few golfers out, and every now and then we had to stop as they hit their balls across the greens (Is that the even a correct term? I am golf - illiterate). Many Zebra Doves seemed to be unaware of this etiquette as they continued to forage on the ground unmindful of the balls flying around.

We also spotted a few Barred Rails. Their behaviour was the normal skittish, paranoia, running into the nearest grass cover as soon as they spotted us.

Several White-breasted Woodswallows were perched all over: on the huge nets which prevented the golf balls from flying off-course, on the light posts, and on the trees. They were their usual vocal and boisterous selves.

Near another grassy thicket, Anna spotted a Philippine Coucal! It quickly scuttled into the growth, revealing only bits of bright brown or black, until it completely disappeared from our sight.

Golf cart birding sure beat walking! We navigated the course easily and efficiently, slowing down and stopping (for flying birds AND flying balls!) any time we needed to. Even if it was a hot, humid and sticky morning we barely broke a sweat!

At the end of the two hour drive across the 18 hole course, we tallied a total of 32 species of birds! It was good to know that the exclusive golf course (while for human members only) was an open refuge to our feathered friends in the city.

Thanks again to Anna and ALI for the invite and the chance to explore this hidden bit of urban greenery!

And of course we end with a group picture!

Sunday, August 9

When school is out

With a new semester starting, the campus will be alive once more with the student population going about their daily routine. Having had an extended break because of the adjustment to a new school year (with the "summer" term moving to June - July and the first semester starting in August), the campus was pretty quiet for most of April and May with only the regular staff and the faculty coming to work.

With a few bird walks scheduled as a fun activity to fill in the student-free work load for the staff, we were quick to observe a few campus birds not regularly seen during the busy school year.

A family of Philippine Magpie Robins were regulars at an empty student parking lot near our office. It was great to see this family of four every afternoon, with the young busy following their parents around. They were an easy bird to point out to newbie birders, distinctive black and white birds flitting around actively the parking slots shaded by a couple of ficus trees.

Dad in a typical pose.

Mum in another typical pose.

One of the young ones looking at me curiously.

The young ones would often beg loudly for food. When this was observed by one of my high school students on a summer internship, she exclaimed excitedly " It's shouting! It's shouting!"

"FEED MEEEEEEE!!!"

Their beautiful melodious call was clearly heard in the relatively silent campus. The parking lot was adjacent to an overgrown area where they presumably stayed most of the year when they would be reported as "heard but not seen".

I'm glad to have verified that the campus Magpie Robin population seems to be doing well and growing in number.

Aside from the Magpie Robins, a short observation at the ficus trees also gave good sightings of White-eared Brown Doves.

A quiet pair of endemic White-eared Brown Doves.

These endemic doves are usually very shy and skittish. They are not common in the city, except in pockets of greenery. This pair was calmly preening at a talisay tree behind the ficus, after having enjoyed a snack of ficus fruit.

In the afternoon, several Barred Rails could often be called calling, hidden in the long grass. With a few people around, a few ventured out into the open areas.

With a bit of patience, a brief Barred Rail sighting in the grassy fields.

It's good to document these not-so-often-seen-birds-on-campus. While I expect them to fall back into the "heard only" category now that school has started, I look forward to catching even brief glimpses every now and then.

In the meantime it's back to the regular campus birds...

The very common Zebra Dove.

Sunday, April 20

An Ivatan Dictionary of Birds

Batanes!

Adri and I had always planned on going but it seemed like a huge trip to plan. When Edna gifted us with return trip travel vouchers we were finally on our way! Because of the limitation on the voucher to book the trip 3 days before actual travel, it turned out to be our least planned, most crammed trip ever! Dramatic seascapes, iconic stone house villages, rolling hills - here we come!

While it was primarily the typical tour type trip, Batanes was too important a birding area for us not to plan some birdwatching as well. Nearer to Taiwan than the rest of the Philippines, several bird species were unique to this set of islands comprising the northern-most islands of the Philippines. While none of them are endemic, many of the targets are difficult (if not impossible!) to find elsewhere in the country. Surprise migrants are also always an opportunity, however, our trip was timed too late for most migrants as it was approaching the peak of summer.

We did our birding research, as it was probably the most difficult to plan for, as most tourist-y attractions were routine already. Thanks to WBCP-er Christian Perez, we got in touch with a guide who knew where to find the birds and was familiar with many of them as well. He had also guided several other birders before, so he was familiar with the typical birding schedule. Rogers Amboy (+639998826833, +639178752430) turned out not only to be a great bird guide, but a wonderful tour guide as well, and our 4 days in Batanes was chock-full of local culture, history, folklore, and yes, birds.

It was so interesting to learn the Ivatan names for the birds, I am kicking myself for not taking more detailed notes. Dachio, piyek, avuchivuchid, sayay, vadug... such pretty and unfamiliar sounding names!

We had four main targets for Batanes and I am over the moon to have seen all of them!

On the top of our list was the tiwayway or Japanese Paradise-Flycatcher. Summer is the perfect time to see these birds because they breed on the islands from March to August, and are rare migrant to Luzon, Palawan and Mindoro. Our first sighting of these birds was on our first "official" birding day - during our tour of Sabtang island. Kuya Roger took us to a dry creek bed and sure enough, a pair of them were quite vocal.

In the days to come, we found out that they were actually very common. In Batan, we heard them by the highway anywhere there was substantial tree cover, we saw them crossing the highway, and we saw and heard several on the foothills of Mt. Iraya. Most of the locals were familiar with the tiwayway, and also knew that it was the perfect time to see them as it was more difficult on other months.

Our second target was even more common. Again, if you asked the locals where you could see the piyek (silent "e"), they would say: everywhere. The Chestnut-eared Bulbul is the only bulbul in Batanes, and like most other bulbuls it is noisy and... bulbul -like. Kennedy says it is not common in open country, but we found it very common, even around Basco.

I was really happy to see the piyek because it's the last remaining bulbul species in the Philippine field guide that I hadn't seen (including all the Streak-breasted Bulbul splits!).

As with many smaller islands, there is an owl a birder has to find. Fortunately, Kuya Roger had a sure site for it, around the farm of one of his friends. He said that they started appearing a 10pm... which would have been the latest owling hour I had ever gone. As luck would have it, we were walking up to the farm at 7pm, a bantulok conveniently called from a tree right beside us, and we saw it 3 hours ahead of schedule.

Getting a photo though proved to be a little more difficult. It was confusing to be chasing several vocal Ryukyu Scops Owls which seemed too be all around us, but we finally got good photos. Of course Adri had much better photos with his digiscoping set-up than I did with my hand held long lens.

On our last night we decided to go owling again, this time by ourselves as Kuya Roger had to go diving for lobsters. We walked to and from the site, and when we got back to our inn, one of the locals asked us what had us out so late (730pm was considered late!). We said we were looking for bantulok and he said that they were quite difficult to actually see. He seemed puzzled at our agenda. I guess crazy birders are not yet the norm here.

Our fourth and final target was the most challenging of all. The vuyit was named after is eerie, ghostlike call "vuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-yeeeeet!" We were a little hopeful about finding it as a couple of weeks before WBCP-ers Paula and Charlie had photographed just by the side of the road. But 3 days into our trip, there was still no glimpse of it, only a faint call from the distance when we were at Racuh a Payaman, a communal pastureland in Mahatao. Desperate times called for desperate measures. we actually had to "go birding" in the traditional sense, to get this bird. So on the the morning of our fourth day, we hike up the foothills of Mt. Iraya, to the farm of Uncle "Jungle-boy" - farmer/hunter/pit viper catcher. He led us uphill to some fruiting trees and we lay in wait. We saw several vadug while waiting, the endemic Batanes subspecies of Philippine Cuckoo-dove, a very handsome bird, great to see... but not really our main target.

We covered four corners of the small hill: Adri, myself, Kuya Roger and our driver for the day Alex. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Alex going over to Kuya Roger. Adri soon joined them and I trudged uphill to see what was up. Had they spotted the vuyit?

In the distance was indeed a pair of Whistling-green Pigeons! They were perched on the branches of a leafy tree, well camouflaged but visible. Not the greatest of views but clear and long! We all enjoyed looking at them fall asleep for several minutes until rain threatened to fall and we ran back to take shelter in Uncle Jungle-boy's house.

Tiwayway, piyek, bantulok and vuyit! check, check, check, check! Birding in Batanes was definitely a highlight of our trip!

Here are some of other birds we saw and their local names:

Dachio (Lowland White-eye) was a very common bird and the subspecies is endemic to Batanes.

The luluji (Blue Rock Thrush) was also seen everywhere! Not only on rocks, but on house roofs, on electric wires, on the highway barriers... everywhere. They were also very vocal, and their singing was very pleasant to hear. They weren't very popular with the locals though, who considered them "dirty" birds.

Most of the landscape of Batan island is pastureland: the iconic, rolling, grassy hills dotted by patches of trees and vuyavuy palms (used to make the traditional vakul headgear) and spikey pandan. Commonly seen foraging by these patches of vegetation are rails: ripdi (Buff-banded Rail) and more frequently the alan (Plain Bush-hen).

The alan were also considered pests as they would eat ripe bananas and papaya right from the tree.

White-breasted Waterhens were also seen in more watery environments. This pair was seen near a small ricefield.

Common also to the grasslands were very vocal Zitting Cisticolas. This was also an endemic Batanes subspecies. Unfortunately, I took them for granted, and didn't get any photos. Too bad because they had my most favorite local name: avuchivuchid. Another bird I took for granted were Chestnut Munias which occurred in large flocks. They were called lalachiao.

Also running around the short grass, already yellow-brown under the summer sun, were several Paddyfield Pipts, tilin.

Pastures = bovines and Cattle Egrets obligingly illustrated why they were called so. Kuya Roger just called them Cattle Egret, so I never found out what they were called in Ivatan.

The dramatic seascapes with waves breaking over rocks and cliff faces were a perfect back drop for dark phase Pacific Reef Egrets.

Swallows, both Pacific and Striated were all over, gliding gracefully over land and sea. Their mud nests can be seen under the eves of the many lighthouses all over Batan island. Swallows are collectively called hapnyit.

I was looking forward to seeing migrant starlings but the timing wasn't right. We did see several Brown-headed Thrushes though, enjoying the ripe fruit of a tree Kuya Roger called malaapdo. Kuya Roger described large flocks of migratory birds he called lagamitan avayat. "Avayat" means "habagat" (southwest monsoon) and the birds came when the winds change. At first we thought he was referring to the starlings, but when we showed him the photo of the thrushes, he said that these were the birds too. Maybe these birds - thrushes and starlings, which were of similar jiz, were all called lagamitan avayat?

The malaapdo was certainly a bird magnet and we were fortunate that one was fruiting early (the other trees we had seen still had mostly un-ripe fruit). It attracted bulbuls and even Black-chinned Fruit-doves - another endemic subspecies. The fruit dove, just like the Emerald Green Dove had the most familiar name of all: punay (emphasis on the second syllable though).

Another common migrant we encountered were wagtails. They were in the canals, walking in what little water was left. They were called duwad.

One local name that escapes me is what the Brown Shrike is called. We saw quite a lot of them. Strangely, they all looked quite bedraggled. Kuya Roger mentioned that they used to catch the Brown Shrikes as they came in large numbers during fall migration, and that their beaks could give a nasty nip if you happened to get your finger caught.

While we didn't see any migrant starlings, we did see the resident Asian Glossy Starlings.

We flushed a Philippine Coucal, talukuk, on our hike at Mt. Iraya. It looked very different from the Luzon race, its wings were black rather than chestnut, so it was more similar to the Mindoro subspecies. The Lesser Coucal had a similar onomatopoeic name - sijuk.

Also very common were the Collared Kingfishers - tagalit. We mostly saw them by near the beaches.

There a few migrants as well - Common Kingfishers, Common Sandpipers, Whimbrel and Grey-tailed Tattlers.

We saw several raptors also. A white-bellied sea-eagle could be seen hunting from the balcony of our inn. In the hills of Dipnalban, we saw a Peregrine falcon or sibnit hunting. All small raptors (probably including kestrels and the hobbies) are referred to as sibnit.

At Sabtang, we were thrilled to see a sayay (Osprey) successfully catch a fish on a beach right beside the highway.

The drama of the catch was even made more powerful in combination with the landscape. The image summed up how I felt about our trip. Batanes certainly lived up to its expectations - its impressive panoramas and gentle people and rich culture makes me want to go back. Not to mention the birding! Migration season next time? What other manumanok will we see then?