Pajareo sin fronteras

I had lots of work to catch up on in the Philippines after my  quick visit  home in Michigan, but since I arrived back on the weekend, I had time for a day of birding before heading back to Mindanao. Thanks to  Irene 's generous offer of a car ride and birding company, I was able to spend it on yet another visit to Infanta, Quezon, one of the up-and-coming birding destinations in Luzon. I'd been there three times before (blog post on my last visit  here ), but managed to dip on a few of the "specialty" bird there every time, most especially the Whiskered Pitta that's supposedly often seen every time except for the days that I visit.  Like most visits to Infanta, it started with a disgustingly early start from Manila in order to arrive in the birding area before sunrise and in time for owling. Also like my visits to Infanta so far, the owling was a complete bust, with nothing even heard at all- and people wonder why I don't enjoy looking for owls! As the s

After  a few days  in Michigan's Upper Peninsula for my friend Clayton's wedding this July, I had just a few days at home in Leelanau County before returning to the Philippines. Most of this was occupied by work, since even though I wasn't in the Philippines I was still working remotely. However, I did have one free day that I was able to spend visiting some of my favorite local birding places, as well as running errands of course.  My first stop was at Little Glen Park, an area next to a small pond near to the Sleeping Bear Dunes. It's a rather unassuming spot, but wth  over 200 species  of bird recorded there it's one of the best single birding areas in Northwestern Lower Michigan. Unfortunately, it was almost completely silent by the time I got there, probably because of the strong winds that kept any birds that were there hidden away in the bushes. A family of  Trumpeter Swans  in the pond was nice to see, as was a lone  Beaver , but after unsuccessfully se