Photographing Ghosts

After a very successful first full day in Senator Ninoy Aquino, it was another early, early morning to get to Barangay Kuden for some owling. Alas, while we had Philippine Frogmouth and Mindanao Hawk-owl calling once more, we didn't add anything new to the night bird list. We were starting the morning in the place where we'd seen White-fronted Tit the day before, hoping for another view. According to Irene, the tits in Luzon don't usually call until later in the morning, so we decided to hang out in the same spot until then. Joining also was Errol, a friend of Yepyep's and another birder from Tacurong who's stationed as a nurse in SNA.

Pre-dawn Mindanao Hornbill

There was a fair amount of activity before dawn, with Southern Rufous Hornbills and Mindanao Hornbills flying past us, and some doves like Yellow-breasted Fruit Dove and Amethyst Brown Dove calling from the midst of the woods. Most interesting was a calling dove that we couldn't identify- at first Pete thought it could be a Mindanao Brown Dove (which would have been a mega record for the site), but we later settled on Spotted Imperial Pigeon, another endemic dove that's only a little less rare. They're rare enough, in fact, that there were no recordings we knew of of their call... Irene happened to get a recording, which may have been the first-ever recording of a Spotted Imperial Pigeon call, but unfortunately it ended up getting deleted by accident! Thankfully Pete and Irene returned to SNA later this year after I'd left the country and Irene managed to get a proper recording this time- more history being made in SNA.

Dawn is supposed to be peak hour for birds, but at dawn that day most of the birds seemed to prefer to be heard rather than seen. I satisfied myself by taking pictures of some of the cool invertebrates I saw in the jungle instead. 

Some kind of Froghopper (Cercopidae sp.)

Long-horned Beetle (Cerambycidae sp.)

About an hour after dawn, where bird activity is normally a bit slower, things actually started picking up- we heard Mindanao Blue Fantail calling, suggesting a mixed flock, and sure enough we soon heard the calling of Rusty-crowned Babblers and Rufous Paradise Flycatchers. The last of those we were able to call out into the open, though they were hopping around so quickly I didn't get many pictures. 

We had better luck with some larger endemic birds, most of which, oddly enough, were concentrated on a single dead tree- on the same tree at one point or another we had Sulphur-billed Nuthatch, Hair-crested Drongo (considered in some lists as the endemic Short-tailed Drongo), Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker, Scarlet Minivet (also almost certainly an endemic split waiting to happen), and a very vocal pair of Philippine Orioles. 

Philippine Oriole

Philippine Orioles and Scarlet Minivets

Three endemics in the same frame! Philippine Orioles, Hair-crested (Short-tailed) Drongo, and Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker

Successful Crab Spider (Thomisidae sp.) with a Giant Asian Honeybee (Apis dorsata)- not sure how it plans to eat it

Shortly after, we heard the calling of a Blue-capped Wood Kingfisher, probably the rarest Mindanao kingfisher. I'd seen them (albeit very poorly) on Mount Kitanglad earlier this year, but I was very much hoping for a better view. Typically for this species, the bird was calling from a single perch, but also typically, it was from deep inside a tangle of vegetation. Miraculously, Irene's eagle eyes were able to spot a tiny window in the foliage where we could see the kingfisher. There was literally a couple of centimeters of leeway to get a good shot, and it involved sitting on a muddy, grassy slope, but we were all able to take turns looking and taking pictures. I was thrilled, since it was first time I'd gotten a good look at one, and also because it's arguably the best-looking kingfisher in the Philippines (a category with lots of competition!)

Blue-capped Wood Kingfisher

In the same area we had a pair of calling Philippine Trogons, as well a flock of Blue-crowned Racket-tails. 

Philippine Trogon

Blue-crowned Racket-tail

Eventually, things got rather quiet, and the White-fronted Tit that had been calling the previous day was nowhere to be seen (or heard). We decided to continue on down the road to the clearing where we'd seen large flocks of hornbills the previous day. Surprisingly, there were no hornbills to be seen, though there was a Pinsker's Hawk-eagle flying far above us calling. It's always nice to see a Pinsker's Hawk-eagle, especially considering that there are probably fewer than 1,000 of them left. 

Pinsker's Hawk-eagle

Another Paper Kite (Idea leuconoe)

The sun was quite hot by this time, but there were still some small birds flitting around, including a calling Olive-backed Flowerpecker. I saw one very small bird in the top of a tree far, far away from me against the light. I couldn't see what it was through my binoculars, so I took a few record shots with my camera and promptly forgot about it. It was not until long after when I finally got around to processing my pictures from the day that I figured out what it was- a White-fronted Tit! One of the rarest endemics in the Philippines, and I managed to take the first-ever perched pictures of it completely by accident. These were the only clear photos of a Mindanao White-fronted Tit in existence for a few months, though some birders who visited there recently managed to get somewhat better pictures. 

My horrible record shots of White-fronted Tit

Blissfully unaware that I'd just made history, I continued birding by the clearing. Aside from raptors, hornbills, and (apparently) tits, it was a very good place to look out for swiftlets, and attempt to photograph them. Barangay Kuden is at just the right height where Ameline Swiftlets and Philippine Swiftlets are found in the same place, which is frustrating since the two look almost exactly the same. Thankfully Philippine Swiftlets call quite a lot and quite distinctively, which can make it easier. Also present were another two endemics, Ridgetop Swiftets and Pygmy Swiftlets, as well as a Whiskered Treeswift Yepyep spotted perched on a branch.

Ameline Swiftlet- large, with a deeper tail fork than Philippine Swiftlet

Pygmy Swiftlet- if you squint you can just see the white rump

Philippine Swiftlet- smaller than Ameline Swiftlet, and calling out as it flew.

Whiskered Treeswift- much easier to ID!

We waited in a shaded bit to see if any birds would call. There wasn't much added to the bird list except calling Yellow-bellied Whistler and Black-bibbed Cuckooshrike, but the invertebrate life was excellent, with a toxic-looking Ramie Moth caterpillar, the Mindanao-endemic species of Pale Ringlets, and a Hill Grass Yellow. The latter two have almost never been photographed before in the Philippines, so it was nice to see them. 

Handsome Fungus Beetle (Stenotarsus sp.)

Pale Ringlets (Acrophthalmia leto)

Hill Grass Yellow (Eurema simulatrix

Ramie Moth caterpillar (Arcte coerula)

We reluctantly ended the birding in the late morning, as we had a long drive back towards GenSan ahead of us. Even though the morning was cut short, it was a great success, with 67 species of bird seen, most of which were endemic to the Philippines. Our first stop after birding was to the municipal office to meet the mayor and vice mayor of Senator Ninoy Aquino. Mayor Ecija and VM Flauta have their work cut out for them in managing a multi-ethnic municipality in the frontier of Mindanao, but I have to say they've done an admirable job so far in juggling their many challenges. It's certainly a refreshing change to see some politicians who seem dedicated to their community- it's sadly a rare occasion in the Philippines. 

After that, we returned to our hotel for lunch and to pick up our bags (and for me to photograph a few more moths). It had been a massively successful "recce" trip to SNA, with nearly 100 species seen, including lots of good new birds for the site and some absolutely mega ones like White-fronted Tit and Wattled Broadbill. Hard to argue with that for a birding site. We were very satisfied as we began the long drive back to GenSan. The next morning Pete and Irene headed to the famous GenSan salt pans to search for rarities, but thankfully didn't find anything special as I had to fly out early in the morning to Manila, then it was off to the US for a wedding and just a bit of time at home. 

Wasp Moth (Amata sp.)

Barsine sp. 

Plain Palm-Dart (Cephrenes acalle)