Greater Manila Adventures

 After barely a week at home in Sorsogon, I headed to Manila at the end of March where I had work engagement for a couple of weeks. Nikki joined me, since it's always nice to have some time in Manila to eat all the food you can't get out in the provinces and see our friends living there- especially when work is footing the bill for the hotel. 

Most of my time in Manila was spent in work meetings, or being caught in traffic on the way to or from work meetings. However, I had two weekends while I was there, which meant opportunities to meet up with Manila-based birders and see the birding sites of the greater Manila area. Despite the fact that I've been in the Philippines a cumulative four years or so at this point, I've managed to never have lived in the largest city (some would say the only proper city) in the country. This is mostly a good thing as Manila is, by and large, a nightmare of a city and I think my enjoyment of the Philippines is significantly increased by not living there. That said, it does mean that I've missed out on the opportunity to meet the vast majority of the Philippine birding community that does live there, instead being connected only via social media. 

Annoyingly enough I only had one full free day my first weekend in the city, but that was enough to join in on a day trip to the famous Infanta birding road in the nearby province of Quezon. I of course didn't have any mode of transportation while I was in Manila, but local birder Bom and his daughter Gabbie were nice enough to give me a ride there, even though they lived a ways a way and we'd never even met before (the Philippines birding community is great!). They picked me up at my hotel at 4 in the morning, and from there we made the 2-hour drive to Infanta, along twisty roads climbing up the foothills of the Sierra Madre mountains. 

We arrived at the meetup spot a little before 6AM, which as it turned out meant we were the first people to arrive. A Philippine Cuckoo-dove was calling next to the road in a fruiting tree, but flew out before we could get a good look. There were a number of Philippine Fairy-bluebirds as well giving their strange, warbling calls. Gabbie picked out another bird moving in the tree, which turned out to be a Cream-bellied Fruit Dove! We got some great looks at it as it fed right in front of us, and were able to get some of the other party on it as they trickled in. Prior to 2017 or so Cream-bellied Fruit Doves were one of the more difficult endemics, with almost all of the records coming from remote sites in northeastern Luzon like Camp Sawa, which required lots of hiking and basic accommodations. With the opening of the Infanta road a newly accessible site for them suddenly opened up, although they're still rather difficult there (in my experience, they're even easier in Sorsogon, despite my records from there being the only ones from southern Luzon in several decades). 

Cream-bellied Fruit Dove

Philippine Fairy-bluebird

As we were watching the fruit dove the other members of the morning's birding party arrived: Cecil, Gwen, Ravi, Jasmin, Bambi, Ruben, and Angie, all of whom except Jasmin I was meeting for the first time. It ended up being great fun, and even though we were a pretty diverse group with different experience levels and target birds we all saw new things and had a great time. 

After the fruit dove had flown off there wasn't much in the area so we continued down the road. An odd thing about the Infanta road (and Philippines birding in general) is that even though it goes through many kilometers of great habitat, there are only certain sites where the birds tend to congregate, while there are long stretches of seemingly great forest with very few birds. Our next stop was by a row of fruiting hagimit vines (Ficus minahassae) where some good birds had been seen in the past. There were some Bicolored Flowerpeckers and Orange-bellied Flowerpeckers feeding on the hagimit, but not too many good photo opportunities. A repeating song on the other side of the road kept me guessing for a while until I saw a tiny, bright-yellow Citrine Canary-flycatcher perched low singing to us, giving us all great views even though the light wasn't great. A small mixed flock came through, with several Blue-headed Fantails and a bigger group of Yellowish White-eyes.

Citrine Canary-flycatcher

Blue-headed Fantail

Yellowish White-eye

The next stop was a kilometer or so down the road where a house is being constructed on a rather precarious slope next to the road, with a decent view down the hill to a hagimit vine where some good birds sometimes come in. There wasn't much at the hagimit, just a Philippine Bulbul and a showy male Orange-bellied Flowerpecker, so Jasmin and I headed out toward the road to look for other birds. After a bit of looking a beautiful female Scarlet Minivet flew in, looking for bugs in the trees next to the road. This was a lifer for a number of others in the group, so we hastily called them over to look at it, where we all got nice looks. Annoyingly enough this did mean that I missed a rhabdornis that flew in while I was gone that, based on the photos of some others, looked suspiciously like a rare Grand Rhabdornis... but ah well.

Philippine Bulbul

Orange-bellied Flowerpecker

Female Scarlet Minivet

Scarlet Mormon Swallowtail

Sancterila hermarchus

Smaller Wood Nymph

Paranisitra longipes, an endemic cricket

Ophicrania palinurus, an endemic stick insect that unfortunately got stepped on by someone

It was mid-morning and the bird activity slowed down, so we headed toward the more distant part of the road, where a small trail led off the side. The drive there took us through lots of great-looking forest that I don't think has been properly explored by birders- a good reminder that at some point I need to spend a full weekend in the Infanta area doing some proper birding by foot rather than just speeding by good spots on the car. We stopped a bit down the road as some in front of us heard an interesting bird call, That turned out to be a Rusty-breasted Cuckoo, which flew in very briefly when I played its call then disappeared into the forest. A small flock of Ashy Minivets in the trees nearby was a nice addition to our day list.

Rusty-breasted Cuckoo

Ashy Minivet

Continuing down the road a few kilometers we got to the next planned stop (everyone else had been in Infanta many more times than me, and thus knew all of the best spots there), a trail going downhill near a small chapel. There were a couple Philippine Fairy-bluebirds around that never really posed for pictures, and while everyone was concentrating on those I managed to spot a couple of Northern Rufous Hornbills perched in a very, very distant pine tree. This was a lifer for a number of folks there and thankfully I was able to get everyone on it. It was about the most distant look at them imaginable, but there's really no way to not be happy seeing a rufous hornbill in the wild. A bit later we had another mixed flock move in with Blue-headed Fantails, Elegant Tits, and a Lemon-throated Leaf-warbler. Back at the road, a pair of Philippine Serpent-eagles flew overhead, doing their usual screaming.

Northern Rufous Hornbill

Lemon-throated Leaf Warbler

Philippine Serpent Eagle

Some kind of huntsman spider

Begonia loheri, one of the many endemic begonias found in the Philippines

Some cool pigmentless flowers (Argostemma sp.) on the forest floor

The last stop along the road was an overlook just before it dropped down toward the town of Infanta, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. We spent a little bit of time enjoying the views and looking for raptors- we had flyovers from a Chinese Sparrowhawk, a Brahminy Kite, and an Oriental Honey-buzzard, but sadly not the Philippine Hawk-eagle or Rufous-bellied Eagle I was hoping for. The view was spectacular but the wind was incredibly strong, and we started back eastwards after not too long.

The view over the Sierra Madre mountains

 Along the way back, we stopped once more along the row of fruiting hagimit. I was in the second car in our convoy, and I could see the car in front of us stopping and looking at something in a fruiting vine. Just before we got our bins on it I saw the flash of wings as a large bird flew away from us into the trees. We got out of the car and those in front of described what they saw: a large dove with an orange breast and head. That could, of course, be nothing other than a Flame-breasted Fruit Dove, one of the star birds of Infanta and possibly my biggest nemesis bird in Luzon- I've heard them something like four times already, but never managed to get a good look, as they have a habit of calling from deep within the trees and never moving. It seemed determined to remain my nemesis as the view I had wasn't nearly good enough to say I'd seen it. 

We remained in the area for another half hour, but despite our best efforts we heard the fruit dove call exactly once but otherwise had no more views of it. We did have good looks at a showy Olive-backed Flowerpecker that came in to feed on the hagimit- probably my third-favorite flowerpecker in the country, beating back some pretty heavy competition. 

Olive-backed Flowerpecker

We eventually gave up and headed out to have lunch. After a nice leisurely lunch (with some delicious sisig), we made one last stop at the hagimit spot in hopes the fruit dove might appear. The fruit dove was nowhere to be seen, but Jasmin did spot an Amethyst Brown Dove feeding in the same vine where the fruit dove had been, which gave us excellent looks, though only from a single narrow angle. As we were enjoying the brown dove, I saw a flash of wings as a big bird flew behind me. Gabbie started jumping up and down in excitement- it was the Flame-breasted Fruit Dove again! And once again I had just barely missed seeing it, allowing it to really cement its status as my #1 nemesis bird for the area. Incredibly frustrating! A nice consolation was seeing an Asian Brown Flycatcher shortly after- a rare migrant to the Philippines I'd only seen in the country once before.

Amethyst Brown Dove

Asian Brown Flycatcher

Common Three-ring

Cereopsius praetorius, a nice endemic longhorn beetle

Bom and Gabbie drove me back to Manila, though we stopped along the way to look for a Violet Cuckoo that Gwen and Ravi had spotted earlier. We didn't see the cuckoo, although there were good looks at a pair of Whiskered Treeswifts that appeared to be nesting.

Whiskered Treeswift

In the middle of the week I had a free morning, and Gwen invited me to join her on a trip to the famous Tanza mudflats along the coast of Metro Manila. My birding friend Irene had discovered these mudflats a few years ago and they've turned up some impressive rarities such as Black-faced Spoonbill and Little Stint. Unfortunately they're also in the process of being filled in and destroyed, part of the utterly disastrous environmental record of the current government in Metro Manila- filling in mudflats to build subdivisions, malls, and a new airport despite the increasing evidence that they're crucial habitat for endangered migratory shorebirds. 

We arrived at the mudflats late morning and were greeted by my other birding friend Mads who had already arrived, along with the usual group of local boys who like following birders around and looking through their scopes. The birds were still there- in fact in incredible densities, flocks of thousands of shorebirds feeding in the quickly-diminishing mudflats, despite the reclamation and destruction going on right beside them. It's a little annoying coming from Sorsogon, where there are hundreds of square kilometers of great mudflats but extremely low densities of waterbirds, to Manila where there's about 100 times more birds despite objectively worse habitat. I suppose it all comes down to where the migration flyways are, but it's still aggravating. 

The only "rarity" there was a huge flock of Pied Avocets- a rarity according to eBird but a flock that's been returning there for years. There were some other good additions to my year list though- Red Knots and Great Knots, Long-toed Stints, Gull-billed and Little Terns, and lots of Curlew Sandpipers in their gorgeous breeding plumage. It was also a nice way to grow my Metro Manila list and make my Philippines eBird map look a little better.

Pied Avocets

Curlew Sandpiper- check out that breeding plumage

Little Egret in its pink-faced breeding colors

Gull-billed Tern

The size difference between Gull-billed Terns, Whiskered Terns, and Little Terns is quite something

Local fisherman with a soon-to-be-taken-away livelihood

The next weekend was our last in Manila, and we were able to do one more birding trip outside the city. Once again we joined a big group of Wild Bird Club people, and once again Bom and Gabbie were nice enough to give me a ride, along with Nikki who was finally able to join. Our destination this time was Tanay Epic Park in Rizal province, a bit lower in the Sierra Madre foothills than the Infanta road and with some different birds. Tanay Epic Park is a little private park outside the town of Tanay proper, with some basic dorms and camping areas cut into a little area of remaining forest. I'd never been there before, and being able to bird in a new spot is always exciting.

We once again left around 4:30 in the morning, arriving just before sunrise at Tanay Epic Park. As we waited for others to get there we heard Black-chinned Fruit Doves and Yellow-breasted Fruit Doves calling, along with a distant White-browed Shama. It was a slow start to the morning, as we headed down into the park proper and tried to see a number of birds that remained resolutely heard only- Amethyst Brown Dove, Spotted Wood Kingfisher, the fruit doves, a Hooded Pitta, and most frustratingly a Philippine Pitta. Out in a clearing in the woods we had some better birds, including a nice Scale-feathered Malkoha, a Rough-crested Malkoha that didn't want to be photographed, and a flock of Rufous Coucals that allowed me to get a couple of crappy pictures- still my only pictures ever of this very skulking bird.

Scale-feathered Malkoha- never not nice to see out in the open

Rufous Coucal- a horrid picture but still my only picture of this species

We headed down a little two-track that went through some scrubby secondary forest, stopping for a sudden torrential downpour that left us huddling under our umbrellas. We saw a Balicassiao harvesting banana leaves to make its nest and a nesting Black-naped Monarch, signaling that April really is that time of year in the Philippines. Down at the bottom of the trail we arrived at a small rice field, where an Indigo-banded Kingfisher was hanging out on the edge of a small stream. Kingfishers are some of my favorite birds and this was actually my first change to get a picture of this beautiful little endemic, so it was a nice change to an otherwise slow morning. There were lots of other birds around, including Whiskered Treeswifts and lots of Purple-throated Sunbirds, but none of them wanted to pose for pictures.

Indigo-banded Kingfisher!

We walked back uphill, mostly still trying to shelter from the mid-morning rains, and had to shelter in the cabins when the rain turned into a full-on downpour. After the rain stopped we headed back to the open area, where the others had great looks at a Black-chinned Fruit Dove. I wasn't paying attention to the fruit dove however, as I heard a calling Philippine Pitta and decided to try to get a look at it. I eventually found a good lookout spot over the deep ravine it was singing from, and with a little bit of playback in flew in right next to me! Jasmin and I got a good look at it and I was able to get a few record shots, but unfortunately it flew away before we could call the others over and get them on it. It continued to call from its ravine for the next 20 minutes or so but annoyingly never showed itself again. Selfishly, it was still nice to finally get a picture- my third new species picture of the morning. 

Still my only usable picture of a Philippine Pitta, showing absolutely nothing of what makes it a good bird

We walked uphill again, this time on a different trail that went through some open pine forest. We had a few Bar-bellied Cuckooshrikes that posed nicely for some people, and a small group of Lowland White-eyes, but the forest was overall pretty quiet. The best find was a single Coppersmith Barbet determinedly digging out a nest hole right next to the road. It gave all of us great views as it tried to dig out a cavity in the tree, wagging its tail as it went- one of the cutest things I've ever seen a bird do. Honestly one of the highlights of the morning, even though it was a relatively common bird.

Coppersmith Barbet

Back at the parking area, some people headed out while a few of us stayed around to have lunch. A nice parting gift for those leaving was good looks at a pair of Luzon Hornbills. The male seemed intent on courting the female- or at least feeding her- presenting her with a large fruit he had gathered. After she seemed completely uninterested, he ended up just swallowing it himself in a huff.

"Don't want it? Fine, I'll just eat it myself."

Male Luzon Hornbill, grumpily digesting his fruit in peace

Bom, Gabbie, Nikki and I stayed on to eat lunch, and while we were waiting for our food I decided to wander around and try for another look at the Philippine Pitta. It continued to call invisibly from the underbrush without showing itself, so instead I went uphill to where the Hooded Pitta had called earlier. It took a great deal of searching and even using my thermal scope to peer through the thick leaves, but eventually I was able to spot a Hooded Pitta perched on a high branch calling. There wasn't a great angle for pictures, but I was still able to bring Nikki, Bom and Gabbie over and show it to them, which was a nice lifer for Bom and Gabbie. A pair of Balicassiao put up a nice show on the way back to the car.

Hooded Pitta

Balicassiao

From there we headed back to Manila, where Nikki and I took a very long nap and I prepared for the last few days of work before we had another trip for Holy Week planned. That will have to wait for next week however, and it should be a doozy of a post...