Not Such a Good Fellow

 

While I was in the process of organizing my friend Larry's Mindanao trip (see my last post), I ran into a major issue: if you're coming to Mindanao for birding, there are a number of species that can really only be seen at very, very high elevation. For most birders, this means a visit to either Mount Apo, Mount Dulang-Dulang, or Mount Kitanglad, three massive volcanic peaks that make up the spine of central Mindanao. The problem was that as of August every single trail that could get us to these altitudes was closed for hiking. In the case of Mounts Dulang-Dulang and Kitanglad, all high-elevation trails were off-limits to non-residents of that particular region. Mount Apo, meanwhile, was closed for environmental rehabilitation, which is a much more sensible policy, but was personally quite inconvenient.

I had just about given up when I happened to message my birding friend Julius, who had joined me on my first visit to the new Lake Holon trail in July. Julius is the tourism officer for the town of Santa Cruz, and one of the founding members of the Big Year Davao organization, which has done amazing things for birding and conservation in the Davao region. Julius turned out to be our savior: he immediately invited us to join a pre-season hike up Mount Apo so that we could help training the mountain guides as bird guides. The hike was fortuitously planned for right after our scheduled time on Mount Tagubud, so obviously I leapt at the opportunity and rearranged our itinerary to fit it in. 

For Larry, there were lots of reasons to want to get up Mount Apo: it was the only chance during our trip where there would be a chance of seeing some of the very high-elevation endemics, including Apo Myna, Apo Sunbird, and White-cheeked Bullfinch. For me, the trail was one of the few spots where I could theoretically see three of my only four remaining Mindanao endemics: Mindanao Serin, Goodfellow's Jungle Flycatcher, and Apo Myna. All of these were bound to be tough: Mindanao Serin has only been spotted a handful of times, and though it's known to be present on Mount Apo there are no recent records. The Jungle Flycatcher is one of Mindanao's toughest endemics, being very uncommon and generally cryptic and hard to see, although this trail seems to be the most reliable spot for them. And, well, Apo Myna I've dipped on so many times that I suspect that it doesn't actually exist. Still, I was willing to give all of them a try.

Before getting to Mount Apo, we had a day of travel between Davao de Oro, where we had effectively cleaned up, and our hotel in Digos City. After a couple hours of morning birding on Tagubud, we headed westwards, stopping along the way at the Panabo coastal road, one of the classic Mindanao wader spots. It was still early in the migration season, and there were barely any waders or other birds to be seen, perhaps because of the time of year, or perhaps because it was already late morning and swelteringly hot down at sea level. We did have a few Common Greenshanks, Common Redshanks, Wood Sandpipers, and resident Pied Stilts hanging around, allowing us to build up our trip list just a little bit. 

Pied Stilt- up where I live in Luzon we only get migratory Black-winged Stilts, but Pied Stilts are resident breeders in Mindanao and a couple other islands of the southern Philippines

After a Jollibee lunch, we then passed through Davao City, the place I called home for two years. We only made one stop, at Pete's subdivision where we searched for Philippine Magpie-robin and Java Sparrow, two of Larry's targets for the Philippines. Hilariously we ended up dipping on Philippine Magpie-robin, a bird so common I never really even think about targeting it, but we did get great looks at a couple of Java Sparrows down the road from Pete's house. I don't generally care too much about introduced birds, but Java Sparrows are beautiful birds, and are rare and declining in their native range due to bird trapping so I'm happy to see them wherever I can.

Java Sparrow- admittedly pretty handsome birds

We spent that night in Digos City, just south of Davao City proper and relatively near the jump-off point for the Santa Cruz trail up Mount Apo. The next morning we left our hotel and 4:30 and met up with Julius along with fellow Big Year birders Tonton and Alden at a nearby bakery. We met up with the rest of the mountain guides for breakfast in one of the small towns right below Mount Apo to discuss the plan for the day. It was here I learned that the trail we would be taking is the only trail up Mount Apo that, for some reason, never has any Apo Mynas. Of course, this wasn't surprising to me since I'm pretty sure Apo Mynas are a myth anyway, but it was a disappointment nonetheless. 

We also had a chance to chat with the mountain guides and the rest of the Big Year team, which was great. The hike was taking place as part of an initiative by Julius and the Big Year group to train mountain guides in birdwatching, both so they can point out birds to hikers and so that they can act as guides for visiting birders. It's one of the many cool things the Big Year is working on; an incomplete list would include working with local governments to promote birding and ecotourism, environmental advocacy to preserve Davao's remaining forest areas, and running regular public birdwatching events to proselytize birding and encourage students and the general public to pay more attention to the wildlife around them. It's a really incredible group of people and a model for what other birding organizations should be doing; it's only a shame that they had to start their work right after I moved out of Davao. 

We began the hike at 6 in the morning, starting on a rough dirt road heading toward a small hydropower station. From there it was a long, difficult uphill slog on narrow paths to get to the small indigenous village that marks the beginning of the Natural Park. Most of the first part of the hike was through land that had been deforested to make way for cornfields and vegetable gardens, so there were very few birds about, though Larry did get his lifer Citrine Canary-flycatcher. At the village, we dropped some bags with our porters, then continued the hike toward Mount Apo. It was a gorgeous view above the village with the volcano and its steaming fumaroles looming above us, although the extend of the deforestation was a little bit depressing. On satellite images you can see the forest edge slowly creeping upwards toward the mountain year after year- it's enough to make you wonder if there will be any forest left at all 20 years from now, or if it will just be vegetable farms right up to the summit of Mount Apo.

The view from the trailhead, with Mount Apo in the distance

Looking down toward the coast

Mount Apo towering above vegetable fields, with the forest edge in the distance

Near the forest edge above the village, we saw one of the best birds of the morning: we heard explosive squawks moving past us, which Pete quickly identified as Mindanao Lorikeets! A group of four birds perched briefly in a flowering African Tulip Tree, then moved onwards after I was able to get a few record shots. Mindanao Lorikeets have been almost completely extirpated in most of Mindanao, including Mount Apo, but the fact there's still a relict population there is encouraging for their ongoing survival, assuming the forest can be preserved. It was also a great lifer for Larry, albeit not a "necessary" one as they were all but guaranteed later on in Lake Holon.

My record shot of Mindanao Lorikeets on an African Tulip

From the village, it was another kilometer and a half until we reached the forest edge, though the first bit of forest we passed through was scrubby secondary forest that faded away once again as we reached a clearing that had been a farm until recently (the DENR, to their credit, had apparently told the farmers to vacate the area). We had a few of the more common forest birds like Black-and-Cinnamon Fantail and Turquoise Flycatcher, but photography was difficult as the trail was steep and the forest was thick. We finally reached the edge of the true old-growth forest around 8:30, 2 and a half hours after we had started hiking. Though the trail is gorgeous, I would probably recommend that birders visiting camp overnight as it takes quite a bit of strenuous hiking to get to the birding area.

Hiking became much more enjoyable once we were inside the true forest, as we were able to enjoy the moss-covered trees and cool mountain air. It was still a strenuous uphill hike for another kilometer or so until we arrived at a flatter area that Julius said was where we should really start birding- in other words, it was the beginning of where he usually saw Goodfellow's Jungle Flycatcher, the main target of the day. Even though it was late morning, there were indeed birds- we had decent looks at a Turquoise Flycatcher and heard many White-cheeked Bullfinches flying overhead, although annoyingly enough none of them came into view, preferring to stay high up in the canopy. As we hiked up slowly we did get a great look at the central Mindanao form of Long-tailed Ground Warbler, letting me get pictures of yet another undescribed subspecies. The ones here have a different call from the birds on Mount Tagubud in the east and Lake Holon in the east, and while this one popped up when I played a recording from Tagubud it didn't sing back like others would have done.

Long-tailed Ground Warbler

Lexias panopus

Petavia mindanensis, a beautiful endemic butterfly moth

Coelogyne sulcata, a cool Mindanao-endemic orchid

Some kind of beautiful curved-horn moth (Lecithocera sp. I think)

After a lot of quiet hiking, we finally happened across a mixed flock, with some decent birds like Cinnamon Ibon, Elegant Tit, Grey-hooded Sunbird, and Black-and-cinnamon Fantail. Most of us stopped to try and get pictures, while Larry moved on ahead of us as he inexplicably doesn't use a camera while birding. This precipitated one of the most painful moments of my birding career: as I was trying unsuccessfully to photograph a Cinnamon Ibon, I heard Larry calling for me. I rushed up the trail only to find that he'd recently seen a Goodfellow's Jungle Flycatcher! Of course, as soon as he'd seen it it had flown off, and it was never seen again. I proceeded to spend the next two hours searching feverishly for a jungle flycatcher, and while I heard multiple birds calling and responding to my tape I never managed to see one. I was obviously happy for Larry as this is one of the most difficult Mindanao endemics and has only ever been seen by a small handful of birders, but it was really one of the most gripping ways to dip on a lifer. 

We continued hiking upwards until we got to about 1700 meters above sea level, hoping for some of the high-elevation birds. We heard Apo Sunbird singing repeatedly, but never got a view, meaning that two of the three major targets were heard only by Larry (and all three by me, although the jungle flycatcher was the only one I needed). We had also, I suppose, completely missed out on Apo Myna, but that was less painful since I don't really believe it exists anyway. To add injury to insult I also managed to brush up against a nettle plant of some sort, which gave me an exceedingly painful rash on my hand and caused random bursts of pain for the next few days. Eventually Larry, Alden and I had to turn around, as it was already afternoon and we still needed to hike all the way down. Julius, Tonton and the others continued upwards and would camp there that night; adding more insult on top of the insult and injury, both of them managed to see and photograph the jungle flycatcher the next day, cementing its status as a proper nemesis bird for me.

There were some birds on the way down at least, including, surprisingly enough, a few of Mindanao Miniature Babblers in a mixed flock with Negros Leaf Warblers and Elegant Tits. This was another rare find for this site, but yet another one we didn't technically "need" as we would be looking for them at a more reliable site the next day. The hike down was steep and difficult and I didn't have much time for birding, although I did have nice looks at a group of Black-and-cinnamon Fantails. We arrived back at Pete's car in the late afternoon completely tuckered out, though we did have a bit of time to tape in a Cryptic Flycatcher, an uncommon mid-elevation Mindanao endemic.

Elegant Tit

Cinnamon Ibon

Black-and-cinnamon Fantail

Cryptic Flycatcher

Some kind of very well-camouflaged stick insect

If you see this plant in the forest, DO NOT TOUCH IT

Birding in the mossy forests of Mount Apo

Our Mount Apo day was certainly one of the most tiring days of our Mindanao bird-a-thon, but it was great fun nonetheless- in part because of the rare chance to hike through the beautiful forests of the country's highest mountain, and in part because it's always great to have a chance to hang out with the Big Year Davao team. I can certainly recommend the Kapatagan Trail for birders wanting to look for Goodfellow's Jungle Flycatcher and other rare high-altitude endemics, though others might be more suited camping at high elevation for more leisurely birding and to avoid the strenuous up-and-back hike in one day. Anyone wanting to visit can contact Julius Paner at 09208567991 or at tourism.stacruz@gmail.com, or can just visit the Sta. Cruz Tourism facebook page.

After we'd made our way back to the car and changed out of our muddy clothes, we headed to the city of Kidapawan, the capital city of North Cotabato province, where we spent the night in some random hotel we found at the last minute. Our destination the next morning was a spot on the opposite side of Mount Apo, where Pete has a reliable spot for Mindanao Miniature Babbler and Whiskered Flowerpecker, two difficult endemics.

As soon as we parked the car we had great looks at a male Bundok Flycatcher, one of our primary targets, and shortly after a pair of Buff-spotted Flamebacks. We hiked up a little bit further, far enough where we could gaze longingly up at the forbidden mountain slopes, enclosed within an extremely inaccessible geothermal plan where apparently Apo Myna is a roadside bird (at least, if you believe it them). Walking back downhill, we happened across a huge mixed flock with lots of the usual birds like Scarlet Minivets, Sulphur-billed Nuthatches, Bicolored Flowerpeckers, Elegant Tits, and the like, but also a few Mindanao Miniature Babblers! As always they moved around a bit too quickly to get good pictures, but it was still the best looks I've had at this extremely uncommon endemic. Up until recently they were extremely difficult (my pictures from my first visit to Lake Holon were some of the only ones ever taken of this species), but this specific site seems quite reliable for them meaning that most birders visiting Mindanao can expect to see them if they coordinate with Pete.

Male Bundok Flycatcher

Female or immature male Bundok Flycatcher

Buff-spotted Flameback

Sulphur-billed Nuthatch

Mindanao Miniature Babbler

Some kind of tiny spider with a communal web

Some kind of beautiful endemic orchid (Dendrochilum sp.)

The gate to the Geothermal Plant, with the Forbidden Forest above

A bit further down the mountain we parked near Lake Agco, actually a boiling fumarolic mudpot, to look for Whiskered Flowerpeckers. As soon as we got out of the car we had great looks at a beautiful Fire-throated Flowerpecker, one of the best-looking endemic flowerpeckers (although it's still sometimes considered just a subspecies of Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, which is found throughout Southeast Asia). Whiskered Flowerpecker took a bit more work but we eventually had good looks at a couple birds in the trees high above us. I hadn't seen these since I left Davao 4 years ago, so it was great to reconnect with them- maybe the cutest flowerpecker in the Philippines.

Fire-throated Flowerpecker

Whiskered Flowerpecker

Lake Agco- perhaps not ideal for a swim

Our final stop was an overlook where Pete had occasionally seen Philippine Eagle. We spent an hour or so scanning the hillsides, and though we had some potentially intriguing large raptors soaring over distant ridges, after we looked at my pictures later that night they turned out to be more likely Philippine Serpent-eagle and/or Pinsker's Hawk-eagle. It was a good reminder that, even when you're in exactly the right spot, finding a Philippine Eagle is actually very hard- many tour groups will spend days scanning up valleys where they're known to hang out just to see a tiny speck of a bird a kilometer away. Of course, I've had much better views, but that requires quite a bit of luck and an accessible nest. We did see a few Philippine Falconets and a perched Peregrine Falcon- a little ironic that we spent an hour looking for the largest raptor in the Philippines and instead ended up with two of the smallest. Eventually a fog bank rolled in, which we took as our cue to hit the road on to the next destination.

This looks temptingly like a Philippine Eagle, but it's likely a Pinsker's Hawk-eagle.

Igoleta Bushbrown

The view up the valley- no, squinting into the sun for an hour wasn't a great deal of fun

Mountains in the fog are much better for photography, but not nearly as good for finding Philippine Eagles.

Our next stop was SNA, where I was happy to show even more people one of my favorite birding spots- but that will have to wait for the next blog post.