Panay Part 1: The Best of Aningalan

 

Lake Holon was the last stop of my Mindanao bird-a-ganza with Larry and Pete, but Nikki and I weren't heading home quite yet. I had a work trip to Indonesia scheduled for mid-September, and Nikki had work in Manila the same week, so it didn't make sense to go all the way back to Sorsogon just to fly out a few days later. Instead, we spent the first week of September working from Iloilo City, where I had visited earlier this year and Nikki wanted a chance to visit. That weekend, the plan was to go out to Aningalan, the site I had explored earlier this year, so that Nikki could try and see Yellow-faced Flameback and I could try again for the elusive Panay Striped Babbler and some of my other needs. As I mentioned this plan to Pete and Larry during our trip in Mindanao, they both expressed interest in joining, and of course I was more than happy to extend the invitation. I also happened to mention this plan to my frequent birding companion Cheta, and he expressed interest in joining as well, turning this from a 2-person trip into a 5-person one. We were perfectly fine with that, as more birders means more chance of seeing something good.

After a week working in Iloilo, Nikki and I picked up Cheta in town on September 2 and made the 3-hour drive out to the town of Sibalom in Antique, where Pete had found a hotel with more reasonable rates than those up in San Remigio. The drive is much longer than it needs to be thanks to ongoing construction and awful road quality- apparently magnified because Iloilo and Antique provinces didn't manage to vote for the right candidates in the most recent elections. It was late afternoon by the time we arrived, and we met Pete and Larry who had been there for a day already.. 

As there wasn't a huge amount of daylight left, we decided to just go visit the edge of nearby Sibalom Natural Park, another potential birding site I was hoping to explore at some point. It was a 20-minute drive through winding back-country roads until we got to the nearest village, at which point signs for the park sent us to an unassuming gravel road that ended near the barangay gym and nowhere near anything resembling a natural park. After some asking around we learned that accessing the park itself required walking down a steep unfinished concrete road, then through a rice paddy before arriving at the hanging bridge that marked the entrance. It was almost dark so we only hung out by the bridge and the very start of the trail on the other side, but the forest looked very good from the outside, and I resolved to return sometime later when I had the time.

The hanging bridge over the Sibalom River

The edge of Sibalom Natural Park

The next morning, we got up bright and early to head to the high-elevation forest that I had explored on my last visit. Pete and Larry had tried birding there the previous day, but were mostly socked in by fog and rain, and thus were willing to give it another try. Similar to my recent visit to SNA, Pete had learned the hard way that 2-wheel-drive trucks are basically useless, and managed to get stuck the first morning there. Thus, we parked by the paved road and walked the rest of the way up through the dwarf forest. 

The spot at the forest edge where Pete managed to get stuck

It was incredibly misty once again, and visibility was very low which made birding a chore. We heard the low, booming call of a Metallic Pigeon and had one fly over us a bit later, and the drumming of an unidentified woodpecker in the distance. In the clearing where the good birding generally starts, the good birding did indeed start, with a flock of Visayan Cuckooshrikes, Visayan Balicassiao, and Blue-crowned Racket-tails. This was my first time getting a good look at this species, which is still considered conspecific with Bar-bellied Cuckooshrike by some authorities (including eBird annoyingly enough). It's very distinctive however, looking much larger and beefier, with a thick bill and dark eye- a good split in my opinion. It was too foggy to get good pics, but I was still happy to get the views that I did.

Visayan Cuckooshrike

Blue-crowned Racket-tail

Inside the forest it was rather quiet, perhaps because of the heavy fog. We heard a mixed flock coming through, with Visayan Fantails, Elegant Tits, and Sulphur-billed Nuthatches, though we never saw them. On a whim Cheta tried playback for one of our targets, and to our surprise it responded- Flame-templed Babbler! Annoyingly enough it called a few times from rather close to us and fell silent, never being seen by anyone. It was still a great sighting- an endangered bird in general, and only recently discovered on Panay, with this being the first eBird record for the island. I've since tried at that site several times and not seen it so it must have just been passing through, but I was happy for the year tick. Soon afterwards, I heard the harsh call of a couple of White-winged Cuckooshrikes and was able to call them in and get everyone on it- this is another very uncommon Western Visayas endemic that I'd never managed to photograph prior to this, so it was another great find. Otherwise the forest was still pretty quiet but for a few cool bugs, so we eventually walked back out to our cars.

Male White-winged Cuckooshrike

A very cool grasshopper of some sort (Erianthinae sp.)

Habenaria intrudens, a cool little orchid

Variable Wisp

Aeromachus plumbeola, a tiny little skipper

On the drive down, we saw a few birds dart across the road, and I pulled over to check them out. It turned to be another flock of Visayan Cuckooshrikes, along with a few Visayan Balicassiao. All of us got out of our cars to photograph them, so we were at the ready when they were joined by yet another pair of White-winged Cuckooshrikes! We got much better pictures and views than the previous time so we were all happy.

Gang of Visayan Cuckooshrikes (with a single Visayan Balicassiao)

White-winged Cuckooshrike

Some kind of cool crab spider

Our next stop of the morning was the lower-elevation forest where I had first seen the flamebacks on my first visit. We birded for about 20 minutes and had some reasonably good birds like White-vented Whistler and Sulphur-billed Nuthatch, but birding was interrupted by a sudden downpour that had us sheltering under banana leaves and eventually sprinting back to the car to shelter (all except Pete who had wisely decided to remain near to his own rental car once the approaching rain became obvious). We went back out again once the rain stopped and had some more good birds like Crested Goshawk, Black-belted Flowerpecker, and Visayan Shama, the latter of which remained decidedly out of view for Larry and Cheta, who still needed it as a lifer. We also spotted some cool insects and spectacular orchids, making the whole thing very enjoyable despite the rain and slippery roads.

White-vented Whistler

Phalaenopsis aphrodite, a spectacular endemic orchid

Some kind of cool weevil

Melicodes tenebrosa, a very large grasshopper

Yet another as-yet-unidentified (and probably undescribed) endemic weevile

Metallic Cerulean (Jamides alecto)

Some kind of wasp moth (Caeneressa sp.)

Cheta and Larry finding some impromptu umbrellas

Cheta, Pete and Larry decided to stay up near Aningalan to do some birding, while Nikki and I headed down to our hotel to take a nap. On the way down we happened across a nice flock of Striated Swallows, certainly one of the best-looking swallows out there. We woke up from our nap to messages that everyone else had had spectacular views of Yellow-faced Flamebacks at the upper forest site- alas! We were happy Cheta and Larry had gotten their lifer, though a little disappointed as Nikki was still hoping for it. By the time we got back up to Aningalan it was almost sunset, so we had time for a little birding hoping for flamebacks (no luck), and then some owling. I tried for Negros Scops-owl without success, but we did have some great looks at a Luzon Hawk-owl, a lifer for Larry.

Striated Swallows

Striped Bladderwort (Urticularia striatula)

The Aningalan road looks very atmospheric in the evening

On Sunday, everyone was flying out of Iloilo, and we needed to get Larry back to the airport for a late morning flight. The sensible thing would have been to just leave first thing in the morning, but Nikki still hadn't seen a flameback, which was the whole reason she had come. Thus, we decided to leave before sunrise, getting to the lower forest at 5:30 AM with a whole 15 minutes to spare before we had to hoof it back to Iloilo and the airport. Surprisingly, it worked: almost as soon as we got out of the car we heard the chattering calls of Yellow-faced Flameback, and with a bit of effort got good looks at a pair. It was a big relief for both of us- Nikki because of the lifer and me since it saved me the embarrassment of promising how common the bird was only to end in a dip. 

The original plan was for me to also fly out of Iloilo on Sunday, and then onwards to Indonesia. However, work plans changed at the very last minute, and the trip was canceled just two days before I had to leave. Nikki still had to be in Manila by Monday for a work engagement and I didn't really want to spend a whole week chilling in Manila or being home alone in Sorsogon, so I decided to simply extend my time in Panay. I still had to work so there wasn't really time to do any of the usual multi-day trips that are needed to see the Panay specialties like Negros Bleeding-heart or Panay Striped Babbler. Instead, I decided to just stay around the Aningalan area, and also to try and spend at least a day birding in Sibalom Natural Park.

After a night in Iloilo to enjoy fast internet and good food, I extended my rental car and headed back over the mountains to Antique. We had previously stayed at a hotel in the town of Sibalom, which was nice and affordable but a 45-minute drive away from the birding site, and before that I had stayed at a resort in Aningalan, which was nice and close to the birding site but more expensive than I liked. This time I got lucky: the owner of the rental car company I was using happened to know someone in Aningalan, and she called them and got me a special deal on a single room there for much less than I had previously paid. (For related reasons, if anyone needs a rental car in Iloilo, I highly recommend Cotsche Car Rental Iloilo!)

I arrived at the Casa de Montero inn in Aningalan on the evening of September 5, long after sensible birding hours. I did try walking along the road in the forest for some owling, but heard nothing besides Luzon Hawk-owl. I'm not a big fan of solo birding in general, but solo owling in particular can be miserable- walking around alone in the dark listening for creepy hooting sounds and hoping the local aswang don't get me isn't really my idea of a good time. Before too long I headed back to the hotel to do some work and rest. My sleep was delayed by the fact that the Casa de Montero turns out to be an amazing spot for mothing! I can't post all my pics here lest this post become unreadable, but I ended up with over 50 species of moth, most of which are sadly unidentifiable because there's been very little moth taxonomy work done in the Philippines.

Cotton Leaf Roller (Haritalodes derogata)

Cyana lutipes

Eoophyla sp.

Some kind of geometrid

Eugoa sp.

Ammatho sp.

Huangilene sp.

Convulvulus Hawkmoth (Agrius convulvuli)

Cyme sp.

Parotis sp.

Thysanoplusia sp.

Chrysaeglia perpendicularis

Agrioglypta excelsalis

Some kind of praying mantis

Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens)

Barsine sp.

The next morning, I got up bright and early to explore the high-elevation forest of Aningalan at sunrise. Things started out with a bang: after a quiet hike from the car to the forest edge, I had a great look at a perched female Visayan Hornbill, followed by an even closer look at a calling Metallic Pigeon! The former is an endangered West Visayas endemic, while the latter isn't endemic but is uncommon throughout its range, including the Philippines. To top it off, I heard a woodpecker call and then suddenly a pair of Yellow-faced Flamebacks flew into the clearing right in front of my face! It was certainly the best look I'd ever had of this species and I managed to get some decent pictures too.

Female Visayan Hornbill

Metallic Pigeon

Inside the forest things were a little quieter but I did find a perched Crested Goshawk and a little mixed flock including Visayan Bulbul, Sulphur-billed Nuthatch, and lots of Visayan Fantails. Sadly the Panay Striped Babblers and Flame-templed Babblers, if there were any there, were completely silent. On the way back to the car I happened across a flock of larger cars including White-bellied Woodpeckers and Visayan Balicassiaos.

Crested Goshawk

Visayan Fantail

Visayan Balicassiao with a cicada

Chalky Percher

Melanitis atrax

Another cool crab spider on a melastoma

Indonesian Red-winged Dragonfly

Common Grass Yellow

Triangles (Trigonodes hyppasia- yes that's its actual English name)

Spathoglottis kimballiana, a cool endemic ground orchid

Marbled White Moth (Nyctemera adversata)

I headed back to my inn for breakfast and a bit of work, and to enjoy the great scenery. I noticed quite a bit of activity from swiftlets and swallows, and eventually went out with my gear to get a closer look. There proved to be lots of Striated Swallows and Purple Needletails passing over. Up the road a little bit further, I realized where they were heading: another batch of termites had just hatched, creating an enormous swarm of swifts and swallows: over 100 Striated Swallows, along with dozens of House Swifts and others like Barn Swallows, Philippine Swiftlets, Grey-rumped Swiftlets, and a couple of Brahminy Kites stalking around hoping for a swallow snack. All of them were wheeling about just above the road at eye level, one of the coolest natural sights I've seen anywhere in the Philippines. Sadly the lighting was terrible so my pictures don't do it justice, but it was a truly jaw-dropping natural spectacle in person, even with relatively common birds.

Brahminy Kite

Philippine Swiftlet

House Swift

Striated Swallows

Indigo Dropwing, probably also looking for termites

The scenery of San Remigio

The enormous flock of swallows and swifts above the road

My last stop for the morning was the nearby Igbaclag Cave, a more mainstream tourist destination- although I confess I've been there three times and still haven't found the actual cave. What it does have is a nice path going through the jungle, that had always seemed potentially worth visiting for birds. I spent some time walking the trails, which were mostly quiet in the late morning heat, though with lots of cool insects. I found a small clearing with a few Rafflesia lobata flowers- my first Rafflesia!- though sadly they had died a week or so ago. Things picked up when I happened across a very large mixed flock, with lots of Visayan Fantails, White-vented Whistlers, Philippine Tailorbirds, and even a Visayan Shama, which shot into view directly in front of me when I played a tape. More tantalizing was a very large, dark bird high in a tree above me that flew off with heavy wingbeats before I could get a clear look. It was likely just a Visayan Hornbill, but to my eyes it looked even bigger- perhaps a critically endangered Walden's Hornbill, rumored to still inhabit the hill forests of southern Antique, albeit with no recent records. 

White-vented Whistler

Visayan Shama

Platymantis dorsalis

Some kind of butterfly moth (Callidula sp.)

Some kind of endemic tiger beetle (Therates sp.)

Some kind of undescribed endemic damselfly (Pericnemis sp.)

Begonia merrilliana

After a surprisingly successful morning of birding in Aningalan, I headed back downhill to Sibalom, where I would be doing some birding and work the remainder of the week. However, considering how long this blog post is already I think I'll leave that for the next one.