Infanta Intro

 

After a couple of weeks working in Jakarta, I flew back to Manila and immediately started another trip. Ever since I moved back to the country in late 2021, I've been doing my best to put the Philippines on the map for birding friends back in the US, and ideally convince some of them to come and visit. Southeast Asia tends to be rather overlooked by American birders, who gravitate to Central America and South America if they need their fix of tropical birding (Europeans make it over much more often, presumably because they set their sights further afield once they've seen all 10 species of bird on their continent). Still, I hoped that posting pictures of strange malkohas, brilliant fruit doves, and colorful kingfishers would be enough to put it on the map even for Americans.

The first person to take the hint was Larry back in 2022 (though he'd already been before so I can't really take much credit). Then, finally, my American birding friends Doug and Andrew decided to come and do a proper Philippines birding trip in March of 2023. I was thrilled, of course, and as soon as they confirmed their trip I started putting together an itinerary that would get them to most of the major islands and give them a chance at most of the best endemics. Even better, it fell during a relatively quiet period in work and I received a special dispensation from Nikki to do an extended birding trip, so I ended up being able to join them for most of the journey- meaning I had a chance to knock off some of the few Philippine endemics I still hadn't seen. 

The great thing about birding in the Philippines is that it's literally impossible to see all of the over 250 species of endemic bird, and a month of intense birding isn't enough to even get close to that. In a way that was a little bit liberating, as it meant I could concentrate on the areas that I've birded before and enjoyed, going for a nice diversity of birds rather than obsessing about a cleanup. That was especially the case for Luzon, which has so many birding sites spread out over a huge area that trying for all or even most of the island endemics would take the better part of the month. Instead, I decided to limit our Luzon destinations to Infanta and Subic, two well-known birding sites that combine relatively easy and pleasant birding with some really top-notch endemics.

I arrived in Manila on February 3, and met with Doug and Andrew at the airport where we picked up our rental car. Flying into NAIA is sort of unavoidable for anyone coming into the country, which is a shame since it's a terrible way to greet people to the Philippines for the first time. Between chronic overcrowding that leads to constant delays, ugly, soulless architecture, a total lack of public transportation, no usable terminal transfer, horrendous traffic, and fixed-rate taxi scams operating in plain sight, it's an immense clusterfuck of an airport that's frankly a national embarrassment, and I always feel bad that it's the first impression most people have of the country. Thankfully this time the arrival was relatively painless, and we were able to pick up our rental car without issue. It was late evening by the time we had all that taken care of, so all we had time for was the drive out to our hotel in Antipolo on the eastern part of Manila.

The next morning we left well before dawn to head out to Infanta, the first birding stop of the trip, and thus Doug and Andrew's first-ever birding in the Philippines (and in all of Asia!). It was a 2-hour drive out to the birding spot, and one I've done many times before, though this was my first time actually being the driver. Just after sunrise we arrived at the first stop along the road, where we met with fellow birders Enrico and Tien who were also spending the day at Infanta. In what was to be a preview of how the trip as a whole was going to go, it was raining hard when we started birding in the morning, and we struggled to see much of anything. It started out with some low-hanging fruit endemic lifers for Doug and Andrew, including Elegant Tits, lots of Philippine Bulbuls, and an extremely spherical White-eared Brown Dove. Ah how I long for the days when seeing Philippine Bulbuls was still exciting!

White-eared Brown Dove trying to look very impressive

Philippine Bulbul

Things heated up a bit when we found a freshly fruiting hagimit vine which held some of its specialties: several brilliantly blue Philippine Fairy Bluebirds and an extremely confiding Amethyst Brown Dove. A small mixed flock passed through the same spot, including Grey-backed Tailorbirds and Blue-headed Fantails, plus lots of Citrine Canary Flycatchers. February is the beginning of courtship time in the Philippines, so we got to watch one canary-flycatcher feed a moth to another one, presumably its mate. A pair of White-eared Brown Doves cuddled up next to each other was another very wholesome sight.

Philippine Fairy Bluebird- difficult to overstate how brilliantly blue it is in the right light!

Amethyst Brown Dove

Citrine Canary-Flycatchers

Grey-backed Tailorbird

Blue-headed Fantail

White-eared Brown Dove

It started to rain again, and we took the opportunity to get back in our cars and head up to the road near Kamote's house (Kamote being an Infanta local who occasionally shows birders around). Kamote wasn't around but his daughter and her kids were, and she mentioned that Flame-breasted Fruit Dove, Philippine Trogon, and Spotted Wood Kingfisher were regularly being seen next to their house. Obviously those are all the targets of any self-respecting birder coming to Infanta, so we spent some time there looking. Almost as soon as we went to check out the tree behind their house a female Philippine Trogon popped up, giving us excellent close-up views. Out front, Tien spotted a female Spotted Wood Kingfisher hiding deep in the foliage next to the road, a great view of an often very difficult bird. Also nice and spotty was a Philippine Serpent Eagle that perched near to the road, giving a better-than-usual look at a very attractive endemic raptor. We searched high and low for the fruit dove, but with no luck.

Philippine Trogon

Spotted Wood Kingfisher!

Philippine Serpent-eagle

We decided to drive eastward along the Infanta road, trying out some of the other well-known spots. A huge patch of hagimit vines got us great looks at Elegant Tits and a Bicolored Flowerpecker, and a bit further down the road we ran into Kamote himself, who told us he knew of a trail with Cream-breasted Fruit Dove. The trail was one of the many steep paths descending from the highway into the steep gullies below. These can be nice for birding as they offer a break from the bustle of the road and a chance to get inside the forest, where sightings of birds like pittas, malkohas, and fruit doves can be more likely; they can also be dangerously steep and slippery, so it's a mixed bag, and most visitors to Infanta tend to stay along the road. This one wasn't quite as treacherous as most, and it still had some good birds, the highlight of which was a pair of gorgeous Scale-feathered Malkohas, which had been one of the biggest targets of the trip. It was also notable for some frustrating near-misses: a dove flushed from the undergrowth that I suspect may have been a Luzon Bleeding-heart, and a tiny red-brown blur that shot across the path in front of me that was likely a Philippine Dwarf Kingfisher. Alas!

Elegant Tit

Bicolored Flowerpecker

Scale-feathered Malkoha

Scale-feathered Malkoha- picture by Andrew

Igneocnemis atropurpurea, a beautiful endemic damselfly

Hiking into the valley

By then it was midday, so we decided to head back up along the road to get some lunch (Doug and Andrew's first taste of Filipino food!). As we were eating, one of Kamote's young grandsons came running up to us, in the midst of lots of huffing and puffing, that there was a fruit dove being seen by their house. We still had to finish our food and pay for it, and we figured by the time we got there the dove would be gone. Nonetheless, we decided to head over and check it out. Lo and behold, as soon as we stepped out of our cars, Kamote's daughter pointed over our heads to where a Flame-breasted Fruit Dove was perched! 

Hell of a yard bird

The sighting was greeted with appropriate enthusiasm by all. For Doug and Andrew it was one of the main targets of the visit, and for Tien, Enrico and I it was the best and longest view we'd had of one; the bird remained calmly perched for almost an hour as we stood below it gawping and taking pictures. I even got out my scope and we were able to get eye-popping scope views of the bird above us, as well as showing it to the locals. With such a close and extended view we were able to appreciate all the subtleties of the brilliant plumage that I hadn't fully noticed before: the bright crimson eyes and feet, the magenta patch on the slaty-black wing, and the green patterning on the vent. Certainly one of the best-looking doves in the world, with a totally unique and extremely pleasing color combo. Jerry Hickman, Annie Reynado, and Andy Walker drove by, and we were able to get them on the dove as well. It was one of those birding moments you don't forget. While less of a mega sighting, we also enjoyed flyovers from a Philippine Serpent-eagle and a Rufous-bellied Eagle, the latter of which was in display flight.

Flame-breasted Fruit Dove

Philippine Serpent-eagle

Rufous-bellied Eagle in display flight

It's important to get 'em started early

After having Flame-breasted Fruit Dove scorched into our eyeballs, the rest of the day felt like a bit of a bonus, even though there were many remaining targets. Tien and Enrico headed back to Manila, while Andrew, Doug and I went back eastwards along the road to look for Northern Rufous Hornbills. I'd historically had good luck listening for the honking calls of hornbill flocks in that area, but this time we had absolutely nothing, despite spending a long time driving slowly with our windows down and scanning every overlook. The locals we talked to told us that the hornbills got much more scarce in the rainy season, so it may have just been the wrong time of year; many others searched the same area soon after without luck. There were still some good birds though, including a brilliant Flaming Sunbird feeding on gumamela (hibiscus) flowers, a distant Philippine Falconet, and a beautiful male Blue Rock Thrush along the road. The views were, as always, spectacular; it really is amazing that there's this much good-quality forest just a couple hours from Manila, and I hope it can stay like that.

Flaming Sunbird

Blue Rock Thrush

Some kind of beautiful Metapocyrtus weevil

The southern Sierra Madre as seen from the Infanta road

That night we stayed overnight on the Infanta road, the first time I'd done so in years. We were staying at the Sierra Farms Cabin, one of the many little homestays and lodging houses that have opened up along the Infanta Road as it becomes an increasingly popular weekend destination for Manileños. The Sierra Farms Cabin is known for two things: first, for being a very comfortable spot to spend the weekend, with a nice living room and kichen. Second, and more importantly, it has a very well-maintained trail leading down into the valley below it that's a known spot for the extremely elusive North Philippine Dwarf Kingfisher. That was obviously motivation enough for us to give it a try! 

We spent the late evening and early morning walking up and down the road with our thermal scopes, trying our hardest for Luzon Scops Owls and any other nocturnal animals we could find. Unfortunately it was a rainy, windy night of the sort that's guaranteed to keep owls quiet and hidden, particularly finnicky highland scops owls. Equally frustrating was getting excellent thermal scope views of a Northern Luzon Giant Cloud Rat that somehow dissolved into oblivion as soon as we got our flashlights on it. A Philippine Palm Civet along the side of the road was a nice consolation.

The next morning was even gloomier than our first morning at Infanta, and we got an annoyingly late start as we decided to order breakfast at one of the local restaurants, which took far longer than we expected it to. Still, we managed to make it to Kamote's place in time to meet the horde of Manila-based birders that was descending upon Inftanta that weekend. We mostly stayed just long enough for a photo op, but it was still great to get a taste of the local birding scene while we were there. Seeing birding take off in the past few years has really been one of the best and most unexpected silver linings of the pandemic.

Our main destination of the morning was the trail below the Sierra Farms Cabin, where we were looking for dwarf kingfisher and other birds. The trail proved to be just as steep as everyone said it was, though at least it was sturdy and well maintained, unlike many of the little trails along the road. We spent a great deal of time searching for the kingfisher, scanning with our thermals and listening for its high-pitched calls, but like most visitors to the cabin (except the very lucky ones), we came up with absolutely nothing. That's not to say the birding wasn't good; in fact it was excellent. A fruiting vine brought in a flock of doves including White-eared Brown Doves, Amethyst Brown Doves, Yellow-breasted Fruit Doves, and a pair of beautiful Cream-bellied Fruit Doves, while another vine brought in a Black-chinned Fruit Dove, a rare sight in Infanta and the last of the (extant) endemic fruit doves, giving us a clean sweep on our second day in the country. Several mixed flocks came through, which along with the usual members included a few Black-crowned Babblers and a typically striking Olive-backed Flowerpecker. As nice as the birding was, the gloomy forest floor was awful for photography, so we came away with very few usable shots.

Record shot of a Cream-bellied Fruit Dove

Olive-backed Flowerpecker

Black-chinned Fruit Dove

Amethyst Brown Dove

The next major stop was yet another steep side trail, this one a trail where Jerry, Annie and Andy had seen a Whiskered Pitta the day before. This trail was much less well-maintained (really just a long streak of mud leading down into a wooded gully), and it was difficult going to get to where we thought the pitta might be. When we finally got down into the forest we heard a Whiskered Pitta calling from deep down in the gully, but never laid eyes on it. We did, however, have good looks at a pair of White-browed Shamas, although it was such a tricky trail I didn't have my camera out. It was a bit annoying to have what I think is the best pitta in the Philippines as a heard-only, but these birds are tough enough that even getting it as a heard only was still pretty good.

We went further along the road to look for Bicol Ground Warbler, and in a small gully that looked like good habitat we did indeed have a Bicol Ground Warbler responding to playback, but annoyingly enough all we saw were some leaves moving as it ran through the underbrush. We also had good looks at a Luzon Flameback, a fairly uncommon bird at Infanta. It was good enough birding that we could have stayed there longer- and indeed, there are so many tough target birds there that it would probably take the better part of a week of intense birding (along with a great deal of luck) to see them all. Sadly, our itinerary was jam-packed already and we had to move on to other spots. After getting a late lunch at an incongruously fancy and surprisingly inexpensive Italian restaurant near the birding site, we started driving west toward Manila. 

We made one more stop in the afternoon, this one to the famous Palo Alto subdivision in Baras, Rizal. I had gone here once before with Nikki and some birding friends from Manila, and it remained as incongruous before: a giant gated community carved out of the edge of the Sierra Madre, full of a surprising array of forest and grassland birds. The habitat sadly continues to be degraded as more houses are built there, but it's still surprisingly good birding. Near the entrance we stopped for a flowering tree that I put my scope on, revealing Philippine Hanging Parrots, Lowland White-eyes, Stripe-headed Rhabdornises (rhabdorni?), and Coppersmith Barbets. Whiskered Treeswifts were perched along the wires, always a pleasure for me and Doug and Andrew's first-ever treeswifts. Some nice lifers soaring overhead included Pygmy Swiftlets and Striated Swallows, along with a surprise Rufous-bellied Eagle.

Whiskered Treeswift

Rufous-bellied Eagle getting mobbed by a White-breasted Woodswallow!

Near the waterfall we came across a beautiful pair of Brown-breasted Kingfishers. Along the canal we found Savannah Nightjars (aka Kayumanggi Nightjars) roosting in their usual spot, this time finally allowing me to get a picture. Even better was a pair of Green Sandpipers along the river, a long-overdue Philippines lifer for me. A slow drive through the grasslands got Doug and Andrew some nice new Philippine birds like Long-tailed Shrike, Striated Grassbird, Pied Bushchat, Little Ringed Plover, Ameline Swiftlet, Barred Rail. and a heard only Ruddy-breasted Crake.

Brown-breasted Kingfisher

Green Sandpiper! My first new Philippines bird of the trip

Savanna Nightjar, hopefully soon to be officially known as Kayumanggi Nightjar

Female Pied Bushchat

Male Pied Bushchat

Long-tailed Shrike

Ameline Swiftlet

Little Ringed Plover

The Palo Alto landscape

I had originally intended for us to only make a quick stop for the sandpiper and the nightjar, but the birding was good enough that we found ourself heading out almost at sunset. At that point I figured we may as well stay around for owling, even with a 4-hour drive still ahead of us. That proved to be an excellent idea, as we almost immediately heard the haunting calls of a Philippine Eagle-Owl on the forested hillside near us! Shortly after that a Luzon Boobook and a Philippine Scops-owl started calling, joined by Savanna Nightjar and Philippine Nightjar, rounding out the suite of night birds. After quite a bit of searching and thermalling, we were able to nail down a spectacular Philippine Eagle-Owl perched above us in a tree, rotating its head as it searched for prey. It was one of the trip targets I had half expected to dip, so it was quite a way to end our day on a high note.

Philippine Eagle-Owl!

From there, we still had a four-hour drive to Subic, and we didn't arrive at our hotel until almost midnight. The delay, however, was definitely worth it! Subic was great fun as well, but that will have to wait until the next blog post.