Pajareo sin fronteras

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-...

Few events have shaken the birding and bird photography world in the Philippines in the past year like the discovery of a freshly built road through primary mountain forest in Infanta, Quezon, just a couple of hours southeast of Manila. Suddenly, endemic birds that were previously extremely difficult, such as Flame-breasted Fruit Dove, Bicol Ground Warbler, and Olive-backed Flowerpecker are now accessible along the side of a nicely-paved road, just a quick trip from home. It's hard to know long it will stay like that- new roads in the Philippines also tend to mean new settlers and new land opened up for illegal logging and slash-and burn agriculture. But for now, it really is a fantastic spot for even the laziest of birders. This meant less for me as a Mindanao-based birder, as all those birds are still a long plane-ride away, but I still welcome the chance to visit the site on my rare visits back to Manila, especially since every time I go good sightings of the best birds tend t...