Pajareo sin fronteras

Following my  epic trip  to SNA in July, I headed to Manila for an office training, then immediately off to the United States. I've been back in the US since August (we'll see how long it takes for this blog to be truly updated), but this was just a quick week-long visit for my friend Clayton's wedding in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It was my first time being part of a wedding party, which was rather exciting, though it meant that most of my time was occupied with wedding things. Thankfully, I had a bit of time between wedding events to go out hiking and enjoy some of the UP's landscapes and nature. And birds. Of course, there were some birds.  My friend group being what it is, and Clayton being Clayton, of course the primary bachelor party activity involved doing something outdoors. The original plan had been to kayak around  Grand Island  east of Marquette, but the weather was so windy that they (wisely) refused to rent kayaks to us. Instead we ended up j...

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-...