Once Emily and I had decided on a new life in Scotland, plus also securing two full time jobs to commence at the start of January, we would have a couple of months to fill our time, and what better way to spend this than birding some far-away destinations! We quickly decided on The Philippines and Borneo; the former being a destination that hadn't previously come to mind, only as I'd heard not too great things, BUT, this huge island archipelago turned out to be exceptionally straight-forward and we soon came up with a plan.
Just a brief note on The Philippines... locals are the friendliest I've come across anywhere in the world; as long as you're a confident driver, then you'll cope fine; the birding is relatively easy including in the forest (at least where we went); plenty of accommodation choices but the food is of a moderate to poor standard throughout; if going in November, this is the off season and therefore very few tourists about... always a bonus, just mind the typhoons.
Saturday 16th November
We flew Malaysian Airlines from Heathrow to Manilla and arrived on time. Exiting the airport is always a dread, so it was with some relief that maybe 20-minutes after landing, we had already cleared immigration and got our bags!! We eventually picked up our hire car and tentatively maneuvered our way through the busy Manilla roads (testing out the horn every two seconds for good measure) southwards to the base of Mt. Makhiling. Typhoon warnings were in place for the following day, with the worst being in the late afternoon. A short walk around our accommodation this afternoon produced our first endemics, with Stripe-headed Rhabdornis, Garden Sunbird, an un-identified buttonquail that was flushed, Barred Rail, Long-tailed Shrike, Striated Grassbird, Pied Triller, Golden-bellied Gerygone, Lowland White-eye and lots of migrating (or typhoon-swerving) Eastern Yellow Wagtails, numbering several hundred individuals!
Sunday 17th & Monday 18th November (Mt. Makhiling)
Up early due to jetlag and we made our way to the base of Mt Makhiling, hoping for a day up the mountain, but this was closed due to the incoming typhoon. We therefore birded the extensive university grounds which proved to be excellent, with several Rough-crested Malkohas and a single Scale-feathered Malkoha being the best, but a snuggled flock of Philippine Falconets, Chinese Sparrowhawks, Luzon Hornbills, a trio of Guaiabero, two Coleto and a fine collection of other woodland species made for an enjoyable morning. The fact it was a weekend too made it a pleasant outing. We then explored the nearby lake edge finding Nankeen Night Herons and Whiskered Terns, but little else, although driving the very narrow streets running parallel with the lake was fun. With the wind increasing and rain starting to fall, we called it a day and headed back to the accommodation, pretty much calling it a day as the typhoon hit the country.
By early the next morning, the typhoon has passed and it was now clear and calm, and still very dark, it being 3.30am. We again drove to the university grounds for a spot of owling and eventually managed to persuade a Luzon Boobook into view. A distant Luzon Scops Owl was heard but there was little chance of getting it to come in. Light finally came and we went after a few much-wanted species, but falling short on Blue-banded Kingfisher and Philippine Magpie Robin, but we did find a few more Rough-crested Malkohas, Ashy Minivet, Brown-breasted Kingfisher, Flaming Sunbird and a displaying Crested Goshawk. With this being departure day, we went back to the accommodation to sort ourselves out and to bird the grounds a bit more before embarking towards the Infanta Road. The sun came out (a Philippine tick) and encouraged some distant Philippine Serpent Eagles to soar, while the trees held White-breasted Woodswallow, a Philippine Coucal and Black-naped Orioles.
We departed the hotel and made our way on the eastern side of Laguna Caldera up to the Infanta Road, which links Jariel's Peak to Manilla, but the former end is well forested along the roadside and contains many of the region's specialties, often located amongst the numerous bird flocks. Along the journey we drove adjacent to several rice paddies which had lots of Wood Sandpipers and Whiskered Terns, Striated Grassbirds, plus an Oriental Pratincole flew over.
Along Infanta, we stayed for two nights at La View Mountain Resort, which has excellent forest on the doorstep, including a boardwalk through the forest.
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| Rough-crested Malkoha |
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| Luzon Hornbills |
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| Philippine Falconets |
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| Luzon Boobook, taken by Emily |
Tuesday 19th & Wednesday 20th November
Still jet-lagged, I was up pre-dawn and walked the boardwalk and as it got light, I was treated to a bombardment of excellent birds. It started when I flushed a group of fruit doves which helpfully landed a short distance away, comprising a handful of Yellow-breasted Fruit Doves and a single Cream-bellied Fruit Dove, the only one of the trip. As I walked back, two Black-bibbed Fruit Doves were found, and then best of all, a Spotted Wood Kingfisher appeared below two White-eared Brown Doves! As it was still near-darkness in the forest, most of the above were found with my thermal and torch.
After a deeply un-satisfying breakfast at the accommodation, we headed up the Infanta Road to where the good forest started and began walking the road. A better plan, and one we came up with the next day, was to slowly drive the road with windows down until we heard a bird flock. Anyway, walking we still came across a few flocks, containing all sorts, but mostly Yellowish White-eyes, Elegant Tit, Arctic Warbler, Kamchatka Leaf Warbler, a Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker, Blue-headed Fantail, Citrine Canary Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Whistler and an assortment of flowerpeckers, namely Buzzing, Olive-backed and Pygmy. A very tame Flaming Sunbird showed superbly for a while which was brilliant and we were lucky to glimpse the ultra elusive Bicol Ground Warbler too, as it crept about the undergrowth. By far the most attractive were the Sulphur-billed Nuthatch, a quite striking bird! As the area cleared of cloud and the sun rose, raptors got going with displaying Rufous-bellied Eagles.
That evening we ventured out for a night drive, and although we dipped on any owls, our thermal did conjure up some nice bits, with a Philippine Palm Civet being the best.
The following day, another pre-breakfast walk around the grounds was again excellent, with two of the fruit dove species and Coppersmith Barbets in good numbers. After breakfast we again worked the road and had an even better session sifting through the bird flocks. Almost immediately we had a Scale-feathered Malkoha appear next to us (such an amazing bird) and additional species seen today included the localised Calabarzon Babbler, a singing Lemon-throated Leaf Warbler, Grey-backed Tailorbirds, three displaying Oriental Honey-buzzards, Bicoloured Flowerpecker, Philippine Fairy Bluebird and when the cloud dissipated, a Philippine Hawk Eagle flew over! All the cloud had now gone so we spent some time scanning the vast forested valleys below, but no Rufous Hornbills could be lured into view, however, back at our accommodation and enjoying a coffee on the balcony, looking up revealed perhaps the standout species from this country, six Purple Needletails! Alas they were too quick for the camera, but were stunning as they patrolled the skies in neat formation for a few minutes.
In the afternoon, we departed the area and made our way to lower elevations and stayed at a small village called Daraitan, where we crossed the Kaliwa River on a small and pointless raft, a few metres to the other side and caught a tri-cycle to the accommodation. This wasn't necessarily a birding site, although we did find a great selection of birds the following day.
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| Blue-headed Fantail |
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| Citrine Canary Flycatcher |
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| Cream-bellied Fruit Dove |
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| Elegant Tit |
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| Flaming Sunbird |
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| Sulphur-billed Nuthatch |
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| Black-bibbed Fruit Dove |
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| Philippine Hawk Eagle |
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| Scale-feathered Malkoha |
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| Yellow-breasted Fruit Dove |
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| Forest around the Infanta Road |
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| Our accomm, named A-Frame 1 |
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| Infanta Road |
Thursday 21st November
From our accommodation (Tinipak Lodge) we walked uphill towards Mt. Daraitan which was mainly through disturbed forest but this did still produce a good number of species. Swiftlets had been a bugger so far but here we quickly got to grips with the obvious Pygmy Swiftlet and the not so obvious, Ameline Swiftlet. Best however was the attractive Red-keeled Flowerpecker, but a large mixed group did produce Purple-throated and Grey-throated Sunbirds, Black-naped Monarch and some flyover Philippine Hanging Parrots. A little further up some stunning Whiskered Treeswifts obliged. It was now quite hot so we descended back to the village, hearing a Plain Bush-hen, but enjoying more treeswifts and a brief Luzon Hornbill.
The heat of the day was spent relaxing where we then headed back through the village streets out to the nearby river in the hope a few hornbills would cross the open area, alas this didn't happen, though we did see lots of birds including two Peregrine, a Philippine Serpent Eagle, a Crested Goshawk and a perched Brown-breasted Kingfisher.
The area had been an interesting area to visit but on hindsight maybe we should have opted for Subic Bay, but it was always a gamble when pushed for time etc.
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| Philippine Serpent Eagle, taken by Emily |
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| Tinipak Village |
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| Red-keeled Flowerpecker |
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| Whiskered Treeswifts |
Friday 22nd November
Today I was keen to hit the road early as we had a ferry to catch mid-afternoon and I wanted to not be rushed whilst simultaneously contesting with the Manilla traffic. We caught our pointless raft back across after a tri-cycle driver had tried to rip us off by 20p... we weren't having any of it! Back at the car, we had a blooming flat tyre and of course there was someone close-by to 'assist' and then demand money straight after, which we reluctantly had to do as typically our jack was placed somewhere deep within the car's depths. Once fixed, we hit the road and soon hit Manilla. It was chaos, but somehow, I revel in chaotic driving and we weaved endlessly until, rather miraculously, we dropped the car off at the Europcar office with not a single scratch! A 30 minute taxi ride to the ferry terminal was had, we checked in and then entered the waiting area for the 29 hour ferry journey to Palawan. Here is where our heart's sank as there were no fewer than 1,000 teenagers taking every inch of space, all taking part in what can only be described as the 'Palawan Olympics'. Anyway, more of that story in the next blog post!
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| our home for what seemed like years |
