The Philippines

Short Custom tour on Luzon

14th - 18th April 2008

Leader: Rob Hutchinson

Participants: Flemming Jensen

Spotted Kingfisher, Mount Makiling        © Rob Hutchinson / Birdtour Asia

This five day custom tour concentrated on three sites within striking distance of Manila – Mount Makiling, Subic Bay and Candaba Marsh with an emphasis on enjoying good views of some of the special birds of the Philippines at a relaxed birding pace. This was very successful and the 47 endemics or near-endemics seen ranged from the skulking White-browed Shama spectacular such as Scale-feathered Malkoha and Spotted Wood-Kingfisher to great views of more elusive Philippine Hawk-Cuckoo and Plain-bush Hen and even a brief view of the elusive Luzon Bleeding-heart.
We also enjoyed other great birds including wonderful views of Oriental Pratincoles, Barred Rail, Hooded and Red-bellied Pitta and great views of a rare Streaked Reed-Warbler.

The weather at this time was particularly not with near record temperatures in the Manila area so we made full use of the early mornings and afternoons when activity was greatest. Each morning was spent on the main track up the mountain, twice on the lower slopes and once higher by taking a rough jeep ride pre-dawn. These forest walks gave us some great birds including our main targets namely several excellent views of both male and female Spotted Wood-Kingfisher, the spectacular Scale-feather Malkoha, Black-chinned Fruit-Dove and Luzon Hornbill. We also saw more elusive species such as the striking White-browed Shama giving its beautiful, melodic song from the undergrowth and a stunning Red-bellied Pitta which quite fortuitously popped up onto a branch is the valley far below in absolutely while Rob was stood in absolutely the only spot from where it was visible! A short side trip of the nearby Botanical Gardens found a flowering tree with attendant group of Stripe-headed Rhabdornis, the commonest member of this endemic family.

 

Scale-feathered Malkoha, Mount Makiling, Luzon   © Rob Hutchinson / Birdtour Asia

Other endemics in the forest were Elegant Tit, Flaming Sunbird, Striped, Red-keeled and Buzzing Flowerpeckers, Grey-backed Tailorbird, White-eared Brown-Dove, the ubiquitous Philippine Bulbul, Yellow-wattled Bulbul, Luzon Balicassiao, Guaiabero, Colasisi, Red-crested Malkoha, a brief Philippine Boobook and Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker.
Our afternoons were split between a productive stretch of river on the nearby campus, a nice grassland area and an area of rice fields which added a great variety of habitat and new species.
A stretch of river on the nearby campus is home to a pair of Indigo-banded Kingfishers which showed well with both the male sporting his double breast-band and female (single band) seen well, and also here the nearby trees attracted our only Lowland White-eyes of the trip together with very close views of White-throated Kingfisher, differing from birds elsewhere in Asia which show a full white bib. Both Barred Rail and Plain Bush-hen were seen on the river, the rail very well but the bush-hen quite briefly. A nearby area of carefully managed grassland was deserving of two visits; the first on a wet afternoon was the most productive as many birds fed on an open track to avoid the wet grass. This meant very prolonged views of endemic Spotted Buttonquail together with Barred Buttonquail, Barred Rail and extremely good views of a pair of Plain Bush-hens defying their usually elusive nature to parade in the open along a fallen tree trunk. Also here were many excellent open country species; Long-tailed Shrike, large numbers of glorious Blue-tailed Bee-eaters, Golden-headed Cisticola and a rare opportunity to study Tawny and Striated Grassbirds side by side. Our second visit in better weather produced briefer views of the buttonquails but great scope views of a multicoloured Hooded Pitta where a tour highlight. The skies in these open areas were always full of birds and alongside the hundreds of Blue-tailed Bee-eaters were a group of Oriental Pratincoles, Island and Glossy Swiftlets, House Swift, Asian Palm Swift and Striated Swallow.

Our visit to an area of rice fields added a whole new suite of species. Black-crowned Night-Herons and Cinnamon Bittern, a brief Greater Painted-snipe but prolonged scope views of a close White-browed Crake were highlights on the water-bird front, and overhead the uncommon Philippine race of Oriental Skylark was performing its display flight.
Leaving Mount Makiling behind we made an early start to be at Candaba Marsh early and our timing was impeccable as we drove through the rice fields at dawn towards Candaba we stopped to enjoy close views of three magnificent Eastern Grass Owls quartering the fields. Moving on to the marsh we met with great success when we found among the Oriental Reed-Warblers we found a Streaked Reed Warblers feeding in the open on the edge of the grasses and had nice looks at this rare species which is a wintering and passage bird in the Philippines from its unknown breeding areas in China. On the marsh we found many wildfowl still present including head numbers of cinnamon-headed Philippine Ducks and very smart breeding plumaged Shoveler and Garganey. The marsh appeared to be thronging with Pheasant-tailed Jacanas, iridescent Philippine Gallinules, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Purple Heron, Cinnamon and Yellow Bitterns and a single Black Bittern was seen well in flight.
Overhead we had quite superb views of hawking Oriental Pratincoles and we spent some time admiring their elegant and graceful flight.

 

  Philippine Duck, Candaba Marshes, Luzon and Indigo-banded Kingfisher, Mount Makiling, Luzon              

  

Oriental Pratincole (left) and Eastern Grass-Owl (right),
Candaba Marshes, Luzon    © Rob Hutchinson / Birdtour Asia

As the heat rose we headed off to enjoy breakfast then continued on our way to Subic Bay. After settling into our plush hotel we rested during the scorching midday heat before venturing into the nearby naval magazine for our afternoon birding. The roads criss-crossing the area are now more or less disused and the open forest remnants make for great birding. In no time at all we had added Blue-naped Parrot, great views of Guaiabero, Whiskered Treeswift and one of the most hoped-for birds of the tour, the bizarre naked-headed Coleto. The rest of the afternoon continued well and in addition to the commoner Blue-throated Bee-eaters, Green Imperial-Pigeons, and Philippine Green-Pigeons we found a stunning Yellow-breasted Fruit-Dove, Philippine Falconet, Philippine Cuckoo-Dove and had some great views of Luzon Hornbills. We also did well with the real specialties of this area, which are absent from Mount Makiling; a group of Blackish Cuckoo-shrikes, Green Racquet-tails including some with full spoon-shaped tails and an obliging group of scarce Luzon White-fronted Tits which are so often difficult to located.

The next morning we visited the same areas again but with even greater bird activity. The Luzon White-fronted Tits put on a great display, singing from the treetops and a White-bellied Woodpecker feeding in the scope began proceedings. Then our walk through the forest found White-lored Oriole, two brief Sooty Woodpeckers, Philippine Tailorbird, Philippine Fairy Bluebird, a male Philippine Trogon and a surprise Luzon Bleeding-heart sitting quietly by the side of the trail which we spotted just too late to enjoy views before he flew a short distance into the forest and disappeared.
This rounded off a very successful trip with our total of 134 species including many lasting memories of these great birds.

Systematic List

 

White-bellied Woodpecker (left) and White-fronted Tit (right), Subic Bay, Luzon
© Rob Hutchinson / Birdtour Asia

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