January 10th - February 4th
After no overseas birding trips since April 2022 due to work commitments I was looking forward to getting away again and I had been mulling over visiting the Philippines for a while. The species list is perhaps not the largest but there is a very high proportion of endemics with a decent number of what could be described as notable specialities, perhaps the key one being the endangered Philippine Eagle, one of the largest raptors in the world. The challenge being that the Philippines has a reputation in birding as being a difficult proposition, with declining bird numbers due to trapping and deforestation and some long distances to travel between the sites. The trip would focus on the main 3 Islands of the Philippines with 7 days on Luzon, 10 days in the east of Mindanao and 4 days on Palawan.
With a degree of excitement I left from Gatwick on the 10th with Qatar. Perhaps not the most straightforward route via Doha to Manila, but I had a flight credit from Qatar from a cancelled trip last year which I had to use before next month. I arrived in Manila, on the island of Luzon, late afternoon on the 11th, on time and with bags appearing quickly on the conveyer (always a relief), and had worked out that I could walk across a skybridge to the hotel I had booked for the night, the Belmont. Later in the day I managed to meet Mark (our Belgium Leader) and Stephan our local guide and was told we would be away at 5am the next morning
Day 1 - Friday January 12th
The group duly assembled at 5am, there was me + 2 from UK ( Rob & Virginia), 2 Norwegians (Einhart & Kari) , 2 from Belgium (Jean and our leader Mark) and Amy from the US.
We set out for our first stop at the La Mesa Ecopark on the outskirts of Manila, around an hour from the hotel. It's a small park but still has a patch of forest and our main target was the supposedly reliable Ashy Thrush.
We entered Park when it was still dark and our first bird heard was a Philippine Eagle Owl but after 2 or 3 hoots nothing more and it wasn't going to move from it's current position. We moved along the track as it started to get light and before long our first small flock appeared with a Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker, Elegant Tit, Golden-bellied Gerygone, Arctic Warbler, Garden Sunbird and Grey-streaked Flycatcher. We added more common birds before entering a thicker forest habitat which included Zebra Dove, Black-naped Oriole, Philippine Pied Fantail, Brown Shrike, Large- billed Crow, Grey-backed Tailorbird, and both Philippine and Yellow-vented Bulbuls.
The best bird of the morning was a Spotted Wood Kingfisher, which gave great views in its cryptically hidden position. However, there was no sign of any Ashy Thrush.
We re-boarded the bus and started to journey North, after leaving the Manila suburbs entering agricultural fields with many rice paddies which were covered with Great, Intermediate, Little and Eastern Cattle Egrets as well as Javan Pond Herons and Pacific Swallows. We stopped at a service station where a pathway at the back lead us to overlook the edge of the swamp, largely covered with Reeds and Water Hyacinths, but some open bodies of water. our key target bird here was the Philippine Swamphen and we found 2 or 3. We had a good list for this short stop also adding Wandering Whistling Duck, Garganey, Moorhen, Coot, Little Grebe, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Whiskered Tern, Chestnut, Yellow and Black Bitterns, Purple and Striated Herons, Collared and Common Kingfishers, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Striated Grassbird, Crested Myna and Chestnut Munia.
After a lunch stop, we continued the drive to Subic Bay, which was the site of the former American base. Arriving later in the afternoon at the hotel, the Emerald Manor, we dropped our bags and had enough time for some late afternoon birding in the area and found some decent birds such as Philippine Coucal, White-eared Brown Dove, Luzon Hornbill, Rufous-crowned Bee-eater, Luzon Flameback, Bar-bellied Cuckooshrike and Coleto (a rather distinctive Myna/Starling-like bird). We also drove past a rather large roost of Golden-capped and Large Flying Foxes and some Long-tailed Macaques.
We finished the day with a night drive which produced a Great-eared Nightjar and two Chocolate Boobooks.
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| Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker |
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| Philippine Swamphen |
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| Wandering Whistling Ducks |
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| Rufous-crowned Bee-eater |
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| Luzon Flameback |
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| Golden-capped Flying Fox |
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| White-bellied Woodpecker |
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| Chocolate Boobook |
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| Looking for Ashy Thrushes |
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| The edge of the Candaba Swamp |
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| view from the hotel at Subic |
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| Hotel was welcoming ... but fairly basic |
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| The Emerald Manor |
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| Flying foxes |
Day 2 - Saturday 13th January - Subic Bay
We were out by 4.30am to some nearby habitat to try and find some owls, but after much effort we only found a Philippine Nightjar. We stayed in the area as dawn broke and started to add a range of species which included Northern Sooty Woodpecker, Whiskered Treeswift, Philippine Hanging Parrot and a Peregine. We returned to the hotel and pre-breakfast had a walk around the nearby trees also picking up Grey-faced Buzzard, Coppersmith Barbet, Blue-naped Parrot and a Stripe-headed Rhabdornis.
After breakfast we drove to the Nabasan Trail, where we spent the majority of the day, with a break in the afternoon when it got particularly hot. Birding was fairly slow and this was very much an introduction of things to come and notably the lack of small birds in the area. There was some debate as to whether the volcanic eruption from Mount Pinatubo in 1991, which was devastating and covered the whole area in ash had a devastating impact on the bird population and the smaller birds had never properly re-established their populations. We did see a Rough-Crested Malkoha, good views of a Philippine Falconet, a brief view of a Guaiabero (a small endemic Parrot), Blackish Cuckooshrike, Philippine Green Pigeon, Philippine Honey Buzzard (clinched from review of photos) and later in the day a flock of Ashy Minivet, a Philippine Bulbul, Green Imperial Pigeon and Common Emerald Dove.
Later in the evening it turned out the the rest of the group were either ill or too tired, so I went alone with Mark and Stephan into town for dinner before returning to the hotel and doing more owling. We heard both Philippine Scops Owl and Luzon Boobook and likely one of these flew past us very close but remained hidden, so our frustrations with nightbirds was starting to build. It was a late-to-bed day as a result.
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| Typical Road birding habitat |
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| On the Napasan Trail |
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| Northern Sooty Woodpecker |
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| Blue-naped Parrot |
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| Dollarbird |
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| Blackish Cuckooshrike |
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| Guaiabero |
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| Some sort of Golden Orb Spider - it was big ! |
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| Philippine Coucal |
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| Whiskered Treeswift |
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| Philippine Falconet |
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| Philippine Falconet |
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| Coleto |
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| Philippine Honey Buzzard |
Day 3 - Sunday 14th January - Travel to Mount Polis in the Cordillera Central (Banaue)
Today was largely a travel day as we headed further north towards Mount Polis, we left the Emerald Hotel at 4.30am and most of the group was sick, so it suited a day on the bus. We had one brief scheduled stop at a bridge over a river at Lagawi. Despite the heavy trucks bundling past us over the narrow bridge we did find our target which was the Northern Indigo-banded Kingfisher and had good views of 3 of these birds. We also had Brown-breasted Kingfisher in the same location along with a Common Sandpiper and a Grey Wagtail.
We had drizzly conditions when we arrived in the Mount Polis area for some late afternoon birding, which we did around the gardens, I found it particularly productive form the balcony of the room which looked down into some shrubby habitat. We found Ridgetop Swiftlets, House Swift a Lesser Coucal, Long-tailed Shrike, Blue-headed Fantail, Chestnut-faced Babbler, Yellowish White-eye, Metallic-winged Sunbird and a Blue Rock-Thrush. Some of the species we had already seen were also present such as Elegant Tit and Philippine Bulbul.
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| On the journey North |
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| Northern Indigo-banded Kingfisher |
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| Metallic-winged Sunbird |
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| From the balcony at Banaue Day 4 - Monday 15th January - Mount Polis Another early start, we were out by 4.30am for more owling. As soon as we got to the site we heard a Luzon Scops Owl, it was very close to us in a Bamboo patch, but we struggled to make progress in seeing this bird until at at least an hour later and just as it was starting to lighten up, I eventually picked up the silhouette of the bird perched very low on Bamboo and we had a couple of views as it moved more than once. We also saw a Turquoise Flycatcher here as it got light. We moved from here to the high point at 1,900m where it was cold and foggy and had breakfast in the vehicle before we started to venture out. It was tricky birding here in the conditions but we found a Negros Leaf Warbler, Green-backed Whistler, Olive-backed Pipit, Philippine Cuckoo Dove and a Mountain Shrike. It was slow going in drizzly conditions and the only other morning additions were Negros Leaf Warbler, Chestnut-faced Babbler, Blue-headed Fantail, Warbling White-Eye and Philippine Bush Warbler. The most productive spot was a small cafe, which opened for us to have a coffee and had a balcony which overlooked some bushes, they also had an attractive array of moths on the side of the building, presumably from an overnight attraction to lights. At the end of the morning we drove lower to the town of Bayou, which has picturesque terraced rice fields and has been designated a UNESCO world heritage site. From a birding point of view we found the Luzon Water Redstart along the river and further along the road at some disused fields we had Pied Bushchat, Brown-breasted Kingfisher, White-bellied Munia, Eastern Red-rumped Swallow, Chestnut Munia, a flyover Crossbill and Philippine Swiftlet. We went back to the hotel where the rain had descended and made it rather un-birdable.        Day 5 - Tuesday 16th January - Mount Polis This was the furthest North we would be and there were still several species that would only be found here that we hadn't seen, but we had a full day today on Mount Polis and were ever hopeful. Despite being out by 5am and up to a watchpoint on the Mount Polis Road, It was very misty as it started to get light and in the first 45 minutes we hadn't seen a bird, the low cloud would came through in waves of mist and every once in while there it seemed as if it would lift a little. One of our key targets here was the Flame-breasted Fruit Dove, and just after 7am we had one fly past fairly close and although not the best view it would be the only one we would get. In the circumstances, rather more of a surprise were 8 Montane Racket-tails which briefly alighted in a near bush before melting into the fog. As we had a bit more light and could see the other side of the valley we became hopeful of adding to our list as we could see over this pristine rainforest for miles. But the astonishing fact over the next couple of hours of scanning is that we didn't see a single bird in flight, it was quite a sobering reflection of the challenges of birding in the Philippines. We wandered down the road and ended up a the same cafe as yesterday and had a similar experience with a small flock appearing from the balcony and birds included Green-back Whistlers, Blue-headed Fantails, Elegant Tit, Metallic-winged Sunbird, Negros Leaf Warbler, Olive-backed Pipits, Warbling White Eye and both Turquoise and Little Pied Flycatchers. We tried some other tracks for the Benguets Bush Warbler, which we heard on a more than one occasion ut none were responsive and none near enough to the track to get a sighting, we had a similar experience with the Long-tailed Bush Warbler with the same results. Just as we were returning to the bus after one of the 'Bush Warbler' forays down a track we saw 3 Eastern Buzzards soaring over the hillside. It had been a frustrating morning, so we tried a different approach in the afternoon on hte other side of the mountain at slightly lower altitude, which was a little more productive. We saw a White-eared Brown Dove, Turquoise Flycatcher and a small flock held Citrine Canary Flycatcher and Sulphur-bellied Nuthatch. A Bundok Flycatcher was found and approaching dusk we had a brief view of a Philippine Shortwing. Singing Luzon Island Thrushes remained distant and hidden. Our attempt at owling was rather hindered by continuous drizzle and produced a blank.             Day 6 - Wednesday January 17th - Driving South to Los Banos Another day of principally travel involved, leaving the hotel in Banue at 4.30am and arriving in Los Banos at 4.30pm South of Manila, with a few common birds only on the drive. On arrival we birded a small area of woodland in the university campus, adding Striped Flowerpecker, Grey-streaked Flytcatcher, Philippine Hanging Parrot, Coppersmith Barbet and Garden Sunbird. We stayed until dark and added Philippine Nightjar, but a calling Philippine Scops Owl remained out of view. After dinner at the hotel we tried more owling and had success with good views of 2 Luzon Boobooks eventually in the car park of the hotel.     Day 7 - Thursday 18th January - Mount Makiling Another early start to head up to the Mount Makiling Forest Reserve, we needed to change vehicles to do this and were all bundled into the back of a colourful jeepney, a traditional vehicle in the Philippines probably as a result of the American occupation, these extended jeeps are a common vehicle. We arrived at first light at the point the vehicles could go no further up the track. We had some breakfast then started out on the trails. A familiar feeling of the forest being quiet was experienced, but we did pick up some species which included Rough-crested Malkoha, Balicassio (a type of Philippine Drongo), Red-Keeled Flowerpecker, Philippine Falconet, Grey-backed Tailorbird, Luzon Flameback, another Spotted Wood Kingfisher and a Philippine Serpent Eagle. We did have a calling Luzon Bleeding Heart, but after a few calls it remained silent and unseen. In the afternoon we visited the Philippine Botanical Gardens, which were also very quiet until we reached a far corner and managed to find a Black-Chinned Fruit Dove and a Flaming Sunbird. Another bird flew out of a tree and my first reaction was that it was a Paradise Flycatcher, it was pale with long tail streamers but after hunting it down it was an escaped Budgerigar ! Later in the afternoon we went to a small grassland area in the hope of finding a Spotted Buttonquail, but the field we wanted to get to was now out of bounds, with no Buttonquails on the menu we stood by the roadside overlooking another grassy field, seeing Brahminy Kites, Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker, White-breasted Woodswallow, Pied Triller, Black-naped Oriole, Brown Shrike, Striated Grassbird, Golden-headed Cisticola, Golden-bellied Gerygone. Not what we'd hoped for but at least it was some birds. We then spent another late night out owling and although seeing another Luzon Boobook, we failed to see a calling Philippine Scops Owl, in looking for the owls we did find a Northern Palm Civet and a South Luzon Giant Tree Rat.               Day 8 - Friday 19th January - To Mindanao and Mount Kitanglad Despite having very early starts and late finishes for all our days in Luzon, toady was an even earlier start. We left the hotel at 3.30am to drive back to Manila airport to catch a Cebu Airlines flight to Mindanao, arriving in the North of the island at Cagayan de Oro late morning. We transferred our bags to 3 vehicles and drove a few hours inland to the house of Carlito in a small village. Carlito was the main man for Mount Kitanglad and the organiser for this part of the trip. We re-organised our bags into what was staying and going and any main bags were re-packed to be sent ahead for a horseback transfer. We then loaded ourselves into what looked like the village school nursery bus and drove for about an hour to the start of a plantation. The lodge we were due to stay in is called the Del Monte Lodge and the vast hillside at the start of Mount Kitanglad is owned by Del Monte (the fruit juice people) and most of the area is laid to Pineapple plantations. It involved a walk of about 3 hours, all uphill and in the rain and increasingly muddy, in a very thick and slimy mud. None of this was a surprise as we had been well briefed and we were advised to expect some arduous climbs over the next couple of days. Our luggage overtook us on horseback as we slid up the mountain. We saw a few birds on the climb up with the best ones being 2 Southern Rufous Hornbills, which turned out to be our only ones of the trip, we also saw Black-winged Kites, Buff-spotted Flameback, Philippine Hanging Parrots, in the field edges Pied Buschat, Eastern Yellow Wagtails, Olive-backed Pipit and Grey Wagtail. and as we got into some woodland both Olive-capped Flowepecker and Bi-colored Flowerpecker. It was a relief when we arrived at the camp at nearly 5pm. We settled into our tents and then as dusk descended at around 6pm we didn't have to wait long for our first sighting of the Bukidnon Woodcock. (A bird first discovered on a Birdquest trip in 1993). We had one or two roding birds show well before darkness descended. We had an excellent dinner (especially given the location) and then tried some owling and quite unexpectedly had great views of a Giant Scops Owl, which is normally a very difficult to see bird. Our spirits were considerably raised and we needed a good sleep for what was the main event of the whole trip tomorrow.  .jpg)  .jpg) .jpg)   .jpg) .jpg) .jpg)     .jpg) .jpg)  Day 9 - Saturday 20th January - Eagle Day Mount Kitanglad Today was our big day, the chance to see the much sought after Philippine Eagle. There was a huge anticipation about the day, of course the main question being would we or won't we. It was certainly not guaranteed, Carlito had explained that for some groups the Eagle just doesn't show, the prime slot for sightings seems to be in late morning around 11am and Carlito said that there are normally no sightings after 1pm. Weather was also a factor given the amount of rain seen on the islands, we really needed a clear day or at least a clear slot for viewing. We were up early and had breakfast at 5am and had left the camp in the dark before 6am for a 2 hour muddy ascent to the Eagle viewpoint. We started seeing some birds as it got light frequently stopping to scan for birds as an excuse to catch our breath !. The most notable and in increasing numbers were Eye-browed Thrushes which were flying around in increasing numbers, obviously migrants on the move, there must have been a couple of hundred in total over the morning. Eastern Yellow Wagtails and Paddyfield Pipits and Striated Grassbirds were seen in the field edges and a Black-winged Kite was perched in a dead tree and we saw our first Mindanao Hornbills. Some other common birds were noted as we walked upwards, such as Philippine Hanging Parrot, Brown Shrike, Long-tailed Shrike, Negros Leaf Warbler and Turquoise Flycatcher. We arrived at the watchpoint around 8.30am, the view overlooked a field then forested areas up to the slopes of Mount Kitanglad, we were around 1,600m, so had gained around 300m in elevation. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg)  .jpg) We saw quite a few new birds from the area around the watchpoint through the morning as intermittently a flock moved through, this included Black-and-cinnamon Fantail, Apo Myna, White-cheeked Bullfinch, Crested Honey Buzzard, Philippine Serpent Eagle, Mindano Racket-tail, McGregor's Cuckooshrike, and Cinnamon Ibon. The weather was ok, every now and again a low cloud front moved through which reduced visibility, but generally we were quite lucky with the mornings weather, there should be no reason why raptors would not get up and fly around. Time was progressing as we ticked through 11am, which was deemed peak hour, with no sniff of a large Eagle. We were keeping attentive as we hit midday and still nothing, and the Group was becoming more conscious of Carlito's words that the Eagle was generally not seen beyond 1pm. Another half an hour and the Group was generally starting to curse our luck and the Philippines generally. Just before 1pm and almost when people were starting to gather their belongings for the long descent, I was still scanning and saw something large just above the tree canopy, which momentarily disappeared then rose again, I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing but managed a scream of 'there it is' ... the Philippine Eagle. Everyone in a panic ran to where I was standing and I described where the bird was flying below the tree line down the slope of a distant hillside, after a short time, it disappeared below the canopy. Thankfully everyone managed a view, although some not that well. We spent the next 15 minutes in some sort of relief that we had seen the main bird, thinking very much that might well be it, when one of our guides found the Philippine Eagle perched in a distant tree. We all then had great scope views, albeit probably 1 mile away, but then the bird took flight and soared up over the trees and spent the next 30 minutes soaring in front of us. Incredible views were had by all of us, it's huge size was highlighted when a Grey-faced Buzzard decided to mob the Eagle and it looked miniscule against it. It was nearly 2pm by the time the Philippine Eagle had departed and we also had a Pinsker's Hawk Eagle fly over us in that time. We had to drag ourselves away from the watchpoint and start our descent which was surprisingly easy as we were all so elated with what just happened. After all the anticipation of today being billed as the highlight of the trip, it more that surpassed that. We continued to add a few species on the way down such as Sunda Brush Cuckoo, Short-tailed Starling, stripe-breasted Rhabdornis, Buzzing Flowerpecker, Grey-hooded Sunbird, Black-naped Monarch. Arriving back to camp around 4pm, we had an hour or so to relax before dusk, with another couple of Bukidnon Woodcock roding. We had dinner then went out owling again, eventually finding a Philippine Frogmouth, which we managed good views of. A late time back to the tents when it was raining but such a good day.                 .jpg)   Day 10 - Sunday 21st January - Mount Kitanglad The bonus of being successful yesterday was that we didn't have to spend today looking for the Eagle and the plan was to go further up the slopes of Kitanglad in search of the Apo Sunbird, which is very localised. We were advised that the walk was double the walk to the viewpoint, so we took that as c 4 hours. We set off again, just before light and like yesterday had made it to the viewpoint around 8am. On the way to the viewpoint we saw many of the same birds as yesterday although Rufous-headed Tailorbird, Mugamaki Flycatcher and Fire-throated Flowerpecker were additional, otherwise plenty of Eye-browed Thrushes, Little Pied Flycatcher Mindanao Hornbill, White-eared Brown Dove, Philippine Falconet, Black-and Cinnamon Fantail, Negros Leaf Warbler, Arctic Warbler, Warbling White-Eye, Grey-streaked and Turquoise Flycatcher, Elegant Tit and in the field edges Striated Grassbird, Paddyfield Pipit and Grey Wagtail. We began the second part of the ascent through thicker forest and the trail upwards was quite tricky with a lot of mud in places on steep tracks. We continued to add more species including a Yellow-bellied Whistler and Mindanao White-Eye shortly afterwards a bird was flushed from the side of the path in dense undergrowth which was potentially an Owl or Woodcock and shortly afterwards Carlito found a Mindanao Scops Owl hiding in a Bamboo stand. This was an excellent find of an unexpected bird for which we all had good views. We continued upwards, it had taken a lot longer than expected to reach the summit of the trail so it was around midday when we were there, principally due to the conditions of the trail, but we did manage to find the Apo Sunbird, which was helpful. We had a packed lunch on the trail and then started our descent, which we knew would be quicker than the 5.5 hours it took to get here, but was still a long way. We saw a few birds on the way down getting brief views of both Yellow-breasted Fruit Dove and Hombron's (Blue-capped) Kingfisher. We stopped briefly at the viewpoint but carried on back to camp, with the main addition being a brief view of the local sub-species of Philippine Shortwing. We stopped in an arable area to look for Parrotbills without any luck ,then arrived back at camp around 5pm. Our night-birding drew a blank. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .jpg)       Day 11 - Monday 22nd January - Kitanglad to Davao We had quite a bit of travel to fit in today including first thing heading back down the mountain form the camp. However, before we did this we worked out we could spend about an hour at first light looking for Parrotbills, which we did , but without any luck although we did see a Buff-spotted Flameback on the way back to camp. We packed up our tent and bags and the horses duly arrived to take our luggage and we started the walk down arriving at the vehicle which took us back to Carlito's house around 9.30am to sort out the rest of our luggage. The main addition to the list on the walk down from camp was a small number of Chestnut-cheeked Starlings. We then had a long journey South with a stop off at a nice restaurant for lunch, we arrived in the late afternoon at the Eden Nature Park, where we were met by Pete Simpson, who is one of, if not the best bird guide in the Philippines and had made all the arrangements for this tour. Pete grew up where I did in South-East London / Kent, and I knew Pete from the time I went on RSPB coach trips as a teenager with the Bexley Group and had met him a few times in the wilds of Dungeness with other friends. Having travelled the world Pete ended up in the Philippines and established himself there over a decade ago..... one of those small world moments. He did take us to see a Japanese Night Heron, hunting for earthworms . A great way to start this part of the trip seeing such a rare bird. We'd planned to do some night-birding but the heavy rain changed our mind. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .jpg)    Day 12 - Tuesday 23rd January - Lake Agko and Tboli area Early the next morning, we decamped from the Eden Park Resort for one night and headed towards Lake Agko on the slopes of Mount Apo. We birded from the road and saw a decent number of species with flocks containing Warbling White-Eyes, Elegant Tits, Arctic Warbler, Citrine Canary-Flycatcher, Little Pied Flycatcher, Olive-capped Flowerpecker and then moved onto a boiling mud trail where we found the Mindanao Miniature Babbler, which really was quite small, and the localised Whiskered Flowerpecker. There was not much happening with the boiling mud so we then travelled towards Tboli birding along the road, it was late afternoon when we moved on to a spot that Pete knew and very successfully found a small group of the much sought after and endangered Mindanao Lorikeets, we also saw Asian Glossy Starling, Philippine Spinetail and Philippine Swiftlets. We ended up at our hotel for the night in Tboli, the Crown Jewel. They provided a 'Chinese-style' meal, which I was quite excited about when I heard this is what we were to be eating. The food so far on the trip had been fairly forgettable. I've always enjoyed Asian food, even from the trip to Taiwan (7-elevens aside) the local cuisine was great. Here it is rather disappointing. The problem is that it's not really Asian food, just a cross between American fast food and very bland noodles, for some reason they don't use spices in the Philippines, but they do provide a lot of fried chicken, so if your coming here for a culinary experience, prepare to be disappointed. The 'Chinese-style' meal was equally a disappointment, plenty of it just no real flavour, a poor version of what we get at home with lots of starch and Monosodium glutamates added. .jpg) .jpg) .JPG)     .jpg)     .jpg) .jpg) Day 13 - Wednesday January 24th - Tboli back to Eden Park We left the hotel in Tboli at 5am to ensure we were back birding on the slopes of Mount Parker by 6am. We started with seeing 3 smart Yellow-breasted Fruit Doves, which previously had been difficult to see. We also saw a few Scarlet Minivets and Short-tailed Drongos. We then went to a side trail off the road to try and find the localised Tboli Sunbird. We got a brief view of the bird, before it disappeared and were convinced it would return to the flowers it had been feeding on but 2 hours later there had been no sign. In the meantime we had seen McGregor's Cuckooshrike, Brown-Tit Babbler and Flame-crowned Flowerpecker. We then started our journey back to the Eden Nature Park, stopping for lunch on the way, arriving late afternoon, back into the same rooms we had before. We did a birding walk around the resort and although not seeing a huge amount we did find a Cryptic Flycatcher and an Orange-tufted Spiderhunter. After dinner we spent quite a while owling, without any luck at all with our only sighting of a Geoffrey's Rousette Fruit Bat. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg)     .jpg) .jpg) .jpg)   Day 14 - Thursday 25th January - Eden Park to Bislig via the sea. A few of us were up very early at 4.30am looking for Owls, and more by luck than expertise we ended up with good views of the Everett's Scops Owl that we had been looking for until now without success. Before breakfast but when dawn had broken we also managed views of the Everett's White-Eye, another new bird plus more views of the Cryptic Flycatcher and Orange-Tufted Spiderhunter we had seen yesterday. Unusually, we had a sit down breakfast in the 'resort' before loading bags and us back into the bus and heading away. We had agreed to meet Pete at a site on the coast near the town of Panabo, Pete had managed to stake out the critically endangered Chinese Crested Tern, but it was feeling our luck was not in as it had taken flight minutes before we arrived. So we started scanning the bay and at least picking up a number of new species for the trip as this was the first time in coastal habitat. There were many Great Crested Terns a few Gull-billed Terns and Whiskered Terns and out on the md a number of waders, Grey Plover, Siberian Sand Plovers, Whimbrel, Curlew, Grey-tailed Tattler, Terek Sandpiper, Turnstone, Redshank and Greenshank. Mostly Little Egrets and Javan Pond Herons were accompanied by a rarer Chinese Egret. After some scanning we eventually found 2 Chinese Crested Terns roosting amongst the Greater Crested Terns at the end of a spit and managed good enough scope views. This was the rarest Tern in the world as it is estimated only 200 birds exist, so we were very lucky. We left Pete and started heading North towards Bislig, and late afternoon we arrived at an airstrip, which was on the edge of a marsh. The airstrip is not really used but was heavily guarded and after signing in at the Security office we were accompanied by 2 armed guards as we walked to the runway, which is where we birded from. 2 Little Ringed Plovers were on the runway and we managed to see Black Bittern, Black-crowned Night Heron, Purple Heron, Oriental Hobby and Clamorous Reed Warbler. We waited until it started to get dark and had the highlight of the afternoon in an Eastern Grass Owl which quartered the edge of the runway. We then went to our hotel, the Paper Country Inn.    .jpg) .jpg)  Day 15 - Friday 26th January - PICOP An early 4am start and we were back into a Jeepney this morning and heading into the well known remaining Lowland Forest know as PICOP (which stands for Paper Industries Corporation of the Philippines)with our local guide Zardo. Our first pre-dawn owling session was a blank in terms of sightings as a calling Everett's Scops Owl and a Chocolate Boobook remained hidden. We started on a trail at 6am looking for the Azure-breasted Pitta and within the next half an hour we had excellent views of a bird very close ,which was a great start, although after this it became much more hard work and the heavy rain in the afternoon curtailed much birding. This area of forest holds some key species that we were keen to see, it often entails finding a bird-flock. It was stark how we struggled to find many birds, we did have one flock fairly early in the morning and added Philippine Drongo-Cuckoo, Mindanao Blue Fantail, Mindanao Pygmy Babbler and Handsome Sunbird and we had a very brief view of one of the specialities a Short-crested Monarch and managed to get good views of another endemic the Philippine Oriole. Beyond this flock we added a couple more species including Philippine Leafbird, Yellowish Bulbul, Black-headed Tailorbird and Pygmy Swiftlet, but then the birding dried up completely. We had lots of 'heards' that remained unseen such as Pink-bellied Imperial Pigeon, Rufous-fronted Tailorbird and Philippine Fairy Bluebird. The rain had set in by late morning and delayed us doing anything until it stopped around 2pm, but the limited birding in the afternoon gave us nothing other than a heard Rufous-lored Kingfisher we stayed out until after dark but again our efforts for nightbirds were not fruitful, with only 'heards' of Philippine Frogmouth and Great-eared Nightjar. It was great to see the Pitta first thing but since then it was a difficult day, hoping for better tomorrow. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg)    .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) Day 16 - Saturday January 27th - PICOP Birthday I seem to have managed the second year running when I'm away for my birthday. January can be such a poor month in the UK so it's no bad thing being away and I guess if I could choose anything then birding on your birthday is probably what I would choose. Another 4am start and back in the Jeepney, the prospect of rain of the very heavy variety was ever looming so we didn't know how the day would pan out. We returned to an area in PICOP where we had been before and started birding. We had early views of a Besra and a Philippine Green Pigeon and our early challenges to pin down a flock of birds were highlighted when I had a view of a Short-crested Monarch but calls of the rare and sought after Celestial Monarch gave either very brief or no views at all and then in a flash everything had disappeared. Our list included some new birds such as Black-faced Coucal, Writhed Hornbill, Yellow-wattled Bulbul, Olive-backed Flowerpecker and Ameline Swiftlet but also some we had seen previously including the Short-crested Monarch, Mindanao Blue Fantail, Brown Tit-Babbler, Red-keeled and Orange-bellied Flowerpeckers. We experienced some rain which forced us to sit out periods in the Jeepney including a lunch break we did manage a walk further along a track until we reached an open area with 3 Writhed Hornbills being the main bonus here. The early afternoon produced little in the way of anything different. Late in the afternoon we drove to an area of rice paddies which were next to a fairly extensive marsh and this gave us so good new species, the main ones being the Philippine Duck where we had 3 fly over, but also Barred Rail and White-browed Crake. Waders included lots of Wood Sandpipers and Pacific Golden Plovers and the more common White-breasted Waterhen was seen along with our first Philippine Pied Fantail and Pink-necked Green Pigeons. We stayed into dusk and saw 2 distant Eastern Grass Owls. Th afternoon definitely helped todays bird list and surprisingly a birthday cake was also produced after our evening meal !! .jpg)      Day 17 - Sunday 28th January - PICOP Today was our final full day in the PICOP area and we still had a lot of species to find. We did reasonably well in the morning when a couple of Blue-crowned Racket-tails shot past and after some effort and quite a bit of patience we had reasonable views of Philippine Pitta. . We had further views of Short-crested Monarch, Rusty-crowned Babbler and Philippine Jungle Flycatcher in a flock that moved through the area whilst waiting for the Pitta. Unfortunately by midday the heavens opened and we decided to leave the area and try a small vegetated pool for the Southern Silvery Kingfisher, but the biblical rain hampered our efforts and the best we could muster were several Philippine Bush Hens crossing the road. .jpg) .jpg) Day 18 - Monday 29th January - PICOP to Compostela Despite the continuous rain we still went early morning back into the PICOP in the dark again to look for owls but this was inevitably another blank with our birding experience in tatters due to the rain and we spent most of the time cowering in the Jeepney. Our only bit of success was seeing the Philippine Trogon a wanted bird for the list and we had started to assume it was one that got away. We arrived back at the hotel to pack bags and leave mid morning to find the local police / fire service on a tanoy trying to evacuate the area due to the impending risk of the river breaching its banks and flooding the town. Our timing was impeccable as we left the small street in our bus just as they were about to shut the road. We drove through the rain to Compostela with the early plan being that we would head up the local mountain for afternoon birding but our plans were thwarted, it was a case of match abandoned with the heavy rains making the road up the mountain dangerous, so we had to spend the afternoon relaxing in the small hotel. After the relentless early mornings and night birding in PICOP it was good to get some rest. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg)  .jpg) .jpg) Day 19 - Compostela to Davao and to Palawan. We were up and ready to go at 5am , but immediately knew that the route up to Compostella was still blocked with the continuing deluge so had to abandon our attempts to bird in that area. We headed towards DAVAO airport but stopped at the Panabo seafront to look for waders on the way. It was still raining but we found a bit of cover on the edge of the road under some mangrove type shrubs and could look over some pools on the land-side of the shore road. We found a good number of species including a large flock of Great Knots Red-necked Stints, Pied Stilts, Siberian Sand Plover, Greater SandPlpover and Kentish Plover. 2 Broad-billed Sandpiper, Pacific Golden Plover and Grey Plover, Marsh Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpipers and Godwits. Both Whiskered Tern and Gull-billed Terns were hawking over the pools and in the nearby bushes we found a skulking Middendorff's Grashopper Warbler along with Clamorous Reed Warbler, Brown Shrike and Chestnut Munia. It was certainly a better way to end our time on Mindanao, we said our goodbyes to Pete and headed to the airport. We arrived in good time and had to get 2 flights with CEBU airlines, firstly back to Manila and then change for a flight to Puerto Princesa, on the island of Palawan. Our second flight was slightly delayed in leaving but all seemed to be going well as we went to land at Puerto Princesa and just as the plane was about to touch down the pilot took off again !. Over the tanoy we heard that crosswinds had prevented a safe landing so half an hour of circling later we tried again with the same result. !!!!. We circled for another half an hour and were told there would be one final attempt otherwise we would have to head back to Manila !!!!.. Thankfully, on the third attempt, we landed, which was a relief to all of us otherwise our plans would be seriously messed up. It was later than hoped at 7.30pm before we arrived at the hotel so we had a meal and a couple of drinks and got ready for our few days on Palawan. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) Day 20 - Wednesday 31st January -Palawan We had a lot to try and fit in on Palawan so had packed ourselves into the bus by 4.30am and headed to the Irawan Ecopark. We started the morning in the dark stumbling around looking for Owls, but without any luck, however, we did find a roosting Blue Paradise Flycatcher and a roosting Hooded Pitta as pretty decent compensation. We looked in 2 of the hides and had in great views of Rufous-backed Dwarf Kingfisher, Blue-eared Kingfisher, White-vented Sharma and Ashy-headed Babbler. We wandered the trails in the park in the morning and found a number of Palawan endemics including Palawan Drongo, Palawan Crow, Palawan Bulbul, Ashy-fronted Bulbul, Sulphur-bellied Bulbul, Yellow-throated Leafbird, Palawan Sunbird and Lovely Sunbird. Woodpeckers in the form of a Spot-throated Flameback and a Red-headed Flameback. We had good views of a skulking Melodious Babbler and saw some other common birds such as Crested Serpent Eagle, Thick-billed Green Pigeon, Oriental Dollarbird, Black-naped Monarch, Pin-striped Tit-Babbler, Rufous-tailed Tailorbird and Grey-streaked Flycatcher. You could almost call it quite birdy, which we hadn't experienced since our trip up Mount Kitanglad.   .jpg)          We moved onto the Palawan Conservation centre (which also held a crocodile farm). We found a nest of the Rufous Night Heron (Philippine subspecies of Nankeen Night Heron) and also Chestnut-breasted Malkoha. We didn't stay long before meeting one of Steph's friends in a patch of forest where he was able to find a Palawan Flycatcher. We were able to have a sit down lunch before returning to Steph's friends house where there were feeders set up in the garden. We had a bit of a bonanza for a couple of hours seeing Mangrove Blue Flycatcher, Palawan Flowerpecker, Palawan Sunbird, Brown-throated Sunbird, Copper throated Sunbird and Pale Spiderhunter. .jpg) .jpg)           In the late afternoon we went to the garden of a coastal seafront hotel the Princesa Garden Resort again being surprisingly birdy seeing White-bellied Sea Eagle, Peregrine, Philippine Pied Fantail, Grey-rumped Swiflet, Zebra Dove and the prize of a roost of c20 Philippine (Red-vented) Cockatoos, and the bonus of a Lesser Frigatebird As the sun set, with the temptation of tucking into cocktails at the bar of the Princesa Garden Resort, our day was not yet over. We drove to the local harbour and boarded a small boat with an outboard engine and chugged out into the bay for 30 minutes to a small island and in torchlight started our search for a Mantanani Scops Owl, we had provisionally said to the boatman an hour for pickup would be sufficient. We did indeed hear the Owl fairly soon after arriving but couldn't locate it, eventually wandering further and ending up walking around the whole island (It wasn't that big but felt bigger in the dark) without any more sign. It had been 1.45 minutes after we arrived and eventually we decided to call the boat back assuming this was yet another owl defeat, and then the owl called again this time with Mark's persistence we eventually found the Mantanani Scpops Owl and got great views, wow that was a struggle, we didn't make it back to the hotel until 9.30pm, so a very long day, but thankfully lots of birds.     Day 21 - Thursday 1st February - Palawan Another early departure at 4am to drive to the Napsan Road SW of Peurto Princesa. We were Owling in the patch of forest well before dawn and unusually successful managing to see both Palawan Frogmouth and Spotted Wood Owl along with a Palawan Flying Squirrel. We went to an open viewpoint to have our field breakfast and another productive session with Blue-headed Racket-tails, Red-headed and Spot-throated Flamebacks, Ventriloquial Oriole, Fiery Minivet, Ashy Drongo, Palawan Fairy Bluebird, Philippine Leafbird and Common Hill Myna.        From that point the birding slowed considerably. We were hoping for Palawan Hornbill, but none had shown. We returned to the forest to look for Falcated Wren Babbler and although we had a calling bird it was too distant in the dense undergrowth to get any view. We did have some good views of Palawan Tit and driving back a roadside stop gave us Common Iora and Copper-throated Sunbird.    We returned to the Palawan Ecopark later in the afternoon but only added a Plaintive Cuckoo to the list. We stayed very late after dark descended to look for the Palawan Scops Owl, and despite having a calling bird very close we failed to see it. So a long day ended on a quieter note. Day 22 - Friday 2nd February - Palawan One of the main prizes on Palawan was always the Palawan Peacock-Pheasant as there was a habituated individual that used to be easy for birders to see. This individual bird passed away a few years ago and since then sightings have been few. We had been told that there was a slim chance at the Irawan EcoPark, as an individual had been seen very infrequently from one of the hides. So we our goal this morning was to try for the Peacock-Pheasant although it did seem a long shot. Another 4am departure we were soon assembled in silence in the hide a patiently gave it 2 hours, without a sniff of the Peacock-Pheasant. We birded around the Forest for the rest of the morning in the hope of finding the Palawan Hornbill, but only a couple of the group managed to see a flyover bird. As a result our list only incremented by Stork-billed Kingfisher, Square-tailed Drongo Cuckoo and Pygmy Flowerpecker. A quiet afternoon before we headed back to the forest to try again for the Palawan Scops Owl. Another long Owling session into the night and the same result a close calling bird that we just could not find in the torchlight or the thermal camera. .jpg)   Day 23 - Saturday 3rd February - Palawan to Manila Our last day of the tour, gave us a few hours in the morning before we had to leave the island, we still had a few species that we had failed to see so far. We returned to the patch of forest to try for the Falcated Wren Babbler again. Initially we had a similar response to last time with a distant calling bird. This time we moved deeper into the forest and finally managed reasonable views of the Falcated Wren-Babbler the bonus here was a pair of Palawan Blue Flycatchers that were also a new endemic for us. We returned to the viewpoint where we had breakfast the other morning and saw Great Slaty Woodpecker and more views of Thick-billed Imperial Pigeon, Green Imperial Pigeon, Citrine Canary Flycatcher, Palawan Tit, Spot-breasted Flameback and Red-headed Flameback. We then headed back to the hotel, but a final stop on the way did deliver a Palawan Hornbill, which was the final bird of the trip. Bags packed we headed to the airport and our final flight to Manila arriving late in the evening. A night back in the Belmont hotel at the airport before flying back to the UK the next day and time to reflect on the trip. It ended up with a fairly decent list of over 300 species and 175 lifers for me, but it was also an exhausting tour, with very long days, a lot of travel and lots of times when the birding was a struggle, partly due to de-forestation / trapping reducing the number of birds, some challenges with the weather.  Falcated Wren Babbler  Palawan Hornbill |
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