PINK-BELLIED IMPERIAL-PIGEON
- the Philippines is loaded with colorful doves and pigeons (see photo of the stunning Yellow-breasted Fruit-Dove below for further proof). This one (like the next) is listed for many islands, although due to rapid recent declines in their respective populations, are both very hard to come by on Luzon and still both best looked for (like this one), at PICOP on Mindanao.
SPOTTED IMPERIAL-PIGEON
This is one of the tougher endemics, a totally unexpected
find on the tour at Makiling, where it is very rare.
PHILIPPINE CUCKOO-DOVE
YELLOW-BREASTED FRUIT-DOVE
One of the most beautiful of the many colorful endemic pigeons and doves in the Philippines and also thankfully widespread. We picked them up at a number of sites including Makiling on Luzon, and also at both PICOP and Kitanglad on Mindanao.
10th March: Subic Bay am only and Mount Makiling (LUZON) Mid-altitude forest, PM.
Our final session on the naval magazine at Subic produced few new species, as by then we were not looking for many more. Although we did run into the hoped-for White-fronted Tit, typically seen singing from a dead snag up in the canopy. While along the trail a pair of noisy Philippine Fairy-Bluebirds were also new, as were a pair of the near endemic Philippine Cuckoo-dove that flashed past the van. It was then off south to the chilled out Makiling university campus, near to the town of Los Banos that has numerous resorts for visiting Filipinos, wanting to explore the many natural hot springs in the area. We saved the forested mountain of Makiling for the next few days, as our afternoon arrival was perfectly timed to search for buttonquails that emerge from the long grass at this time of day to feed on an open track right on the campus. The bird we were after was the Luzon endemic Spotted Buttonquail, and while we initially found only a few of the non-endemic Barred Buttonquail, we eventually picked up the bolder markings of the distinctly larger Spotted Buttonquail, and in the end enjoyed repeated views of both species, scuttling on and off the track to feed in the waning sunlight. Our first welcome encounter with Philippine Coucal also occurred on campus, after they had earlier frustrated us around Subic.
11th March: Mount Makiling (LUZON) Mid-altitude forest.
Dawn saw us once again on the hunt for endemic nightbirds. Right at the base of the mountain we were soon hearing a number of our targets - Philippine Scops-Owl (that frustrated throughout the tour), and a number of Philippine Hawk-Owls that frustrated us for a while before finally, Shirley saw a bird fly up onto an open limb, where we could all get an eyeful of our second endemic owl of the trip. Star bird of the morning was however a bold Spotted Imperial-Pigeon found perched right above the bumpy mountain road, a tough endemic anywhere in the Philippnes and one that is very rarely encountered on Makiling. Other new birds, some special to Makiling, for the tour included a pair of Gray-backed Tailorbirds found calling in a roadside vine tangle; several Yellow-bellied Whistlers; several noisy parties of Ashy Minivets moving through the treetops, Philippine Serpent-Eagles were found calling overhead making for an interesting comparison both in plumage and call with the Crested Serpent-eagles recorded on Palawan later on the tour. Bulbuls are not a group that often gets the adrenaline flowing, although the endemic Yellow-wattled Bulbul has a subtle beauty lacking in most of this generally uneventful family, several of which were added to our trip list on Makiling. Other birds seen included more Philippine Pygmy-Woodpeckers, that were a regularly recorded endemic on the tour, and a lone male Black-naped Monarch. There are a whole host of endemic nectarivores on the Philippines and Makiling provided four new ones on our morning walk alone, with a male Flaming Sunbird (another Luzon endemic), a male Lovely Sunbird, Red-striped Flowerpecker (that was to be our first of seven endemic flowerpeckers) and a single Striped (Thick-billed) Flowerpecker. In the afternoon we left the forest behind birding some open trees on the campus for another Luzon lowland specialty, the aptly named Lowland White-eye that was found soon after feeding in some large open trees.
12th March: Mount Makiling (LUZON) Mid-altitude forest.
Another early start was necessary, as Spotted Wood-Kingfishers had haunted us all tour until that point, being heard almost daily with nothing more than brief flight views to show for it. So for our final push for this bird we got on site early, as these almost crepuscular kingfishers have the frustrating habit of calling almost exclusively at dawn and dusk, often being largely silent outside these times when they become much less responsive and a lot harder to pick up. Having been singularly unresponsive up until then for us, one bird performed in exemplary fashion flying straight into playback on several occasions, giving us all great views just as it became light enough to be able to really appreciate the stunning plumage of this fantastic 'fisher. This was to be the first of six different species of endemic Kingfisher recorded on the tour. Other birds included some great views of upto three separate Black-chinned Fruit-doves, a near-endemic that's range just reaches some small outlying islands off Taiwan. However, the star dove for the day was found when bird activity had dropped off dramatically in the late morning and therefore was far from expected at the time. Mark and I flushed a dove off the bumpy mountain road, that fortuitously landed in full view for Mark who exclaimed, incredulously it was a Luzon Bleeding-heart Although this shy denizen of the forest floor initially slipped back into the undergrowth before others could get a look, it quickly responded unusually well to playback, giving two further showings as it strolled into view. On one of these occasions the bird alighted on top of a close rock in full view for Don to exclaim 'there it is - perfect!' - it is not often one can claim perfect views of this shy, ground-dwelling Luzon endemic. Other notable birds included a pair of Philippine Hawk-cuckoos that came in and checked us out a number of times, another sighting of the crazy-looking Luzon endemic Red-crested Malkoha, further views of Stripe-headed (-sided) Rhabdornis, a pair of the endemic haematribon race of Greater Flamebacks and another Flaming Sunbird for those who had missed it the day before. It was then back to Manila for a little earlier finish than we had come to expect, although with the earliest start of the tour looming the next day (necessary for our early flight to Mindanao), one that was much needed.
http://www.tropicalbirding.com/tripReports/TR_Philippines2007/TR_Philippines2007.htm
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