Rainy Season Special - Huay Mai Teng Reservoir

Green bee-eater

Merops orientalis

นกจาบคาเล็ก

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi

30.10.10

An early start this morning from the comfort of my own bed. On getting up the first thing that hit me was the cool air so off went the fan for the first time in many months. I headed out to the reservoir with memories of almost running over four black kites last year and wondering what might lie in wait. 

Thailand early in the morning is always interesting. The monks, bare-footed and dressed in saffron or brown robes are out collecting alms and the faithful are out waiting for them to pass. It's called pindabat and it always serves to remind me what a remarkable place Thailand is because this is happening everywhere in Thailand, from the centre of Bangkok to the more remote parts of the Kingdom.

Green bee-eaters

Merops orientalis

นกจาบคาเล็ก

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi

30.10.10

Huay Mai Teng reservoir took me by complete surprise. Due to the volume of rain over the last four weeks the reservoir is virtually full, almost overflowing. You have to see it to believe it and so I can understand how severe the flooding must have been elsewhere in Thailand. So there was no possibility of running over kites or any other bird because there was so much water that the slip roads into the reservoir were virtually covered. Four weeks ago the reservoir was really low. It covers an extensive area so for the water to reach its current level, the highest I have ever seen it, there must have been a truly almighty deluge. 

Houses on the edge of the reservoir

Huay Mai Teng Rerservoir

30.10.10

The water is basically metres from these houses where once it was about 0.75 km. If there is much more rain this area will be covered by water.

There was not shortage of birds and almost immediately I managed a lifer in a Richard's pipit. I claim this simply on the basis that there were so many Paddyfield pipits around and this one looked bigger and had a much clearer breast markings. I was looking for the extra long rear toe but it was not visible in the grass. It had to be a Richard's and I feel confident now that I have checked the guide book. So it gets a tick but no photographs.

Green bee-eater

Merops orientalis

นกจาบคาเล็ก

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi

30.10.10

There were plenty of green bee-eaters around looking quite magnificent.  I managed a few shots of these fellows as they were perched and not quite as manic as the the other birds. As you can see they are moulting but they are envertheless beautiful,striking birds.All I can say is I am grateful I am not a bee; I really wouldn't want to be speared by that frightening looking bill! 

Great Egret

Casmerodius albus

นกยางโทนใฆญ่

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi

30.10.10

 A great egret, a little egret, a white-throated kingfisher, a glimpse of an unmistakable pied kingfisher, common sandpiper, little cormorant, black drongo, chinese pond heron, plain-backed sparrow, sooty-headed bulbul, streak-eared bulbul, a first asian flycatcher of the "winter", a black-naped oriole and a juvenile, hundreds of barn swallows and then a magnificent female pied harrier. So pleasing to know the harriers are back. I couldn't get a decent shot of the harrier but there is one coming. This bird had the diagnostic white uppertail covert. A few minutes later a black kite appeared on the scene and took a little interest in my presence. I would say this one was milvus migrans as there was a lot of white on the underwings and the main underside from the head down to the belly was heavily streaked. There were some very obliging little ringed plover, one still sporting his breeding plumes and the other non-breeding.Also a yellow wagtail, motacilla flava thunbergi, but the photograph leaves a lot to be desired. Abundant red-wattled lapwing too.

Little Ringed Plover

Charadrius dubius

Top - breeding

Bottom - non-breeding

นกหัวโตเล็กขาเหลีอง

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi

30.10.10

I then drove over to my normal patch and not only was the road across completely covered but the water has virtually encroached on peoples' houses. See above photo. I then proceeded to another favourite spot and here access was barred because the road has crumbled as water rises on both sides. Rain indeed but fantastic to see this water is being saved especially when in six months time it will be so badly needed. 

Pied Harrier - male

Circus melanoleucos

เหยี่ยวด่างดำขาว

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi

30.10.10

What a lovely way to spend a few hours in the morning! I had some business to take care of mid-morning but I managed to persuade Luna to come back with me in the afternoon. We almost ran over a male pied harrier. What a stunning bird! With my EOS Kiss X3 and humble EFS 55-250 mm lens zoom I managed to snap it. I really want to get the digiscope onto this fellow to do him justice. Looks like I will be investing in a portable hide and trapping mice to tempt these fellows into range. I also saw two quail which got me thinking but  they really were a flash in the pan and no sooner had I seen them than they had disappeared. 


I offer this common kingfisher shot as an indicator of the improvement in my shooting skills. This was taken in poor light at a distance and nearby a very elegant common moorhen was paddling around -  too far away and too gloomy to take a shot of it. What a great day!

Common Kingfisher

Alcedo athis bengalensis

นกกะเต็นน้อยธรรมดา

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi

30.10.10

Uncommon Gulls at Bang Pu

I have not been able to get out this week so far and due to work commitments am unlikely to get out until the weekend. However Paan, aka Wichyanan Limparungpatthanakij, sent me a report and some pictures of Slender-billed Gulls (2) and a Black-headed Gull he had observed at Bang Pu, Samut Prakhan. Now Bang Pu is an easy drive from Bangkok and there is a pier there with some excellent sea food restaurants so it would make a perfect day out plus there will be hundreds if not thousands of brown-headed gulls and many terns and all manner of other common birds and some not so common. A bit like Largs near Glasgow; well when I think of the weather and the food, maybe not so.......! It is just a straight drive along the Sukhumvit Road, about 37 km to be precise so there might be quicker ways of getting there than the direct approach.

Slender-billed Gulls

Larus genei

นกนางนวลปากเรียว

Bang Pu, Samut Prakhan

October 2010

photo credit: Wichyanan Limparungpatthanakij

Black-headed  Gull

 Larus ridibundus

นกนางนวลขอบปีกขาว

Bang Pu, Samut Prakhan

October 2010

photo credit: Wichyanan Limparungpatthanakij

Over the last couple of days I have downloaded two very interesting documents which should keep me busy for the next few years. The first one is  Thailand Red Data: Birds, published jointly in 2005 by Thailand's Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning and the United Nations Development Programme. It has 160 pages of information and photographs on Thailand's extinct, endangered and rarer bird species. Looks very informative and interesting. Secondly, hot off the press so to speak,  Bird Korea's 2010 Blueprint for the conservation of the avian biodiversity of the South Korean part of the Yellow Sea. This is another 160 pages of information, in Korean and English, and photographs and may well persuade me to visit Korea at some point to take a look at the birds there. These links take you directly to download sites.

Roll on the weekend. I want to get out into the field!

Edit: Thursday evening 29.10.10 A friend of Paan's has sighted a Heuglin's Gull at Bang Pu, see post below, and Tom Backlund sitting on his veranda in Hua Hin on Monday counted 225 Black Bazas! 

Khao Sam Roi Yot, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province

Common kingfisher

alcedo atthis bengalensis

นกกะเต๊นน้อยธรรมดา

Khao Sam Roi Yot

25.10.10

I have to say I felt tired this morning when I finally got out of bed and I didn't find the prospect of a climb up Khao Dinsor so attractive either! So we decided to check out and head north to Radar Hill which is on the way home, about 75 km north of Chumphon; and you can drive up straight to the top of the hill! Last year's count was based entirely there but this year looks as if we have two counts: a Thai count at Radar Hill and an "international" count at Khao Dinsor. Anyhow we made it to Radar Hill to meet a large party of Bird Conservation Society of Thailand members having a weekend trip and just in time for the rain to arrive. One solitary shikra flashed by.

So with the rain on us we decided to push north homeward bound and we stopped instead at Khao Sam Rao Yot (meaning the mountain with three hundred peaks), a National Park, an Important Bird Area and a Ramsar site. The main birding area is just off the Phetkasem Highway and it is the largest freshwater marsh in Thailand; it is not brilliantly signed so my smattering of Thai was a help in getting us there. I am glad we made it as we bumped into some nice birds, all fairly common but it provided a good photographic opportunity and the results, I think, show further improvement on my part. 

The common kingfisher is by no means the most common of Thailand's kingfishers; the Thais themselves prize the Common. So it was very decent of this fellow to fall on top of me though I would be the first to admit the picture is by no means perfect: difficult in strong end of day directional sunlight, honest guv! I remember the thrill of being here almost 18 months ago when I had just taken delivery of my 'scope and I saw pied kingfisher for the first time. Sad to say I haven't been back since so I need to remember this is a great site for bird photography and make sure I return sooner as opposed to later. It is wide open and has the afternoon sun coming in uninterrupted and direct plus it has shelters and walkways onto parts of the marsh which facilitate photography later in the day as the sun is directly behind. 

A couple of grey and purple herons refused to oblige for the cameras as did an unidentified reed warbler. The latter is not a species I am really genned up on which is a pity as it may have been something a little uncommon. 

The most common bird in the marsh is the purple swamphen which can be seen and heard just about everywhere.

Purple swamphen

Porphyrio porphyrio

นกอีโกก้ง

Khao Sam Roi Yot

25.10.10

Common moorhen

Gallinula chloroplus

นกอีล้ำ

Khao Sam Roi Yot

25.10.10

Elsewhere a small group of common moorhens kept me clicking and I feel I should have produced a better image. A beautiful group of birds. I decided that I was going to photograph and that if there was a bird in sight I was going to try to capture it. So below a Chinese pond heron and one of my better shots to date. In this spirit I add in the black drongo who was very confiding but again there are difficulties photographing all black and all white birds. I think I better read up on exposure and compensation as there are a lot of black and white birds out there and sand, sea and stuff like that might start to feature prominently in places I am likely to be birding! Pan told me yesterday that the Thai name for a black drongo means it has a tail shaped like a fish....well I can recognise "bla" in there at the end and that means "fish"!

Chinese Pond Heron

Ardeola bacchus

นกยางจีน

Khao Sam Roi Yot

25.10.10

Black drongo

Dicrurus macrocercus

นกแชงแขวหางปลา

Khao Sam Roi Yot

25.10.10

I think I learned a lot today: first I must decide if I am going to photograph or bird and then do it! If I am going to photograph then I must photograph everything. It seems quite clear to me the more common birds will teach me how to photograph the rarer birds.  Clearly Khao Sam Roi Yot is an ideal place for photgraphy as well as birds so I need to make sure I come back some time soon.

Khao Sam Roi Yot as the days draws to a close

Chumphon Raptor Watch 23rd October 2010

Oriental Honey Buzzard (EOS Kiss x3)

Khao Dinsor, Chumphon

23.10.10

 We drove south last night after work and made it to Chumphon just after 10 pm following an uneventful five hour drive. I made it out to the swamp behind the sports stadium in Chumphon this morning about 7:00 am and the list would be: white-breasted waterhen, intermediate egret, little egret, purple swamphen, common myna, lesser whistling duck, yellow bittern, chinese pond heron, bronze-winged jacana, purple heron, watercock, barn swallow, ........ and no starlings in the City of Starlings~ Don't worry there are plenty of common and white-vented mynas here just none in the swamp! I love this purple heron who was a considerable distance away from me.

The Raptor Watch is in full swing right now and thousands, well hundreds of thousands of birds have passed through and have been counted thanks to the efforts of Bob de Candido and Chukiat Nualsri and their assistants. A special mention to Pan who I met bird ringing a few months ago and helps correct my bad Thai. He was down here today and doing sterling work calling the species.

The species list for today is mind-blowing: shikra, crested serpent eagle, booted eagle, greater spotted eagle, grey-faced buzzard, oriental-honey buzzard, common buzzard, black kite, pied harrier, Chinese sparrowhawk, Japanese Sparrowhawk, osprey, black drongo, blue-tailed bee-eater, white-throated needletail and on and on the list goes. The highlight today was the arrival of the first of thousands of black bazas, very striking birds with distinctive black masks and backs. I even managed a picture of an oriental honey buzzard with my EOS Kiss. My ambition is to take a usable picture of a raptor with the digiscope!

I am pleased to say there were lots of enthusiasts out today, birders, photographers and members of the public so Khoa Dinsor was quite busy and as I walked down it was nice to say hello to so many familiar faces. It is great that more people are getting interested and involved.

My buddy Tom called me to say he spotted grey faced buzzards in Laem Pak Bia, Petcthaburi, this afternoon. He says the skies above his veranda at home have had a lot of raptors in them. Tom also told me there were a lot of birders in Laem Pak Bia/Pak Thale no doubt hoping to see Spoon-billed sandpiper whose arrival is imminent, possibly overdue. I also heard that there have already been sightings of aquila eagles at Norng Blah Lai, Petchaburi.

It is good to hear that there are more people out and about taking an interest in birds.This is an exciting time in the bird world. I wonder what is the fate of the Spoon-billed sandpiper.

A Few Common Birds, Ratchaburi

Plantive Cuckoo

Cacomantis merulinus

นกอีวาบตั๊กแตน

Ratchaburi

21.10.10

I went back to my local rice paddy after work today hoping to see the Indian nightjar. No sign of it but lots of common birds including this beauty, a Plaintive Cuckoo, the male of the species, sporting some very fine threads. It really pays to check every bird as I did with the Indian Nightjar and now this fellow, which I thought was a red-collared dove as it flew sharply into the reeds. The bird's beautiful tail feathers immediately disabused me of this idea and I had a notion it was a male Plaintive Cuckoo because I knew it was quite different in appearance from the female which I have seen on a number of occasions. Even allowing for such beautiful plumage the Plaintive Cuckoo is regarded as a common bird, but this is the first male I have seen.

White-throated kingfisher

Halcyon smyrnensis

นกกะเต็นอกขาว

Ratchaburi

21.10.10

Elsewhere black drongos, Chinese pond heron, plain prinias, red-wattled lapwing, little egrets, common myna, a white-throated kingfisher or two and an Asian koel, feeding on bananas. This bird is best known for the racket it kicks up even in the densest parts of Bangkok, very loud, very sharp "ou ou ou ou".

Asian koel

Eudynamys scolopacea

นกกาเหว่า

Ratchaburi

21.10.10

Now as the light faded I thought I saw an Eastern Stonechat. I took some pictures but they are not so good and I used the scope to take a description and now I have checked my field guides I am not sure that is. It had a distinct buffish neck with a darker, more orangey breast and I am not sure if it could be a Grey Bushchat. I am not going to be able to call this so I'll let it go for the minute and hopefully this species will still be around into next week when I am next likely to get out there. This time tomorrow, Friday, we will be headed to Chumphon for the weekend.

Indian Nightjar, Ratchaburi

Indian Nightjar

นกตบยุงเล็ก

Caprimulgus asiaticus

Ratchaburi

19.10.10

(with grateful thanks to halftwo on www.birdforum.net for help with ID)

When I got back from work this afternoon I was in two minds about whether I would go out. I am a little tired after our break in the Philippines not the least because we made it home on Monday at 02:30 am and I was in school later that same morning at 07:30 am! I am not complaining because our trip to the Philippines was fantastic. I rescheduled a lesson because I just wanted to take it easy but when we got home there was still a little sunshine and I thought it would be nice to have an hour in the Rose Garden  rice paddy. This time last year I started to notice some raptors, including pied harriers, hanging out there especially towards the end of the day. I also thought there might be a chance of some flycatchers and other migratory birds. I wasn't expecting this Indian Nightjar, a first for the patch, to drop under my nose. In fact due to the white on its wings and its proximity to some noisy common mynas I initially "dismissed" it as such but then I noticed the way it was sitting on the ground, definitely not common myna style, and I took a closer look. A very beautiful bird. I really wasn't sure what it was at all other than a nightjar and on the a basis of size I thought it likely to be Indian, but I wasn't sure. It has rich colouring and while I have seen this bird before it has always been in the dark. Buffoonery is never far away and this time I left my digiscoping camera at home so I legged it back sharpish in the fading light, grabbed my camera, wife and son and the bird was still there on our return and I managed a few decentish shots. I have to say the bird was extremely confiding and let me get really close. On return home I checked out my fieldguides and orientalbirdimages.org which just confused me so I posted on www.birdforum.net and halftwo confirmed it as Indian. Great to be home and a decent bird to welcome me back!

Balinsasayao Twin Lakes Natural Park, Dumaguete, Negros Oriental

Tarictic Hornbill

Penelopides panini

Balinsasayao Natural Park

Negros Oriental

16.10.10

I finished off the birding element of my holiday this morning with a spectacular motorcycle taxi ride up to the Balinsasayao Twin Lakes Natural Park. It takes about one hour from Dumaguete and in places it is really steep and rough. This ride is an event in its own right and it affords spectacular views over to Cebu. The treat on arrival is no less spectacular. The only surprise was there were so few people there.

I managed to sight a fair few tarictic hornbills but they didn't linger long enough to allow me a decent picture. If you look closely at the above there is a hornbill in the middle! It is the same species as the Luzon hornbill but a different subspecies, Panini, whereas the  Luzon is Manillae. The Panini can be distinguished by its rufous belly. It was frustrating not being able to get such a good bird into the viewfinder. Likewise with a crested serpent eagle that I did get into the viewfinder as it soared high in the sky but the shot was badly out of focus.

Bar-bellied Cuckoo-shrike

Coracina striata panayensis

Balinsasayao Natural Park

Negros Oriental

16.10.10

In truth the birds were quite slow today but I managed a few decent shots. I like this bar-bellied cuckoo-shrike, coracina striata panayensis, which I did manage to capture. Another lifer I hasten to add. There was a spell during the morning when  had ballicassiaos, black-naped orioles, Philippine bulbuls and coletos in a tree opposite a covered jungle platform/viewing tower so it was ideal for taking pictures. Below not the best picture of a black-naped oriole but the yellow is very striking.

Black-naped oriole

Balinsasayao Natural Park

Negros Oriental

16.10.10

Now the coletos wouldn't sit still but I did manage a couple of decentish shots so please indulge me if I showcase this beautiful bird, another lifer and an endemic, with a  few pictures of different perspectives. This bird is from the melanonotus sub-species which is "mostly black; large featherless areas on head pinkish flesh; mantle, lower back, rump, uppertail coverts, and flank silvery grey...". ( A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines, Kennedy et al. ) I think I got the right bird and sub-species!

Coleto

Sarcops calvus melanonotus

Balinsasayao Natural Park

Negros Oriental

16.10.10

I also missed out on a close-up of a crimson sunbird. The bird was below me and I simply couldn't get it into the viewfinder. The frustrations of digiscoping! Elsewhere I am fairly sure I managed to sight a few Philippine needletails with white patches extending from their axillaries. I don't think there is any other similar bird with this specific diagnostic; so I'll claim another endemic and a lifer. The usual suspects were also present notably collared kingfisher and brown shrike. I like this photograph of a juvenile. Initially I thought it might be a tiger shrike but as there has only been one record of this bird ( in 1887!) I'll happily accept it is a juvenile brown shrike. I have one unidentified, a silvery/grey breasted flycatcher-like bird.

Brown shrike, juvenile

Balinsasayao Natural Park

Negros Oriental

16.10.10

As with just about everywhere else I have birded in the Philippines this place needs more time. I parked myself for most of the morning in the viewing platform between the two lakes, an ideal spot to set up for photographers. I am sure continuing on foot or taking a boat would yield a lot more birds.  But an excellent location and great birds.

Valencia, Dumaguete, Negros Oriental

In some respects a disappointing day, well a couple of hours in the afternoon, but I did see a crimson sunbird for the first time, a Philippine tailorbird, some Philippine bulbuls, some brown shrikes, some olive backed sunbirds and then ..... some controversy!  Is it a red-keeled or Visayan flowerpecker? My guide, Leonard, assured me the Visayan was a distinct species and I must say it looked different from the red-keeled I saw at Mambukal at the beginning of the week. The field guide does not separate them. Interesting. Feel free to comment if you can offer any elucidation on this major controversy!

The disappointment was in not seeing any owls. I went armed with a torch but they did not materialise and as it was raining and dark I decided to give up at 7:15pm...... I have a wife and a young son! I was hoping to see the Philippine Scops Owl and my guide told me it comes in every night outside his garden at about 7:00 pm. I'd like to see more owls. I have seen a few of the smaller, more common diurnal species in Thailand but I want to see other species. Not tonight.

The crimson sunbird is very common in the forest area here and the male is a stunning looking bird and quite unmistakable thanks to its very striking crimson breast. A lovely lifer.

Even More Punta Taytay, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental

Whiskered Tern

Punta Taytay

Bacolod City

Negros Occidental

13.10.10

This was in many ways a very satisfying afternoon's birding.

I was able to show Don Sausa the mudflats at Punta Taytay this afternoon and he had a great time with his big telephoto lens, hardly had he set foot onto the mudflats than a common kingfisher posed for him as he was saying: "I wish I could get closer to this bird!" I think Don got a lot of other good shots too. I got this bad light shot of a whiskered tern cleaning his toes as it were!

What a relief to spot a solitary gull-billed tern amidst the whiskered terns! This bird had an appreciably wider wingspan, was much whiter, had a more pronounced forked tail and had a biggish black bill; in fact it really stood out. Elsewhere there must have been up to 200 intermediate egrets in the mangrove which appears to be a sort of pre-roost as the birds gathered there and then flew off in the fading light of the day. I can only surmise these must be migratory birds. And just as the light was going a small flock of about 12 unidentified shorebirds flew in and I really didn't know what they were. I didn't feel happy with tattler on account of size, I didn't think they were common greenshanks, I don't think they were Nordmann's, I didn't think they were a bird I had ever seen before.  Now I have managed to look at the field guide I am wondering if they maybe were red knot in non-breeding plumage: stout birds, I would say "fat", greyish on top,  white supercilium; I have asked Don to check his photos to see if they can provide some assistance.

Additonally there were plenty of Pacific Golden Plovers, Sand-plovers, and a fair few whimbrels plus a few collared kingfisher.

The downside: the guy in the photograph is carrying a dead fish killed as a result of dynamite being used. He came up to talk with us and was pretty angry that this type of illegal fishing is going on. This is the sad part of the story: I have heard people say on a lot of occasions in the last few days that the Philippines has great conservation laws but no enforcement. The funny side of the down side: I got very dirty in the mudflats and nearly lost my shoes, stuck in the mud, in the fading light as I struggled to get back to the car. There was no real danger, just inconvenience and great entertainment for the locals looking at this "'cano" ("American" ) covered in mud!

I think there might be a few interesting things happening here on the bird front over the next few weeks. I think Punta Taytay would be an area worth watching and I would if I was going to be here.

Birds of Bacolod City,Negros Occidental

Don Sausa took me out today for a drive round Bacolod City today and  we saw some nice birds. Sadly no photographs as it was raining hard though I may add some from Don as he was shooting with his 500 mm telephoto lens, a real monster! The highlight however was the barred rails in the Town & Country estate, including a family with three chicks. Beautiful birds with very distinctive markings and good to know that they are breeding and to all intents and purposes in good shape. [Edit 14.10.10: I omitted the small matter of a beautiful lifer, namely a java sparrow in the same estate, in fact there were four of them, quite distinct, in among the barn swallows below.....no less a lifer! I don't know much about the provenance of these sparrows but their counterparts in Bangkok are thought to be from once captive birds; they are beautifully coloured birds and would make ideal caged birds for those of that ilk.] Elsewhere we spotted a pied bushchat in the estate and probably an olive-backed sunbird and plenty of barn swallows all looking rather ragged. Just outside the estate a lesser coucal was in the tall grasses and lots of scaly-breasted munias plus a striated grassbird or two and of course the ubuquitous collared kingfisher. On the estate near Don's house more brown shrikes and a number of white-breasted woodswallows. In the nearby mudflats at high tide there was a common sandpiper and many whiskered terns. We drove downtown, near to the shopping malls and there is a significant area of mudflats nearby and there were lots of little egrets to be seen and who knows what else. Conditions very wet so really only a half-hearted attempt. Clearly there are a lot of good birds in and around Bacolod City and thanks to Don  I am getting to know where to find them.

Mount Kanlaon National Park, Negros Occidental

"Flying fox"

Pteropus hypomelanus

Mambukal

Negros Occidental

10.10.10

In real terms this was a trip to The Mambukal Resort about a 45 minute drive from Bacolod City into the Mt Kanlaon area. It was great to connect with Don Sausa, a Filipino-American who lives in Bacolod City and is a keen birder and photographer. The resort is a major recreation area with swimming pools, eateries and trekking trails set in a beautiful natural landscape and is understandably very popular with the locals who congregate there in huge numbers at weekends and on holidays. Two other very striking features hit you on arrival: the sight and screeching sound of hundreds of flying foxes which roost in the trees above the resort area and the smell of sulphur from the ground reminding us that Mt Kanlaon remains an active volcano.

I need to stress the mountain covers a huge area with a base diameter of approximately 30 km and an elevation of 2435 m. So we were sticking our toe in. On arrival we climbed up the spectacular waterfall from the resort which is almost a scramble and requires a degree of care. Lots of Philippine bulbuls and brown shrikes; a few Yellowish White-eyes, an endemic and a lifer, as we ascended and some very handsome male olive-backed sunbirds.

Brown shrike

Mambukal

Negros Occidental

10.10.10

We didn't head into the forest proper today just spent time below this level and here we saw a grey-streaked flycatcher and a yellow wagtail popped in briefly to say hello joining the many brown shrikes and bulbuls in attendance. 

Don had a handheld P&S Canon EOS 7D with a 300 mm lens and he managed to get a few good shots of some good birds including a Philippine bulbul, the white-eye, a yellow-vented bulbul and a black-naped monarch. I have to say his set-up seemed much more flexible than my digiscope rig! I managed a shot of this very obliging immature brown shrike, above. I didn't really manage anything else with the rig today. We viewed a crested serpent eagle high in the sky and a further three unidentified raptors. The imminent arrival of rain cut short our trip and we decided to drop down to the resort.

Bck in the resort proper we observed a pair of beautiful balicassiaos of the mirabilis sub-species; beautiful shiny, dark blue and white belly with light blue speckles on their breasts; there were also some glossy starlings in attendance.

Ballicassiao

Dicrurus balicassius mirabils

Mambukal

Negros Occidental

11.10.10

I returned here for an hour Monday 11th October and managed to photograph the ballicasiao and a Philippine bulbul. Poor photos largely on account of very poor light.

Philippine Bulbul

Mambukal

Negros Occidental

11.10.10

Finally my latest piece of buffoonery, a red-keeled flowerpecker or a Visayan flowerpecker which I took for a siberian rubythroat. Once more a very poor photo but in truth I am amazed I even got this amount in shot as these fellows were moving very quickly. 

Red-keeled flowerpecker/ Visayan flowerpecker

Mambukal

Negros Occidental

11.10.10

I think there is possibly a lifetime's birding in Mt Kanlaon. I am grateful to Don for opening this area up for me. I think I will be making regular visits here in the years to come - God willing.

This area is easily reached from Bacolod City by jeepney and in the actual resort there are guides and food available as well as accommodation.