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.