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.

Danjungan Island, Cauayan, Negros Occidental

Collared Kingfisher

Danjugan Island

09.10.10

Danjugan Island is one of the best places I have ever been lucky to visit. It wasn't brilliant from a birding perspective but I was really impressed by the how the island is managed by the Philippine Reef and Rainforest Conservation Foundation Inc. It really is a true conservation project and is virtually untouched by human hands. I think of Ko Libong island, Thailand, and what a disappointment that was due to the amount of development and the mercenary approach of the resort at which we stayed. If you want to get away from it all for a few days this is the place and is a short 30 minute boat ride from the mainland. The jumping off point can be reached from Bacolod City by bus, allow about 4 hours' travelling time.

I arrived Friday 8th October in the late afternoon but birding was impossible as a deluge battered down. On arrival at the "lodge" I sat down with a cup of coffee and enjoyed the view over a beautiful lagoon surrounded by mangrove and forest. The lodge is a perfectly designed large, open shelter sitting over the lagoon which functions as a kitchen/dining/day area. An ideal birdwatching place in rainy conditions as I was able to set up the 'scope without any worry about my equipment getting wet. I observed a number of black-naped orioles frolicking in the canopy but visible due to their bright yellow plumes. At a distance I also observed through the 'scope a small flock of White-breasted  Wood-swallows, unmistakable white breast and white rump, cavorting about on tree-tops: lifers no less. Nearby there may have been a variable dwarf-kingfisher or alternatively a common kingfisher; unfortunately I didn't take a note of the bird's key features at the time and it was gone. All I can say is the bird struck me as being very small and after consulting the field guide I appreciate that a note of the bill colour would have enabled me to correctly call it. 

On Saturday 9th October we walked from the lodge to the Typhoon Beach via Tabon Beach, the latter so-called because of its association with tabon fowl. It wasn't visible today. On the way along I picked up a Pied Triller in the shrubs overlooking one of the lagoons with its distinct white supercilium and pronounced white wing bar: a fairly common bird but a lifer for me. On Tabon Beach there were about 5 Common Sandpipers with their distinct bobbing tails. Little else visible or identifiable. Our walk took us past a cave with millions of small to medium sized bats: what a smell and racket! There was also an abundance of Glossy and Pygmy Swiftlets, the latter another lifer, distinguished by its small size and distinct white rump.

Stork-billed Kingfisher

Halcyon Capensis Gigantea

Danjugan Island

09.10.10

Over lunch we viewed the above Stork-billed Kingfisher at a distance. This belongs to the sub-species "gigantea", an endemic, due to its lighter-coloured head and underparts. You can view the other Philippine sub-species of this bird, halcyon capensis gouldi, at this link; this was taken in Palawan earlier this year. The collared kingfisher at the top of this post posed for me. This bird is truly ubiquitous in the Philippines. Not a bad picture! A fair number of little herons skimming over the lagoon surface as well as more black-naped orioles, some Philippine bulbuls, white-breasted wood-swallows and a good number of tiny Golden-bellied Flyeaters, also known as Golden-bellied Gerygones in Thailand, moving very rapidly through the shrubs. There were a fair few unidentified birds: they move fast here!

I also observed another lifer, the common Pacific Swallow, perched on the rails of a boat moored in the lagoon.  The tail and lack of blue/black breast band distinguish it from the equally common Barn Swallow.

After lunch we went for a boat ride and a White-bellied Sea Eagle appeared and soared high above us. Its wingspan is huge, I kept thinking "Barn doors", which is how my friend Tony McGowan in Scotland describes the wingspan of the Golden Eagle. Later in the afternoon at Typhoon Bay his lordship reappeared at a much lower elevation, causing mayhem as lesser avian mortals scurried away from the canopy to avoid becoming part of his prandial intake. There is nothing quite like the site of an eagle!

I must confess to a slight disappointment with the birding although I don't know why! I wanted to see pigeons and doves and I drew a complete blank. These species are never easy to see as most of them are quite shy and retiring. However I didn't really venture into the jungle proper rather stayed on the trails. I have no doubt Danjugan has great birds and that I will need to come back and spend more time here. I reckon that it will also be possible to see pelagic birds due to the island's position in the Sulu Sea. What a great prospect! I think we'll do a week here next April.