Balaring Silay and back to Thailand

Wood Sandpiper

Tringa glareola

Balaring Silay

Negros Occidental, Philippines

15.04.11

On a recommendation received from The Philippine Bird Photography Forum I paid a visit to Balaring Silay, a coastal site a little north of Bacolod City, on Friday 15th April 2011. I saw three Chinese Egrets there feeding together and I was so surprised to see as many as this that I took a long careful look at them. Conditions, light, time and the position of the sun meant digiscoping was impossible but I am sure these were Chinese egrets.

In addition to the Chinese egrets there were enough birds around to make me think this site definitely warrants serious attention in the future. My photographs are an indication of the poor light conditions plus the distance between the camera and the birds.

White-browed Crake

Porzana cinerea

Balaring Silay

Negros Occidental, Philippines

15.04.11

I watched an entertaining territorial dispute in a salt pan between a barred rail and a white-browed crake. Again conditions were far from ideal which is a pity as both birds are highly photogenic. Also present a Little heron. In an adjacent pond a common moorhen, black-winged stills, a wood sandpiper and a number of little egrets. There were other birds including a collared kingfisher but conditions just didn't favour photography.

Little heron

Butorides striata

Balaring Silay

Negros Occidental, Philippines

15.04.11

I am pretty sure I will be back here as it appears to be an extensive area and one which warrants a lot more time. Basically I had about one hour here towards the end of the day. I also had a very decent meal in one of the many sea food restaurants in the area so that is a further attraction.

That ends the Philippine trip, too short really! I touched down back in Bangkok late Saturday 16th April 2011 and headed home from the airport. At about 02:30h as I approached home I took a shortcut to avoid local roadworks near our home and close to the local rice paddy my headlights picked out a Barn Owl near the road. I managed to stop and watched it take off and land nearby on a hoarding board where it perched and we had a good look at each other, my view aided by my car's headlights. What a beautiful bird and lifer ⌗ 301. I never included in my list the poor Barn Owl which died near my house a few months ago.

Sunday 16.04.11 I decided to head to Pak Thale in the afternoon in the hope of catching a final sight of Spoonbill Sandpiper for this "winter". I was encouraged by recent reports of the bird being seen in the area during the last week. Sadly I was in poor form and didn't manage to see SBS and in fact managed to scare off most of the groups of birds I approached! As far as I could see it was largely the case of the usual suspects, most of which were sporting breeding plumage.

Chinese Egret: The Movie

Well here it is: the video of last Sunday's Chinese Egret at Punta Taytay. Amazing what you can do when you combine a camera and telescope! I need to apologise for the uploaded quality, not sure if it is my inexperience or blogger or a bit of both.....

Danjugan Island, Negros Occidental, Philippines

White-bellied Sea Eagle

Haliaeetus leucogaster

Danjugan Island

Negros Occidental 

The Philippines

13.04.11

This trip to Danjugan Island was first and foremost a family break during which I hoped to be able to do some birding. I visited the island last year in October and stayed for one night. I was so impressed notwithstanding the wet weather that I knew I would definitely return if given the chance and that I would like to bring my family. This short trip to the Philippines allowed a return and I will say now that it was so good that I will return again and again and again ....... I hope.

Asian Glossy Starling - "The Addict Bird"

Aplonis panayensis

Danjugan Island

Negros Occidental 

The Philippines

13.04.11

It's not just  the birds, it's the place. I got a complete rest for a few days with none of the modern world's diversions; in a Philippine context it is very pleasant to get away from the dirt, pollution and mayhem of most cities. Limited (solar) electricity, no mobile phone coverage, no internet, no roads, no cars, no air conditioning apart from sea breeze and the only sounds are those of nature: the wind, the sea, the birds, the insects and the bats. And no Bob Marley!

Black-naped Oriole - Canon EOS

Oriolus chinensis yamamurae

Negros Occidental 

The Philippines

13.04.11

Indeed it's not just the birds: pythons, turtles, baby sharks, bats....... a veritable bonanza of biodiversity awaits. A very useful survey dating back to 2001 can be found at Coral Cay Conservation,  UK based specialists in tropical rainforest and reef conservation. To quote the introduction to the survey:

 "Danjugan Island is a small (approximately 43 hectares), coral fringed island covered in tropical forest, 3km west of Negros just off the coast of Bulata in the Sulu sea, and is one of over 7000 islands that make up the Philippine Archipelago. The island has six lagoons, of which two are open to the sea and all but one are surrounded by mangrove stands. However, there is no permanent standing fresh water on the island. The terrain is rugged and characterised by limestone geology, which has permitted the formation of several caves around the perimeter of the island....." 

White-breasted woodswallow

Artamus leucorynchus

Danjugan Island

12.04.11

The island is managed by the Philippine Reef and Rainforest Conservation Foundation (PRRFCI) and you need to contact them if you wish to make an overnight stay. I love the accommodation: we stayed at Sunset Beach in thatched, mud huts. Very comfortable and atmospheric with white muslin mosquito nets draped over our beds. No one appeared to have any problem sleeping. Great food too, in fact a constant supply of meals and snacks and drinks.

Lesser Frigate Bird

Fregata ariel

Danjugan Island

Negros Occidental 

The Philippines

13.04.11

So what about the birds? For me the highlight undoubtedly was sighting 5 Lesser Frigate Birds on Thursday 14th April 2011 and I was able to digiscope a couple of record shots. They were a considerable distance away, probably over 1 km, so I am very pleased to have managed to get some shots and in this respect digiscoping comes into its own so long as you can get the birds into the view finder and get some sort of focus. Let me assure you I have a pile of out of focus blurred shots of these birds. Of course the shots are heavily cropped.....how I wish I could have been closer to these birds! They are a visual feast as they swoop down and then up in an effortless glide. I make at least three of them juveniles due to the reddish brown on their heads.

Lesser Frigate Bird

Fregata ariel

Danjugan Island

Negros Occidental 

The Philippines

13.04.11

I was also pleased to get a shot of a Pink-necked Green Pigeon, an incredibly difficult shot of a reasonably common bird. It may be common but a real beauty. Next time I am going to bring back a bucket load of shots of this fellow as he is truly photogenic but alas, very camera shy! One flew over my head to reveal undertail coverts to match his orange breast. Sublime!

Pink-necked Pigeon

Treron vernans vernans

Negros Occidental 

The Philippines

13.04.11

* the lower shot was taken using Canon EOS 

Danjugan's signature species is the White-bellied Sea Eagle which nests high in the trees above the lodgings and to whose high-pitched screech we woke. Of course when two eagles put on a bit of an aerial display I was in a kayak without a camera!

I sighted many of  the common birds: the asian glossy starling which the reserve staff  call "the addict bird" on account of its wild red eyes, the impossible to photograph but ubiquitous black-naped oriole,  collared king fisher, olive-backed sunbird, white-breasted  wood swallow, golden-bellied gerygone, pied triller, glossy swiftlet, little heron and Pacific swallow.

Common Sandpiper

Actitis hypoleucos

Danjugan Island

Negros Occidental

13.04.11

This common sandpiper demanded to be photographed as it was within 10 feet of me and seemed to be very comfortable  close to humans. I got a glimpse of a Tabon fowl but that was only as a result of flushing it accidentally. I have had a good look at this bird on Palawan I am still waiting to get see it properly on Danjugan. 

I saw and photographed 

another two birds, (crap, blurry shots!) which to me are reasonably common, a Grey Wagtail and a Common Kingfisher, but neither are listed on the Danjugan island species list. I am sure the list has probably not been updated. With the Grey Wagtail I only got one shot of it and it was gone!

Grey wagtail

Motacilla cinerea

Danjugan Island

Negros Occidental

13.04.11

 One bothersome unidentified bird, medium sized, red and black, on the rocks which we disturbed early in the morning. If only I had brought a field guide and likewise with a coucal species I saw in the trees of the first lagoon. Finally as we waited for the boat to take us back to the mainland a stork-billed kingfisher flashed past us -  another real beauty and the only stork-billed I saw on this trip.

Sunset from Typhoon beach - tweaked a little!

Fishing in the Sulu Sea - not for the faint-hearted!

Bats

Living quarters at Typhoon Beach

As I sit here in my hotel in Bacolod writing this I have to say this was a well nigh perfect few days. I could have seen more birds, I could have......, I could have ........! But I had a great time, my companions did too including two young nephews who appear to be developing an interest in wild birds. I am also getting to know the island a bit better so I expect that will help in future trips. And of course, 

I will be back! This really is a gem of a place, probably the best of its kind in The Philippines and better than anything I have seen in Thailand. 

Chinese Egret at Punta Taytay, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental

Chinese Egret

Egretta eulophotes

Pta Taytay, Bacolod City, Negros Occidentales, Philippines

10.04.11

I have to confess to feeling dismayed when I arrived at the mudflats at Punta Taytay this morning just before low water at 08:15h. There were swarms of folk scouring the mudflats for oysters and I feared their presence would have scared away most of the waders. So I was not exactly optmisitic as I headed out.

There were a lot of Terns as always,  a few Grey-tailed Tattlers and Greater Sand Plovers, birds which I would expect to see here along with Collared Kingfisher but no sign of Whimbrels, Curlews or Turnstones which I have seen here before. There were also a number of Little Herons flying around too.

Chinese Egret

Egretta eulophotes

Pta Taytay, Bacolod City, Negros Occide

ntales, Philippines

10.04.11

I managed to get a couple of decent shots of a few birds and was reasonably content with that. I was heading off the mudflats in a homeward direction and I thought I would photograph a Little Egret that was nearby. Once I had this bird in my sights I realised the dagger like bill was wrong as was the colouring at the base of the bill. I thought it was too small to be either Intermediate or Great and then I saw it move, neck skewed to one side, see picture above, and I felt pretty sure it was a Chinese Egret.

Chinese Egret

Egretta eulophotes

Pta Taytay, Bacolod City, Negros Occidentales, Philippines

10.04.11

I think this species is slightly more common in the Philippines than they are in Thailand where they are a real trophy bird. However they are listed as "Vunerable"  by the IUCN. I don't have a field guide with me so I can't really say much more about its range and distribution in the Philippines. But this is a great bird for the area and I am very pleased with it. I have a short video clip of it which I shall attempt to load when I have a stronger internet connection.

Pacific Golden Plover coming into breeding plumage

Pluvialis fluva

Pta Taytay, Bacolod City, Negros Occidentales, Philippines

10.04.11

Collared Kingfisher

Todiramphus chloris

Pta Taytay, Bacolod City, Negros Occidentales, Philippines

10.04.11

So a good day became a really good day and I went home a very happy camper.

Back in The Philippines

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Passer montanus

Punta Taytay, Bacolod City, Neg Occ, RP

04.09.11

I am back in the Philippines in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental and I even managed an hour or so at the Punta Tay Tay sea wall this afternoon but light to some extent and tide, expecially, were against me plus very strong winds. Lots of black-naped terns and the undoubted highlight was a good view of a White-browed Crake in a pond adjacent to the sea wall. I didn't manage a shot of it but I did with this Eurasian Tree Sparrow. Also a very nice Barn Swallow showing all its colours: its Thai counterparts are all a bit worn right now. I am hoping to get down tomorrow for low tide and better light so hope to get a few more shots.

I photographed this Chinese Pond Heron in the local rice paddy back in Ratchaburi, Thailand during last week. It was shot in poor light and I had rather dismissed it but it is not such a bad shot really. Better than a mere  record shot and nicely it  shows this bird in breeding plumage. I suppose I was a little bit away too so all things considered pretty good. In real terms this was just an exercise in seeing what I can actually shoot with the digiscope rig.

Chinese Pond Heron

Aredeola bacchus

นกยางกรอกพันธุ์จีน

Ratchaburi, 06.04.11

Oriental Skylark

Oriental skylark - adult

Alauda gulgula

นกจาบฝนเสียงสวรรค์

Huay Mai Teng Reervoir, Ratchaburi

04.04.11

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir never ceases to amaze me. At 15:30h I decided to head out after school to see if I could take advantage of the sunshine to get some decent shots of Rain Quail. No sight or sound of RQ on arrival though I did register a soaring Oriental Honey Buzzard near the reservoir. It was hot and I was just enjoying looking around from inside my car; a little voice inside me was saying to get set up just in case; anther voice was saying not to bother because there probably won't be anything to see today.

And some small birds, which I thought were quail, dropped down very close to my truck. A quick view through the binoculars showed an unexpected sight: a lark/pipit like bird with a very prominent crest. From recent checking of  more common species of larks I knew this could only be one thing: an Oriental Skylark which my Thai field guide describes as พบไม่บ่อย, pob mai boi,  or "not seen often".

I managed to get set up without disturbing the bird and I was able to get a couple of shots of it and the juvenile. In fact they seemed very confiding. Nevertheless it was still difficult to get a decent shot as they were feeding so constantly on the move and lots of head bobbiing. For me this species is a lifer and represents ⌗300 in my Thai list; a nice bird to bring up this milestone.

 Oriental skylark - juvenile

Alauda gulgula

นกจาบฝนเสียงสวรรค์

Huay Mai Teng Reervoir, Ratchaburi

04.04.11

I am very happy with the shot of the juvenile Oriental Skylark, above, probably the best shot of the day. The ID was  made much easier due to its proximity to the adult which, it can be seen, sports a crest. I am not sure it would have registered as an Oriental Skylark had it been a solitary bird, given the absence of the adult's crest. And of course the Small Pratincoles and Oriental Pratincoles had to play second fiddle to these birds today but of course their presence was noted!

Small Pratincole

Glareola lactea

นกแอ่นทุ่เล็ก

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir

04.04.11

I was packing up thinking I should head home as a dutiful husband and a good father when my attention was attracted by a raptor in the sky. My immediate reaction was Black Kite but the tail was not right and from what I could see the tail was  banded. Wing tips also slightly upturned. Oriental Honey Buzzard, I thought. Then a few minutes later along came a further two raptors, almost the same, and then two more flew over and then another solitary raptor. I am sure they were all Oriental Honey-Buzzards and that they are migrating north.

I didn't try to set up again but I think I know what I am going to do on Wednesday this week, a public holiday here in Thailand. I was thinking I might head down to Pak Thale or visit Chaloerm Prakhiat Thai National Park. I now think I am going to spend a long day at the reservoir and survey the birds, especially if there are migrating raptors.

Not bad for a couple of hours after work!

Gulf Of Thailand Common Birds Digiscoped

Greater sand Plover - breeding

Charadrius leschenaultii

นกหัวโตทรายใหญ่

Pak Thale

02.04.11

Greater sand Plover - breeding

Charadrius leschenaultii

นกหัวโตทรายใหญ่

Pak Thale

02.04.11

Greater sand Plover - breeding

Charadrius leschenaultii

นกหัวโตทรายใหญ่

Pak Thale

02.04.11

Note 07.04.11 Let me record grateful thanks to Dave Gandy for correcting me in wrongly identifying these plovers when they are in fact Greaters. Dave reckons the bill is too long and after consideration and a little look at the literature I have to agree with him.  I'll take consolation from the fact that the literature acknowledges the difficulty in separating the two species. However I have the literature and should have looked at it before rushing into publishing. Hayman et al in Shorebirds says:  "Best features to separate from Greater are leg length and colour, relative proportions of bill, head and body, call and extent of white on wing and tail, and size. Lesser has shorter dark grey legs....... in Greater, leg colour is more variable but always paler.......Greater has a....clearly longer bill." Later in "Bare Parts" Hayman says of the Lesser :"[Bill]....length about equal to the distance between the bill-base and rear edge of eye." It is quite clear the legs are almost green, the bill is long and in fact is shorter than the distance from the base bill to the rear edge of the eye. So once more thank you Dave. 

Javan Pond Heron

Ardeola speciosa

นกยางกรอกพันธุ์ชวา

Pak Thale

02.04.11

Black-winged Stilt

Himantopus himantopus

นกตืนเทืยน

Pak Thale

02.04.11

Brown-headed Gull - breeding

Larus brunnicephalus

นกนางนวลธรรมดา

Bang Kao

03.04.11

 Little Tern

Sterna albifrons

นกนางนวลแกลบเล็ก

Bang Kao

03.04.11

 Brown-headed Gull - non-breeding

Larus brunnicephalus

นกนางนวลธรรมดา

Bang Kao

03.04.11

 Great Egret - breeding

Casmerodius albus

นกยางโทนใหญ่

Bang Kao

03.04.11

 Whiskered Tern

Chlidonias hybridus

นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว

Bang Kao

03.04.11

Curlew sandpiper - breeding

Calidris ferruginea

นกชายเลนปากโค้ง

Bang Kao

03.04.11

The weather in Thailand has returned to the normal heat and of course this means much better light for photography. So we had a gentle drive up and down to Cha-am Saturday afternoon returning Sunday and en route I stopped a did a little bit of digiscoping. We didn't see any Spoon-billed Sandpiper but a local birder confirmed they are still around and that Saturday morning he had seen four birds, two of which were showing breeding plumage. A lot of the waders are well advanced into breeding plumage none more so than this very striking curlew sandpiper. I hope I can shoot it again in better light to really show the complexity of its breeding plumage. As you can see the Brown-headed Gull is huge - see how it dwarfs the out of focus sanderling in the above shot!