With shocking images of the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan fresh in my mind I thought it time to revisit a trip made to that country, if not the islands most affected, in happier times of 1996.
Introduction. The following reports on a short trip to
selected sites in the Philippines in spring 1996 made by Nick Preston, Barry
Stidolph, John & David Cooper and myself.
Nick, Barry and I were keen to visit the Philippines but as Nick and
Barry were teachers a trip had to coincide with school holidays. This effectively meant Easter and with only
two weeks available a comprehensive trip was not possible - even two months
might not have been long enough for that!
We got some very helpful information from Paul Noakes and put together a
two-week itinerary targeting particular sites & species and were very
pleased that John (who we’d been with to Madagacar the previous summer) and
David were able to join us. As it was
mainly a forest destination and birds somewhat secretive I only took a small
camera and print film. The resulting
prints were completely birdless but have been scanned for this blog. Otherwise it is based on an old trip report
and notebook entries. Many thanks to
Nick, Barry, John & David for making this a very enjoyable and largely
successful trip. On 30 March 1996 we left London Heathrow at 11:00 on a direct and very
impressive Singapore Airlines flight to Singapore.
31
March 1996. We arrived in Singapore at 07:45 and had just
under two hours in transit before leaving on the 09:35 flight to Manila. We arrived in Manila at 12:50 and got a large
taxi to take us to the Townhouse, a cheap hostel off Roxas Boulevard
recommended by the Lonely Planet Guide. We
dumped our bags and caught another taxi to the American Cemetery where the sheer
number of graves was awesome. Here in
rather managed ‘parkland’ we saw our first Philippine endemic, Philippine Pigmy
Woodpecker. Also a very pale
grey-looking Peregrine, two Barred Rails, a possible Japanese Snipe and 80 wintering
Violet-backed Starlings. Taxi back to
the Townhouse as it was getting dark, an unforgetable meal and an early night.
1 April
1996.
We were up very early, chartered a
passing Jeepney to take us to the domestic airport for the 05:00 flight to
Cagayan de Oro in Mindanao, arriving there at 06:30. Here we chartered a minibus to take us the
c100 kms to Dalwanyan. We found Mrs
Maghanoy’s house more easily than I’d anticipated as our directions included
reference to a hoarding and seemed rather vague. After some understandable delay - we’d
arrived unannounced - she arranged for Carlito to guide us and five motorbikes
to take us part way up to the rest house on Mount Katanglad. I got on the back of one motorbike with my
rucksack and immediately overbalanced landing headfirst the other side before
it was decided to tie my rucksack on the back of the bike. Perhaps being the most awkward passenger my
bike soon got left behind as th eoters raced off, but after about 7km they were
unable to make it any further and we had to walk the last 3 kms. It was all uphill and quite steep in places
so quite hard work in the afternoon heat, although we passed through some nice
forest patches. We arrived at rest house
mid afternoon and were very pleased to dump our bags which contained much of
our food for next five days. Fortunately
we had someone to cook it for us! We
spent the rest of the day looking around the immediate vicinity and forest
patches just above the rest house. I saw 21 species of which nearly half were
endemic while Giant Scops Owl was heard briefly in the night. Highlights were Black & Cinnamon Fantail,
Elegant Tit and Sulphur-billed Nuthatch.
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| looking back on the track up to Katanglad |
2 April
1996. We slowly walked up to the Philippine Eagle
lookout where three hours of observation produced distant views of two
individuals. One eagle visited the nest
site which the viewpoint overlooked although the nest was hidden from view and
at least 1 km range. The eagle looked
big but at that range I was distinctly unimpressed. I was even less impressed to miss a
Stripe-breasted Rhabdornis and spent the rest of day spent walking up to higher
viewpoint and back. Despite the
Rhabdornis and an evening failure to see the newly discovered woodcock and
another hearing of Giant Scops Owl it was a good day with nearly 40 species
seen including a superb Philippine Falconet, 3 Cinnamon Ibons and a flock of 35
Chinese Goshawks presumably migrating north.
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| view from the eagle lookout at |
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| view from the upper lookout |
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| sunset from Katanglad |
3 April
1996. Carlito took Nick, Barry and me to look for
Hombron's Kingfisher although soon only Barry and I remained with him, Nick
being ill. Amazingly Carlito's whistling
(which had begun to get on my nerves) paid off when Barry located one flying in
to check us out. A pair then called in
response and we got excellent views through the 'scope. While calling the male(?) cocked its tail and
pointed its bill to the sky, brilliant. We
then embarked on a fairly unproductive route march along little used forest
trails culminating in climbing down a sheer slope into the valley and back up
the other side coming out at the higher lookout. I frustratingly heard Philippine Bullfinch
but did not see it. 4 Apo Mynas from the
lookout late afternoon and a superb Philippine Frogmouth in the forest opposite
the rest house early evening. This
amazing bird has wispy feathers above its eyes and bill. Another good day with 45 species seen
including 2 Yellow-breasted Fruit Doves and a Mindanao Hornbill.
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| river crossing on the Hombron's trek |
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| lower forest at Katanglad |
4 April
1996. Nick was still ill, John and David were
trying for the kingfisher so Barry and I decided to go further up the mountain
to concentrate on the Bullfinch and Mountain Shrike. I got distracted by a calling Bush Hen which
I did not see despite rushing into the tall grass it was calling from (not strictly
in my Fieldcraft manual) and when I caught up with Barry at upper lookout
discovered he'd seen 3 Bullfinches! Not
best pleased I dipped on another before having excellent views of a pair above
the highest lookout and then saw two more later in the day. We continued walking up the mountain for
another hour before finding a Mountain Shrike in an overgrown clearing, and then
walked slowly back. A look at dusk from
below the rest house failed to produce either the hoped for Grass Owl or the
woodcock and no owls were heard in the night although perhaps I slept too
solidly after another hard day? 40
species recorded including 4 Mountain Racket-tails flying over the higher
lookout, 2 Stripe-breasted Rhabdornis, 2 McGregor's Cuckoo-Shrike and an Apo
Sunbird. David saw Hombron's Kingfisher
but John and Nick dipped.
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| upper lookout |
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| me at the upper eagle lookout |
5 April
1996. Our last day at Katanglad so Barry and I went
back to the eagle lookout where we saw one bird twice, both times much closer
than before. First it glided down the
valley in front of us and later circled up over us. My earlier disappointment with the species
immediately evaporated! We then spent
rather a frustrating time trying to see Katanglad Parrotfinch and I only
succeeded in getting very poor flight views.
Nick and John saw Hombron's Kingfisher allowing us all to rave about it. We started walking down to Dalwanyan in the early
afternoon hoping to look for Grass Owl lower down at dusk but after 3 kms a Department
of Tourism jeepney stopped and offered us a lift back to Cagayan de Oro which
seemed too good an offer to refuse. We
arriving in Cagayan after dark and found a hotel near the airport. 40 species seen, mostly repeats, but did
include a Philippine Serpent Eagle and male Pied Harrier and c75 Eye-browed
Thrushes and an Arctic Warbler on the lower slopes.
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| me, John & Barry at the lower eagle lookout - it was a lot hotter here than this image might suggest |
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| the track leaving Katanglad |
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| our Tourist Office jeepney lift |
6 April
1996. We were at Cagayan de Oro airport in good
time for our 07.20 flight to Cebu where we had several hours to look for Black
Shama before flying on to Bohol. That
was the plan, but we’d not taken account of the weather –very dull with thick
low cloud. We heard the plane come in,
fly around a bit and depart. Maybe it
would try later but after waiting what seemed like hours, and with a forecast
suggesting that an immediate improvement wasn’t likely, it was cancelled. If that wasn’t bad enough the next flight
wasn’t until Monday, two days away! Now
the Lonely Planet Guide came to the rescue, indicating that a ferry, the
Cagayan Princess, normally sailed direct to Bohol at midday on Saturdays. Enquiries suggested that it still did and we
quickly got a taxi to the quay where it was quite a relief to see it tied
up. We left on time and it was a very
boring six hour crossing to Jagna where we arrived just after dark. Despite the relatively early hour (it had
only just got dark) we were told there were no buses or taxis available. This seemed unlikely given that we’d just got
off a scheduled ferry. Perhaps we’d not
disembarked quickly enough but it seemed more like a ruse to get us to stay the
night in an expensive dive. At least
we’d made it to Bohol and kept the trip on track. I saw 18 Red-necked Phalaropes, two
unidentified terns and 3 dolphins at sea but only one other species (Tree Sparrows in Cagayan de Oro).
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| the Cagayan Princess |
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| at sea |
7 April
1996. We caught the first bus towards Tagbilaran at
04:30, changing at Loay where we got the 06:30 bus to Bilar. We had a 30 minute delayed en route while a
puncture was mended and at Bilar got 2 motor-cycle rickshaws to take us the 4
kms to Logarita Forest Station, arriving before 09:00. We dumped our bags in the pleasant reserve guest
house we were very pleased had room for us and someone who could provide food,
although being rice based John and David were not overly impressed. We headed for the Valley Trail and I was very
tense at the possibility of seeing a new pitta.
We started well with the first bird seen being a Ruddy Kingfisher on the
way to the trail and within less than half an hour on the trail we heard an
Azure-breasted (or Steere’s) Pitta calling.
It immediately responded to tape playback and flew in to give stunning
views sat on a branch about 10 feet above the ground for 5-10 minutes, first
back then head on, before flying off.
Completely brilliant, it was my main target bird for the trip. By mid-day we'd seen two more, one which I
watched for 10 minutes, and walking the trail a second time produced a
4th! The last standing stationary,
perhaps until it realised it had been seen, and then bouncing up the
hillside. Other birds amongst the 20
species I saw were a Philippine Trogon, Rufous-tailed Jungle Flycatcher, Blue
Fantail and our first Coletos. Rather
frustratingly we heard Philippine Scops Owl, Hawk Owl and Frogmouth in the
clearing by the guest house at night, but despite going out after each one
failed to see anything apart from a rather nice flying lemur.
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| delay on the way to Bilar |
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| John (in orangey-pink shirt) checking on the puncture repair |
8 April
1966. We were on the Valley Trail soon after dawn,
walking it twice during the day but we saw no more pittas and frustratingly
only heard Winchell's Kingfisher. The
first time we contined to the end of the trail and came out on the Swimming
Pool Trail and we visited the Scout Camp Clearing in late afternoon. Nick wandered off from there just before dusk
and came running back shortly after, having found a Wattled Broadbill, another
key species. We rushed to the site but
it had moved on. My panicking was
fortunately short lived as David refound it further down the track as the light
was going. Luckily I had my spotlight with
me and we got excellent views of 2 pairs as they were preparing to roost. Another day at Logarita and another brilliant
bird seen. 27 species seen including 2
Philippine Trogons, 3 Samar Hornbills, 4 Black-faced Coucals, Black-chinned
Fruit Dove and Samar Tailorbird.
9 April
1996. We were back in the Scout Camp Clearing soon
after dawn but could find no sign of the Broadbills. We then split up with Barry, Nick and I walking
the Valley Trail where an absolutely amazing Red-bellied Pitta was found by
Barry. It was a small, very confiding
pitta that seemed very interested in playback and although it only called once,
that was enough! We watched it for
about half an hour before being able to drag ourselves away to find John and
David back at the rest house, returning almost immediately to watch it again
for another half an hour or so. It was
bird of the trip for me and my 19th species of pitta. 25 species seen including Black-chinned Fruit
Dove, Blue-crowned Racket-tail (over the Scout Camp Clearing), Philippine
Trogon, Ruddy Kingfisher and 2 Samar Hornbills.
Three days at Logarita, three stunning species seen!
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| The Pitta plate from our 'home-made' field guide. Bound photographs of most plates from the handbook sized duPont's Phillipine Birds. Red-bellied is centre, Azure-breasted (or Steere's) bottom left. Whiskered (or Koch's), top left, involved a four day excursion/hike in Northern Luzon and would have to wait for another time |
10 April 1996. We
were up in early hours after calling Philippine Hawk Owl which gave good views
in spotlight, a rare night success for us.
We gave the Valley Trail a break starting with Swimming Pool Trail where
I saw a female Wattled Broadbill. It was
a good but brief view and disappeared before anyone else could get onto
it. We then walked out in nearby paddies
looking at some Yellow Wagtails and 9 Pacific Golden Plovers and were amazed
when two white birds flying round the forest edge turned out to be Philippine
Cockatoos and not egrets (we nearly didn't bother looking at them)! They then appeared to be prospecting nest
hole sites. Visits to the Scout Camp
Clearing and Valley Trail were unproductive although John & David had seen
Winchell's Kingfisher in flight on the latter.
27 species seen including and a Black-faced Coucal, a flushed Philippine
Nightjar and a Wattled Bulbul.
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| Bohol frog, fortunately some of our night excursions saw more than this |
11 April 1996. On
the Valley Trail at dawn for last time.
We watched the Red-bellied Pitta for another hour and I saw another Azure-breasted
Pitta (our first since the first day) but again failed to get an acceptable
view of Winchell's Kingfisher or possibly any view at all – mine being a shape
flying through the canopy which seemed to tie in with where calls were
heard. The bird’s name was too close to
wind-chill for winter weather-forecasts not to be a constant reminder of a
painful dip. I only saw six other
species and we left Logarita for Bilar soon after 09:00 by jeep (with bags tied
on roof). After a short wait we caught a
bus to Tagbilaran and then two motor-cycle rickshaws to the airport. We flew to Manila at 14:50 arriving at 16:45. There we chartered taxi to take us to Lucena,
3-4 hours south of Manila and the closest town to Quezon National Park
(although still c20 km's short of it). We
stayed at the Fresh Air Hotel in north of town - better than the sort of fresh air hotel I was used too!
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| loading our jeep at Logarita - all five of us plus luggage and driver were fitted in |
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| Nick supervising the loading of a motorcycle rickshaw at Tagbilaran |
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| David leaving Tagbilaran |
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| our flight back to Manila |
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| approacing Manila |
12 April 1996. In
the dark we flagged down an early jeepney into the centre of Lucena where we
quickly chartered another to take us to Quezon National Park. The road there was very poor and we didn't
arrive until 07:30. We walked the Summit
Trail hearing a distant Red-bellied Pitta and two frustratingly close but
unresponsive White-browed Shamas but saw little. We then walked down the road to the park
entrance at Malicboy where the 'resident' Indigo-banded Kingfisher was a
delight and then got another jeepney back to the Summit Trail again. Frustratingly we heard the 2 White-browed
Shamas on the Summit Trail again but still could not see them despite much
effort. We walked back down to the
entrance again seeing a family party of 3 Rufous Hornbills from viewpoint in
the rain while 4 needletails that shot over went unidentified. We caught a bus back to Lucena and
motor-cycle rickshaws to the Fresh Air Hotel.
There we arranged an early jeepney to get us to Summit Trail for first
light next morning but were all wishing we’d stayed closer to Quezon, even if
the nearer town didn’t seem to have much going for it. I’d seen 27 species including 2 Stripe-headed
Rhabdornis, 4 Luzon Hornbills and single Guaiabero, Rough-crested Malkoha, Sooty
Woodpecker and Pigmy Flowerpecker.
13 April 1996. Our
booked jeepney took us to Quezon at 04:00, arriving at the start of the Summit
Trail just as it was getting light. We walked
part of the Summit Trail, seeing 2 Spotted Wood Kingfishers and Rufous Coucal
near the start. Most of us only heared
the 2 Shamas again although Nick saw one and a Luzon Bleeding-Heart off trail
that all too soon melted away. We walked
down the road to the viewpoint again and the Rufous Hornbills were still in
area and giving much better views. We
retraced our steps back, walked a bit more of the Summit Trail and then back to
the entrance at Malicboy. After another
look at Indigo-banded Kingfisher our jeepney then took us to Pagbiliao Fish
Ponds for an hour or so mid afternoon. A
good selection of waders in nice plumage included 8 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers. We returned to Lucena for our bags and then
got the 18:00 bus to Manila arriving about 22:00. A taxi to the Townhouse ended another long
day. 25 species seen at Quezon including
20+ Chinese Goshawks, 3 excellent Stripe-headed Rhabdornis and Naked-faced
Spiderhunter. 40 species at Pagbiliao
including Yellow Bittern, Banded Rail and White-bellied Sea Eagle.
14 April 1996. We
got a taxi to Manila Airport soon after first light. We departed from Manila at 08:30 arriving in Singapore at 11:30,
leaving there at 12:30 and arriving at Heathrow at 18:50. We had no real hassles at all, other than our
cancelled flight, and found the Philippines a very friendly, inexpensive,
country (the trip cost me about £850 all in). The trip was very successful in large part due to my excellent birding companions David and John Cooper, Nick Preston and Barry Stidolph (many thanks to them all) although we found it hard work due to low bird densities and a general lack of time. I saw about 165 species in total of which 70+ were
new. For me the best birds were Red-bellied & Azure-breasted Pittas,
Wattled Broadbill, Philippine Frogmouth, Philippine Eagle, Spotted Wood &
Hombron's Kingfishers, Rufous Hornbill, Philippine Bullfinch and Stripe-headed
Rhabdornis.
[blogged November 2013]
