Rockjumper Birding Tours - Netfugl.dk

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Birding along the road in Palawan forest
Palawan Hornbill
Upon arrival in Sabang we checked in at a small, sleepy place called Last Frontier Paradise Hotel,
where we stayed in cabins. It was very hot and humid, almost too hot for a midday nap. From the
cabins there was a nice view over a small rice paddy area, which harboured 3 Chinese Pond-
Herons in breeding plumage, Watercock, Greater Painted-snipe and a Blue-eared Kingfisher
skirted by, now and then. Shack saw an Eastern Reef Egret on the nearby beach.
In the afternoon and evening we birded at the forest edge just behind the hotel. Great Slaty
Woodpecker, White-bellied Woodpecker, Asian Fairy-Bluebird and the small “Palawan Crow”
- a Palawan endemic subspecies of Slender-billed Crow - showed well. After dark, a brilliant Javan
Frogmouth was taped in and caught in the torchlight, sitting on a branch just above our heads. We
also had good views of a calling Spotted Wood-Owl.
Sunday May 22 nd : Palawan, full day birding in St. Paul’s Underground River National Park.
Evening at Lion’s Cave
Today was the big day for visiting the famous national park of Sabang - St. Paul’s Underground
River National Park (now renamed “Puerto Princesa N.P.”). The park is the biggest tourist
attraction in Palawan, and one of the biggest attractions in the Philippines as a whole. The national
park is a limestone mountain area, covered by jungle. The coast is fringed by pristine sand beaches.
An underground river flows 3½ kilometres from the centre of the mountain out into the sea, through
a big tunnel system and huge limestone caves. The cave entrance at the beach is quite narrow. You
can hire a boat and a guide, equipped with a big torchlight, and he will take you through the
entrance along the river far into the pitch dark mountain caves. Illuminated by the torch, you can
see thousands of bats and two species of swiftlets on the nest – Palawan Swiftlet and a few Palerumped
Swiftlets, and impressive “cathedral domes”, along with incredible stalactite formations; a
unique experience.
Leaving by boat from Sabang harbour, we arrived at the scenic beach and jungle at the cave
entrance and visitor center at 6.15 am. We stayed in the park most of the day. Tim revealed that he
had actually never done the underground river boat trip, in spite of having been there many times!
Fortunately, he was persuaded by Erling to come along on an extra trip, and it was clear afterwards,
that Tim was glad he’d joined us.
Apart from the incredible caves, the big attraction on the bird side is a male Palawan Peacock-
Pheasant, that for several years has been holding territory in the jungle just behind the entrance of
the national park. It is rather confident – or perhaps fearless, and sometimes even seems to follow
people carefully, perhaps to chase them out of its territory. To our great relief, Arnel quickly found
the bird. It was certainly, one of the highlights of the trip. Photo opportunities of this star bird were
excellent, as it was possible to get as near as 5-6 metres. Several times it was calling eagerly.