Rockjumper Birding Tours - Netfugl.dk

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calling eagerly. Hoddinott spotted the bird, and we all (except Tim and Bob, who did not join us),
saw it well a couple of times, though briefly. It was seen only a little above eyelevel, since we were
sitting on the top of a tall rock in the forest. The male bird is not as bright cobalt blue as shown in
the book – rather more pale, turquoise or sky blue. And the long crest was not raised. Still – this
was a heavenly moment on the trip, to have the luck to see this enigmatic and rare species on our
last morning in PICOP.
Our extreme good luck in locating this tiny, elusive gem, in this haystack of a jungle, was all too
soon followed by its frequent travelling companion – bad luck. Ahead of Erling, Shack climbed
down a steep limestone cliff, while holding onto a small tree for support. What Shack didn’t notice
was, that there was a wasp nest in the crown of this small tree. Suddenly the wasps attacked him,
and he let the tree go. And SLAP – the nest hit right back in the face of Erling behind him. Then he
was stung. Both tumbled down the cliff, screaming and trying to escape from the little black,
stinging devils. Back on the forest road they looked like Frankenstein junior and brother. Adam and
Hoddinott lost their way on their later return, and had to be whistled and called back to find the road
again. What a jungle expedition!
Our last stop was a small, forested hill, where Tim on earlier trips had seen Mindanao Wattled
Broadbill. A pair with an immature bird was quickly and brilliantly found by Shack, who also
succeeded to get great photos. Well done, Shack. Thus, we were lucky to nail both Philippine
Wattled Broadbill species during our trip. A birding highlight.
A harsh scream from a flying parrot through the canopy woke our interest. It landed, and turned out
to be the now very rare and difficult Blue-backed Parrot. A female, with the diagnostic, pale bill.
Full house in PICOP, with the three star birds on the last day: The monarch, the broadbill and the
parrot.
Butterflies in the lowland jungle of Mindanao
The stunning Mindanao Wattled Broadbill in PICOP, Bislig
Other nice birds of the morning was a stunning Rufous-lored Kingfisher, Green Imperial-Pigeon,
Blue-crowned Racquettail, Philippine Trogon, Bar-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, Yellowish Bulbul,
Short-crested Monarch heard, Philippine Fairy-Bluebird and Coleto.
After lunch at the hotel, where we had the pleasure of meeting Arne Jensen again, we drove south to
Davao. We reached Davao at 6 pm., checked in to our hotel, and went out to eat. Adam had his hair
shaved off in a barber shop, and looked like someone you don’t want to mess with, maybe Vin
Diesel.
Tim had been busy for several days on the mobile phone, trying to find a solution that would allow
us to see the Great Philippine Eagle on the following day, our last birding day of the trip. It turned
out there was a pair with a youngster on the nest in a place somewhere west of Davao, but this site