Rockjumper Birding Tours - Netfugl.dk

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Trip journal
Thursday May 12 th : Luzon, Los Banos
This incredible bird trip started in a steaming hot Manila, the capital of the Philippines.
Our local bird guide and tour operator, the renowned Timothy H. Fisher, picked up the first arrivals,
Bob Dermer and Erling Krabbe, at 9.00 a.m. at the Malate Pension House in Adriatico Street in the
heart of the city, and they went to the International Airport in Manila to pick up Rockjumper
Birding Tours guide, David Shackleford (Shack), who arrived straight from a birding trip in
Australia. The last two tour participants, Adam Riley and David Hoddinott, would only arrive from
South Africa later in the afternoon, so we decided that Bob, Shack and Erling should head on with
Tim’s assistant to Los Baños at the foot of Mt. Makiling – our first birding destination on the trip -
to get acquainted with the first endemic, Philippine birds. Meanwhile, Tim would wait for Adam
and David, and join us later. A couple of hours later in Los Banos at the foot of Mount Makiling,
the ”scout group” enjoyed the rich bird life in the Botanical Garden, at the university campus and
along the famous ”Buttonquail track” among fields at the foot of the mountain – a good site for the
endemic Spotted Buttonquail. We were rewarded with our first endemic Philippine birds like the
stunning Indigo-banded Kingfisher, Handsome Sunbird, Spotted Buttonquail and the enigmatic
Stripe-headed Rhabdornis, the latter being a representative to an endemic passerine family of
three species, being somewhat similar in behaviour to nuthatches.
At dark, the rest of the team joined us at the Trees Lodge hotel. When greetings were finished, we
went straight outside to spotlight a calling Philippine Hawk-Owl! No time to waste, and our
Philippine adventure had started.
The weather of the day was cloudy, hot (37 degrees Celsius midday) and humid, with a brief
shower during the drive to Los Banos.
Downtown Manila
Friday May 13 th : Luzon, Mt. Makiling
At the break of dawn a quarter to five, we started to walk along the road up Mt. Makiling. Weather
was clear and it was a fine morning.The mountain has a good rainforest and birding was great.
Everyone was very keen, this being our first birding morning in the Philippines, at a fine locality.
During the morning, we had superb views of birds like the magnificent Spotted Wood-Kingfisher,
Red-bellied Pitta, White-browed Shama, Luzon Tarictic Hornbill, Sulphur-billed Nuthatch,
Elegant Tit, and Philippine Trogon. Some of the group heard a cooing Luzon Bleeding-heart
Pigeon – a bird becoming increasingly rare. We looked in vain for Ashy Ground Thrush along the
roadside.