Bright-Capped Cisticola in Sta. Elena

[Sylvia Ramos]

This was taken at the Sta. Elena Golf course last Wednesday. Sta. Elena is one of three golf clubs in the Philippines that is certified as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. The other two golf courses are Southwoods and Forest Hills.

We went there with two other Wild Bird Club members to make a bird count. We reached 44 species! Tonji and I took pictures of around 30 species.

Bright-Capped Cisticola

iso 500, 5.6, 1/640, Canon 50d + Canon 5.6 + tripod

Here's a link to our gallery of Sta. Elena birds in smugmug:
tonjiandsylviasbirdlist.smugmug.com/gallery/8429314_xLd63/1/554574279_gyiZN

[Romy Ocon]

Love the mood and colors of this photo, Sylvia!

[Ding Carpio]

Love it! Feels so young, so fresh.

[Toto Gamboa]

I love it when you see the surroundings. Great capture!

[tina mallari]

Nice one Sylvs

[Tonji Ramos]

For those who don't get bird reports, here is the list Sylvia submitted to WBCP.

Christian Perez arranged this birding trip to the Santa Elena Golf Club. The Club is certified by the Audubon Society as a bird sanctuary and for water conservation. The manager of the club gave Christian a very intruiging list of bird species found in the club. There were 100 species on their list!

SITE/ LOCALITY: Santa Elena Golf Club
BARANGAY:
CITY:
PROVINCE: Laguna
ISLAND:

START DATE: 2009 June 3
END DATE:
START TIME: 6:05 A.M.
TIME IN FIELD: 7 h 35 min

Name of Birder (REPORTER): Sylvia Ramos
Other Birders Present: Tonji Ramos, Christian Perez, Mark Wallbank
# of Birders Present: 4

ENVIRONMENT CONDITION: sunny and humid with brief showers
TRIP NOTES:
REFERENCE: Kennedy

BIRDLIST

1. Great Egret Ardea alba 1
2. Little Egret Egretta garzetta 20
3. Little Heron (Striated Heron) Butorides striata 1
4. Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis 20
5. Black-crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax 3
6. Cinnamon Bittern Ixobrychus cinnamomeus 1
7. Yellow Bittern Ixobrychus sinensis 3
8 Barred Rail Gallirallus torquatus 4
9. White-browed Crake Porzana cinerea 3 2 imm
10. Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus 2
11. Red Turtle-Dove (Red Collared-Dove) Streptopelia tranquebarica 17
12. Spotted Dove (Spotted-necked Dove) Streptopelia chinensis 1
13. Zebra Dove Geopelia striata x
14. Lesser Coucal Centropus bengalensis 1
15. Philippine Coucal Centropus viridis 3 1 HO
16. Glossy Swiftlet Collocalia esculenta x
17. Pygmy Swiftlet Collocalia troglodytes 1
18. White-throated Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis 7
19. White-collared Kingfisher (Collared Kingfisher) Todirhamphus chloris x saw a nest
20. Blue-throated Bee-eater Merops viridis 2
21. Blue-tailed Bee-eater Merops philippinus 36
22. Coppersmith Barbet Megalaima haemacephala 3 1 HO
23. Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker (Philippine Woodpecker) Dendrocopos maculatus 2
24. Pacific Swallow Hirundo tahitica x
25. Pied Triller Lalage nigra 2
26. Yellow-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus goiavier x
27. Black-naped Oriole Oriolus chinensis x
28. Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchos 8
29. Oriental Magpie-Robin Copsychus saularis 5
30. Golden-bellied Flyeater (Golden-bellied Gerygone) Gerygone sulphurea 2
31. Clamorous Reed-Warbler Acrocephalus stentoreus x
32. Tawny Grassbird Megalurus timoriensis 3
33. Striated Grassbird Megalurus palustris 10
34. Bright-capped Cisticola (Golden-headed Cisticola) Cisticola exilis 1
35. Zitting Cisticola (Fan-tailed Cisticola) Cisticola juncidis 1
36. Pied Fantail Rhipidura javanica 11
37. White-breasted Wood-swallow Artamus leucorynchus 17
38. Long-tailed Shrike Lanius schach 5
39. Olive-backed Sunbird Cinnyris jugularis 1
40. Buzzing Flowerpecker Dicaeum hypoleucum 1
41. Lowland White-eye Zosterops meyeni 14
42. Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus 2
43. Scaly-breasted Munia Lonchura punctulata 3
44. Chestnut Munia (Black-headed Munia) Lonchura malacca 5

[Sylvia Ramos]

Hi Romy, Toto, Ding, Tina, and Tonji! Thank you for the nice comments! I was so pleased that I was able to get a shot of that bird. There were a whole bunch of grass stalks in between me and the bird. It was amazing to peer through the stalks and get a clear view of it posing nicely at eye-level.

For those who aren't familiar with the trip report format, x means there were a lot and we stopped counting, HO means heard only, imm is immature.

[Azahari Reyes @ Jason]

Nice habitat shot

[Ely Teehankee]

Your pictures are very nice. Your new camera and lens work very well with you. What is amazing and admirable is that you are able to make a bird list of every trip you make. Keep up the good work. This is something I can't get myself to do. Well done. Mabuhay.

[Sylvia Ramos]

Thanks Horokuru!

Thank you Ely! I enjoy having my notebook and pen and keeping notes. It's nice to look at all the notes afterwards. I also think we end up seeing more birds when we know we're making a trip report for the WBCP bec. we try harder to spot and id as many birds as we can! Nice also to think that you're making a contribution to the bird knowledge, statistics and info!