Hooded Pitta in Coron, Palawan

[Tonji Ramos]

Sylvia and I went to Coron last Thursday. We had decent weather for the 1.5 days we went birding. We got some photo lifers this trip so that was cool.

This is one of them. A Hooded Pitta, which I saw in Sabang a few months ago but was unable to photograph. This Pitta was kind enough to pose and give us our first photo lifer of the trip.

It was a little overcast and we were in an area with lots of trees.

I am now using the fixed 400 f5.6. Sylvia and I switched lenses. I also used the Canon 1.4x tc for a lot of my pictures during this trip.

Hooded Pitta, Pitta sordida
Coron, Palawan
August 13, 2009



400 f5.6 plus 1.4x, ISO 500, 1/40, f8 manual focus, Manfrotto 3421 head

[Ely Teehankee]

Nice capture of the Hooded Pita with its mouth full. She must be feeding her young at this time and made several trips to where she gets her food. It looks like she has a spider and a centipede in her beak. Looking forward to see your other pictures and that of Sylvia. Does the auto focus still operate with the 1.4 TC attached? Well done Tonji. Mabuhay.

[Tonji Ramos]

Hi Ely,
We actually saw an immature Hooded Pitta in the same area the next day. So maybe it was indeed feeding. The camera will not auto focus with the 1.4x tc. I don't find manual focusing difficult for birds that are not moving. But when they are moving quickly, ack, its not easy.
If you are planning on returning to Coron, the best place to eat is called Bistro Coron, its a french restaurant. The second best place we tried was Sea Dive. We also got the number of a girl who gives a good massage. I found its important to have some beer and a massage after birding in a tricycle the whole day!

[Ely Teehankee]

Thank you Tonji for the valuable info especially the food. I will call you another day as I still have a lot of catching up to do. I am sure you & Sylvia had a wonderful time and a big harvest. Looking forward to you & Sylvia's sharing of your pictures in the Forum. Mabuhay.

[Romy Ocon]

Wow.... looks like a very productive trip, excellent rendition of this bird Tonji!

[Elvin Sansona]

Wow! Very nice capture.

[Toto Gamboa]

Wooooooow. this is a very beautiful pose. i love the BG and the texture of the wood on the lower right corner.

[Farmer Nestor]

Two thumbs up

[mantarey]

Wow that's quite a mouthful. Nice shot Tonji, you got all the colors of this pretty bird. I was there a few times and I never saw this bird in a tree, they're always in the ground looking for food.

Did you get the White Vented Shama too?

[Tonji Ramos]

Thanks Ely, Romy, Elvin, Toto, Nestor and Rey.

Ely, I seem to be processing the pics very slowly now. Sylvia has not even started with hers. I will do another one in a bit. We saw a number of birds. Thankfully it was not as confusing as when we went to Sabang, which was our first trip to Palawan. Our bird photo lifer list is growing slowly.

Rey, we did see the Shama. Sylvia took some photos. I did take a few but took more of them when we were in Sabang. A lot of Chestnut-breasted Malkohas this time. We saw a flock of 6 on the first day and a flock of 3 the next. Lots of Leaf birds also much more than Sabang.

[mantarey]

Wow, six Malkohas the first day, you guys just joined Idol Tins as the new Bird Magnets. I should bird with you sometime so I'll see more birds.