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Post by Romy Ocon on Feb 12, 2008 12:15:57 GMT
Mt. Data, Cordillera, 2155 m ASL, Feb. 12 - Arrived at Mt. Data lunch time today, after a 10 hour easy driving across 350 km of mixed terrain by my birding buddy Arnold. Some field notes to share: 1. I immediately set off for my favorite birding spot, which is about 11 km north of Mt. Data, so I can scout for good perches for tomorrow's serious birding. Imagine my disappointment when I found out that the Halsema Highway is being re-concreted starting at that portion then going Bontoc-ward. They even built a concrete batch plant right at the spot where I parked to shoot the Little Pied Flycatcher in 2006. All vegetation around are dusty, hence unphotogenic. Worse, there's not much bird calls to be heard. The site has become virtually hopeless, birdshooting-wise. 2. I saw the Mountain Shrike right upon my arrival, but it was so far away and I didn't try to stalk it because of extreme exhaustion. I did get some docu shots of the Olive Tree-Pipit and distant Common Buzzard in flight. 3. The temp has plummeted to 6 degrees Celsius outside the hotel as I type this, and still falling. I wish it can go below zero at dawn so I can photograph some frost on the flowers early tomorrow. ;D 4. Globe Telecoms has no signal at Mt. Data, hence my wireless broadband has become useless. I've to use my Smart phone SIM and make do with a slow 42 kbps connection. So to those going up here in the near future, be sure to bring a Smart SIM if you wish to maintain contact with the outside world. Will update these field notes after end of birding day tomorrow. Romy
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Post by JP Cariño on Feb 12, 2008 12:59:42 GMT
Good luck Romy. Can't wait for Feb 22
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Post by tina mallari on Feb 12, 2008 13:04:25 GMT
JP, what's happening on Feb 22 ? Are you going up to the mountains too ? Wency and I will be leaving on the 22nd too to go birding up in the mountains
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Post by JP Cariño on Feb 12, 2008 13:08:02 GMT
i guess we will have an EB there since speedmonkey, pitsew and meillana are planning to go with me also
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Post by Neon Rosell II on Feb 12, 2008 13:40:18 GMT
i guess we will have an EB there since speedmonkey, pitsew and meillana are planning to go with me also Wooohaaa!! Looks like Mt. Data Hotel will get fully booked on 23-24. Just make sure you have bookings as these dates are on a weekend. Cheers,
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Post by Romy Ocon on Feb 14, 2008 7:41:30 GMT
For the second straight day (Wed and Thu), the temp was 3 deg C as I left the hotel before sunrise. Yesterday, I was able to bird towards the middle of the day as there was not much wind to increase the chill factor. Got some docu shots of the Citrine Canary FC, Blue-headed FT and a female Little Pied FC. No lifer yet. Today (Thu) was a total loss. I got up as usual before sunrise, with the temp at 3 deg C, but this time with the wind blowing like crazy. The cold is so unbearable that I couldn't get out of the car, despite 2 layers of jackets on top of my shirt. Gosh.... I think I'd forego dreaming of photographing Arctic penguins. Romy
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