Mountain Birds in the Morning

[Tonji Ramos]

We birders are used to getting up really early to get the birds when they are the most active. In the higher altitudes early morning birding is a bit tougher to do. Well for one its rather cold. I always wake up at 5:00 am so its not a problem waking up. Its getting out of the warm bed that is an issue. The next problem is the fog. There is more in the morning and it interferes with the light and the shot. Its also harder to spot the birds, which I think they like because they seemed to be even more active in the fog.

These next birds were all taken in the morning. They all liked to hide in the fog. Some were alone and some in roving mixed flocks. I must say that I really love the high ISO capacity of the 5D mk2. I used to always try to stay below ISO 400, now I find it possible to go birding even in very difficult light.

This bird is the first Mountain Verditer-Flycatcher of the nigrimentalis race we have seen. The other time we saw this bird was in Mindanao, the nigriloris race which had less black on the face. This bird was with a mixed flock and was hiding inside a bush under the cover of fog. Thankfully there was some movement in the fog and I got a few shots of this bird. I saw this species twice in the three days we were there so it must be pretty common.

Mountain Verditer-Flycatcher

ISO 800, 1/80, f5.6, car window

This small fellow was a lifer for us. This endemic bird likes to hide inside a bush or in the grass. A very common bird, we saw them alone or in a flock of 3 to 5. It is always calling out, not just in the morning but actually all day. I like this picture because it shows the bird in its natural element, hiding in the grass.

Luzon Bush- Warbler
Cettia seebohmi


ISO 1600, 1/60, f5.6, tripod


This bird was in a mixed flock that was using the fog as cover. Conditions were not ideal but we persisted and got another lifer, the Mountain Leaf-Warbler. I would assume this bird is also quite common in Sagada as I saw the species twice. The picture also shows the fog in the background, thankfully it passed and I got a few shots of this bird.

Mountain Leaf-Warbler
Phylloscopus trivirgatus


ISO 800, 1/100, f5.6, car window

I was surprised to see this Malkoha because I see them in Palay-Palay and Mt. Makiling. Then I remembered I also saw a lot of these guys in the Sierra Madre mountains near Aurora. So I guess they like mountains and forests and they have a big range.

I saw a pair very early every morning near our hotel.

Scale-feathered Malkoha
Phaenicophaeus curvirostris

ISO 1250, 1/50, f5.6, tripod

[Ed Matuod]

Wow! Great harvest, Tonji! Great photos too. Thanks for sharing.

[Neon Rosell II]

I sort of didn't want to open the forum again, yet I could not resist, now I'm depressed...

I knew it!! Great captures once again Tonji!! ;D That Luzon-bush warbler is a hard one to get, I only got blurred captures of it cause as you said they only come out when the sun hasn't risen yet.

Nice SFM!! It's really a struggle to get the whites exposed properly on this bird and you got it spot on.

[alainpascua]

Wow, great harvest, Tonji! Congrats!

[tina mallari]

Fantastic captures Tonji !!!! Now that you've posted your captures, where's the next outing ? hEhHEhehEHe

[steve pryor]

Tonji,
Nice Cettia. My compliments go out to anybody capable of figuring out any bird ID based on probably the poorest plate in the KG, Plate 59, the one treating Cettia and Bradypterus species.

[Bob Kaufman]

Wow! Everything is just so perfect! I wish I could have these kind of photos, especially given the conditions they were shot.

[Romy Ocon]

Another super montane set, Tonji.... love the LBW!

[Edu Lorenzo Jr]

These are the types of photos that makes others think bird photography is easy.

Congratulations on the harvest Tonji! Double congrats for nailing these shots at such difficult conditions! All are winners!

[mantarey]

AWesome lifers Tonji, congrats on these hard to get species.

[Tonji Ramos]

Thanks Ed. Glad you liked the pics.

Neon, I think JP is also going to the mountains. We will surely see more mountain birds when he is done. The Luzon Bush Warbler was difficult because it did not want to perch. But the call gives it away. If you go to the resort we stayed in you will surely get it, if the other birds don't distract you.

Thanks Alain, Tina pack your bag lets go.

Thanks Steve, we studied the birds we might encounter before going by looking at pictures and reading the Kennedy guide. It seemed to pay off as it made us more efficient at looking for the new birds. When we first spotted the bird Sylvia automatically said, "Benguet Bush-Warbler!" But we whipped out the guide and saw that it was rare and had a larger tail and had a short eyebrow so we discounted it. That left the Oriental and the Luzon Bush-Warblers. The Oriental is supposed to have rufus upperparts and was listed at 6 1/2 inches. This was a small brown bird so by using the process of elimination and seeing that the Luzon Bush Warbler is found in the Cordilleras we made the ID.

Thanks Bob, we can recommend the inn we stayed in if ever you go to Sagada.

Thanks Romy, Edu and Rey. Edu, I think sorting thru all the pics is harder than taking them. Hehe.

[Godfrey "Godo" Jakosalem]

Great harvest! Congratulations...

[Tonji Ramos]

Thanks Godo.

[Toto Gamboa]

Great harvest Tonji! Mountain birds are really hard to capture.

[Lydia Robledo]

You, fortunate, you. I hope and wish that you and Syl will find always find yourselves aiming at butterflies just to get a breather. telyds.