Fellow bird nuts ... might be true that this is one of the effects of the current drought brought by El Nino. ANd since we go out a lot on possibly on a disturbed snake's territory ... magingat na lang din ang lahat! Just be cautious everytime. Will be good too that you go out birding with some company instead of being alone (which am sure some if not most of us including me do once in a while).
The hall mark of a really good bird photographer is PATIENCE! The PATIENCE in NOT publishing low quality bird photos!