Post by Ely Teehankee on Nov 27, 2011 3:17:36 GMT
It was good to see Coron again after some time and to watch the colorful, playful, and lovely birds at Mount Darala. Having arrived in the morning I had the chance to bird for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Although it was almost a certainty to see the Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher it was certainly delightful to see this colorful small bird hunting for his food by the stream flowing down from the mountain. I will be posting more birds in the days to come as I process them. My return trip to Manila was cancelled by Cebu Pacific due to what they call a Sunset limitation. Upon inquiry it was explained that landing after sunset is prohibited by aviation regulations. The airport does not have landing lights to guide the plane in or out. Currently there are 7 flights a day and I see more local & foreign tourist than my previous trips. It may be of interest to you to know that Cebu Pacific provided the passengers the hotel for the night. We were provided a meal allowance of P150. The excess to be paid by the passenger. I later found out that some passengers in another hotel were given P200. We returned to Manila early the following morning taking the van provided by Cebu Pacific. They gave us a packed breakfast which was okay especially when you are hungry. LOL. They also gave us a one way ticket to be used in the next 180 days, for the inconvenience that they have caused. There are some birds here that can be named different from what is commonly known to us. I am hoping that the experts like Arne, Des, and Steve could tell us how to name them correctly.
Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, Canon EF 800mm f5.6L IS USM, Gitzo GT3530LS tripod, Wimberley WH200 head. Manual exposure in available light.
The first bird that I saw was the White-vented Shama (Copsychus niger) a Philippine endemic. This is very common in Coron and when I saw the bird it made me realize that I am now in one of my favorite birding place.
1/60 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
The KGB call this endemic bird the Blue-headed Racket-tail (Prioniturus platenae) and also mentions that some authors have treated this a race of the Blue-crowned Racquet-tail (Prioniturus discurus). The latter sounds more appealing.
1/1250sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600
It is almost a sure thing to see the endemic Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher (Ceyx erithacus) in Mount Darala. Some authors split this into Rufous-backed Kingfisher (Ceyx rufidorsa) which is a better description of this bird. The Ruddy Kingfisher used to be almost a sure thing until some young boy killed it with a slingshot for target practice. I remember that I would see the male catching small crabs and instead of eating it would give it to his female companion. I was able to take pictures of this bird at less than 10 meters. I have not seen this bird for about a year now.
1/160sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600
The worm on the beak of this bird that looks like an Oriental Cuckoo (Cuculus optatus) to me made me photograph this bird even if it was far away. To those of us who were able to photograph this bird at UP it was much closer. I remember that I was with Bong & William during that time. Note: This should be Bar-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike (Coracina striata difficilis) as stated by Steve. Kennedy identifies (difficilis) as endemic in Busuanga. Is that correct Steve?
1/1600 sec, f/5.6 ISO 3200
This is another bird that has a common name of Olive-backed Sunbird (Nectarinia calcostetha) which is very different from the ones that we see here in Metro Manila. The male aside from the dark metallic purplish blue on its throat has varying amount of orange in center of its breast. The KGB distinguishes it as (Nectarinia jugularis aurora) which could also be classified as endemic to the Philippines in the future. The bird on the nest is the female and the male can be seen in the vicinity of the nest. It would be interesting to see the hatchlings when the eggs are hatched by next month.
1/80 sec., f/5.6, ISO 3200
Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, Canon EF 800mm f5.6L IS USM, Gitzo GT3530LS tripod, Wimberley WH200 head. Manual exposure in available light.
The first bird that I saw was the White-vented Shama (Copsychus niger) a Philippine endemic. This is very common in Coron and when I saw the bird it made me realize that I am now in one of my favorite birding place.
1/60 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
The KGB call this endemic bird the Blue-headed Racket-tail (Prioniturus platenae) and also mentions that some authors have treated this a race of the Blue-crowned Racquet-tail (Prioniturus discurus). The latter sounds more appealing.
1/1250sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600
It is almost a sure thing to see the endemic Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher (Ceyx erithacus) in Mount Darala. Some authors split this into Rufous-backed Kingfisher (Ceyx rufidorsa) which is a better description of this bird. The Ruddy Kingfisher used to be almost a sure thing until some young boy killed it with a slingshot for target practice. I remember that I would see the male catching small crabs and instead of eating it would give it to his female companion. I was able to take pictures of this bird at less than 10 meters. I have not seen this bird for about a year now.
1/160sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600
The worm on the beak of this bird that looks like an Oriental Cuckoo (Cuculus optatus) to me made me photograph this bird even if it was far away. To those of us who were able to photograph this bird at UP it was much closer. I remember that I was with Bong & William during that time. Note: This should be Bar-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike (Coracina striata difficilis) as stated by Steve. Kennedy identifies (difficilis) as endemic in Busuanga. Is that correct Steve?
1/1600 sec, f/5.6 ISO 3200
This is another bird that has a common name of Olive-backed Sunbird (Nectarinia calcostetha) which is very different from the ones that we see here in Metro Manila. The male aside from the dark metallic purplish blue on its throat has varying amount of orange in center of its breast. The KGB distinguishes it as (Nectarinia jugularis aurora) which could also be classified as endemic to the Philippines in the future. The bird on the nest is the female and the male can be seen in the vicinity of the nest. It would be interesting to see the hatchlings when the eggs are hatched by next month.
1/80 sec., f/5.6, ISO 3200
