Some holiday snaps

[charleybird]

Hi,

I posted a query regarding Philippine bird guide books on the forums a few weeks ago & was struck by the freindly & helpful advice both publicly and via pm's (Mark Itol, Bob Kaufman, a big Thankyou!)
While my trip was always more of a quick 'visit the rellies' run & birdings not high on any of their agendas, my sister-in-law kindly organised a couple of trips to Candaba & the UPDiliman grounds.
Lots of great new species - I found myself wanting to stay alot longer to explore!
I was amazed at the amount of wetland birds in plain view at Candaba, not least the various bittern + was enthralled to see my first ?Blue tailed Bee-eater.
I had the sense that I really could have thrown a stick & hit something out there
Also visited the Cuyo Islands for a couple of days & have included a couple of bird snaps from there.
I understand that these are all very common birds but hopefully some will find something of interest.

Here's hoping to visit your beautiful country again soon!

C+C Welcome

Karl

All images taken with a Canon 7D + 800mm

Yellow Bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis) - iso800 | f6.3 | 1/1600s | +2/3 EC


White-breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus) - iso400 | f6.3 | 1/80s | +1/3 EC


Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea) - iso400 | f6.3 | 1/125s | +1/3 EC


Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea) - iso800 | f5.6 | 1/3200s


Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) - iso800 | f5.6 | 1/20s | +2/3 EC


Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) - iso400 | f7.1 | 1/1000s | +2/3 EC


White-browed Crake (Porzana cinerea) - iso400 | f6.3 | 1/800s | +2/3 EC


Black-headed Munia (Lonchura atricapilla) - iso800 | f6.3 | 1/500s | +2/3 EC


Black-headed Munia (Lonchura atricapilla) - iso400 | f7.1 | 1/800s | +1/3 EC


Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva) - iso400 | f5.6 | 1/2500s | +2/3 EC


Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) - iso400 | f7.1 | 1/2000s | +1/3 EC

[Ramon Quisumbing]

Superb harvest, Karl. Excellent details and lighting.

[des]

The plover looks more like Malaysian Plover. Where did you take this?

[William Lim]

These are beautiful captures, Charleybird.

[charleybird]

Thankyou for the kind comments.
Des, I would be happy to learn that this was a Malaysian plover - my Philippine bird book is 'still in transit', so I have been relying on other region id books & google to form an opinion - admittedly not the most objective approach.
Image taken in Cuyo Islands off the coast of Palawan

Karl

[tina mallari]

These are truly amazing photos Karl !!!! WOW !!!!

[Michael R. Anton]

Fantastic captures!!!

[des]

Yes it is Malaysian Plover, Karl Note the complete black neck collar at the back, very narrow in front, the rounded crown, the indistinct black eyeline, rather mottled back. Cuyo is not a surprising place for it. We get almost no records of any birds from there, so any photos, even 0.01% as good as these stunners would be very interesting.

[charleybird]

Thankyou again for the great comments + the ID clear-up.
The joys of not having a book handy at the time - I have included the image I took of a Kentish Plover at the same time & location last year. Might serve as a quick interesting ID comparison. The differences once pointed out really are quite stark aren't they?
Lazy birding, but because of this sighting last year & finding it in exactly the same spot, I dismissed the bird as a 'Kentish' island resident.
Interestingly there was a male & female plover there this year, alongside a few other single representatives of shorebird species which were also present last year (Whimbrel, Grey-tailed Tattler, Sanderling, Greater Sand Plover, Dark morph Reef Egret).
Although it would be no means complete as some bird calls I didn't recognise, I am happy to draw up a list of birds seen & heard.


Best Regards
,
Karl

[des]

Thanks Karl, a list would be good. Did you not see or manage to photograph any land birds like the endemic ssp of the Hair-crested Drongo or of the Mantanani Scops Owl?
Kentish Plover is quite variable and your bird here does not have a very distinct eye line. We used to have lots of Kentish reported as Malaysian but ID skills have improved vastly over the last 10 years :-)

[charleybird]

Thanks again Des,
I was hoping for Malysian Plover last year so am quite happy with the mis-id correction
I also mis-id'd Hair-crested Drongo as 'Spangled'. I tried a perch setup briefly for Olive-backed Sunbird but instead attracted in one of these - appeared extremely territorial, 'policing' any passing bird, although I couldn't find any obvious evidence of a nest.
Owl? Shhh...don't tell my wife - her favorite bird
One night we heard something that sounded a little like a Southern Boobok outside but had nothing to go spotlighting.
Strangely, we saw no raptors the whole time.
I am about to head out bush, but will pm you a list when I get back.

Best Regards

Karl

[Burr Patterson, Jr.]

You did good, WoW

[Mark Itol]

Fantastic set, Karl! Glad to know you enjoyed your stay and brought home beautiful images.

Great exposure, detail, and colors on all. Really love the running pose of the crake but your Kentish (or is it Malaysian?) Plover "on the clouds" takes the crown as my fave. Hope you can visit again next year and hope that I can join you.

[Mick Harris]

Wonderful series of shots

[Ely Teehankee]

I have never seen the Pacific Golden Plover and the Malaysian Plover. Your pictures are very sharp and clear. Well done Karl & Mabuhay.

[Tateo Osawa]

Very nice photos Karl. I like the Asian Golden Plover very much.