Post by Nilo Arribas Jr. on Mar 29, 2013 3:05:12 GMT
Hello friends,
This bird reminds me of a local folklore, an upland tribal equivalent of "Ibong Adarna". I've heard several versions of the story but the interesting character is a mythical bird that hypnotizes people by its song. The victim would fall asleep and the bird would turn them into stone with its droppings. According to the legend, the only countermeasure is to stay awake by making slits in your arms and squeezing "calamansi" (Philippine lemon) in these cuts.
Luckily, I do not have to make slits in my arms and their songs are not the type that can make me sleep in the heat/humid environ. However, the leeches are there to collect blood samples while I'm busy taking these photos. A small prize to pay for the chance to relive the mythical stories of my childhood.
These are obviously not closure shots (due to some cropping and OOF points), but I'm happy with a much closer encounter with one of my favorite montane birds of Mindanao.
Apo Myna [Basilornis mirandus]
Canon 40D + 300mm @ f/8, 1/160Sec, ISO-400, Tripod
Apo Myna [Basilornis mirandus]
Canon 40D + 300mm @ f/10, 1/50Sec, ISO-400, Tripod
Apo Myna [Basilornis mirandus]
Canon 40D + 300mm @ f/10, 1/60Sec, ISO-400, Tripod
Apo Myna [Basilornis mirandus]
Canon 40D + 300mm @ f/8, 1/320Sec, ISO-400, Tripod
In my past trips to this site, I only have brief and often very distant encounters with the Apo Myna. Below are some graphic illustrations of what its like chasing an elusive target in the past sorties.
This is the full frame capture using an APS-C DSLR with a 1200mm lens setup and an almost futile attept to process the image captured by the sensor.
Canon 40D + 600mm f/4 IS + 2X TC at 1200mm, f/16, 1/40Sec, ISO-250, Tripod
And this is the human perspective/view of the subjects across the ridge.
