Triple Endemic At La Mesa Eco Park

[Ely Teehankee]

Sometimes looking for a particular bird can be disappointing. Ramon, JJ, and I were at the La Mesa Eco Park last October 7 and after searching and waiting for 5 hours for the popular Spotted Wood-Kingfisher it was a no-show. Disappointed yes, discourage no. I got a call last Sunday from Anthony Balbin informing me that the SWKF is there. Unfortunately we were not prepared to go. At 3:00 in the morning of Monday I got a text from Ramon informing that he was going to LMEP. I started preparing and just as I was about to leave it started pouring and the sky was gray all over. Ramon said let's wait and see. After about an hour there was a bright opening on the South and soon there were some blue skies on the East. I called Ramon and we decided to give it a go. Good thing we did as we saw three endemic birds in one day.

Credit goes to the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines for making people aware that there are beautiful birds in the area. Special thanks to Jops & Maia for introducing bird watching to the visitors of the park. Several years ago the Ashy Ground Thrush is a difficult bird to find. Bird watchers and photographers witness the presence of this bird and soon they started propagating. Now it is almost with certainty that one would see the Ashy Ground Thrush as they have built nest and succeeded in propagating their species for the past 3 years or so.


Canon EOS 1DX, Canon EF 800mm f5.6L IS USM, Gitzo GT3530LS tripod, M-3.6 Mongoose Gimbal Action Head. Manual exposure in available light.

It took me about 40 minutes to get to La Mesa Eco Park and as I walk up the trail, there was this Mangrove Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis herioti) 6 inches in length.
1/20 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600




We pass by the pond and was delighted to hear the sharp shrill of the Female Indigo-banded Kingfisher (Alcedo argentata) 5 3/4 inches. This bird is endemic to the Philippines.
1/50 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600




1/40 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600




We got a call from JJ that he has spotted our target bird which is the Spotted Wood-Kingfisher. It turned out it was the Ashy Ground Thrush that was moving around. We went back to the pond and this was when we saw the male and female Indigo-banded Kingfisher together in one branch of a tree.This is the male Indigo-banded Kingfisher. It has two bands across the chest compare with the female that only has one band.
1/100 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600




1/50 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800




1/40 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800




We got another call from JJ and this time he was certain that it is the Spotted Wood-Kingfisher (Actenoides lindsayi) 10 inches. This bird is almost twice the size of the Indigo-banded Kingfisher 5 3/4 inches. It is also endemic to the Philippines.
1/40 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600 (Male)




1/40 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600 (Male)




Even the back of this bird has very colorful feathers.
1/125 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600 (Male)




1/160 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600 (Male)




1/100 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600 (Male)




This picture I like because it was the only time that I saw the Spotted Wood-Kingfisher with food on its beak.
1/200 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600 (Male)




What we saw that was very interesting was that the Spotted Wood-Kingfisher seldom moves from its perch. But when the Ashy Ground Thrush (Zoothera cinerea) 7 1/2 inches is around and turning over leaves in search of worms, the SWKF would than compete with the AGT to catch the revealed worm. I don't know whether to categorize this as the SWKF being lazy or being smart. LOL.
1/80 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600




1/40 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600

[Ramon Quisumbing]

Great set, Ely! That was a great day of birding!

[Tateo Osawa]

Nice shots, I like all your photos, Ely. I can see many details of the bird specially the heart mark of the Indigo-banded Kingfisher.

[Ely Teehankee]

Oct 18, 2013 0:30:25 GMT Ramon Quisumbing said:

Great set, Ely! That was a great day of birding!

Thank you Ramon. We were able to cover a wide area which enable us to get Spotty and the Indigos when they were there.

[Ely Teehankee]

Oct 18, 2013 5:43:10 GMT Tateo Osawa said:

Nice shots, I like all your photos, Ely. I can see many details of the bird specially the heart mark of the Indigo-banded Kingfisher.

Thank you for your appreciation. It is a good time to come here now that this birds are showing up at the La Mesa Eco Park.

[Mick Harris]

Wonderful series of images

[Ely Teehankee]

Oct 21, 2013 17:25:06 GMT Mick Harris said:

Wonderful series of images

Thank you Mick. Next time you visit the country, try and visit this place.

[William Lim]

Great captures, Ely!

[Ely Teehankee]

Nov 1, 2013 11:50:43 GMT William Lim said:

Great captures, Ely!

Thank you William. The Indigo-banded Kingfisher and Spotted Wood-Kingfisher have brought a lot of joy to both birdwatchers and bird photographers. One should really make an effort to go there now that they are there. With the danger of typhoon Yolanda with estimated winds of 240 kph, coming in the next few days we don't know what havoc it would have at the La Mesa Eco Park. Hopefully the typhoon will still change direction and spare us.