The Birds of Wack Wack Golf & Country Club

[Ely Teehankee]

It was a pleasant surprise to see the Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) 6 inches, perch on a fallen bamboo waiting for a fish to swim by the lagoon. I did not have my gear so I went back the next day and there it was perch on the same bamboo.

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.

1/500 sec., f/8, ISO 400 with 1.4X TC




Near a bamboo tree, there is a mango tree with some expose branches without leaves and it would also go and perch on those branches. I have not seen it catch anything as I did not stay long enough.
1/250 sec., f/8, ISO 400 with 1.4X TC




1/200 sec., f/8, ISO 400 with 1.4X TC




Nearby on another tree there was this immature Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) 25 inches when mature.
1/160 sec., f/8, ISO 400 with 1.4X TC




After a while a Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) 24 inches, landed on another mango tree.
1/250 sec., f/8, ISO 400 with 1.4X TC




Across the lagoon I saw an immature Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) 14 inches feeding on the water lily.
1/250 sec., f/8, ISO 800 with 1.4X TC




A good balancing act by the Common Moorhen.
1/160 sec., f/8, ISO 400 with 1.4X TC




A White-breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus) 11 inches also showed up along the edge of the lagoon.1/200 sec., f/8, ISO 400 with 1.4X TC
1/200 sec., f/8, ISO 400 with 1.4X TC




1/125 sec., f/8, ISO 400 with 1.4X TC




Some birds were chasing each other and making a lot of noise. It turned out that it was a pair of Pied Fantail (Rhipidura javanica) 7 1/2 inches. It landed on the same bamboo earlier occupied by the Common Kingfisher.
1/250 sec., f/8, ISO 400 with 1.4X TC



This Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier) 7 1/2 inches landed near me and gave me the opportunity of taking a picture of this common bird with a kinky name.
1/125 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800




A Striated Grassbird (Megalurus palustris) 10 1/2 inches landed in a bush and started to sing.
1/800 sec., f/8, ISO 800 with 1.4X TC




Looking back across the lagoon where the White-brasted Waterhen stood a few minutes ago, I saw a newcomer. It was a Yellow Bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis) 13 inches stalking a fish. Unfortunately there was no chance for him to make a strike at the fish.
1/200 sec., f/8, ISO 400 with 1.4X TC




1/320 sec., f/8, ISO 1600 with 1.4X TC




The biggest surprise of the day was the sighting a Sulphur Crested Cuckatoo. Even if it was 73.1 meters away, I decided to take a picture of this common Australian bird but not seen in the wild here in the Philippines. It was probably somebody's pet that escape from the owner.
1/800 sec., f/8, ISO 800 with 1.4X TC

[Ramon Quisumbing]

Nice set of captures, Ely.

[Tateo Osawa]

All very nice shots, Ely. I like the photo of the Striated Grassbird very much.

[Ely Teehankee]

Dec 8, 2013 23:54:05 GMT Ramon Quisumbing said:

Nice set of captures, Ely.

Thank you Ramon. The other day I saw a White-throated Kingfisher on the same bamboo perch as the Common Kingfisher but the moment he saw me he took off like a jet. I will see what happens in the next few days after my trip to Bacolod.

[Ely Teehankee]

Dec 9, 2013 13:56:43 GMT Tateo Osawa said:

All very nice shots, Ely. I like the photo of the Striated Grassbird very much.

Thank you Tateo. I like that one too because of the background given the time the picture was taken.

[oespena]

Love the common kingfisher sir Ely. One of my favorite bird.

[Ely Teehankee]

Dec 11, 2013 2:04:02 GMT oespena said:

Love the common kingfisher sir Ely. One of my favorite bird.

Thank you Onnie. Yesterday, while playing golf I noticed that the bamboo pole where the Common Kingfisher & Pied Fantail were perched before, has fallen into the water. Now the Common Kingfisher is perched on another branch of a tree that is further away. There goes my chance of taking a closer shot of this bird.