The Flowering Lipote Tree at UP Los Baños

[Ely Teehankee]

This is the first time for me to see the flowering Lipote tree at the UP Los Baños Botanical Garden.  I saw several kinds of small birds being attracted to the flowers of this tree.  It is similar to the Chinese Red Hat flowering tree that also attracts different kinds of small birds.  Special thanks to Don David who made arrangements for my visit there.


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.


The first bird that I saw was the Orange-bellied Flowerpecker (Dicaeum trigonostigma) 3 1/2 inches.  Just like the Sunbirds they are skittish and takes more effort to photograph them.
1/125 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800



1/100 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800



Another small bird is the Red-keeled Flowerpecker (Dicaeum trigonostigma) 4 inches.
1/80 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800



This is a female Sunbird and I will post the ID as soon as I have it.
1/80 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800



This bird looks like the Plain-throated Sunbird but it is called the Grey-throated Sunbird (Anthreptes griesigularis) 4 3/4 inches.  It was a pleasant surprise to get this lifer.
1/160 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800



1/125 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800



1/100 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800



1/125 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800


[Ramon Quisumbing]

Wonderful harvest, Ely!

[Tateo Osawa]

All nice shots Ely., Lucky! you got a male and female plain-throated Sunbird.

[Tonji Ramos]

Ely I guess this is the thread you called me up about.

This tree is really something. It attracts so many different species. I am planting 20 of them in our place today. I hope to attract some birds when they get bigger in a several years.

[Ely Teehankee]

Jan 22, 2014 17:07:16 GMT Tateo Osawa said:

All nice shots Ely., Lucky! you got a male and female plain-throated Sunbird.

Thank you Tateo. The female Sunbird might be a Handsome Sunbird according to Des. I still have to see the male.

[Ely Teehankee]

Jan 23, 2014 1:11:55 GMT Tonji Ramos said:

Ely I guess this is the thread you called me up about.

This tree is really something. It attracts so many different species. I am planting 20 of them in our place today. I hope to attract some birds when they get bigger in a several years.

The new format of the PBPF is slightly different and it takes a little practice to get uses to its nuances, but maybe it will serve better in the long run. That will be nice when they start flowering about 5 years from now. I hope I will still be able to do bird photography by that time. LOL.

[Ely Teehankee]

Jan 22, 2014 3:56:41 GMT Ramon Quisumbing said:

Wonderful harvest, Ely!

Thank you Ramon. I remember how I missed it last year. I still missed the Handsome Sunbird so I may have to give it another try.