HDV - Whiskered Treeswift

[Neon Rosell II]

Finally after several hours of rendering and encoding here is the HD video. The portion where the bird changed sitting on the egg was stretched to 50% of actual speed.
Whiskered Treeswift (Hemiprocne comata) on nest w/ egg

[tina mallari]

Fantastic video Neon !!!! Going there was DEFINITELY worth it CONGRATULATIONS on the many, many excellent captures Neon.

[Bob Kaufman]

Amazing video, Neon. I don't think this kind of nesting behavior by the Whiskered Tree Swift has been documented before. It's incredible how a small nest can hold a egg on an open branch and even have the parents sit on it, without the nest falling off. Bravo!

[lenymanalo]

Another fantastic documentation!

[Ely Teehankee]

I will leave the Video to experts like you & Romy to share with us what you have captured on video. I do not know yet how to process video nor have your patience of hours of rendering. Your video is also very educational. You did a beautiful job of recording the changing of the guard to enable the egg to hatch. The construction of the nest is just big enough for the egg to be nestled safely. The location is structually safe to support the nest, egg, and bird. Seeing & knowing the difficulties that a bird has to go thru to propagate is enough to suggest that hunting of birds be prohibited. Keep up the good work Neon and CONGRATULATIONS.

[Sylvia Ramos]

Loved this!! Really excellent video Neon! I'm also amazed at how you even spotted the nest in the first place. It's SO TINY! I applaud your photo and video skills AND your powers of observation! Really good job, the way you go out there and discover all these new things! Thanks for sharing with us.

[Romy Ocon]

Excellent documentation, Neon..... the nest is not much larger than the egg, great job on filming the changing of the guard!

[Neon Rosell II]

Thanks Plain Master Idol Tina, Bob, Leny, Ely, Sylvia and Ka Mastah!!! For the encouragements, If you enjoyed watching it, I must say I was overwhelmed with joy the moment I saw the swift perched on a branch while I was driving.

I had several shots of it from where I stopped in the middle of the road, using the window as support. Now I have developed some bicep muscles from taking the rig from the passengers side. Aphine was holding it while I'm driving, using the lens hood as support on the floor.

I didn't know it was on a nest till I approached it much closer, surprised to see the bird wasn't flushed by me and flew away. Only when I looked again and remembered the photos of Rey and Bong of a nest they found and photographed somewhere in Palay-palay that I realized it's sitting on a nest. Lucky I stopped and parked the car to take more pictures. At first I wanted to go on as I got some good photos already from the car window.

Here are some photos Aphine took while I was shooting this bird to give you an idea of how beautiful and pristine the forest are on this stretch of highway.

I must say, this is the most forest cover on a long stretch of road I have ever set my eyes on and one which has the least human impact. I'd gladly go back to this place any time.





The first thing that came to mind was it's not yet too late for the Philippines, we still have this place, and hopefully some sort of management can be strictly enforced to keep this place the way it is. Guys, you should really see this place!! and with our photos we could bring awareness that there is still such a place. It won't be hard to manage this area as there are very sparse human habitations all throughout.

[mantarey]

Beautiful piece Neon. I like the part where the bird rotates its head more than 180 degrees. Of course the highlight was when the male arrived to take over the nesting chore.