Masantol / Macabebe Pampanga

[Neon Rosell II]

About 2 hours drive Northeast from Manila, this place is the natural flood plain of the Pampanga River Delta. This natural wetland was long ago reclaimed and most of it was converted to a complex of fishponds and town centers.

Plain Master Idol Tina, Tonji & Sylvia and I went on a sortie to this place last May 6, 2009. We were lucky that it did not rain as the roads along the fishponds were made up of soil and when it is saturated with water it turns into sticky soft mud.

Thanks to Tonji and Sylvia for accommodating me and my gear in their vehicle and for the sandwiches and chocolate filled banana cake..yum!!

Thanks to Linda Gocon for waking up early and guiding us through the maze of streets leading to the fishponds. And, for going ahead and sending an SMS that she saw along the Masantol-Macabebe highway a pair of this bird in breeding plumage....

Pheasant-tailed Jacana (Hydrophasianus chirurgus)
5DM2 + 600mm L f4 IS + 2x Kenko TC, f11.2, 1/500 sec, ISO 800, EV -1/3, adjusted exposure +0.45 during PP


The female is the larger bird.

Really had a grand time!!

[Romy Ocon]

Very nice shot of this pair, Neon!

[Neon Rosell II]

Thanks Ka Mastah!! Here's a running Yellow Bittern that landed just in front of us.
f11.2, 1/640 sec, ISO 800, EV -2/3, adjusted exposure to +0.40 during PP

[mantarey]

Beautiful capture Neon, catching them both in the frame at a very good distance.

[Neon Rosell II]

Thanks Rey, four of us were shooting this pair, I for one shot about 8Gb on this birds alone, of course including several minutes of HD video footage. ;D

Here's a shot of the female.

[Mark Itol]

Wow! All beautifully captured, Neon!

[Neon Rosell II]

Thanks Mark!!

Here's a Striated Heron (Butorides striata) getting ready to strike at a fish.
5DM2 + 600mm L f4 + 2x Kenko TC, f18, 1/160 sec, ISO 1600, Tripod-Gimbal support.

[Tonji Ramos]

Nice pictures Neon.

Wow, we all have so many pictures of the Jacana. They just stayed there the whole time till we ran out of batteries and CF cards.

To add to Neon's report we saw 36 species of birds.
A very good outing for us.

[Sylvia Ramos]

You're welcome Neon!
Really fun and memorable birding trip! Also learned a lot just listening to your comments!