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Post by alainpascua on Jan 21, 2008 1:51:30 GMT
We went to Navotas last Saturday for the Asian Waterbird census.
Among the other birds we have seen there are the vulnerable Chienese Egrets, Black-headed Gulls (they flock with the terns but are conspicously bigger, almost twice their size), and Gull-billed Terns. Do you know that the Black-headed Gulls float like ducks?
The sand is okay, not much mud. The garbage, however, liter the entire place. It's good they are awashed further from the shoreline, so the birds at the shoreline and on the water are not swamped with garbage.
Anybody who wants to visit the area, you may PM me. Thanks!
Alain
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Post by Romy Ocon on Jan 21, 2008 2:15:50 GMT
Nice report, Alain.... how close can one get to the water birds (for photo purposes)?
Romy
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Post by Ding Carpio on Jan 21, 2008 21:35:26 GMT
Can u PM me the location? I grew up in the neighboring town of Malabon so I'm familiar with many parts of Navotas. Is it safe for a single person to be lugging around expensive equipment in the place? Parking? Thanks. Anybody who wants to visit the area, you may PM me. Thanks!
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Post by tina mallari on Jan 21, 2008 23:14:31 GMT
Ding, this is the report of one of the members of WBCP that describes what they experienced and saw in that area last March 17, 2007.
TANZA, NAVOTAS, March 17 Sunday Shoreline and Fishpens from 7am to 130pm Birders: Lala Espanola, Mark Villa, Felix Servita, Jonathan Pena, and Leny Ledesma
ENVIRONMENT CONDITION: sunny with a bit of breeze, low tide -.21m at 4:21AM, 1.04m high tide at 8:42PM
Report
We were excited to see the waterbirds which Lala e-mailed about so I signed up. I also wanted to learn about the Chinese Egrets. I felt it in my guts that today, March 17, would be a good day... It was early dawn when we (Felix, Lala, Mark and I) all met up in Roxas Boulevard area, opting to take the faster route, to go to Navotas. Good thing I had brought breakfast for all of us (some bread and lots of C2), it helped us keep up our almost 6 hour stint of walking under the sun. We started at 7 am in the shoreline of Navotas. I realized I was with Mark Villa Wonderboy and the bird discoverer Lala Espanola, hard core birders. Was I up to challenge? Did I know what I signed up for?
We were trying to get there early (amidst all the detours -- my bird guides didnt know very well the directions to get there). And when we did get there, the sun was not yet too bright as we started (easier to ID the birds). Later Jonathan Pena of DENR, and also a member of the Club, was able to join us. Around the shoreline were heaps of garbage, the sides were filled with who knows what, the stench was overpowering (especially near the dumpsite and whenever the wind would blow in the wrong direction). We had to watch where we would step (what a piece of advice from Jonathan, so I really tread carefully hoping I didn't slow the group down, I didn't want to step on anything funny).
What struck me was the beauty of the birds amidst the trashy surroundings. This reminds me of one of my ignorant/innocent "hirits" in another birding trip in the coast of Taal lake, "Oh my god, where there is trash, there are birds!" Later on, after birding, we all talked about it: if the shoreline was clean, it would become a public beach, then people would be sunning themselves and swimming, making it a recreation kind of place, so the birds would not go there anymore because of the humans populating their habitat. So yes, perhaps if there is trash, it can be good, because then birds can come with no threat of human disturbance. The diversity of the water birds we saw clearly gives the impression that garbage is, in fact, an advantage. Sad but sort of matter of fact. We saw the beautiful Chinese Egrets (such a treat) with Mark and Lala discussing how one can tell the difference between Chinese Egrets and Little Egrets who share the same features, which could be so confusing (we took pictures through the scope so Lala and Mark can make comparisons for future discussions, I had one shot where one Chinese Egret turned sideways together with an Intermediate Egret, you can compare the two side by side). Mark and Lala said the ID-ing of Egrets may be confused especially if they are alone without the other egrets to compare it to or if waters are muddy and we don't see the legs, etc. There were Great Egrets and hundreds of Little Egrets, thousands of terns flying and some perched on poles, and of course, the majestic Osprey that dove down the fishpond to get a bite -- oh the poor innocent fish. But a highlight for both Felix and me was the Far Eastern Curlew. So cute. I cheated and finally got a picture of it (through the scope). We helped count the birds too, which was the whole purpose of the trip. Each one applied their own technique: Lala would hold up a hand which she said equals to a certain number (ie 10) and repeatedly held it up til the hand reached the end of the flock (10 hands to the side = 100 birds); Felix counted like he would in a rally for crowd control; while Mark counted birds one by one. With different assignments for each, I was happy to write down anything and help count the terns and left the egrets to the experts. It was not easy to do the counting with the birds flying back and forth (like our elections, may dagdag-bawas din). The heat made it hard for everyone to count, but for the love of reporting on our avian visitors in the shoreline, we went on and on. We needed to report the increase (or decrease). At 12nn, burned to a crisp despite our sunblocks, we finally called it a day. Just some observations we need to mention: in the mudflat or feeding ground of the birds, there were indications of what used to be a mangrove forest that is now almost cleared (by humans, of course) to make way for flimsy stilt houses and aquaculture ponds. These same mangroves are made into charcoal together with beached logs and planks (which we witnessed that day). Where are the birds then going to go?
Walking back to the school stop over where we parked took us an hour and a half or so, thank God for the stops in between to cool our bodies and rest our tired feet. We passed the ponds on our way back and noticed that maintenance of the ponds called for regular dredging with the dredged up mud being dumped along the shore. Summer has definitely started as the mud had dried up. At the end, we were hungry, thirsty, tired, but we were happy. After the long walk, we drank all the softdrinks and water, gulp, gulp, gulp. Mark asked himself why he did this yearly count of waterbirds, given what we had to pass through in Navotas shoreline, and he answered it with -- for love of birds (esp Chinese Egrets). I asked myself if I would go back....and now I know what to expect, perhaps I will, but armed better against the stench, with lots of exercise, lots and lots of sunblock, water, and of course, more food. It's not a trip for the fainthearted. Lala and Mark will continue to keep coming back and I hope they do get funds to do the study on Chinese Egrets. We talked about trying to actually record again on April how many of the Chinese Egrets are still there. We celebrated my first time hard core birding in Maxs restaurant with Crispy Pata, I couldn't resist! I felt I had lost all my stored fat. Hahaha. Despite the 6 hour stay under the sun, sunburned, parched, it was a good day. I saw my lifers and learned more about Chinese egrets in a day outside the house. Good friends, good food, good conversations, and good birdwatching -- truly a good definition of life.
BIRDLIST 1. Great Egret Ardea alba 71 2. Intermediate Egret Egretta intermedia 7 3. Chinese Egret Egretta eulophotes 90 many in summer plumage 4. Little Egret Egretta garzetta 160 5. Little Heron (Striated Heron) Butorides striata 16 6. Yellow Bittern Ixobrychus sinensis 1 7. Osprey Pandion haliaetus 1 8. Asian Golden-Plover (Pacific Golden-Plover) Pluvialis fulva 11 9. Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus 54 10. Far Eastern Curlew Numenius madagascariensis 2 11. Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia 75 12. Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis 2 13. Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos 9 14. Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus 4 15. Black-headed Gull (Common Black-headed Gull) Larus ridibundus 10 16. Gull-billed Tern Sterna nilotica 1 17. Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybridus 4590 at the least 18. Zebra Dove Geopelia striata 3 19. Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis 2 20. White-collared Kingfisher (Collared Kingfisher) Todirhamphus chloris 11 21. Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica 2 22. Pacific Swallow Hirundo tahitica 30 23. Pied Triller Lalage nigra 2 24. Golden-bellied Flyeater (Golden-bellied Gerygone) Gerygone sulphurea 3 25. Arctic Warbler Phylloscopus borealis 2 26. Clamorous Reed-Warbler Acrocephalus stentoreus 5 27. Pied Fantail Rhipidura javanica 2 28. Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus 6 29. Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus X
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Post by alainpascua on Jan 23, 2008 15:34:41 GMT
Nice report, Alain.... how close can one get to the water birds (for photo purposes)? Romy About 80 to 100 meters, you still stand on hard ground and the birds won't fly away.
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Post by alainpascua on Jan 23, 2008 15:38:15 GMT
This is the report filed at WBCP:
Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) 2008 Place: Sitio Pulo, Tanza, Navotas Island: Luzon Island, Philippines Date: January 19, 2008 Time: 8:00am to 12:30pm Weather: Windy with dark rain clouds in the southern horizon Observers/Birders: Felix Servita, WBCP Alain Pascua, KAAKBAY President and WBCP Member with KAAKBAY Volunteers: Orlando Balbido Nonnie Jeruta Jonard Gabrino Moises Dumagdag Trip Report and Bird List by Felix Servita
The ground was fairly dry. No unforgiving foul odor of the dumpsite, thanks to the wind direction which blew the foul smell towards Bulacan. The sun was soft and very friendly. The humidity was light. And the tide was low. Surprisingly, it was so far my most pleasant trip to the site. Not because of the above reasons, but because of the perfect lighting conditions (hanep!!). This provided for the easy identification of the Chinese egrets, our main census target. As a result of the favorable lighting condition, the distinctive greenish legs & face and blackish upper bill & yellowish lower bill of the Chinese egrets were very obvious. Even the border between the greenish legs and muddy part of the lower legs can be clearly seen from the scope. The Chinese egrets were sometimes noticed to rush on their preys in semi-outstretched wings. A flock of about 17 Chinese egrets, 1 Great egret and 1 Intermediate egret were observed surrounding (and looking very curious at) a particular spot of the tidal flat, some with their outstretched necks while some Chinese egrets were crouching low. They seemed to be waiting for something edible to pop out or were curious of some unusual critters in the mud (see attached photo). They stayed in the same spot for at least 2 hours. The Whiskered Terns counted were mostly on the ground along the coastline in four large flocks. The flocks ranged from between 150 – 200 individuals. From such flocks we were able to pick out the 4 Gull-billed Terns and 5 Black-headed Gulls. Gull-billed Terns are bulky and larger than whiskered terns, very light grey wings, back and nape, and the rest of the body colored white, black and thick bills, and the eyes covered by a dark line. Further north of the Tanza coastline, we spotted a flock of Black-headed Gulls just standing-by on the exposed tidal flats. It included 9 individuals floating closely together on the seawater a few meters left of the main flock on the shore. Bills are red with prominent black tips. Legs are dark red. I suspected the strong winds grounded most of the Whiskered Terns, Gull-billed Terns and Black-headed Gulls along the shoreline or maybe they were just resting. On our way back to Tanza Public School., the rain started to fall. Good Day to everyone!! Bird List: 1. Great Egret [Egretta alba] – 15 2. Intermediate Egret [Egretta intermedia] – 1 3. Chinese Egret [Egretta eulophotes] – 48 4. Little Egret [Egretta garzetta] – 16 5. Egret sp. – 11 6. Striated Heron [Butorides striatus] – 2 7. Kentish Plover [Charadrius alexandrinus] – 1,000+ 8. Common Greenshank [Tringa nebularia] – 34 9. Wood Sandpiper – [Tringa glareola] - 2 10. Common Sandpiper [Actitis hypoleucos] – 7 11. Marsh Sandpiper – [Xenus cinereus] – 1 12. Black-headed Gull – [Larus ridibundus] – 86 13. Gull-billed Tern – [Gelochelidon nilotica] – 4 14. Whiskered Tern [Chlidonias hybridus] – 1,000 + 15. Tern species – 200 + flying above inland fishpens probably most are whiskered terns 16. White-collared Kingfisher [Halcyon chloris] – 12 17. Yellow-vented Bulbul [Pycnonotus goiavier] - 8 18. Barn Swallow [Hirundo tahitica] – 2 19. Golden-bellied Flyeater [Gerygone sulphurea] – HO 20. Brown Shrike [Lanius cristatus] – 4 21. Eurasian Tree Sparrow [Passer montanus] – common Notes:
* The village leader of Sitio Pulo is Ka Soseng de Jesus, who owns the only sari-sari store in the area. The local guide is Dave. * Thanks to Alain Pascua and KAAKBAY volunteers for assisting in the census.
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Post by Ding Carpio on Jan 23, 2008 21:42:43 GMT
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Post by Romy Ocon on Jan 23, 2008 23:34:51 GMT
Great docu pics, Alain... and thanks Ding for hosting these. The shooting distances look very far however..
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Post by Ding Carpio on Jan 23, 2008 23:52:34 GMT
Yes. Now, JP has to put wheels on his floating blind and we'll call it the "Amphibious Blind!" The shooting distances look very far however..
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