Sunbirds
Sunbirds
Sunbirds News
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Purple Train
A vast majority of our bird photography friends had already seen and posted pictures of the Purple-throated Sunbird in Facebook. This species had been a sure sighting in the garden of another birding friend, Prof. Tirso Paris in Los Banos. So the remaining few of us who still have not yet availed of this opportunity decided to ride the Purple-throated Sunbird train this Saturday. When I contacted our dear Prof. Tirso to request permission to access his sunbird haven, he said he may not be able to guarantee any sightings since the banana flowers that this species feed on had been reduced to onl ...
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Highland Lows
This was a bit disappointing birding trip to the highlands of Benguet.
Cynthia and I planned to go to Baguio after seeing those lovely bird photos that our friends posted in Facebook. However, when my wife was trying to arrange for our lodging, all the the hotels that she contacted were fully booked. Thinking it was fate, we scrapped our plans. Then, a birder friend in Facebook whom we haven't even met personally, offered to sponsor us at the exclusive Baguio Country Club. How can we say no to such kindness.
Our primary purpose in birding in Baguio was to garner more lifers of course. Fo ... -
Serene Birding At Twin Lakes
We were off to Negros! I had some time off from school and was happy to be able to join Adri facilitate a birding workshop sponsored by the Department of Tourism and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The workshop venue was ideally situated at the Balinsasayao Twin Lakes Natural Park in Sibulan, Negros Oriental. The participants were members of the local community, many already familiar with birds, birding and birdwatchers. It was a great group: knowledgeable, enthusiastic and fun. The workshop was right at the doorstep of Lake Balinsasayao, a protected area which is a w ... -
Finally Back In Puerto Princesa
A long, long time ago (in 2002) my family spent the summer vacation months in Puerto Princesa in Palawan. My dad was based there for work and the whole family was able to spend a lot of time in Puerto with him. We went to the beach, the Underground River, island hopping in Honda Bay, ate pizza in Casa Rosa in Roxas (my favorite!), went to the beach again, island hopping but I never paid attention to the birds. I wasn't a birdwatcher then.
So, ever since I got into birding, going back to Puerto Princesa for the birds has always been on my mind. It took me more than 5 years (and a lot of excu ... -
Palawan Is Love
It's my personal paradise... birding, beaches and the great outdoors! I was so excited that Adri and I finally got to fit a return trip to Puerto Princesa for a 5 day weekend at the end of November for an early wedding anniversary trip.
Unfortunately, a cancelled flight made us lose an evening and a morning, but our optimism overtook our disappointment and soon we were in Puerto Princesa, ready to bird! I love Puerto Princesa!
We picked up our rental car, picked up some supplies at the NCCC, found our way to our downtown inn, had our lunch, took a nap and... off we were! Our agenda for ... -
Back In Davao With The Philippine Eagle Foundation
In a follow-up activity to last year's birdwatching workshop , Adri and I found ourselves back at the Philippine Eagle Center in Davao City, working with the staff and volunteers of the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF).
Last September 26 ??" 28, a second training session for the PEF was held entitled "Facilitating Effective Philippine Eagle Center and Community-based Bird-watching Tours". The goal of the workshops was to increase the PEF staff and volunteer competency in birding and bird identification so that regular guided bird walks might eventually by established at the Philippine Eagl ...