Normally I organized my own trips but here I felt a guide and tour group was needed The patchy remaining habitat required much local knowledge; many locales required special permits; the best shot at Philippine Eagle required a camping expedition; and a Philippine insurgency in some areas gave pause. I felt that there was better safety on a tour. So, although Ben King and I had not seen eye-to-eye on some things in Indonesia, I decided to join the Feb-Mar 1990 month-long trip. The price was not too bad ($3574) and I had enough free mileage on United Airlines to round-trip to Manila from my Monterey home for free.

It is now (2005) some 15 years later, and I am contemplating a return to the Philippines. I am finally writing up my trip report, as doing so serves as a refresher course and study aid. In retrospect, I am very impressed with the daily journal I kept for a good portion of the 1990 trip, with not only a daily log of events, but detailed descriptions of many species. I wish I had done as well on my notes on other trips. I quote liberally from my field journal on this web page, and in the annotated list.

17-18 Feb: Fly from Monterey to San Francisco to Manila for free via United Airlines mileage plan, leaving Saturday morning and arriving Sunday night at 11:30 p.m.

19 Feb: A day without transportation awaiting the arrival of the KingBird Tour (to get my free flight, I had to arrive a day early). I walked across the street from the Hyatt on Manila Bay to paddies, fish ponds, and bay edge. It was extremely grotty and dirty with human waste littering the cement causeway holding back the Bay. I worked on large Acrocephalus (eventually figured out as Oriental Reed-Warbler, a common migrant here); a wagtail (proved to be ocularis White Wagtail), got Malay Plover, and saw Brown Shrike and a male Siberian Rubythroat in duff scrub.  The tour group arrived in afternoon, and we all had dinner at the Hyatt.

20 Feb: Early morning (0630-0900) visit to the American War Cemetery in Manila. A fairly birdy place. My notes focus on swiftlet i.d., a Large Hawk-Cuckoo that flew right over my head; and details of a migrant Brown-headed Thrush.
    Mid-day flight (1100-1200) to Puerto Princesa, Palawan. In the afternoon (1600-1800) we visited Garceliano Beach where the tide was high. We sorted through some waders and struggled with distant scope views of roosting egrets. In retrospect, I think many were Chinese Egrets but we searched long and hard before there was one that Ben King liked. It didn't look much different to me. Nothing major, but already Ben King is rubbing me the wrong way as I tried to discuss this i.d. He is extremely condescending and treats me like the rest of the rubes. Overnight at Rafols Hotel.

22 Feb: Up at 4 a.m. to get an early start on the Balsahan trail for a 2+ mile march to try for Palawan Peacock-Pheasant with a local guide. Eventually (0900-1100) we heard two; one very close well up a forested ridge after climbing a rocky ravine. But we did not see it, though the male was responding to the tape. This took most of the morning; the real highlight had been the fly-over of a pair of Red-vented (Philippine) Cockatoos. When the group gave up, I stayed on to try some more (but without a tape) and had no luck (but I did see a White-bellied Woodpecker). I had another lovely swim in the river. In the afternoon we visited some fish ponds near Puerto Princesa (many waders plus Painted-Snipe). There was an odd Acrocephalus, but King wasn't interested.

23 Feb: Up at 3 a.m. to get to the Balsahan Penal Colony by 4:30 a.m. for owling. To give him proper credit, Ben King is exceptionally good at calling in nightbirds with a tape and not turning on the light until it is sitting right . . . there! He is the best 'owler' I've ever met. We had great views of Javan Frogmouth and Palawan Scops-Owl.
    Rest of day was in transit: flying to Manila and getting back into the Hyatt for a very early departure the next morning. We had been scheduled to go to Cebu next but reasons I no longer recall, perhaps having something to do with Tim Fisher's availability on Mindanao, we were now heading to Mt Katanglad next

24 Feb: Up at 3:30 a.m. to catch a 5:20 a.m. flight to Caguyan de Oro, Mindanao. We then took a bus, later transferred to a jeep, and finally hiked the short last bit to Tim Fisher's camp at 4500' elev on Mt Katanglad. As there was an active Great Philippine Eagle nest nearby, we went to the overlook (the nest was in a huge tree on the far side of the canyon) and saw the 1.5 month old chick (but no adults this day). Then heavy rain washed out the rest of the afternoon. We did a bit of owling after dark; hearing but not seeing Otus mirus.
 

26 Feb: All day birding on Mt Katanglad, mostly alone. I hiked from camp (4500') to the overlook at top of this mountain (5300') and took trail down into river valley in lovely forest (0600-1400). Birdy, but little was new. Good looks at Philippine Serpent-Eagle and Crested Goshawk (sketch and full details in notes). Both today and yesterday I had i.d. problems with small flycatchers (discussion in notes). After dinner the group owled until 2130, and with King's tape & light, got good looks at Philippine Frogmouth.

27 Feb: Up at 0430 for 0515 hike with Tim Fisher & Marc Weinberger to the mountain-top lookout at 5300' elev. We arrived at 0625, waited until 0830, but still no Apo Starling. We did see the male Great Philippine Eagle at 0555 on our way up, as it glided down the valley. Then we walked into the deep woods where I got Flame-crowned Flowerpecker, Snowy-browed Flycatcher, and Goodfellow's Ibon. Heard a loud jay-like cawing, with tinkling bell-like notes, which proved to be a long-tailed adult with a just-fledged (still have gular flanges) juv Apo Starling (sketch in notes). Other evidence of breeding were both Flame-crowned & Olive-capped Flowerpeckers carrying nesting material, and fledgling Sulphur-billed Nuthatch & Elegant Tit.  Later saw a Philippine Bullfinch in scope as it ate small fruits.
    We left camp at 1420 for the grind down the hill in 4-wheel jeep (seeing a Purple Needletail en route), reaching the main road 10 km N of Malaybalay (at Km post 1503). There we transferred to jitney for the hour drive to Caguyan de Oro for the night.

1 Mar: All day birding at and above Baracatan, a former Philippine Eagle breeding center at 3500' elev in the Apo Range, now abandoned because of NPA guerilla activity. We birded slowly upslope from 3400' to 3700'. Some flocks of basic montane species but not as birdy as the Mt Katanglad area, perhaps because it is very dry. Good views of Striated & Tawny Grassbird in scrub; my notes detail some problems with Phylloscopus i.d.

2 Mar: Apparently we stayed the night at Baracatan again, as my notes read: "A terrible buffet breakfast at the Apo View Hotel . .  but why aren't we staying here?"  The early morning is lost to getting the jitney repaired. We then drive from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. to reach Bislig on the east coast of Mindanao. The drive took two extra hours because of a truck breakdown and a bus stuck in the mud on the direct route, fully blocking the road and requiring the detour. Virtually no birding except a brief 5 p.m. stop in the PICOP lowland forest near Bislig. [PICOP is an acronym for Paper Industries Corporation of the Philippines, and they have the logging concession to a huge chunk of lowland forest. Logging roads go everywhere.] Overnight at the Towne & Country Inn which is, to quote my notes, "a dump." Bislig itself is a muddy port town, your basic armpit-of-the-world spot.
 

4 Mar: Returned to PICOP forest, 20 km south of Bislig (1000-1800' elev) from 0600-1300. Today we went back to the Towne & Country for lunch, and then visited nearby rice paddies and marsh from 1600-1800.

5 Mar: Another day in PICOP forest: "very poor birding in hot, dusty weather in badly cut-over secondary forest." Did see the Pygmy Babbler in a canopy flock. Late afternoon visit to the Bislig marshes again, where King paid four local boys to flush birds. In this manner we saw a pair of Watercock, a Wandering Whistling-Duck (off nest?), many Painted Snipe, Grass Owl, and several Swinhoe's Snipe (as well as Common Snipe).

6 Mar: A final morning in the PICOP forest, 20 km south of Bislig (0550-1130). It started to rain by mid-morning as we stopped at the one little pond we had hoped to see Silvery Kingfisher (and missed it again). Birding again rather slow, but King taped in Rufous Paradise-Flycatcher and there were nice scope views of Pink-bellied Imperial Pigeon, Blue-crowned Racquet-tail, and two imm Jerdon's Baza. The rain forced an afternoon drive to Davao, because of the probable cancellation of tomorrow's flight from Bislig (it has only a dirt runway). On the way back to Bislig to get our stuff, two Bush-hen ran across the road for better looks than we had previously had. Also of interest were a male White-bellied Woodpecker working hard at enlarging a nest hole, a nice snoozing water monitor, and a Tarictic Hornbill with a begging youngster (now split as Mindanao Hornbill).

8 Mar: All day at Rajah Sikatuna Nat'l Park, 3 km east of Bilar, Bohol (except a mid-day return to the hotel for lunch). We birded 0545-1200 and 1600-1930. The elevation here is ~1100'. There was a fruiting tree at the clearing attracting Pompadour Green Pigeons and Philippine Cuckoo-Doves off and on all day. I had good success in the forest on trails that I birded alone. I saw Red-breasted Pitta, a real 'wild' Red Junglefowl, and Rufous-tailed Jungle Flycatcher. After dark, Ben King taped in a pair of Philippine Boobooks.

9 Mar: Another day at Rajah Sikatuna NP (0545-1230; 1600-1830). Intermittent heavy rain in morning. Very little new. Did see the Rufous-tailed Jungle Flycatcher again, and eventually everyone saw it; Ben King recorded its song at dusk. Worked out Arctic Warbler and Chinese Goshawk.
    A general comment: our tour price includes all food. This usually means buffets -- Ben King just loves buffets, especially buffets with lots of fruit. I am not big on fruit, so I eat rice, beans, fried eggs sometimes, and french fries. As a vegetarian and not eating any meat at any meal, I am costing King almost nothing. The tour price also pays for soft drinks but I always prefer a beer or two in the evening. That is coming out of my pocket. At one point when Ben seemed in a good mood, I asked about this, pointing out that the beer cost about the same as the soft drinks I wasn't drinking. I opined that it "wasn't fair" that he never paid for a beer, not once, ever. "Life isn't fair," he told me.

10 Mar: Final morning (0545-0900) visit to Rajah Sikatuna NP. I hit a flock up on a ridge with monarchs, Black-crowned Babbler, and Rufous-fronted Tailorbirds. Also saw a Black-faced Coucal, and the Red-breasted Pitta again (but no Steere's Pitta  . . .  grrrr). All of which would have been great, except that the Ben King/Marc Weinberger group saw Wattled Broadbill on the trial that I took last night!
    On arriving on 8 Mar, most of us had arranged to have all our clothes washed since we were here for 2.5 days. We kept inquiring about progress and getting very little information. We learned latter that the clothes had been washed but while they were out drying, the morning rainstorm of 9 Mar hit, drenching them all again. They were just wadded together for awhile, and then they tried to dry them outside this morning in overcast weather (there apparently is not an electric dryer in town). By the mid-morning "lunch" we were getting very anxious. Most of us were down to our last set of clothes, and we had a mid-day flight to Cebu. Finally, at 10 a.m., we had to get in the vehicle to make the plane, and they handed us all our still-wet laundry. What a mess . . . .
    We drove to Tagbilaran, with brief stops enroute at the rice paddy and beach near Baclayton. Took the 1230 flight to Cebu, the 1500 flight to Manila, and overnighted at Philippine Village Hotel.

12 Mar: An early morning visit to Quezon NP (0530-1145). In the early morning we walked on a trail inside the forest; after 0830 we birded a noisy roadside. King refused to give me any parameters within which to bird alone, thus sabotaging my hopes for more quiet trail birding. He also snapped when I complained of his twice flushing an interesting thrush (Ashy Thrush?) before we could identify it. "If you want perfect, Don, you should start with yourself," he said. He would not explain what that meant.
    I finally got off alone in the late morning for a brief while, and did see the head & neck of the Luzon Bleeding-heart well (a sketch is in my notes). There were also a flight of hawks of the ridge, with the closest two being Philippine Hawk-Eagles.
    In the afternoon, I opted to stay at the nice hotel cottages, called Quan's Worth Farms, and swam in the pool and rested. The others visited a marsh. I was not unhappy with the trade-off.

13 Mar: A final morning (0530-1130) at Quezon NP. Today I was able to bird alone on a forest trail to and past Cuevo Santa, and then spent the rest of the morning on the road. It was good lowland forest but birds were few: hunters (saw 3 yesterday), chainsaws (heard all day long) and pollution (both noise and exhaust along the road) may be the causes. I did have yet another good view of a foraging Red-breasted Pitta, and saw the Luzon Bleeding-heart better, as it walked down the track and into the woods. Nice views of head, back, wing, pinkish sides to breast/flanks, but still didn't see the "heart." Then I had great views of a female Sooty Woodpecker (sketch in notes), a fine species that everyone else missed on the trip. Lunch at Quan's Worth Farms, then afternoon drive to Manila. Overnight Philippine Village Hotel.

15 Mar: All day (0615-1815) on Mt Polis looking for Luzon montane specialties. We birded along the road on both side of the pass (at 5800' elev.) down to about 5000' on the south side, and down to the river (~4000' elev) on the north side. King taped in Long-tailed Bush-Warbler (insect-like trill) and Cettia seebohmi (Luzon Bush-Warbler, when and if split). We also saw the local race of White-bellied Whistler, Island Flycatcher, and had two fly-over screeching Montane (Red-crowned) Racquet-tails (i.d. primarily on size/shape/call and range, just as for Green-headed Racquet-tail at Quezon NP). The best birds were the Mountain (or Strong-billed) Shrike and a pair of Luzon Redstart (distant photos; sketch in notes).

16 Mar: Morning on Mt Polis (0530-1400), this time on the south slope. In the predawn we got very close to a calling Luzon Scops-Owl but did not see it. King, Weinberger, and Koeppel got glimpses of a Marche's Fruit-Dove in the mists of the morning, but I missed it while sleeping in the van (I am just worn out with this schedule). The rest of day was very boring. We were back to hotel by 1530. Best part of day was shopping at the Banaue rice terrace overlook. [And when shopping is the best part of any day, you know you are really in trouble . . .].

17 Mar: Final day of trip. Pre-dawn (0300) departure to get a final try for Luzon Scops-Owl, but the moon was out and we only heard it deep down the canyon. Later in the morning we ran into a Birdquest tour, led by Nigel Redman and Tim Fisher, at the fruiting tree near the top of the road. We waiting here from 0600-0730 but little action, although 2 Spotted Imperial-Pigeons flew over. We did watch a calling Plaintive Cuckoo give its full repertoire. It was good to meet Nigel (we were to correspond on various topics later) and see Tim again.
    We left at 10 a.m. for the 10-hour drive back to Manila. Flew home the next morning.

Literature cited:

Chantler, P. 2000. Swifts: A Guide to the Swifts and Treeswifts of the World. 2d ed. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, CT.

Wheatley, N. 1996. Where to Watch Birds in Asia. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, N.J.