OVERVIEW
Don writes:
This was the hardest trip I've ever done, even more difficult, I think,
than Irian Jaya back in 1994. Not difficult logistically — Tim Fisher's
organization, drivers, vans, and local guides were all superb whereas Irian
was a disaster logistically — but physically. As a middle-aged couch potato
with a desk job, the long hikes up steep, muddy slopes were exhausting.
Young turks in excellent shape — like Jon & Anne on our trip — may
not have much trouble but this is not a trip for the sedate. The daily
grind was at or near my breaking point: up at 4 or 4:30 a.m. every day,
and often not reaching that night's lodging until well after dark. During
the first four weeks of the trip, there was only one night in which I got
my usual 8 hour sleep. This was decidedly a marathon. And the Hamut hike
was as difficult as advertised — the preceding 4 weeks were simply training
for this ordeal.
And yet .... the birding successes were almost unbelievable.
Although the Philippine environment has been hacked to shreds since my
1990 visit — and it was on its last legs then — we were able to see, and
sometimes even photograph, some of the rarest and most difficult birds
in the world. I personally saw 16 of the 'top 20 most wanted' birds that
I had picked before we arrived. The trip must be rated a huge success. |
Blake writes:
A successful expedition to the Philippines was the culmination of a
long-held dream. The islands have often been called a “fallen Eden” or
“vanishing paradise” and I felt a deep compulsion and urgency to go as
soon as time allowed, while the islands’ hundreds of strange and
glorious endemic birds still sang and took wing in their ancestral
jungles. In hindsight my compulsion and urgency was
well-warranted. The continued survival of many of the birds we
were fortunate enough to witness — from Philippine Cockatoo to Mindoro
Bleeding-Heart and the sublime Great Philippine Eagle — is more in
doubt than ever. I sleep easier with the knowledge that whatever
happens I have beheld their special splendor. I know what it means to
hear Steere’s Pitta call at dawn and see the Palawan Peacock-strut his
beaches at Palawan and that comforts me. Physically the trip may have
been difficult. But it was not insurmountable and the occasional
stresses of sleep deprivation or monsoonal rains are nothing next to a
vision of the Celestial Monarch in his home on Mindanao.
The unique success of our particular expedition,
recording as it did ~150 endemics seen, owes to the culmination of two
factors. First and more important was Tim Fisher. Tim, though striding
the hill of middle age, manages to tackle any jungle terrain,
logistical difficulties, or birding setbacks with the grace, grit, and
nonchalance of a battalion of imperial hussars galloping through the
jungle. His instinct is uncanny; his ornithological knowledge of the
Philippines is unprecedented and will never again be matched; and most
importantly his legendary conviviality, generosit, and wit made a tough
and at times melancholy journey eminently rewarding. Second was the
caliber of our group. Aside from passing or trivial fracases, we got on
reasonably well and the troop was composed exclusively of serious,
experienced, and talented observers, largely well-braced for the
physical and emotional rigors of the journey. It was an important time
in my life and as McArthur famously said, "I will return." Perhaps it
will be to see the virtually gone Sulu Hornbill in the war-torn jungles
of the Sulus, or in the North on Luzon to experience Isabella’s
legendary Oriole. Long may they all endure…
|
Certainly Tim Fisher was the key to our successes. Tim is available
to both arrange and lead Philippine trips for serious birders. Obviously,
having Tim actually lead a group is substantially more expensive than having
him set up a private trip for you, using all his local guides, but it was
more than worthwhile for us. Either way, Tim can be booked via email at
the button below. The peak season in February-April, so if you want him
as a personal guide, you'd need to book well in advance. He can arrange
logistics for an unguided trip, however, at much less cost and lead-time.
Tim is often "on-tour," however, so sometimes email responses will be slow
(give him several weeks).
The new field guide (Kennedy et al. 2000) makes it much easier to bird
the Philippines than back in 1990, and Tim provided a useful checklist.
We had copied pages from Wheatley (1996); a selection of relevant articles
from the Oriental Bird Club Bulletin and other sources; and we had printed
out a variety of on-line trip reports (Jon Hornbuckle 1994, Sander Lagerveld
2002, Ron Huff 2002, Göran Andersson et al. 2005, et al.). Jon King
and Volker Schmidt had birded Hong Kong and eastern China extensively,
providing much Oriental birding experience. Tim had a huge selection of
tapes to be used during the trip, and sometimes local guides supplemented
these were their own. For the camping days, Tim provided tents and sleeping
bags; we each brought our own sleeping pad. Don & Blake carried large
lens for bird photography most days. The Kings & Volker had digital
cameras for scenics, and so did Don until his broke on Palawan. We've borrowed
shots from the Kings & Volker for the rest of the trip.
December is an unusual time for a Philippine birding trip. It is considered
to be the end of the rainy season, and most breeding activity occurs March-April.
The prime time is usually thought to be February-April, and virtually all
public tours are run then. We happened to hit an unusually rainy December.
Tim says that most Decembers are relatively dry. Arriving at this time
of year had some advantages — some owls and Azure-breasted Pitta were very
responsive to tapes — and the days were generally not very hot. Thus the
weather was relatively pleasant despite the rain. On Mt. Kitanglad, the
endemic woodcock was in display every dusk and dawn. The dates had some
disadvantages, though. A few species were calling but apparently not yet
very territorial. Despite hours of effort on Mt. Polis, for example, neither
Long-tailed Ground-Warbler nor Benguet's Brush-Warbler responded to tapes
by showing themselves. They were interested but just not that interested.
Only one Whiskered Pitta responded to the tape, and we tried a half-dozen
or more.
In May 2005, a private trip including Rockjumper Tour
guides on a busman's holiday, was extremely successful. Usually May is
quite wet, but in 2005 it was unseasonably dry, and the group came upon
numerous fledged young. So it is possible to visit the Philippines at other
times than the traditional "February-March" tour. |
|
  7
Dec: Up at 3:45am for a 5am flight to San Jose, Mindoro. After procuring
vittles for the next 3 days at a local market, we drove 2.5 hours to the
Sablayan penal colony near Siburan on the west coast of the island. Here,
some of the best remaining lowland forests on Mindoro cover the hills behind
the prison camp. Five Mindoro endemics occur here, including the endangered
Mindoro Bleeding-heart pigeon; the other two island endemics are montane
birds). The afternoon started hot and sunny; rain would come later. We
visited Lake Lubao for waterbirds (Philippine Duck, Wandering Whistling-Duck,
White-bellied Sea-Eagle) and the edge of the forest for our first Mindoro
endemic (Mindoro Hornbill; digiscoped shot at far right), and fabulous
views of Blue-naped Parrot (right).
That evening we ventured into the forest edge after dark,
and taped in a very impressive Mindoro Hawk-Owl (Blake's photo is
at the top of this page); it presented a full 'wings-half-spread' threat
display to its presumed rival, and I'm pleased to say we left with the
local bird winning the battle . . .
Mindoro is not often visited by birders because of the
lack of accommodations. Our visit here was an add-on to the initial trip
plan; an idea proposed by Jon & Anne King. For personal timing reasons
the four of us and Tim Fisher did it as a pretrip extenstion (Volker had
to work these extra dates). We slept in sleeping bags on the floor of the
local superintendant's house, and brought all our own food and water. Prisoners
were our local guides. They wear orange, blue, or green T-shirts, depending
on seriousness of their crimes (serious to moderate, respectively), and
it was odd at first to hang around with convicted murderers. They proved
to be excellent guides and porters, though. This forest has been saved
from the loggers so far, presumably because of the prison [Sablayan is
just one substation of a much bigger prison system on the island]. Unfortunately,
prisoners and locals engage in much trapping in the forest, and bird snares
have proved to be a major problem for the endangered bleeding-heart (Brooks
et al. 1995). |
| PHOTOS: All photos on this page are © 2006 Don Roberson,
except those © Blake Matheson and so indicated; all rights reserved.
Many other shots from this trip are scattered about this web site.
Literature cited:
Brooks, T., G. Dutson, L. Gabutero, and R. Timmins. 1995. Siburan
— key area for birds on Mindoro. Oriental Bird Club Bulletin 21: 28-33.
Kennedy, R.S., P.C. Gonzales, E.C. Dickinson, H.C. Miranda, Jr., and
T.H. Fisher. 2000. A Guide to the Birds of the Philppines. Oxford Univ.
Press, New York.
Wheatley, N. 1996. Where to Watch Birds in Asia. Princeton Univ. Press,
Princeton, N.J.
TOP
TO TRIP REPORT
PORTAL
TO LIST OF BIRD
FAMILIES OF THE WORLD
TO ENDANGERED
& THREATENED BIRDS ENTRY PAGE
TO MONTEREY COUNTY
PAGE
TO HOME PAGE
|
6
Dec: Blake & Don arrived in Manila at 10am, having flown from San
Francisco, via Hong Kong, since the evening of 4 Dec. Tim had a surprise
for us at the hotel — Jon Hornbuckle has offered to take us birding that
afternoon in the American cemetery during his final day of his Philippine
visit. Jon will join us and the Kings (who arrive later today) for dinner
that evening (photo below). We knew Jon from email and his
website, and it was a treat to meet in person.
