A Mystery Flock and an Ocean Grebe

Jops and I conducted a guided birdwatching trip for a mountaineering group in the Las Pinas-Paranaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area last Saturday morning. As we were giving the introductory talk, I spotted a fast-moving flock in V-formation passing overhead. They didn't look like the usual flock of egrets nor the Rock Pigeons that fly through the area. We took some documentary shots to help us ID them later and continued with the activity. It was cool to start with a mystery flock of birds!

These birds were fast! And their wingspan really long!
What do you think they are?

We started birding near the boulders and the usual LPPCHEA birds were there: lots of Collared Kingfishers, Whiskered Terns, and egrets. A Common Kingfisher also showed pretty well!

Collared Kingfisher, an abundant resident in LPPCHEA

Common Kingfisher, a yearly migrant visitor in the site

The ipil trees were getting quite huge and tangly already, making it difficult to see the birds out on the mudflats but we did get to see a Striated Heron perched atop a bamboo pole. The tide wasn't that low, but a bit of mudflat was showing and there we saw a mixed group of waders (although in small numbers): Black-winged Stilt, Common Sandpiper, Great Egret, Little Egret, Kentish Plover, and Jops was able to spot a lone Rufous Night Heron.

We walked towards the inner ponds and were happy to see that it was not empty of birds! There were a number of Yellow Bitterns out hunting for food, another Common Kingfisher noisily flew in and out of view, and a small group of Common Moorhens swam around the pond.

This Yellow Bittern stayed on this perch for a LONG time! 

This Yellow Bittern decided to stay partially hidden in the grass.

Our group moved further inside the trail, which has been widened and cleared, making it much easier to walk through. At the second pond, Jops was able to show the group a flock of 8 Philippine Ducks! 

At Pond 2, slowly approaching the ducks

They were a skittish bunch though, flying away at the slightest movement. We rounded the trail and ended up in the first pond where the Yellow Bittern was still having its breakfast.

It even extended its neck to its full length!

Next stop was the beach. The shore was green with algae and there weren't any small waders running around. Quite near the shore was a Little Egret plucking food from the seaweed.

First time I saw this much seaweed on the LPPCHEA beach...

Suddenly, Jops announced that he had a Grebe on the scope. I tore myself away from the egret and looked at where his scope was pointing to: out to sea. A Grebe here? I racked my brain for what I knew about Grebes and knew them to live in freshwater habitats. Definitely not here in the sea!

It took me some time to find the "misplaced" bird among the floating seaweeds and when I spotted it, there was no mistake that it was a Little Grebe.

 

The "Ocean Grebe"

Very curious to see a freshwater, diving bird out here just meters from the beach. I was wondering if it was feeding when it dove out of view, to the delight of some of the people who were observing it beside me. I guess it was feeding on the ocean floor =)

We ended our birdwatching at 9AM. The day was getting hot and the group still had a beach clean-up to do. Jops and I rounded the area, seeing more kingfishers and egrets but nothing more. We tallied our bird list and got 35 species, excluding the mystery flock of birds. Not bad for a few hours birding with a couple of bonuses too!

Birders on the beach

Hopeful for Storm-birds

The tide was going to be very low Saturday morning and Jops and I were hopeful for lots of waders, if not for another windswept lifer (just like the Brown Booby we saw last August.) Typhoon Yolanda, a Category 5 super typhoon, ravaged many areas in the Visayas, bringing 235kph winds, heavy rains, and destructive storm surges. Manila was not in the typhoon's direct path but was to experience bad weather. We decided to brave the possibly stormy weather and check what birds it could bring inland.

We geared up for possible rain and strong winds but were instead greeted by a hot and sunny morning. I expected to get wet and cold, but I went home with a sun-burnt face and arms.

The low tide exposed the mudflats... and heaps of trash from the bay.

We stopped at the fish market and saw hundreds of terns, Asian Golden Plovers, Common Redshanks, Kentish Plovers, a number of Grey Herons, as well as Great and Little Egrets. Jops diligently did the counts before we proceeded to the Coastal Lagoon.

We went straight to the end of the road and whiled our time with the birds that were feeding in the area. Whiskered Terns flew very close to us and the Collared Kingfishers were dotting the huge rocks.

Collared Kingfisher - one of the many inhabiting the Coastal Lagoon

A Little Egret also got my attention as it walked along the shallows and up and down the rocks, searching for food. A Common Sandpiper also perched for a while on one of the rocks before flying noisily away towards the beach.

Very hungry Little Egret

Common Sandpiper

I went to where Jops was photographing the terns when he shouted "Osprey!!!" I strained my eyes far out to see and saw a raptor flying over the open water, hunting for its breakfast. It has been quite a long time since I last saw the Osprey in the area and it was a thrill seeing it dive into the water and pull up to take flight again. Unfortunately, without any fish =P

Osprey
Such a challenge photographing birds in flight!

We observed, photographed, and videoed the Osprey until it flew farther away. We would see it again flying over the main road later that day, hunting over the water near the Coastal Road. A pretty Common Kingfisher entertained us for quite a while as it perched from one rock to the next in front of us.

Common Kingfisher
The orange lower mandible (bill) tells us this is a female.

When the kingfisher flew out of sight, we decided to drive back and see what waders we could find on the beach. We bumped into our birder friend, Tonji who was birding solo that morning. We regrouped by the beach and scouted out the area. The tide was really low allowing the birds to forage closer to the road side. We saw Common Greenshanks feeding with the egrets. Futher away, we could scope out a huge group of egrets clustered at the far end of the island.

The heat was becoming really harsh and I felt my face begin to tighten and smart... I knew I was getting burnt. I was ready to just bird in the shade, but Jops was able to scope what looked like a godwit! The three of us headed to the beach to get a closer look. Just like us, the godwit seemed to belong to a trio - the Black-tailed Godwit, a Common Greenshank, and... a Grey-tailed Tattler? The third bird seemed too... short and plump to be a tattler. Hmmm. We took photos and decided to ID it later on. 

Lots of egrets and waders in the mudflats!
Including the Black-tailed Godwit and come Common Greenshanks

Migratory trio
They would be flushed out by people walking on the mudflats but
would regroup together on another part of the beach.

We later confirmed that the third bird (the one in the middle in the photo above) was not a tattler but a Great Knot! It was cool to see it in this site, as well as the godwit. Then, people started walking on the mudflats, driving the birds away. The mid-morning sun was boring down on us with intensifying heat so we decided to call it a day. 

It was an unexpected hot day, a complete opposite of the weather we prepared for, but it was still good birding. It was the lowest tide I've seen in LPPCHEA and even if there weren't any blown-in storm-birds, we did get a godwit and a knot =)

Post script: We came home to horrible news and images of the victims of Typhoon Yolanda. Manila was spared but our fellow countrymen in the Visayas were devastated by the storm. For information on how to help, please click this link http://www.redcross.org.ph/donate. 

Coastal Lagoon Level-Up!

The Coastal Lagoon or the Las Pinas-Paranaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area (LPPCHEA) is the last remaining wetlands in Metro Manila. After the neighboring mudflats and wetlands have been reclaimed and converted into the Mall of Asia, the soon-to-open casino complex, condominiums, and other establishments, the LPPCHEA is the last place in the Metro that houses mangrovesas well as a lot of bird species.

View Las Pinas - Paranaque Coastal Lagoon in a larger map

Aside from being the place where most of the city's garbage accumulates, the Coastal Lagoon also houses 47 migratory bird species which flock to the area during the migration season. Among these are Great Egrets, Black-winged Stilts, Asian Golden-Plovers, Whiskered Terns, the vulnerable Chinese Egret, and more. 

The beach in the LPPCHEA. Thanks to the clean-up efforts of different
groups, the garbage is being cleared revealing the sand underneath.

Yet many migratory birds find it a suitable habitat during the
wintering months.

Plans of reclaiming the LPPCHEA have been a major concern not only for birdwatchers but for other conservation groups as well as some officials of the local government who understand and value the importance of the place. 

Just last March 15, the LPPCHEA was officially included in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance, a monumental milestone in conserving and saving the site. It is the 6th site to be included in the list joining the Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary in Mindanao (included in November 1999), the Naujan Lake Natural Park in Oriental Mindoro (November 1999), the Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary in Cebu (July 1994), the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in Palawan (June 2012), and the Tubbataha Reefs National Park in the Sulu Sea (November 1999.)

The site was actually designated as a Critical Habitat through a Presidential Proclamation in 2007 but this does not seem to serve as any "protection" from threats of reclamation stemming from the Philippine Reclamation Authority. Hopefully, the government will now open its eyes to the real significance of the LPPCHEA as an important natural heritage the country can be proud of. The international conservation community has seen it, our local conservation organizations have always seen it... why can't our government?

Deeper than the beauty of the Manila Bay sunset is a critical habitat
that needs the governments support to conserve it.

Of course, this inclusion in the Ramsar List would not be possible without the efforts from our dedicated friends from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) who have worked hard to get this designation for LPPCHEA. Hopefully, the upper echelons of the department will see this with the same perspective they have and support all efforts to conserve the area. After all, they are the ones with the decision-making powers.

Now, the next question is: will the Philippine government see the true value and importance of LPPCHEA or will it continue to turn a blind eye and choose to see profit and development disguised through destruction? Will they listen this time? I hope so.

Birdwatchers on the "Toxic Beach" of LPPCHEA

Low Tide at the Coastal Lagoon

Our morning of the Chinese New Year holiday was spent enjoying views of some really wonderful waders in the Coastal Lagoon. A week before, Jops excitedly told me about the tide schedules for that Monday and its morning promised a really low tide.  

Large portions of the mudflats were left exposed all morning!

It has been some time since we last visited the Coastal Lagoon, officially known as the Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area (LPPCHEA.) Declared a critical habitat in 2007, it is now being threatened with plans of reclamation. As that "battle" rages on, groups including the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines have been spearheading clean-ups along the beach area. Our last trip to this place was way back in October last year and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the mountains of trash lining the road have already disappeared. And one can already see the sand on the beach! Well, one can also clearly see a fresh wave of trash coming in from the water... oh well.

No more mountains of trash!

WBCP member Ruben arrived shortly with his cousin and we started scanning the areas for birds. Lots of egrets, Grey Herons, Whiskered Terns and, of course, waders! I was peeping through a gap in the mangroves, spotting some Kentish Plovers, Little Ringed Plovers, and Rufous-necked Stints when suddenly a flock of Black-winged Stilts flew into the same area! I didn't really expect to see the Stilts but there they were in the hundreds!

Digiscoped Black-winged Stilts

Stilts, Egrets and Stints (on the sand)!

Our group moved on towards the DENR station and out onto the beach to view more waders. Along the way, these curious red fruits got my attention...

They looked like smooth, red balimbings!

There were also green unripe fruits which were firm.

The red ones were soft and this one burst open revealing orange, threadlike "innards"!

I tore myself away from the red fruit to catch up with the group. On the other side of the path, I had to shake my head with the amount of trash that gets washed up and caught among the roots of the mangroves and other plants in the lagoon...

Please think twice before grabbing that styrofoam cup and take-out container. And if you HAVE to use them, please dispose of them properly.

When we reached the beach, we were greeted with fantastic close-up views of more egrets, Common Redshanks, and Common Greenshanks. We were also greeted by this creepy sight =P

We scanned further down the beach and saw more terns and some Asian Golden Plovers! I would want to see them in their breeding plumage again soon!

Ruben and Jops scanning the beach for more waders. The Redshanks and Greenshanks were just by the shallows beside us!

I was also hoping to see the Ruddy Turnstones again but we didn't see any on this trip. I spent my time carefully observing the birds just on the beach beside us. Viewing them that close and for that long afforded me time to take down as much notes as could. I decided to make good on one of my New Year's resolutions: to start (or at least try) drawing the birds I see, no matter how fugly they turn out. So, I just drew and took down notes, enjoying the time and long views of the birds just meters from me. Afterwards, I was happy and quite proud of myself. The first drawings started awkwardly but I think I improved even a little as I filled up the page. And at least now my drawings actually look like birds!