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Date:
April
17 - 20
by Mads Bajarias and Lu-Ann Fuentes
Lu-ann
and I spent Holy Week with our three friends in Coron, Palawan.
Coron town is in the island of Busuanga; this is not to be
confused with Coron Island where the famous Cayangan and Barracuda
Lakes are found.
In
Coron town we stayed in a resort called KokosNuss owned and
operated by the amiable father-and-son Rudolph and Jorg Wieh.
The resort is a quiet garden planted with fruit trees. Near
the entrance, the owners also rigged a bird bath with water
flowing from a faucet. The starlings hang out right over the
faucet.
Behind
the resort is an airstrip flanked by scrub and a few trees.
When i write "airstrip" below, I mean the scrub and forest
flanking the airstrip and not the actual runway. I'm sure
that the scrub there harbors big super-skulkers that I missed.
It's a place definitely worth further investigation. Also
saw 2 quails there but couldn't ID them. Lots of calls too,
quite low in the thick brush
Every
morning, I got up at daybreak to view the birds in the garden
i.e. the garden of KokosNuss Resort. It was only on Saturday,
April 19, that I got to explore the airstrip. I birded the
airstrip for 3 hours in the morning of Saturday.
Busuanga
BIRD LIST:
1. Cattle
Egret -- c.10. farm near road going to KYR airport.
2. White-bellied
Sea-eagle. Saw 1 fly away from island with white-collared
kingfishers.
3. White-collared
Kingfisher -- 2 very large ones in an
island whose name I forget which flew away with the White-bellied
Sea-eagle.
4. Blue-throated
Bee-eater -- 2. on Mt. Tapyas. curiously, this species is not
listed in Busuanga by Kennedy etal. but we saw 2 plain as day.
5. Pacific
Swallow -- c.10. All over busuanga
6. Barn Swallow -- 1. on Mt. Tapyas, Coron town, Busuanga.
7. Olive-winged
Bulbul -- c.12. Conspicuous at the airstrip. This is welcome
relief from all the Philippine Bulbuls of Luzon!
8. White-vented
Shama -- Saw a pair one morning inside the garden, perched on
a mango tree branch. As I fumbled with my decades-old Nikon,
they disappeared. I never saw them again.
9. Rufous-tailed
Tailorbird -- 3. airstrip. easy to spot. Palawan endemic.
10. Yellow-throated Leafbird -- 3 in the vicinity of the airstrip.
At first I thought they were parrots because of the color. Bright
yellow throat easy to see. Palawan endemic. They made my day!
11. Spangled
Drongo. Long tail flared and forked. Every morning about a dozen.
they like to perch on the top of the "kondol" tree. Both garden
and airstrip.
12. Pied
Fantail -- 4 around the airstrip.
13.
Black-naped Monarch -- 3 at the airstrip.
14. Large-billed
crow -- 2 at airstrip.
15. Asian
Glossy Starling. Lots every morning. Showy and very busy both
at the airstrip and the garden. There were also scores of them
in the KYR airport.
16. White-breasted
Woodswallow -- 2. perched in the scrub in a tiny island called
Pamalican near North Cay Island. Our local guide said this tiny
island also has "katala" (Philippine Cockatoo), but i'm not
sure. I also encountered a lone plover there but couldnt make
out the markings.
17. Brown Shrike. -- 3. airstrip and at the KYR airport
18. Olive-backed
Sunbird (aurora race) -- c. 10-20 every morning. when the sun
hits the trees they make quite a racket! this palawan race has
the male's upper breast washed with red below the metallic blue.
19. Lovely Sunbird. Spotted 1 at the airstrip. Sure to be more.
It IS lovely indeed.
20. White-bellied Munia -- 2. airstrip.
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