Location: East Bank Road, Taytay-Angono Coastal Road and East Ridge Fishing Area and Dam
Date: November 1, 2003 (Saturday)
Time: 2:30 - 6:12pm
Weather: Slightly overcast, slighlty windy
Birders: Annette Tamino, Jon Villasper, Mike Lu, Pia Belardo
Trip report by Pia Belardo


Meeting place was set at 2:00pm - my house in Pasig - We finally got to leave at 2:30pm - Our plan was to navigate the flood way via East Bank Road, and go towards East Ridge Golf Club where I last saw some owls some years ago.

As we travelled the East Bank Road and got to see several PACIFIC SWALLOWS, and as we turned into the Taytay-Angono Coastal Hiway - we stopped at the mouth of the fllodway to take a look at the WHISKERED TERNS both in the mature and immature phases. (see figure 1.1, for map of our journey)

Turning right into the Manila East Hiway we proceeded towards East Ridge - we navigated the very steep hills towards the main gate. Stopping at the View deck (see fig. 1.2 - #1) - it was an arduous climb for me - too many steps but I think that Myckle, Annette and Jon enjoyed that little bit of exercise.

On we went to case out the other places - as we drove towards the club house we came across a sign for "Fishing Area" (see fig. 1.2 - #2). So we decided to take the trail - Myckle parked the car and geared up. We got to see a pair of BUSHCHATS, several LT SHRIKES, some WHITE-BREASTED WOOD SWALLOWS on the way down... we even got to hear a CISTICOLA, and saw some MUNIAS fly-by - in a clearing we saw a PYGMY SWIFTLET, a PEACEFUL DOVE, and an unidentified ORIOLE (mostly because it flew into the undergrowth before we could tell what it was), we heard several other birds hiding in the forest area namely a SPOTTED DOVE, and a GRASSBIRD. Myckle and Jon pointed out some LOWLAND WHITE-EYES and an ARTIC WARBLER - suddenly a dark shap flew over our area - a raptor! Unfortunately it was against the sun and we couldn't tell what it was - there was even a tell-tale shape of a parakeet - though we couldn't positively make out what it was.

As we got to the fishing area's guard house (see fig. 1.2 - #3) - We talked to the guard to ask if he had seen any birds in the area, and he said that in the late afternoon at dusk ducks would fly in and land in the western end of the reservoir so we decided to try our luck - we chose a nice shady spot and sat down at the water's edge - we got to see a CINNAMON BITTERN that was flushed out by our noisy chatter.... Myckle decided to walk towards the fisherman's hut to see if he could spot more birds (see fig. 1.2 - #4). While he was there, we got to see a couple of COMMON KINGFISHERS, and a couple of birds land - it took us some time before we identified them to be a couple of immature BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON and one sub-adult, and a DOVE flew towards the other side of the reservoir..

As we waited for Myckle we got to see a TAWNY GRASSBIRD, a GREY WAGTAIL, a couple of WHITE-THROATED KINGFISHERs fishing for fish - when Myckle came back he said that there was a COMMON SANDPIPER, and a BLACK-NAPED ORIOLE (shucks). As we prepared to leave, opting to try to get to the western side of the reservoir - I got to see a large shape in the sky - a raptor again! We identified it as a GREY-FACED BUZZARD (that sure made my day!) Taking a last scan of the water - we even got to see a couple of LITTLE HERONs make a touch down on the water's edge.

We then started out trek up the mountain for that's what it was. Nearing the top we got to see some BROWN SHRIKES and a PIED FANTAIL. When we got to the car and glugged down vast amounts of water - we drove slowly towards the main gate with the car's window's down to enjoy the scenery and the fresh air we heard some weird sounds... stopping the car and getting down we searched for the sounds.. we didn't know what they were but we recorded on Annette's tape recorder 4 unknown calls.

What an interesting day... discussing our fortune we headed down the mountain towards Valley Golf Club to pick up Jon's wife, Cherie and their kid Jari (complete with Liza the nanny) - and then we had a nice home cooked meal at my house, when we separated ways it was a little past eight.

Pia

BIRD LIST:
1. Black-Crowned Night Heron - 3, (2 immature & 1 sub-adult)
2. Little Heron - 2
3. Cinnamon Buttern -
4. Grey faced Buzzard - 1
5. Raptor sp - 1
6. Whiskered Terns -- 20+
7. Zebra Dove - 1
8. Dove sp - 1
9. Common Kingfisher - 2
10. White Collared Kingfisher - 2
11. Pygmy Swiftlet - 3
12. Common sandpiper - 1
13. Pacific swallow - 9+
14. White-Breasted Woodswallow - 10
15. Black-Naped Oriole - 1
16. Oriole sp - 1
17. Pied Bushchat - 2
18. Arctic warbler - 1
19. Brown Shrike - 2
20. Long-Tailed Shrike - 20+
21. Pied Fantail - 1
22. Tawny Grassbird -1
23. Grey Wagtail - 1
24. Lowland White-Eye - 10+
25. Munia sp - 6

Heard Only:
26. Cisticola sp
27. Spotted Dove
28. Grassbird sp
and 4 unknown bird calls from semi grassland area