Location: Samal
Island, Davao
Date: October 4-6, 2005
Weather: mostly clear
Bird watchers: Brian & Laureen Powell
Report and birdlist: Brian Powell
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My
wife and I took the chance to get away for a couple of days
to the beach resort just across the sea from Davao. It is
a lovely place, and there are a good number of birds to be
seen. There are also several birds in cages, but of course
we don't count them. It is a pity to see them cooped up, but
at least they are better kept than many elsewhere. |
Wherever
you go around this resort, you come across Eurasian
Tree Sparrows by the dozen, and a large number of almost
tame zebra doves (they often let you get within about
10 ft or less before they fly away). Yellow vented Bulbuls
also abound.In the less peopled areas of the resort,
there are slightly rarer birds to be seen. The white
collared kingfishers cry out loudly, as do the brown
shrikes, whilst the olive backed sunbirds call out from
the coconut flowers (yes, they are a common feeding
ground for sunbirds). |
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White-collared
Kingfisher |
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Olive-backedSunbird
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On
our first evening at the resort, I went for a wander
with my binoculars, and was just coming back to the
cabin, somewhat disappointed at having seen nothing
out of the ordinary, when I saw about half a dozen pigeons
or doves settling in a nearby tree. I turned my binoculars
on them, expecting just to see perhaps some spotted
doves, only to find my heart beating faster as I realised
it was a life-time first for me. They were pigeons,
with some being basically green with a yellowish stripe
in the wing, whilst some had pinkish and orangey breasts.
I quickly went back to the cabin and called my wife
and got my book. |
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The birds were happily still there when we arrived, and we
counted seven of them. I am quite confident that they were
pink-necked green pigeons. Quite beautiful to look at in the
evening sunshine, and very obediently sitting for us to look
at. Whilst we were there, Laureen also noticed a barbet, and
later we saw two together. It was the best look that Laureen
has had at one of these birds; we frequently hear them there,
but don't so often see them. The next day, the pigeons were
not to be seen in the morning, but again at sunset they were
in the same tree, and this time we clearly saw eight of them;
four pairs. |
Down
at the beach in the early morning, we saw a couple of
little herons fishing; the first time we have seen more
than one there. We also saw a skein of egrets flying
out in the sea very low over the water, but we couldn't
tell what kind; they were far out over the water. On
one of the pump-boats moored on a nearby jetty, every
rope and edge was lined with barn swallows, which later
in the day were swooping around catching flies. I am
sure there were more than 100 of them (I lost count).
Tantalisingly, we several times heard a black naped
oriole, but he didn't show himself this time; we have
seen it there two or three times previously.
We didn't do a whole lot of bird watching, because our
primary aim of the time away was simply to rest, but
considering the relatively short time of watching, we
were pleased with the number of birds we saw, especially
those pigeons. |
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BIRD
LIST:
1. Little heron 2
2. Egret sp. 7
3. Pink necked Green pigeon 8 (4 pairs)
4. Spotted dove 2
5. Zebra dove common (at least 30)
6. Swiftlet sp. (probably glossy) 5+
7. White Collared kingfisher 4+
8. Coppersmith Barbet 3 (we heard another one whilst we saw
two)
9. Barn swallow 100+
10. Yellow vented bulbul common (at least 30)
11. Black naped oriole (heard only)
12. Crow sp. 1 (only got a glimpse)
13. Brown shrike 4+
14. Asian glossy starling 4+
15. Olive backed sunbird 6+
16. Chestnut munia 2 |
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