By Edgar Alan Zeta-Yap
During my Christmas vacation in Cebu, I went on a side trip to northern Negros to go birding on the island for the very first time. Having been based in Manila since studiously pursuing the hobby this past year, I was excited to search for endemics from a different region to add to my life list, and observe more migratory species wintering in the country. Negros island belongs to the Greater Negros-Panay rainforests eco-region, which hosts its own unique set of wildlife in the middle of the Philippine archipelago. This area also covers the islands of Cebu, Guimaras, Siquijor, Tablas, Romblon, Sibuyan, Masbate, and Ticao.
GAWAHON ECO PARK
After a seven-hour bus ride from Cebu City via the Tabuelan-Escalante ferry, gloomy weather greeted me at Victorias City, the jump-off point to my first birding destination of Gawahon Eco Park. The ecotourism area, which takes its name from the Hiligaynon word for “overlooking”, occupies the lower northwestern slopes of Mount Silay within Northern Negros Natural Park. Most visitors come here to picnic and bathe along a series of seven waterfalls, but the park’s avian diversity also attracts birdwatchers.
The incessant rains dampened my hopes of seeing anything interesting. Fortunately, the main birding site at Gawahon had pavilions and cottages that conveniently provided shelter from the downpour while still providing good views of the surrounding forest. Thanks to my sharp-eyed and enthusiastic guide Ricky Sobesta, I eventually managed to spot birds that emerged when the rains weakened to a drizzle.
Magnificent Sunbirds (Aethopyga magnifica) and Maroon-naped Sunbirds (Aethopyga guimarasensis) were the first to pop up on a nearby coconut tree, feeding on its flowers. Both species are endemic to the eco-region, with the latter being my first lifer for the day! A few moments later, two more lifers appeared on a nearby fruiting tree: the Visayan Bulbul (Hypsipetes guimarasensis) and Buff-eared Brown Dove (Phapitreron nigrorum). I was delighted that birds still showed up despite the unfavorable weather conditions.
Moments later, Ricky excitedly beckoned me over to the other side of the road, where a medium-sized raptor in mottled plumage was perched high up on an open branch, glumly soaked in rain. As I flipped through my copy of the Lynx field guide back at the pavilion to identify the mysterious bird of prey – which later was confirmed to be a juvenile Crested Goshawk (Lophospiza trivirgata) – my hardworking guide yelled out in excitement with another unexpected find along the stream.
Calmly perched on a rock in the middle of the waterway was one of the park’s star birds, the Southern Indigo-banded Kingfisher (Ceyx nigrirostris), diving for small crabs! This West Visayan endemic can be distinguished from its northern counterpart by its all-black bill. According to Ricky, the swollen, muddied stream with fast currents was not the ideal condition for spotting this particular species so we were indeed extra lucky that day.
It continued to rain for the rest of the day, but more birds came out to forage as the day progressed. Mixed flocks, led by the spritely Visayan Fantail (Rhipidura albiventris), traversed the treetops with a cacophony of chirps and whistles. The fantails were followed by several species, most notably the Black-belted Flowerpecker (Dicaeum haematostictum), Lemon-throated Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus cebuensis), and White-vented Whistler (Pachycephala homeyeri).
The most sought-after bird that trails behind these flocks, however, is the Flame-templed Babbler (Dasycrotapha speciosa), which unlike the rest of the flock can be difficult to spot due to their furtive nature. While I no longer bothered to take photographs, I was still grateful that the shy babbler appeared with the mixed flocks. We spotted it twice peeping through tangles of vines high up in the forest canopy.
TIBSOC-SAN JUAN WETLANDS
From the boondocks of Victorias, I detoured south – via Bacolod City – to the municipality of San Enrique for an overnight stay at Tibsoc village. This sleepy coastal community is fringed with mangroves, mudflats and rice fields that harbor thousands of migratory birds that winter in the Philippines. The Tibsoc-San Juan Wetlands form part of the Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Conservation Area (NOCWCA) that lies along 110 km of coastline, spanning three cities and seven municipalities. In 2016, this 89,608-hectare protected area was declared a Ramsar wetland site of international importance.
I rendezvoused with barangay councilor and local birder Rose Faith Paas, who warmly welcomed me at the barangay hall, from where it’s a short walk to a mangrove boardwalk. Along the way, we had a close encounter with a Yellow Bittern (Botaurus sinensis) stalking prey amidst a maze of mangrove roots. The boardwalk stretched past the edge of the mangrove forest, offering open views of the fronting mudflats. Here, we saw our first migrants: Chinese Egret (Egretta eulophotes), Terek Sandpiper (Xenus cinereus), and farther away, the Far Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis) – a large shorebird with a remarkably long, curved bill.
The following morning, we ventured onto the vast mudflats beyond the mangrove forests from the village’s border with Barangay San Juan in the neighboring municipality of Pontevedra. The cloudy weather provided comfortable conditions for us to explore the open wetlands. Behind us, a restless Mount Kanlaon – the most active volcano in the Visayas – coughed up wispy columns of ash. If one looked more closely, hundreds of shorebirds peppered the seascape, camouflaged by their drab non-breeding plumage.
A handful of Black-tailed Godwits (Limosa limosa) feeding at the forest edge, near an old woman gathering shellfish from the mud, first caught my attention. Another fascinating find were the skittish Sanderlings (Calidris alba) and Curlew Sandpipers (Calidris ferruginea) that dotted a sandy, open area, poking the wet ground with their thin bills. Towards the sea, a large flock of Great Knots (Calidris tenuirostris) flew over near the waterline next to fishermen hauling in their outrigger boats. All of these migratory birds were new additions to my life list!
Walking farther out towards the water, we chanced upon another friendly local birder Dave Morrison who arrived much earlier and was walking back from the northern end. He directed us to a larger flock of birds resting on the ground. More than a dozen Caspian Terns (Hydroprogne caspia) and Greater Crested Terns (Thalasseus bergii) were mixed in with a hundred Pacific Golden Plovers (Pluvialis fulva). Both species of terns, with their brightly colored bills, were additional lifers of mine. Without a doubt, these were my favorite sightings of my overnight stay at Tibsoc, which yielded a total of 43 bird species.
MAMBUKAL MOUNTAIN RESORT
For the third and last leg of my trip, I returned to the boondocks. Backtracking to Bacolod City from San Enrique, I rode a public mini-bus for over an hour to Mambukal Mountain Resort in Murcia, located along my return route to Cebu via the San Carlos-Toledo ferry crossing. The resort township was established in 1923 as a weekend getaway for government officials. Among its main attractions are sulphur swimming pools, a boating lagoon, and a Japanese-designed bath house built nearly a century ago. As part of the Mount Kanlaon Natural Park, Mambukal is also a wildlife sanctuary with large populations of endangered flying foxes and, of course, a variety of birdlife.
After a relaxing evening soaking up in the hot spring pools, I woke up refreshed the following morning for my last morning of birding. I was accompanied by Beboy Enguito, a government worker who has been moonlighting as a birding guide for nearly two decades. Our first target for the day, which was intermittently sunny, was the West Visayan subspecies of the Spotted Wood Kingfisher (Actenoides lindsayi mosleyi), which took a long while to find in the thick understory of a wooded area. After searching two sites, we finally managed to spot a solitary female perched on a low branch. The local race features darker plumage compared to the Luzon subspecies.
Along the main road, we spotted more West Visayan races of Philippine endemics. I found the local subspecies of Balicassiao (Dicrurus balicassius mirabilis) and Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker (Yungipicus maculatus maculatus) prettier than the ones that occur on Luzon island. The former has a white belly, while the latter has a far larger red hindcrown among males.
Our best encounter of the morning, however, was a Luzon Boobook (Ninox philippensis) roosting in a tree draped in a curtain of vines. After failed attempts of searching for this hawk-owl in Subic Bay, Rizal and Bohol, I finally got to see it for the very first time – in excellent daytime conditions. Despite its common name, this species occurs outside Luzon and can also be found in the Visayas. Unbothered by our presence, the individual was perched in the same spot only six meters away during our entire observation, occasionally swiveling its head whenever a Philippine Jungle Crow (Corvus philippinus) cawed overhead.
Passing under a concrete bridge where hundreds of Gray-rumped Swiflets (Collocalia marginata) were nesting, we reached a muddy riverbank. Next to the stream, Beboy had improvised an observation hide with black cloth and plastic chairs for me to photograph the Magnificent Sunbird (Aethopyga magnifica) feeding on a torchflower.
As Beboy had to leave for afternoon duties, I was left behind in the hide. Shortly after, the target bird did show up with its bright red plumage and purple-tinged tail glistening in the soft light of the understory. It was a truly magnificent finale to my five-day excursion around northern Negros, where I recorded a total of 74 birds and added at least 16 new species to my life list – from the island’s forested volcanic highlands to its wide and open wetlands.