By Weng de la Torre-Custodio
October 12, Sunday morning started out rainy. The drive going to Masungi in the border of Baras and Tanay, Rizal was quite windy and a bit gloomy. The club members’ cars were led near the Rock Garden events hall where we converged for a short briefing. The rain was still persistent and Masungi’s tourism officer thought we should wait a while for the skies to clear up before heading to Silayan, a hill overlooking limestone pinnacles. She even mentioned having breakfast first before birding. Gasp! I’m assuming that if it was just up to us we would brave the drizzle and get right on birding.
Good thing the overcast sky slowly lit up and we headed to Silayan. It was a 5-minute ride up and down the hilly terrain. Coming to Silayan from the parking area, one could see the Makati-Taguig skyline. Adjacent to Silayan is a glass hut usually used for weddings. It’s a good spot for birding – it doesn’t only overlook the forest but the awning surrounding the structure can provide shade in case it rains again. The group first spotted a small bird about the size of a Golden-bellied Gerygone perched on a leafless branch. We couldn’t identify it on the spot and for a while it was tagged as the “non-Gerygone.”
Some of us ventured to a sloping path where we saw a solitary Grey Wagtail on the ground. Its yellow underpart stands out in the midst of the pavement and the bushes. A walk further down, flocks of Ashy Minivet made themselves heard and everybody got good views of the migratory birds. There were other songs heard in the area but the thick and tall foliage prevented us from seeing the source. It was quite a comforting experience though just to know that we’re surrounded by birds and other wildlife in the area. A sighting would be a bonus, of course. Heading back to Silayan, the twittering of a pair of Guiaberos also caught our attention. The young ones in our group were especially delighted to see the endemic parrots.
But we could say that the “star” of this trip was the male Luzon Hornbill that mingled openly among the trees for a good few minutes. It was foraging behind the leaves when it was first spotted. Our patience was rewarded when it emerged at the clearing and allowed us to admire its entirety. At that time, we initially planned on going back to the Rock Garden which is near a creek frequented by Indigo-banded Kingfishers. But the Hornbill kept us from moving along as it seemed to pose for us, first showing its back, with the notable brownish band on the lower middle of the tail, and then turning to face us. Later a female Luzon Hornbill was also spotted.
Back at the Rock Garden, Masungi’s tourism officer started briefing us about a wind energy farm project within the protected area that they oppose. But she was interrupted by a bird that flew and perched a few meters from us. We would have wanted to be all ears to her but I think she also understands that birders will be birders. So we naturally navigated towards where we could see the bird which turned out to be a Chinese Sparrowhawk. The bird seemed unmindful of the several gazing pairs of eyes as it continued to snack on an endemic Marbled Crested Lizard.
When the Chinese Sparrowhawk left, the briefing on the wind project commenced. Masungi’s team detailed the status of the project and the steps they have undertaken to hopefully put an end to it permanently. Afterwards we were on our last target, the Indigo-banded Kingfisher. We carefully treaded the slippery steps down to the creek where a pair of the blue speckled birds was seen. Despite the initial downpour, it proved to be a good day for being outdoors and for birding.
PS: The non-Gerygone was later identified as a (juvenile or female?) Pygmy Flowerpecker.