The Road to 360

by Ravi Iyengar

It’s early 2019 and I have just agreed to a new posting at Manila, Philippines. Not my first time to live and work there, however it’s over ten years since the last assignment, and the first since I started bird watching. I speak to a friend who runs a Wildlife conservation Trust in Mumbai, and he has bad news to share: there are very few birds in the Philippines, they have been hunted down or have dwindled due to habitat destruction. “Oh No!” I exclaim, news of the worst sort, taking it at face value and not bothering to research the facts.

A couple of months later, I am back in Manila and in the first couple of days I see only Mayas and nothing more; alas my friend’s opinion is vindicated. It is going to be a strained birdwatching journey for the next few years.

And then I undertake a visit to our offices around the country starting with Palawan. The weekend is spent sightseeing. At Honda Bay I spot my first lifer in the Philippines, a Pacific Reef Heron casually lounging around our docking station. Soon followed by a Collared Kingfisher and a few more lifers – White-breasted Woodswallows and Zebra Doves. Little do I imagine that from an initial expectation of near-zero sightings, I will over the next 5 years, see hundreds of different bird species across the country. This is the start of the Road to 360 (Philippine lifers), a journey filled with excitement, wonder and friendships, sometimes frustrating and difficult, but always full of learning and growth.

My friend’s opinion having been debunked, I now do some net trawling and come across the Wild Bird Club of The Philippines. I’m soon in touch and birding with Mike Lu at the American Memorial Park and my Philippines birding journey begins in right earnest. My first club trip follows soon after, led by the late Gina Mapua to IRRI, followed by a second one to Las Piñas–Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area (LPPCHEA) where I get some terrific lifers like the Red Phalarope and Japanese Paradise-flycatcher. It was also where I meet my birding-sister Gwen So, who has been an integral part of my Road to 360.

Happy in my newfound birding world and community, little do I realise that everything will change shortly – the Pandemic is upon us. It’s the time for @Home creativity; an Indian birding buddy Francis D’Souza starts a series of birding  Webinars, and asks me to do one for the Philippines – I ask Mike to co-host it with me and he gladly agrees.

The Webinar can been viewed here:

The after-world of the Pandemic is filled with birding obstacles like RTPCRs and check-posts. Even so, Cheta Chua, Gwen, and I risk a trip to Infanta, probably among the first groups to venture there post-pandemic. Of course, we get stopped at the Quezon border, but my driver Marvin pulls a rabbit out of his hat, shows his Security Agency badge, which while being totally meaningless to the occasion, gives us respectability in the eyes of the Security Personnel. We are granted six hours of birding. Six hours, that’s a lovely window and Cheta/Gwen are jumping with joy in the backseat. It’s the start of regular birding again and the Road to 360 is now back on track.

I’m birding almost every weekend, but mostly confined to driving distances from Manila and business trips around the country, always undertaken with camera and bins in tow. The lifer numbers keep adding up, nothing works like large amounts of time spent on the field.

Come November 2022 and I’m doing my first big birding trip to Puerto Princesa. Having been there on business and vacation a few times, this is a complete-the-numbers visit. Three days later, I have another 15 lifers under my belt, including getting to Number 300. More importantly, I am able to spot the Tres Amigos –  The Palawan Babbler, The Palawan Flycatcher, and The Falcated Wren-Babbler. I do a small 300 lifer-jig in celebration!

One of the first bird pictures that I saw when I came to Manila was that of the Visayan Broadbill and I remember thinking: “What an incredible bird, I have to see it someday!”. My chance finally comes in July 2023 when I visit Bohol. It was a no-show on Day 1 and I urge my guide to take us to the Park even earlier the next morning. I pre-fill my eBird Checklist with a sighting of 4 Broadbills. Lo and behold, not 4 but 6 Broadbills show up…..the power of positive thinking!

People often ask me “Which is your favorite Philippine bird?”  I’d rather tell them about the one that was the most difficult – the Whiskered Pitta! It has taken me 3 mountain climbs, a broken-down 4×4, an hour trek down to find another mode of transport and a bust knee to get that bird. The Philippine Pitta was another one that evaded me for the longest time. Eventually when I spotted it, it showed up 4 times in the space of a month. Sometimes when it rains, it pours…..

Finally, my stint is coming to an end in the Philippines. I’m at a lifer count of 332 and its time for a last hurrah! Never having considered birding in Mindanao in the past four years, I am now connected with Pete Simpson, who puts together a special packed agenda over 4 days to net me as many birds as possible. I go with a Palawan number of 15 in mind, Pete has bigger plans, the Mindanao birds even bigger still. My stretch goal of 350 lifers is breached quite easily and eventually I get my 360^th lifer – the Singing Bushlark, on the fields outside Gen San Airport, just before catching a flight back to Manila. 

360 is a nice round number, it’ll do for the moment. I am not quite done with the Philippines, nor the other way around. 400 could be a good next goal!