By Donna M. Lacuna
Two birding club trips, organized by Enrico Legaspi, visited Villa Escudero (VE) on August 15-16 upon an invitation from AP Escudero Limpot, nephew of Carmela Balcazar. AP had been helping his aunt Carmela to oversee operations in VE and he had been seeing quite a number of birds, including and quoting from Enrico’s email, “great finds that even long-time birders have not seen including slaty-breasted rail, blue-breasted quail, and slaty-legged crake. Other great birds that can be found there are the indigo-banded kingfisher, rough-crested malkoha, and Philippine pitta.”
The teams were composed of the following. August 15 Saturday: Robert Javier, Desiree Javier, Brandon Lonard, Anissa Tang, Russel Orodio, Andrew de Pano, Dinha Ong, and Jennifer Dionzon. August 16 Sunday: Enrico Legaspi, Janina Castro, Dhaval Pramod Bapat, Prince Marek, Gelo Arboleda, Lucia Asul, Johanna Gonzales, Tsarina and Ronnie Agcaoili and their daughters, and myself.
The special and discounted day tour rate of P1400 per person that AP so kindly offered included a buffet lunch, carabao cart ride, cultural show, and museum visit. Moreover, it included a golden opportunity to meet the one and only Carmela Balcazar. True enough, we met her at the pavilion where she welcomed and chatted with us briefly. Right at the bat and well into the chit chat, it was apparent how life could never be dull with her around; being ever so vibrant, interesting, and passionate about birds and nature.
It turns out VE is an expansive property spanning 40 hectares with 27 cottages, 2 museums, and 3 swimming pools. Our group arrived at 06:48, started exploring at 07:15, ended the day at 17:17 and drove out of VE at 17:28. AP and his two staff accompanied us throughout the day, with Carmela coming to see us at various spots in VE whenever her time would allow.
So from the registration area we walked our way towards the fields where we already spotted so many birds like Cattle Egret, Philippine Jungle Crow, White-browed Crake, Coppersmith Barbet, Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker, Chestnut Munia, Yellow-vented Bulbul, a Crested Myna on a carabao, Pied Bushchat, Striated Grassbird, Red Collared Dove, and a flock of Asian Glossy Starlings on wires of electric posts. Interesting plants we saw were the makahiya, katmon, sarata, tibig, lansones, and rambutan. As we moved on towards the area where there was a little brook and big pond, we spotted Zebra Dove, Red-keeled Flowerpecker, Brown-breasted Kingfisher, Philippine Tailorbird, Oriental Honey Buzzard, Purple-throated Sunbird, and Paddyfield Pipit.
Before we knew it, it was time for the much-awaited buffet lunch by the waterfalls. But what was different and totally amazing about lunch was the birds. Imagine enjoying delicious, Filipino fare and at the same time enjoying a view of lovely birds too. I mean how lucky can you get. Among the birds spotted during lunch were Black-crowned Night Heron, Brown-breasted Kingfisher, Rough-crested Malkoha, and White-bellied Munia. We were told the Rough-crested Malkoha is usually found in the campsite of VE thus its first sighting at the lunch area. As for the Indigo-banded Kingfisher, it was the Saturday group that was blessed to see it during lunch. It had other plans on the Sunday we went and was nowhere to be seen around VE; perhaps its way of asking us to come back some other day.
After lunch we proceeded to the museum courtesy of a super fun cart ride led by Sandara the carabao. The group then alighted from the cart towards this church-like building with a lovely, pink façade. It turned out to be the museum and Carmela led us into it. What struck me was how vast and diverse the museum collection was, including a display of taxidermy birds which are preserved bird bodies prepared with their real feathers and skin to look lifelike. As I could not completely recall all the items in the museum, I then consulted Google and here is what it said.
“The museum’s first floor features a massive collection of religious relics: life-size religious statues, altars, and sacred icons from the Spanish colonial area. On the second floor historical and cultural artifacts are displayed such as old currency, ethnic clothing, World War II memorabilia, and garments worn by past Philippine presidents. Global collectibles gathered by the Escudero family during their international travels are also highlighted such as Chinese porcelain, butterfly collections, and pottery.”
As the museum visit came to an end, the group then decided to split into two; one was towards the campsite for more birding, and the other to the pavilion for VE’s trademark cultural show. I chose to go to the cultural show as I was excited to see the dances; and besides my legs and feet were killing me so stopping to sit down was quite a welcome and pleasant option.
The cultural show was hands down amazing and way above my expectations. The music was live and upbeat, dances well-choreographed and executed, costumes colorful and of high caliber, and the performers passionate about their craft. Upon confirming with Google, the VE performance was curated by the late Philippine National Artist for Dance, Ramon Obusan, and features the resort’s own talented staff and musicians.
While we were about twenty minutes late, we still managed to catch the singkil, a rondalla band performance, a fertility dance, a courtship dance from Atimonan Quezon, pandango sa ilaw, and tinikling. Lastly an angklung ensemble played some Filipino folk songs and medleys by coordinating their individual rattles to form a harmonious melody. At the end of the show, the performers welcomed guests to have photos taken with them for a small donation that can be voluntarily placed in a big, native straw hat. It was apparent how the guests were so pleased and entertained by the performances. Bravo indeed.
Meanwhile the campsite group, the one composed of unstoppable, indefatigable, hardcore birders namely Enrico, AP, Gelo, Dhaval, Prince, and Janina, did not waste a single second save for a comfort room break and surged ahead with birding like there was no tomorrow. Gaddang. I simply could not for the life of me. Though I did ask what kind of vitamins they take to provide them with such unparalleled birding stamina. They all ignored and rolled their eyes at me. I wonder why.
Anyway, here’s their bird list compiled by Janina at the campsite: White-eared Brown Dove, Philippine Coucal, Collared Kingfisher, Coppersmith Barbet, Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker, Black-naped Monarch, Philippine Jungle Crow, Elegant Tit, Tawny Grassbird, Philippine Bulbul, Mangrove Blue Flycatcher, Red-keeled Flowerpecker, Scaly-breasted Munia, Philippine Cuckoo-Dove, Philippine Hanging Parrot, and Stripe-Sided Rhabdornis. Awesome work guys.
We all then boarded an electric vehicle to go back to the waterfalls for our last stop of the day as decided by Enrico and AP. On our way there, we managed to see an Asian Emerald Dove. It was so pretty with its vivid blue green color. We somehow felt this was a good omen as the Indigo-Banded Kingfisher is also blue. So everyone crossed their fingers extra tight on this second attempt to spot the INBKIN. As nature and the lack of luck would have it, the fella was nowhere to be seen. It would have to be next time then.
The team was in very high spirits as we huddled for a last group photo by the parking lot. It was mainly because we saw up to a whopping 54 species of birds in just one day from when we arrived at 06:48 until we ended at 17:17. The weather and the entire area of VE was simply lovely; nothing else to wish for. Moreover, it was the company of the team that made the day so memorable. We then bid farewell to AP and relayed our deepest gratitude for his and his family’s kindness, courtesy, and hospitality to welcome WBCP members to VE.
Let me then end the trip report with this beautiful sign I saw in the VE grounds:
“Count your garden by the flowers, never by the leaves that fall
Count your joys by golden hours, never when life’s worries call
Count your nights by stars, not shadows
Count your days by smiles, not tears
And on every birthday mornings
Count your age by friends, not years”
Cheers to birding and more birding trips. It’s really not just about lifers. It’s about meeting keepers too; people and friends you are blessed with and pray to have for keeps…