Coron Birding at its best

December, the days leading to Christmas, as usual was hectic. But we had three half day bird tours, two of which I was able to lead. And of course, when your guest only has a few short precious hours to bird, you bring him/her to a place with the highest probablility of seeing Coron's Avian treasures, Capayas Creek Kingfisher Preserve.

Our December 14 tour was for two young ladies, sisters of Indian descent, from Australia. And their half-day tour netted them twenty-six (26) species including the Three Kings (Ruddy, Blue-eared, and Rufous-backed Kingfishers, the starbirds of CCKP). Most, if not all of these 26, were lifers for our guests. Here are some photos from said tour.

Blue-naped Parrot, Pikoy in Cuyonon. This is, by far, my best shot of this bird. Said photo has garnered more than 9100 reactions (so far), at WBPP's facebook page.

Black-hooded Pitta, Wawa in Cuyonon, always a joy to photograph

Blue-headed Racquet Tail, male, Kilit in Cuyonon, endemic to Palawan, and a flagship species of the Municipality of Coron.

Palawan Blue Flycatcher, male, endemic to Palawan

Blue-eared Kingfisher, one of the starbirds of CCKP

Our second half-day bird tour for December was on the December 15, the following day but I developed a fever on the afternoon of the 14th so I was unable to accompany Dr Ron Paraan, a bird photographer from Bagiuo and a fellow WBPP member.

On December 17, we had another half-day tour with two young lady birdwatchers from Seoul. This trip garnered twenty-two (22) species, which were also mostly lifers for our guests. I have not yet processed any of my photos for this trip.

For the beginning of the new year we had three unexpected guests. One was a German couple refered by Al Linsangan of Calamianes Expeditions. The second unexpected guest was Caloy Libosada, a well known Eco Tourism practitioner and the author of two Birding books published by the Department of Tourism in the mid 2000's. Caloy is a founding member of WBPP and a good friend of mine from the early 90's. He was in town for two days and decided to do a two-hour birding trip. Our third guest is a 70-year old Brit who was in town for the Regatta at Pearl Bay. He is a bird photographer and booked a whole day tour. He did not like to do much walking but was able to photograph the Three Kings before noon.

Caloy Libosada (leftmost), a well known Eco Tourism specialist and birding book author, at Capayas Creek Kingfisher Preserve last Jan 11. With him are Erwin edonga, bird guide and CCKP caretaker, and Cris Almerida, our in-house DOT trained guide at My Blue Backpack. Also in photo are a couple of foreign guests.

I only arrived back in Coron on January 11th so I was not with any of these three tours. Inspired by the appearance of the Three Kings, I did a half-day solo birding sortie on January 12th. I only stayed at the bird hide area and did not walk around like we do in a bird tour. Capayas did not disappoint. Sharing some of my photos for the morning.

Palawan Flowerpecker, female, endemic to Palawan

Palawan Bulbul, endemic to Palawan

Blue-eared Kingfisher

Ruddy Kingfisher, my main target for the day

Rufous-backed Kingfisher

Yellow-throated :Leafbird, endemic to Palawan

Asian Glossy Starling

All in all, I listed fifteen (15) species while basically sitting around and drinking coffee and making small talk with Erwin.

For those interested to bird in Coron, kindly contact My Blue Backpack at mybluebackpacktours@gmail.com or contact us at +63 917-881-5121 (mobile or WhatsApp). See you in Coron!