The Luzon-wide community quarantine imposed starting mid-March last year put a stop to many birding sorties by Metro Manila-based birders. By July, a few brave souls started venturing to Baras, then Tanay, then Infanta and Bangkong Kahoy. With LPPCHEA, LMEP, and UPD still closed, what caught the attention of many NCR birders was the Tanza mudflat in Navotas. The appearance of many rare migrants that included the Black-faced Spoonbill, Pied Avocets, Plovers, Sandpipers, Egrets, Herons, and other waders provided an abundant harvest of lifers and photolifers to many birders. Because of this, this year's migration season was much anticipated.
Our first trip to Tanza was done last September 24. Our group was composed of Ed Santos, Steva Albano, Alex Loinaz, Homer Pialda, who came with his son, Harold, and myself. We coordinated our trip with the local DENR personnel whom we met last year. From accounts of birder friends who have visited the site a week or so earlier, we knew that the landscape of Tanza has changed. But seeing it with our own eyes still created a mix of emotions - awe at the immense development project being undertaken; sadness that the birds will most likely lose their habitat; and worry of what will happen to them. The reclamation being done meant a wider mudflat which also meant that the birds were much farther and more difficult to get good photos. Still we did the best we could.
The first bird that I was able to get a good photo of was the Purple Heron, one of my secondary targets. Not a lifer anymore but I have not been able to get a shot that I was truly happy with. This bird was my lifer #100 way back in October 2013 (at Candaba).
Purple Heron, posing regally, check!
As expected there were many egrets, herons, plovers, stilts, stints, amd other waders.
Little Egrets
Waders Galore in the expanded mudflat
Common Redshank
Great Knots, easily the most plentiful among the species we saw that day. There were easily several hundred, maybe more.
Then by a stroke of luck, we saw a couple of Ruddy Turnstones within a good shooting range and bathed in the soft morning light. Fire away!!!
Ruddy Turnstone
The Purple Heron continued to put on a show...
Taking the little one under his wings
Soft landing...
Regal pose resumed
Not to be outdone, the ever graceful Black-winged Stilts also put on a show
Black-winged Stilts
But the star of the day for us were these Bar-tailed Godwits. I counted about seven of them in one distant shot.
Bar-tailed Godwit with a Whiskered Tern (left) and a Black-winged Stilt (right)
Three Bar-tailed Godwits with what looks like Marsh Sandpipers and perhaps a Common Greenshank
Bar-tailed Godwit
As we were leaving the mudflat, I got another of my bucket list shots, that of a Purple Heron in flight, within a reasonable distance.
PIF - Purple Heron in Flight :-), big check!
After the mudflat, we proceeded to the DENR Project Site (Tanza Marine Tree Park), which used to be an island (and is still referred to as such), but is now connected to the mainland and reachable by car. But one has to pass through a gate that is controlled by the developer. Since Alfie of DENR was with us, we were able to pass through without any hitch. As we were about to walk to the DENR site, Ed's driver got excited and pointed to a bird that was flying towards us, passed us by, landed several meters away from us where it stayed a few minutes and then flew again.
Eurasian Whimbrel
We went to the island with the hope that we will see some (or all) of the rare migrants that were seen at this site last year. My personal target was the Blue and White Flycatcher, while Ed and Steve were looking for the Narcissus Flycatcher and the Chestnut-winged Cuckoo. Unfortunately, none of those birds chose to make our day. Only a pair of Pied Fantails and a Grey-streaked Flycatcher showed up.
I opted to go to the bamboo walkway part of the island to see if there were any waders nearby. Last November, Homer and I sat on makeshift stools on the mudflat and were able to capture plovers and sandpipers at reasonably close range. This netted me a couple of lifers (Curlew Sandpiper and Dunlin). I was hoping to do the same this year but Alfie promptly warned me that the mud in front of the bamboo walkway was very soft and I would sink. There were not much birds anyway.
Common Greenshank, photographed from the bamboo walkway
Black-winged Stilt, taken from the bamboo walkway
After consuming our lunch, Alfie approached us and said there was a Curlew on the mudflat but quite far, and if we wanted to see it. Of course we wanted to. I was secretly praying that it be a Eurasian Curlew because that would be a lifer. We walked a couple of hundred meters out on the mudflat and we did see the Curlew from afar and got super docu shots. Suddenly, without any warning, huge drops of rain began falling and all our rain gear were back in our cars. Luckily I had my plastic lens and camera cover to protect my gear. We walked as fast as we dared in the mud but got drenched nevertheless. And that was our signal to call it a day.
As to the Curlew, Alfie identified it as Eurasian. I sent my super docu shots to three people but none could properly ID it so I did not list it yet. Though I did not get any lifers on this sortie, I was happy with many of my photos for the day. Tanza is still a good birding destination, for now, at least.
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