Knots pa more

The bountiful harvest of our first Tanza trip (for this year), left us wanting for more (hey, bird photographers are greedy people, remember?). So we scheduled another trip the following week, specifically on September 30th. As with the previous visit, we coordinated with DENR personnel assigned in Tanza. There were only three of us this time - Ed Santos, Steve Albano, and myself. We arrived earlier than usual and birded in the mudflats first and quickly boarded our gondolas.

My personal goals were to be able to establish that the Curlew was indeed Eurasian so I can tick off a lifer, to see and photograph a Red Knot, another lifer, and to see other lifers like the Little Gull, and Common Ringed Plover, which were already reported by friends from WBCP.

It seemed that there were even more Knots(!), most of them Great Knots. But since the Red Knot was part of my list for the day, I made it a point to take as many photos of the Knots with the hope of catching at least one Red Knot.

As expected the Tanza mudflats did not disappoint. Sharing some of the photos that I took that day.

Lesser Sand Plover

Bar-tailed Godwit (left) and Black-winged Stilt (right)

Great Knot

Broad-billed Sandpiper

Great Knot (L) and Black-winged Stilt (R)

Great Knots

Great Knots and a lone Black-winged Stilt

Great Knots pa more!

Great Knot

And more Great Knots

Marsh Sandpipers, (I think)

Purple Heron

Purple Heron

A sleep-walking Common Redshank

A pair of Black-winged Stilts in an unusual pose

Little Egret

Bar-tailed Godwit

Unfortunately, we did not see the Curlew that day. After more than two hours of gondola riding, we headed back to shore and proceeded to the island.

Just like the last time, there were no rare migrants at the island. And there were not many birds at the bamboo walk. This Pacific Golden Plover did give us many good looks.

Pacific Golden Plover

A Striated Heron briefly did the same...

Striated Heron

And the Common Greenshank also strutted nearby

Common Greenshank

For our lunch, we had Ed's magic adobo which we irrationally believe brings out the birds (hey, it worked several times at Infanta!). But even the mystical powers of the adobo did not bring out any rare migrant. After some time, we decided to go out to the mudflat (via the parking area). As soon as we got to the where our cars were, three Pied Avocets landed about 60-80 meters away. Sharing one docu shot.

Pied Avocets

We then walked out to the reclaimed area but the birds were still too far away. And no sign of the Curlew. So after about twenty minutes, we decided to call it a day. On the walk back to the car, we again saw the Avocets and took a few more docu shots.

When I got home, I immediately downloaded the photos on my computer and searched for a Red Knot (I already knew I struck out on the Curlew). But to my dismay, I could not find one. So my second 2021 Tanza trip also ended with no lifers but am still happy for the number of good photos.