The appearance of rare migrants always sends the birding community into a frenzy. And one of the birds that always creates a buzz are Spoonbills. Sometime earlier this month, there was a reported sighting of three Black-faced Spoonbills in Balanga, Bataan. Instructions and coordinates were passed on through the birding grapevine but since I was scheduled to be in Coron for another two weeks all I could do was grin and bear it. A week or so later, there was a discovery of an even rarer and more endangered migrant, the Spoon-billed Sandpiper, also in Balanga and this was the first sighting in the Philippines! Followed by a post by Bom Gomez of 65 Black-faced Spoonbills and 1 Eurasian Spoonbill in Bulacan! Again, all I could do was like their posts and pray that these birds will still be there when I arrive.
I was scheduled to arrive in Manila on March 22nd. A few days before, Ed Santos and I began planning a sortie for the Black-faced Spoonbill flock in Bulacan on March 23. We will be going with Steve Albano and Jonet Carpio. However, on March 20, the Spoon-billed Sandpiper, which was not spotted for several days (and presumed to have already left), was seen and photographed by the group of Maia Tanedo, Djop Tabaranza, and Bert Madrigal. Since this was more rare, it is the first sighting in the Philippines, and a lifer for all of us, our trip was diverted to Balanga. But that sortie will be the subject of another post. What I would like to write about today is our sortie last Monday, March 25, at the Pampanga River delta in the vicinity of the new airport being built in Bulacan.
Some background information on our target birds: The Black-faced Spoonbill is only found in East Asia and, with an estimated world population of just 6,162 individuals, is classified as a globally 'endangered' species under the IUCN's Red List. Each year only 30 or so pairs are known to breed. (from: wwf.org.hk).
I have previously photographed this bird twice - on December 26, 2013 at Candaba, and October 31, 2020 at Tanza, Navotas. But it is such a magnificent bird that I would not mind photographing it again (and again). Plus the possibility of seeing the Eurasian Spoonbill made the trip worth it.
Our group was composed of Albert and Dahlia Abadicio, Homer Pialda, Loel Lamela, Jonet Carpio, and myself. Our target was the aforementioned Spoonbill flock whose last sighting (that we know of), was March 16 when the group of Liza del Rosario saw four birds. There was even a report that the birds were gone.
We met at the Panasahan Fish Port at 5am and was soon off in search of the Spoons. We were greeted with a pleasant breeze and a spectacular sunrise. Yun pa lang sulit na ang biyahe (weh, di nga?).
The spooners...
Sunrise at the Pampanga River Delta
After about twenty minutes of cruising on the river, we reached the spot where Liza and her group saw the four Spoonbills. We excitedly disembarked to a very muddy and slippery spot, set up our gear and waited. There were a few Black-winged Stilts, a lone Chinese, some Greenshanks, and a few other waders. But no sign of the Spoons. So we contented ourselves by shooting what was in front of us, which were mainly Black-winged Stilts.
Black-winged Stilts
After maybe forty five minutes, Jonet, shouted spoonbill! (Followed by some choice words because his camera wouldn't work). I looked up to see a flight of large birds fly by in a V formation but all I saw were their behinds so I couldn't positively ID them. Loel said they were Purple Herons (me, in my mind, but they were white!). But both Jonet (who was still lamenting his camera's non-performance), and the boatman were insisting they were Spoonbills, "kasi malapad ang tuka". The good news was they saw where the birds landed. The bad news was they landed quite far.
We waited for about fifteen minutes to see if they will comeback but not really knowing if they will, we packed up, boarded the boat and went to another spot closer to the where the birds landed. This part of the riverbank was a high embankment (maybe 2 meters) and was actually the dike of a fishpond. Finding no fences, guards, or even No trespassing signs, we disembarked on a bamboo wharf and clambered up the dike. Immediately, we could see birds in the distance but in order to get within a decent shooting spot, we would have navigate the looping/zigzagging dikes. Probably a two kilometer walk (or more). I asked Loel, who had the longest lens reach, to take a shot and see if there are spoonbills in the flock. Affirmative. So off we walked.
A distant view of the flock
A somewhat closer view (same shot but cropped closer). I still could not make out if they were indeed Spoonbills. But Loel's longer set up confirmed it
After rounding the first pond, we came upon a flock of another rare migrant - Pied Avocets!
Pied Avocets with what looks like a Common Greenshank at the back
After some shots of the Avocets, we continued our walk and decided to set up our tripods near a bend in the trail. And this was where we stayed for the next hour and a half (more or less) while various birds put on a show around us.
Upper left shows a flock of Pied Avocets, center portion, a large group of Spoonbills, and the bottom left shows a mixed flock of waders. How cool is that?
The lead pack of the Spoonbills. Never did I expect to see so many.
Black-faced Spoonbills and Pied Avocets in one frame again
The lead pack of the Pied Avocets
When the Spoonbills landed somewhere near the Bulacan Airport, the Stilts and Avocets kept us occupied. Sharing a few of the images that I was able to create.
Black-winged Stilts
Pied Avocets
Soon the we espied the spoonbills taking off from a distance and flying towards us.
Black-faced Spoonbills flying towards us in a V formation. I had to darken the photo so that the white birds will be visible from a very brightly lit sky. I counted 64 birds in this frame. The group on the left show only 1 bird plus part of a bird but it was a group of 6 birds (based on the succeeding frames). And on the right, there were other birds as well. Albert counted 72 in one of his shots.
Black-faced Spoonbills
Just as we were about to go, this murmuration of birds, probably Great Knots, gracefully did an aerial ballet around us.
A mixed group of waders
The sun was getting too hot so we decided to call it a day. By this time, we were all sporting ear to ear grins because of what we just witnessed.
And no WBPP birding sortie is complete without the obligatory group hug....
The photo that launched a "thousand" FB comments
This story will not be complete without mentioning Capt Floyd Pison Bermejo, he of the P1000 bill fame. Capt Floyd was supposed to be part of our group but begged off the night before because he had a scheduled flight in the afternoon and was worried that he won't make it to NAIA by 12nn. We were actually back at Panasahan Fish Port a little after 9am and was at Starbucks Greystone (Mindanao Ave) a little after 11am for the post sortie celebration (may naka lifer kasi eh. Teka dapat siya nang libre!). So dapat talaga sumama ka Capt!
In closing, I just want to thank all my fellow spooners for the fun sortie. It was a much needed break. But more than anything else, I thank the Lord for His beautiful creations and for giving us an opportunity to witness it.
Cheers Teammate… 😷🦅🇵🇭