News of a Philippine Eagle Owl sighting at LMEP rippled across the Philippine Birding community sometime last week. But I was flying to Coron and staying until the 25th so I was not really hopeful that I will get to photograph said bird. I first encountered this bird at LMEP in 2015 then at the Petroglyphs in Angono last 2018. However, I was not totally happy with my shots and was hoping for a third encounter. The unfortunate passing of a dear relative forced me to go back to Manila earlier which allowed me a chance to photograph this bird last October 22.
Ed Santos, who was at LMEP a few days earlier, told me to be at the park gate before six. But I overslept and got to the park a little past seven in the morning and found several birders already there. They were: Loel Lamela, Jun Madrigal, Arnel Macariola, Gilbert and Wilma Go, Ed Gapal, Mac Omega, and a couple of others whom I cannot recall. Here is the obligatory group hug taken using the self-timer function of Arnel's P1000 (it took several award winning photographers from a well known camera club to figure out how to make the self-timer work, hehehe).
The Owl Searchers
When I arrived, Loel and two others had already seen and photographed the Owl a half an hour earlier. We settled down to wait and after more than an hour, it gracefully and quietly glided in around 9:30am and perched on tall tree. Cameras were aimed and shutters pressed but it was partially covered by a rather chunky branch then it moved to a nearby perch stayed several minutes before flying to another perch. Sharing one of my first shots.
Philippine Eagle Owl
After checking my initial burst, I found the shots to be a bit dark so I did some adjustments to my settings and was able to get a better shot.
Philippine Eagle Owl
Then it moved to another perch and was hidden from us. After a few minutes it went back to to the previous tree but its body was covered by leaves.
Philippine Eagle Owl
Since my family was scheduled to go to Lipa that afternoon, I left around 10:30am. Later in the day, when I was already in Lipa, I got a message from Loel showing a full body shot of the owl. There was nothing I could do except congratulate him (and pray that I am goven another chance). So, greedy bird photographer that I am, I went back to LMEP on Monday morning, October 24 to have another chance. I arrived a little after 6am expecting few or no people, it being a Monday. But to my surprise there were more than five people there. And others arrived later. As far as I can recall, my companions included Nelson Sibal, Noel Punzalan, Weng Manalaysay, Nilo and Liza del Rosario, Cel Tungol, Rodisendo Sentina and JL Dorolina. Irene Dy also arrived with a guest but they also left quickly. A few minutes after I arrived, JL pointed to something on the nearest tree and then saw the owl flying away. We settled down to wait. I took the opportunity to drink my coffee and eat the cheesy eggdesal that I brought from McDo. A little after 7am, I saw the target bird arrive but it perched behind some leaves. I alerted my companions but the bird flew away. Maybe it sensed our presence. So we waited again. While waiting a Philippine Serpent Eagle made an appearance and that occupied the group's attention for a few minutes.
A little after 9am, I was chatting with Cel Tungol and Liza del Rosario when I saw our target bird glide in and perch in the open. I alerted them and pointed my camera and started shooting. Soon everyone else converged around us and the bird left. In my excitement, I failed to adjust my settings and all my shots were dark. Here are some that I managed to rescue.
Philippine Eagle Owl
Based on the time stamp on my camera the time between my first shot and this last one was only a minute. But after this sequence everybody got excited so we took a selfie. And of course, while we were busy smiling for the camera, two owls flew overhead and no one got it...
Ngiting wagi... (kaya di nakita yung ibon na dumaan)
We were joined by LMEP's resident birder, Prof Ferdie Llanes who graciously gave us tips on what to do. Essentially, he told us we were too exposed. So we all moved under cover and soon the owl came back and we had our most open look of the day. Salamat Prof!
The most open view of the day
A tighter crop
BIF (Back-view in flight)
On another perch on the same tree
After just a few minutes, the flow flew to a nearer tree but it was somewhat covered. Having gotten an open shot, most of us decided to call it a day. Sharing my last view (for the day), of this magnificent bird .
Thank you Lord for the beauty of your creation
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