Turning Japanese...

The appearance of a potential lifer at Infanta a few weeks ago, and several interesting migrants in the past few days, has got me thinking of birding. But the thought of a long drive to Infanta was not too appealing and somehow even going to LPPCHEA seems like a major effort. But a photo of a female Japanese Paradise Flycatcher, posted by Jonn Salvador last night, was enough to get me out of my birding rut. For the non-birders, this is a bird that is usually seen only in Batanes. Though it has been seen a couple of times at LPPCHEA, (the latest sighting was about a month ago), it usually stays only a day or two. Needless to say, this bird is a potential mega lifer for me.

Homer Pialda and I agreed to meet at NAPWC at 7:00am this morning but as fate would have it, I woke up at 6:19, took a quick shower, change and I was out of the house by 6:50am. But somewhere along Edsa-Kamuning, my left contact lens started bothering me so I made a quick stop at a Mercury Drug to buy a bottle of Tears Naturale eyedrops. Placed a couple of drops and was soon off again. Still, it was almost 8am by the time I got to NAPWC. As I stepped out to the car to pay the entrance fee, the driver of the car behind me called out my name. It turned out to be Cel Tungol, a fellow birder who promptly said "parang alam ko ang target mo". And we shared a laugh. A few minutes later, we were both parking. As I was setting up my gear, Cel walks over to inform me that she left her camera at home so off she rushed back to get it. With my gear fixed, I quickly walked to trhe Serpentarium area where the bird was seen yesterday and there I met Nelson Sibal, Homer and Ivy Pialda, Bambi Martinez, Mark Jason Villa, and a several new faces. I can recall Ravi and Jay (?). Prof Ferdie Llanes also arrived a bit later.

After the greetings, the question was, nandyan na ba siya? And the answer was something that all birders dread, "oo kanina nandyan, kaya lang lumipad na...". This answer always gives me mixed feelings. Happy that the bird is still around today, anxious that it might have made its last appearance. BUT, birders are always a hopeful lot, so this is often followed by, "babalik yan, antay lang tayo...".

Two hours later, we were still waiting. Bambi already said she was leaving because she had other things to do. I was contemplating going home empty handed when Ivy, said "uy doon daw" and we saw the other birders waving to us to go to them. We quickly scooped our things and went to them. As soon as we got there:

Saan na siya?

Dito lang sa paligid ligid.

Ayun!

Saan??? Di ko makita!

Some were already shooting. Then my phone rings and I fumbled through my pocket, answered and its a recorded call from a bank offering some promo! #@&% Pesteng yawa!!! Position my camera, aim and fire. And these are my first few shots before the bird flew to another branch and to another and to another...

Japanese Paradise Flycatcher, female, Lifer #605, and #24 for the year 2025. This is actually the 4th shot but the first 3 are all blurred.

X marks the spot!!! Yung excited kang ireview ang shots mo tapos ganito ang bubungad sa 'yo.... Haaay...

We continued to try to get photos, the operative word being "try". I was beside Mark, who being a professional bird guide, was really good at spotting birds. At one point it perched directly above us, maybe 3 meters away but it was very shifty.

First decent capture...with the help of Mark Jason Villa. Maraming salamat!!! Iba talaga ang propeysyonal!

Then the bird disappeared. Looking at my shots of that first appearance, my first capture was at 9:01am and the last was at 9:11am. It felt longer but it is what it is.

Mga ngiting matagumpay dahil hindi uuwi ng luhaan...

I was happy that I will not go without seeing my main target, that I can list this bird as a lifer but as I looked over my photos, I was not really contented. Thinking that the bird might go back to the Sampaloc tree, Homer and I went there again but nada. So we sat around the benches waiting and silently praying that the target bird will comeback. But I was kinda losing hope. Nearing 10:00am, I told Homer that I will go ahead, when we again heard shouts from the Balete tree area that the bird was back. So again, we ran to that spot. And this time, the bird stayed longer giving us more chances. Per my camera's time stamp, our Japanese guest stayed from a few minutes before 9:49 to 10:12am. Some of the images I was able to create in its second appearance.

Japanese Paradise Flycatcher, female

The finally flew off somewhere and with the sky darkening, we all trooped out of the area. But this blogpost will not be complete without acknowledging the help of Ivy Pialda who took it upon herself to be our spotter during the second encounter.

Thank you Lord for the beauty of your creation and the oppotunity to photograph it.