Bird #100 - Black-crowned night heron and second sighting of White-winged terns

Black-crowned night heron - juvenile

It's been a while since I last updated this blog. Been busy and all with daily life LOL. Anyway, I finally had a bit of time to update. Not much has happened since the last post except for my 100th lifer. It was on the early morning of May 15th. Saw nothing unusual until a large bird which thought at first was a Little heron but was just a little too big to be one. Clicked away and realized I had a night heron sighting. It was a juvenile though. What I find strange about the sighting is that these birds are suppose to be common but I've only seen them in captivity. This was the first time seeing one in the wild. I wish I had a better photo though but 300mm can only give you as much reach.

White-winged tern

The first sighting was at the Mactan channel when we were on a ship from Surigao.  And since then I was hoping to see the bird again.  However, the bird can be quite difficult to distinguish from the more common Whiskered tern when in non-breeding plumage. And so I thought, why not wait till the breeding season starts so they'll be easier to identify. And so I waited. The second sighting actually happened on the 18th at SRP behind the new SM mall. However, I was not able to produce photos.  I went out on the 18th to get photos of the Whiskered terns in breeding plumage. There was a huge group of terns resting on the mudflats which I thought at first were all just Whiskered terns. I got busy taking photos of the Whiskered terns flying back and fort in front of me until I notice that the group on the mudflats went flying like something spooked them. It was then that I saw one White-winged tern that stood out. I tried to get a photo but it just suddenly disappeared in that huge flock and it never showed itself again.  Two days later I decide to go back in the hopes of another sighting and hopefully a good photo. And they did not disappoint me. One bird came in first, flying just above the water and caught fish. This one was still not in full breeding plumage as it was still show specks of white in the chest and neck. A few minutes later a pair came flying in showing full breeding plumage.And I had the time of my life.