Looking for the 100th....

I was only 1 bird short by the 31st of December. And I wanted to make it to 100 before the new year. I headed back to Cansaga for the 3rd time. Didn't find my 100th bird sadly, but had good views and saw more of the species found there.

Did the usual thing, came early and waited for the tide to subside. However, the tide was scheduled at the lowest by 11:30 that morning, and it was still 7 am when I got there. Still, birds kept coming in. The ones new to me are the Whimbrels, Curlews and Far-eastern Curlews - which I still can't get enough of. They seem to be a staple there now that I have been frequenting there. I used to think that the first time I saw them was just pure luck and the birds just happened to be there. Turns out they do winter here and Cansaga bay was one of their feeding sites.  I wish to find more wader species though. Those Broad-billed sandpipers were a good find. Didn't see them again that day though.

This Curlew flew over head. I managed to get a shot as it came closer. Not too good though since it was really gloomy that day.












Minutes later a mixed flock of Curlews with 3 Far-eastern curlews came in.

Another frame of the same birds.

This seems to be the highlight of the day for me. I've only seen Grey herons twice. One at SRP and another one in Argao. I used to think that maybe I may have seen the same individual. After seeing this, everything changed. I haven't seen so many Grey herons together. I first noticed them soaring just above the mangroves by the Mactan channel - which was just east of the bridge and the general direction I was facing. It looked like they got spooked and took to the air and landed back. I thought they were just back-lit egrets and didn't pay any mind. I even thought they were raptors at one point, that I decided to take a snap and zoomed 100% on my lcd. The silhouettes were of egret/heron but didn't really think to find them interesting since there were a lot of egrets about and they could have been just one of them. It was not until one flew northwards that I realized I was wrong. The bird was already northeast so there's no way it could still be back-lit. I took a snap and chimped - Grey heron!

Minutes later, a couple more took off and went the same direction. Then four followed and then 12! Well, 10 then 2 followed close by. I never thought I'd see this many birds at one time. Then it hit me- they were heading north. It was just the 31st of December. Don't you think it was still too early for them to head north? Perhaps they were just going north but not really all the way north back to their breeding grounds. I'll have to do research on these birds.

Then a little later another mixed flock came in. This time it was 2 Curlews and the rest - Far-eastern curlews.









Unfortunately, I had to leave early. I promised my wife I'd be back by noon. So no 100th bird but still, it was a good birding day for me.

Fell in love with Cansaga bay and the bridge :D

Common Greenshank

I went back to Cansaga bay hoping for new lifers. I was just 4 birds short. On this trip I got lucky. I had 3. The first time was a blast. I got to see and shoot birds in flight. On this trip the sun was a bit shy and the clouds have been hogging the sky. The photos have not been so good but I still had a good time.

I did the same tactic - get on the bridge and just stand there and wait. Normally, you'll see terns fly by along with some and Egrets, and then some swallows beneath the bridge and some swiftlets too (which by the way are still not on my list due to the difficulty of identifying let alone photographing them). 

Every now and then I'd see lone long-billed birds like that of a Whimbrel but was not too sure if they were Whimbrel or Curlew- I took shots anyway. It was exciting for me knowing that the birds I just shot might be a new bird for me. I minimized chimping because almost everytime I did, a bird or a flock of waders would fly past me. I decided to just take shots now, wonder about the identification later.

Black-headed gull

Most of the birds that day flew solo or in two's. I don't know why, but that's what I noticed. There were a flock of sandpipers and Black-headed gulls though.

Anyway, I got home and started going over the photos. They were pretty bad due to the poor light coupled with the fast shutter speeds which only made them more underexposed.





Bird #97 - Curlew or Common Curlew.
Less barring on the under-wing more white and contrasting underparts.

Bird #98 - Far-eastern Curlew. Under-wing has more barring and less contrast on the underparts.
So far that's the only way I know to tell them apart. The FEC does tend to have a longer bill and is slightly bigger than the Curlew.

100% crops

 Bird #99 - Broad-billed sandpipers. I had help with the id on our Facebook group. These guys were a flock of about 9 or so birds. There was a Red-necked stint that came along, which is bird #3 on the photo - left.













Here's a different shot of them together. The Red-necked stint had a noticeably shorter bill:

Broad-billed sandpipers with Red-necked stint (top-right)