Sunday 7th November - TREES Lodge, ISH

I spent the morning at the Fig Tree, which was very productive. When I arrived there was a flock of Ashy Minivets feeding in the tops, with Red-keeled Flowerpecker and Striped Flowerpecker. A single Luzon Hornbill was sitting quietly right in the back of the tree, and I didn't notice it for at least half an hour. The Philippine Falconets were back on their dead tree, and shared it a various times with Coppersmith, Coleto, Bar-bellied Cuckoo-Shrikes and Stripe-headed Rhabdornis. The only dove visible was a fly through White-eared Brown Dove. Both Yellow-wattled Bulbul and Philippine Bulbuls came through, as did several Guiabero. Overhead a Philippine Serpent-Eagle passed low over the tree, as did Glossy Swiftlets. An odd sight was a flock of 20+ Whitebreasted Wood-Swallows, quite high up. I normally see these on wires in the rice fields, odd to see them over the forest. A small flock of Blue-tailed Bee-eaters also passed through.

Later at IRRI Staff Housing (ISH) several common garden species such as Yellow-vented Bulbuls, Olive-backed Sunbirds and Brown Shrikes. A medium-sized raptor far overhead looks like it might have been a migrant Rufous-bellied Eagle

Ashy Minivet. One flock of a dozen or so came and went several times in the morning.

Bar-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike ssp. striata. Again this individual's barring is restricted to the vent only, but this is the only species in the Philippines with a white eye.

Coleto. A group of 5 birds commuted between the dead tree and the fig tree.

Philippine Falconet. This bird was followed around by a swarm of what look like tiny bees, or maybe flies.

Stripe-headed Rhabdornis. This individual was in a nearby tree, but they also visited the fig.

Yellow-wattled Bulbul A pair were feeding quietly in the fig tree, surrounded by much noisier Philippine Bulbuls.

Coppersmith. Several birds in the fig, and on the adjacent dead tree. This one was in fact in my garden at ISH.

Yellow-vented Bulbul In ISH, probably the commonest bird in The Philippines

Flying high over ISH, I couldn't make out what this was at all at first. The head pattern looks like an adult Rufous-bellied Eagle, but the underwings don't seem right. Possibly this is an intermediate plumage between a juvenile and an adult.

Spotted Green Tree-Skink, Lamprolepis smaragdina philippinica Quite common around ISH, but this is the first time I've been able to take photographs.