Inspired by stories of fellow bird photographers who have birded and photographed birds around the world in countries such as Columbia, Costa Rica, Thailand, and Vietnam, a group of Filipino bird photographers have banded together to develop and offer bird photography tours in the Philippines for foreign bird photographers and birders.
To validate once again the status of birding sites and the degree of difficulty in photographing Philippine endemic birds, four members of Haring Ibon and Bird Finder Philippines – Alain Pascua, Djop Tabaranza, Ben Maputi, and Vinz Pascua – embarked on a 12-day bird photography tour around Mindanao.The first two days of the expedition were spent mostly in Cagayan de Oro, specifically in Mapawa Nature Park. Our arrival past noon was greeted with heavy rains.
Bird photography is one undertaking where a lot of considerations are entirely out of one’s control. Our days in Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon prove that there are no guarantees in birding. There is no assurance that the target bird will be there or will appear. The target model has its mind, it cannot be controlled, and it is usually shy. The weather is also out of one’s control, and although reliable predictions are already available, the mountains have their own weather patterns.
Birding in PICOP is usually the last birding site of the tour. We would typically exit to Butuan City to fly to Manila. This time, we have allotted three more days to explore an area we have not birded before, the privately-owned VPO Farm and Eco Reserve in Agusan del Sur. Its inclusion is a result of the partnership between Haring Ibon – Birds in Focus and Lerio Chocolates.
Because they end up in Cartimar or used as food…
Australia is actually second. We are third. breeding endemics per country 1 / 522 - Indonesia 2 / 354 - Australia 3 / 258 - Philippines 4 / 257 - Brazil source: BirdLife_News