beyond visible impression

had an opportunity last weekend to guide two international birdwatchers here in samar. our sortie was successful spotting their bird objectives, the slender billed crow and blue fantail  we also got bonus by seeing naked-faced spiderhunter, rufous and tarictic hornbills, few tailorbirds, raptors, phil falconet, dollarbirds, fairy bluebird, black naped monarch, and also the regulars at SINP veranda.  here are some of the limited photos that i managed to snap during the trip.

Dean and Craig, along the road…

The Rufous Hornbill (Buceros hydrocorax), also known as Philippine Hornbill and, locally, as Kalaw (pronounced kah-lau) is a large species of hornbill. It is endemic to the Philippines, where it occurs in primary, mature secondary and disturbed forests on 11 islands: Luzon and Marinduque (race hydrocorax), Samar, Leyte, Bohol,Panaon, Biliran, Calicoan and Buad (race semigaleatus), Dinagat, Siargao, Mindanao (plus Balut, Bucas and Talicud) and Basilan (race mindanensis). It is still common locally, notably in the Sierra Madre of Luzon, but continues to suffer from substantial hunting pressure and widespread loss of habitat.  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufous_Hornbill

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The Samar Tarictic Hornbill (Penelopides samarensis), sometimes shortened to Samar Hornbill, is a species of hornbill in the Bucerotidae family. It is found in forests on the islands of Samar, Calicoan, Leyteand Bohol in the east-central Philippines. As is the case with all Philippine tarictic hornbills, it has been considered a subspecies of P. panini. Alternatively, it is considered a subspecies of P. affinis.  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samar_Tarictic_Hornbill

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The Naked-faced Spiderhunter (Arachnothera clarae) is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.    Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked-faced_Spiderhunter

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Guests:  Cebu Bird Photographers (Dr. Boy and Marester Macasiano, Tateo Osawa and Dr. LuiCo)

Location:  Samar Island Natural Park

Date:  Feb. 24-26, 2011

Note: Aside from the common birds found in our birding sites, one uncommon species was photographed  - the samar endemic Blue Fantail

here are some of the documentary photos. enjoy viewing!

the Cebu Birdnuts

Samar Tarictic Hornbill, captured while having our first mug of coffee

Stripe-Headed Rhabdornis

Everett’s White-eye

Purple Throated Sunbird

Philippine Trogon

a more intimate shot of Everett’s White-eye

Stripe-Headed Rhabdornis

White-Throated Kingfisher

Philippine Bulbul

Black-Naped Monarch

Dollarbird

Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker

Crested Serpent-Eagle

Whiskered Tree Swift  and Orange-Bellied Flowerpecker (background)

Coleto

a mixed flock of small birds

Rufous Hornbills in flight.  a documentary shot, taken at a very far distance

Purple Throated Sunbird (female)

the shy and uncommon, Blue Fantail (Rhipidura Superciliaris Samarensis).  Taken in a dark understorey of the forest.

Gecko

Few more birds,  the Samar’s Spangled Drongo, Silvery Kingfisher, Fairy Bluebirds, etc., were spotted during the sortie but we failed to take photos due to distance and poor light availability inside the forest.  Nevertheless, what is more important is we were able to confirm the presence of those bird species inside the  Samar forests, and we have something more to photograph in the next trip!

Once again, I was able to experience the hidden attraction of Samar Island Natural Park (SINP).  Limited not with just bird objective in mind but with the interest to photograph forest-dwelling species and some forest features.

All photographs taken at Samar Island Natural Park.  Enjoy viewing!

Started shooting as early as 5:30AM.  The good thing of shooting moon at dawn is that you’ll have a colored background compared to a total black when taken at night

with this photo, i was able to proved again to myself that dawn is still my best time of day in photographing landscape very challenging that you have to compose, set and click as quick as you can because for a very short time, light temperature changes.

as color temperature changes…

a healthy green foliage

last leaf…?

flying lizard at rest

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from family of Troides

forest fungus

a hovering forest-dwelling butterfly

rufous hornbill last flight for the day….

More photos in my next post….

Tags: calbayog, catbalogan, nelson petilla, pinipisakan, samar photographer, samar tourist destination, SINP
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