WBCP flies high with the First Philippine Bird Festival

1

The Festival in pictures 2

WBCP is honorary OBC member

3

Highlights from the field 4

WBCP endorses Principles of Conservation

6

WBCP participates in Taiwan Fair

7

Report from the Prez 7

Inside this issue:

Wild about Birds Volume 2, Issue 1 14 January 2006 Newsletter of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines

By Trinket Canlas

“Phenomenal. A huge success.” This was the overwhelming evaluation of the first-ever Philippine Bird Festival. Organized by the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (WBCP) and its Festival Committee, the one-day Festival was held on 18 November 2005 at the Crossroad 77 Convenarium at Mother Ignacia Avenue in Quezon City.

With its theme, “A Voyage of Discovery”, the Festival aimed at highlighting the country’s wealth of bird life and raising conservation awareness through the promotion of bird watching and the responsible appreciation of nature. It featured information and display booths set up by environmental and community development organizations and government agencies, photo and art exhibits, educational animal and bird shows, film showings, lectures, and children’s activities such as face-painting, drawing, origami and colouring.

Cutting the ribbon to start the festivities were WBCP President Michael Lu, Festival Committee Chairperson Alice Villa-Real, Ricky de Castro of Mirant Philippines Foundation (the Foundation was the Festival’s main sponsor), and Bataan Congressman Albert Garcia. The opening program hosted by Anna Maria Gonzales included a keynote speech by Tim Fisher, one of the authors of the Guide to the Birds of the Philippines and WBCP member.

More than a thousand students flocked to the Convenarium to take part in Festival activities. They milled around looking at exhibits in the various booths, queued to have their faces painted with bird designs, folded paper animals origami-style, slumped on the floor in their hundreds to colour pre-prepared bird drawings. By the afternoon, an entire section of the Convenarium was papered with these drawings.

WBCP flies high with the First Philippine Bird Festival

A view of the astonishingly large crowd at the Festival Photo: Orly Punzalan

Philippine Eagle and Rufous Hornbill mascots from Conservation International entertained the crowd and added to the festive atmos-phere. Children swarmed around Robert Alejandro on the stage to learn “easy as 1-2-3” bird drawing. They squealed in delight at the animals brought on stage by Drew Galano for the My Zoo Foundation’s Zoo to You presentation.

Continued on page 3

- 2 - Wild about Birds. Volume 2, Issue 1. 14 January 2006.

The Festival in pictures...

Photos: Romy Ocon, Orly Punzalan. Photomontage: Jon Villasper

- 3 - Wild about Birds. Volume 2, Issue 1. 14 January 2006.

WBCP flies high...

The mini Bird Show presented by Davao-based Dr Bo Puentespina of the Malagos Garden Resort and the Malagos Wildlife Preservation Foun-dation captivated everyone. The audi-ence watched in awe as Dr Puentespina brought out several re-habilitated and rescued birds, includ-ing a pair of African Grey Parrots, a Rufous Hornbill and a Philippine Hawk-Eagle.

The highlight of the afternoon con-sisted of scientific seminars targeted at the more mature segment of the audience. Indira Widmann of the Katala Foundation lectured on the state of the Philippine Cockatoo and its conservation; JC Gonzales, Profes-sor at the University of the Philppi-nes-Los Baños, spoke of the contri-butions of birdwatching to science. A timely panel discussion on the avian flu issue capped the afternoon pro-gram. Joining forum moderator Atty Ipat Luna as resource persons were Mundita Lim, Director of the Pro-tected Areas and Wildlife Bureau; the United States Embassy’s Dr Leonides Cardenas; and Ruben Pascual, Coor-dinator of the National Avian Flu Task Force.

Participating organizations

Friends of WBCP came out in force to support the Bird Festival. In addi-tion to the WBCP booth, 16 other exhibit booths were set up by partici-pating non-governmental organiza-

tions and government agencies. They included the following: Center for Environmental Awareness and Educa-tion; Conservation International Phil-ippines; Consuelo Chito Madrigal Foundation; Department of Environ-ment and Natural Resources (DENR)-Protected Areas and Wild-life Bureau; DENR-NCR-Manila Bay Environmental Monitoring Project; ISLA Biodiversity Foundation; Katala Foundation; Miriam PEACE; Munici-pality of Candaba; My Zoo Founda-tion Volunteer Group; National Mu-seum-Manila; Philippine Butterfly Habitat Conservation Society; Philip-pine Eagle Foundation; Winner Foun-dation; and World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines.

Also featured were art pieces by WBCP members and friends. Among the exhibitors were Rene Bajit, Jason Cahigas, Nicky Icarangal, Rich Pijuan, Orly Punzalan, Arnel Telesforo and Yong Ding Li. Bird photographs of Ivor Lee and Romy Ocon were like-wise on show.

The visitors

Most of the Festival audience came from various schools. Students from Ateneo de Manila University, Beacon School, De La Salle University, Jose Abad Santos Memorial School, Learn-ing Tree School, Mapua Institute of Technology, Meridian School, Miriam College, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and the University of the Philippines were among those partak-ing in the event.

Sponsors

Mirant Foundation Philippines was the major sponsor of the Festival. The other sponsors were Ayala Land, the Candaba Local Government Unit, Caylabne Bay Resort, ComWorks, Incorporated - Bird Mobile Phones, Crossroad 77 Convenarium, Energy Lounge, Figaro Foundation, the For-est Club and the Soul Shop.

“It has exceeded all expectations,” Alice Villa-Real said, as the Festival ended. It was the culmination of five months of hard work and prepara-tion by the Festival Committee. The pioneering event is expected to be-come a major annual activity for WBCP. As early as December, preparations for the Second Philip-pine Bird Festival 2006 were already under way.

Credit for the success of the Festival goes in a large way to its Festival Committee, whose members were the following: Chairperson: Alice Villa-Real; Exhibits: Amado Bajarias, Jr., Dindo Llana, Arnel Telesforo; Logis-tics: Jon Villasper, David Marte; Fi-nance: Ann Lim, Mike Lu; Souvenir Pro-gram: Trinket Canlas, Adri Constan-tino, Tere Cervero; Schools: Jo Solis, Caloy Libosada; Activities: Anna Gon-zales, Ipat Luna; Publicity: Wawel Mercado, Crysta Rara. Acknowledgement must also be made of the other WBCP members who have not been named here who manned the booths and generally helped keep the activities going on the day itself.

By Jonathan Villasper

The Oriental Bird Club (OBC) named WBCP an honorary member in Oc-tober 2005. Confirmation of the des-ignation came from OBC Secretary Margaret Sykes. She said that the membership reflected OBC evalua-tion of WBCP as a Club “well worth supporting”.

OBC grants honorary membership to groups and individuals able to benefit from the association. Dues are paid for either by OBC’s corporate spon-sors or by its full members. Honorary membership entitles WBCP to re-ceive copies of the OBC publications

BirdingASIA (a birding magazine) and Forktail (a peer-reviewed scientific journal). Ms Sykes said that “as long as the OBC has enough members who are willing to support the honor-ary membership scheme, and the honorary members find OBC mem-bership useful and informative, the relationship should continue for many years, especially if the members are willing to give something back to the Club – for instance in the way of arti-cles for BirdingASIA and Forktail.”

OBC also provides grants for conser-vation projects that focus on birds of the Oriental region and their habitats. To date, it has funded over a hundred projects in a number of countries.

However, there have been very few proposals from the Philippines. The last of these was a proposal from WBCP member Mads Bajarias to study wetland birds in the North Manila Bay. OBC is keen to receive other proposals for work in the Phil-ippines.

Based in the United Kingdom, the Oriental Bird Club consists of bird-ers and ornithologists from around the world who are interested in the birds of the Oriental region and their conservation. This vast area em-braces tropical and temperate for-ests, outstanding wetlands, and grass-lands providing habitat for over 2,600 bird species, many of them little known. The OBC website is www.orientalbirdclub.org.

WBCP is honorary OBC member

- 4 - Wild about Birds. Volume 2, Issue 1. 14 January 2006.

Highlights from the field… By Arne E. Jensen

Contributors: Arne Jensen (AJ), Arnel Mallari (AM), Alice Villa-Real (AV), Bruce Glick-USA (BG), Carmela Española (CE), Carl Oliveros (CO), Godfrey Jakosalem (GJ), Agerico de Villa (GV), Hans Matheve-Belgium (HM), Jon Hornbuckle-UK (JH), James McCarthy (JM), Kitty Arce (KA), Kathy MacKinnon-UK (KM), Lu Ann Fuentes (LF), Leni Sutcliffe (LS), Lisa Marie Paguntalan (LP), Mads Bajarias (MB), Mike Lu (ML), Michaela Ledesma (MLE), Marijn Prins-Netherlands (MP), Mark Villa (MV), Merlijn van Weerd-Netherlands (MW), Nilo Arribas (NA), Ned Liuag (NL), P and E Collaert-USA (PEL), Perry Ong (PO), Renato Fernan-dez (RF), Romy Ocon (RO), Teri Aquino (TA) and WWF Philippines (WWF).

This abridged report covers July to December 2004 and is based on the observations of 30 birders. It also pre-sents a summary for 2004. The full re-ports for the half-year and the year are available from the WBCP website. Spe-cies on rarity records (RR) are marked with an asterisk (*).

Summary for 2004 In 2004, observations came from 303 sites (compared to 167 in 2003), of which 40 in Metro Manila and 263 out-side the area. The number of birding sites outside Manila rose by 58% over the previous year and covered 46 of the country's more than 70 provinces. They included remote islands north of Luzon and in the central and southern Sulu Sea.

A remarkable 457 species were ob-served, up from 393 species in 2003. Of the country's 73 threatened species, 44 were seen, including 5 in the critical, 7 in the endangered and 32 in the vulner-able lists. In addition sightings of 43 of the Philippines' 54 near-threatened species were reported.

Six new species were added to the records. These were: Eurasian Hobby Falco subbuteo,* Calayan Rail Gallirallus calayanensis,* White Tern Gygis alba,* Jacobin Cuckoo Clamator jacobinus,* Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike Coracina melaschista* and Oranged-flanked Bush Robin Luscinia cyanura.*

On 19 March a Yellow Bunting Ember-iza sulphurata* was mist-netted and photo-documented near San Mariano, Isabela. There are no annual records of

this species in the Philippines (MP).

Half-year: July – December 2004

New country records

A White Tern Gygis alba* in a flock of Sooty Tern Sterna fuscata and Common Noddy Anous stolidus followed a WWF research vessel at close range on 21 October, two hours northwest of Bancoran Reef in the Central Sulu Sea, Palawan (AJ, TA, MLE). This would be the first record of the species in the Philippines.

A male Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike Coracina melaschista* was observed for several minutes and at close range perched on a tree during a WBCP trip to the Puerto Rivas fishponds in Balanga, Bataan on 12 December (AJ, MV, ML, MB, LF).

Accidentals, rare visitors and residents

Heavy storms in October and a ty-phoon in November brought a number of rare seabirds onshore. A Bonin Pet-rel Pterodroma hypoleuca (second record for the country) was caught at

the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Parañaque, Manila on 29 November. It died in captivity on 10 December (KA).

A Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii* flew by the Manuc Manucan reef, Tawi-Tawi on 20 October (AJ). This would be the country's fourth record of this species.

An immature Red-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon rubricauda , the third documented record for this species, was caught in the bay of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, but it died at the local wildlife rescue centre on 26 October (TA). The bird had been banded in March 2003 on Johnston

Atoll, 840 miles south-west of Hawaii. On 29 November Singaporean bird photographer Ivor Lee reported seeing 4 Tropicbirds at the Coastal Lagoon, Parañaque. On the same day a fisherman caught 1 adult Red-tailed Tropicbird at this site; this bird, the fourth recorded in the Philippines, also died in captivity (KA).

A suspected Christmas Island Frigate-bird Fregata andrewsi* was seen along the reefs of the Calayan Ridge in the Sulu Sea. During the WWF seabird inventory of 19-21 October, at least 27 of this critically endangered species were observed, together with more than 900 Lesser Frigatebird Fregata ariel, at Bancoran and Bancauan Islands and the Manuc Manucan reef of San Miguel Islands in the Sulu Sea. These sightings were the fifth and sixth records for the Philippines (AJ; WWF).

The rare Great-billed Heron Ardea sumatrana was recorded only on Rasa Island, Palawan on 16 December (HM) and Potpototan Island on 19 December (GV). Chinese Egret Egretta eulophotes was reported from new sites such as Bancoran Island on 17-18 October (AJ), Tortugas fishponds, Bataan on 16 November (AJ, MV) and Times Beach, Davao City on 24 November and 20 December (BG, MV).

At least four observations likely to be of the Chinese Pond-Heron Ardeola bacchus* were made on Calayan Island, Cagayan (CO, MV), the fishponds of Orion, Bataan (JH) and Candaba Marsh, Pampanga (RO) in October, and the South Reclamation Area, Cebu (2 birds) on 5 December. These records may indicate an expansion of the species into the Philippines. There had been only four records over the last 100 years.

Bonin Petrel Photo: Kitty Arce

Red-tailed Tropicbird Photo: Kitty Arce

Yellow bunting Photo: Marijn Prins

- 5 - Wild about Birds. Volume 2, Issue 1. 14 January 2006.

A very rare record of two Darters Anhinga melanogaster came in from Liguasan Marsh, North Cotabato on 15 November. The Marsh also hosted 2 Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus* (RF). On Palawan, 1 of the Black-faced Spoonbills Platalea minor* first reported in 2003 remained throughout the year in the fishponds of the Iwahig Penal Colony, Puerto Princesa (AM). An unexpected sighting was of 2 Woolly-necked Stork Ciconia episcopus* flying parallel to the coast and later inland at Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte on 29 October (KM, PO). The species appears not to have been observed on Luzon for almost 20 years. Nearby, in the Malasi Lakes, Isabela, a male with a probable female Greater Scaup Aythya marila* was photo-documented in November, the country's second record of this species (MW).

The rare Philippine Eagle Pithecophaga jefferyi* was reported in December with 1 immature bird near Salaysay and 2 adults at Arakan, North Cotabato (MV). A Eurasian Hobby Falco subbuteo* flew into a roost on Bancauan Island, Sulu Sea on 20 October but continued shortly after on a south-west migration towards Malaysia (AJ; WWF); this was the country's third record of this species.

The six-month period under review produced only one record of Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii: 1 adult in summer plumage observed on 1 September at the coastal fishponds of Baluarte, Bulacan (JM, MV, AJ). The record of an immature Herr ing Gu l l Larus argentatus* video-documented on 21 October along the shores of Calayan Island, Cagayan is only the third for this species, but the record needs further study for subspecies identification (CO, MV). Another bird showing the characteristics of this species was observed on the same day in the Sulu Sea north-west of Bancoran Island, Palawan (AJ; WWF). A light-phase adult Pomarine Skua Stercorarius pomarinus* was also present in the Sulu Sea near Manuc Manucan Reef on 20 October (AJ; WWF).

A pair of Malaysian Plover Charadrius peronii* plied the shoreline of Sabang near the St Paul Subterranean River National Park, Palawan in December (HM). The Park is the best-known area for the species, as is the Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary, Cebu for Asian Dowitcher Limnodromus semipalmatus. Six Dowitchers were photographed at the Sanctuary on 22 October (RO).

Among the threatened and near-

threatened species reported were 2 Spotted Imperial-Pigeon Ducula carola in the forest of the PICOP concession in Surigao Del Sur on 21 December (HM) and 89 roosting Philippine Cockatoo Cacatua haematuropygia* on Rasa Island, Palawan on 19 December (LMP, GJ). One of the few remaining strongholds of the Green Racquet-tail Prioniturus luconensis is Ilanin Forest, Subic Bay; up to 4 birds were seen there on 16 November (AJ, MV). A few Blue-headed Racquet-tail Prioniturus platenae were found in December in the St Paul Subterranean River National Park (HM). Although one or more birds were heard, there were no sightings of Blue-backed Parrot Tanygnathus sumatranus in the PICOP forest; forest squatters and illegal loggers cut the only known breeding tree in December. More positive are records of Giant Scops-Owl Mimizuku gurneyi in late December in Baracatan, Davao (HM) and on Mt Sinaca, Arakan, Cotabato where 2 birds were heard (MV, BG).

Despite the massive and intensified destruction taking place in the PICOP forest, the vulnerable Silvery Kingfisher Alcedo argentata and Rufous-lored Kingfisher Todirhamphus winchelli were found in the area on 21 December. A pair of the rarely reported Blue-capped Wood-Kingfisher Actenoides hombroni was identified at Baracatan, Davao on 26 December (HM). More than 5 of the endangered Visayan Tarictic Hornbill Penelopides panini graced Casa Roro, Dumaguete, Negros Oriental on the last day of 2004 (HM). Writhed Hornbill Aceros leucocephalus showed up during Christmas week – 6 in the PICOP forest (HM) and 3 on Mt Sinaca, Arakan, Cotabato (MV); it was also present on Mt Macabul, Salaysay, North Cotabato (MV).

Around Manila Bay, a few pairs of the Rufous Hornbill Buceros hydrocorax still survive. Five birds were feeding along the trail to Hill 394 in the Ilanin Forest at Subic Bay on 16 November (AJ, MV) and 4 adults were seen on 31 October at the Mts Palay-Palay Mataas na Gulod National Park, Cavite (AJ, JH). Two Palawan Hornbill Anthracoceros marchei provided good viewing in the St Paul Subterranean River National Park, Palawan on 15 December (HM). A single Steere's Pitta Pitta steerii and a Black-bibbed Cuckoo-shrike Coracina mindanensis were recorded on 21 December in the PICOP forest, Surigao del Sur (HM).

Two individuals of the rarely reported Sand Martin Riparia riparia were on Calayan Island from 20 to 26 October

(CO, MV). On 1 January, 3 White-winged Cuckoo-shrike Coracina ostenta and a Negros Striped-Babbler Stachyris nigrorum were observed in Landay Forest, Dumaguete, Negros Oriental. On 31 December, at least 2 Flame-templed Babbler Stachyris speciosa were present at Casa Roro, Dumaguete (HM).

Two Philippine Leafbird Chloropsis flavipennis were seen on Mt Sinaca, Arakan, Cotabato on 29 December (MV). The elusive Falcated Ground-Babbler Ptilocichla falcata showed up at Stream Trail, St Paul Subterranean River National Park on 14 December and a second one came into view on 16 December along Balsahan Trail, Iwahig Penal Colony (HM).

Three Black Shama Copsychus cebuensis were spotted in the tiny forest area of Nug-as, Alcoy, Cebu on 31 December (MB). An immature Ashy Ground-Thrush Zoothera cinerea was well seen along Mt Makiling Forest Trail, Los Baños on 4 December (MV, BG) and 1 adult of the species was photographed there the following day (RO).

Of the country's rare Flycatcher spe-cies, there are reports of the migratory Dark-sided Flycatcher Muscicapa sibirica from Bancauan Island, Tawi-Tawi (1during 19-20 October) and 1 Asian Brown Flycatcher Muscicapa dauurica from Bancoran Island, Palawan on 17-18 October (AJ). Narcissus Flycatcher Ficedula narcissina was also present on Bancoran Island (1 male) on 17-18 October and on Bancauan Island (3 birds) on 19-20 October (AJ).

The only record for 2004 of the Fer-rug inous F lycatcher Musc icapa ferruginea came from Mt Makiling Forest Trail, Los Baños, where 1 immature bird was seen on 22 September. The Palawan Flycatcher Ficedula platenae, normally not observed in St Paul Subterranean River National Park, was recorded there on 18 December (LMP, GJ). A pair of Celestial Monarch Hypothymis coelestis was present on 2 December in the species' usual breeding area in the PICOP forest (HM).

Between 12 and 20 October, at least 7 White Wagtail Motacilla alba (including 4 of the subspecies ocularis and 1 of the subspecies lugens) were found along the shoreline of Calayan Island, Cagayan. A video-recording revealed a further 2 birds that appear to be of the subspecies leucopsis. This would be the first Philippine record of this species; a possible second record of one

- 6 - Wild about Birds. Volume 2, Issue 1. 14 January 2006.

Highlights from the field...

individual roosting on Bancoran Island, Sulu Sea was made on 17-18 October (AJ). Three birds present in the Cebu South Reclamation Area on 28 December were not identified to subspecies level (LMP, GJ). Although there are only 10 documented records of Forest Wagtail Dendronanthus indicus from the Philippines, this species is probably a regular but local and uncommon winter visitor. Several single observations came in from Longog Forest on Calayan Island, Cagayan on 13-15 October (CO, MV) and the Wagtail was noted in the PICOP forest on 21 December (HM). On Mt Makiling, a regular over-wintering site for the species, 3 birds were observed on 24 December (JM).

The Silky Starling Sturnus sericeus* had not been seen since 1903, but on 18 December 1 adult was observed roosting on Potpototan Island, Palawan (GV), giving the country its second record for this species. Sixteen White-shouldered Starling Sturnus sinensis* were video-recorded on Calayan Island for a week from 16 October (CO, MV) and at least 5 birds were seen in the Puerto Rivas fishponds of Bataan on 12 December (AJ, MV, ML, MB, LF). These were the Philippines' seventh and eighth recordings of this species.

Lina's Sunbird Aethopyga linaraborae was reported in late December from Mt Pasian, Surigao del Sur (PEC). There is one record of Flame-crowned Flowerpecker Dicaeum anthonyi from Baracatan, Davao on 26 December (HM) and 1 to 2 Whiskered Flowerpecker Dicaeum proprium were seen quite clearly on Mt Sinaca, Cotabato on 29 December (MV). On 31 December, at least 5 Visayan Flowerpecker Dicaeum haematostictum were present at Casa Roro, Dumaguete (HM).

Large congregations and un-usual numbers

WBCP and local officials of the Depart-ment of Environment and Natural Re-sources (DENR) visited the country's oldest known breeding colony (established around 1990) of Black-Crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax in Valenzuela, Metro Manila on 20 August. The population was counted at 1,408 individuals, of which 1,170 adults and 140 juveniles. At least 180 nests with 98 fledgling juveniles were also found (AJ). The largest flocks of Philippine Duck Anas luzonica from

the period covered by this report were observed at the mangrove areas of the Mirant Philippines Power Station, Pagbilao, Quezon (400 individuals) on 18 July (MV) and in the lagoon of Caylabne Bay Resort, Cavite (180 ducks) on 13 November (AJ). The only other relatively large congregation of ducks consisted of the 2,000 Garganeys Anas querquedula seen in Candaba Marsh, Pampanga on 14 November (LE, ML).

For lack of observers, the only note-worthy numbers of migrating raptors to be recorded were of Grey-faced Buzzard Butastur indicus and Chinese Goshawk Accipiter soloensis. More than 500 Buzzards passed Calayan Island, Cagayan on 15 October (MV, CO). At Infanta Road, Rizal, Manila's premier viewing spot for migrating raptors, the best days were 20 and 23 September, with 260 and 278 Chinese Goshawks migrating south (JM, AJ).

The increasingly rare Tabon Scrubfowl Megapodius cumingii was found in good numbers (around 15 birds) on Nogas Island, Antique on 8-9 December. Several nests and juveniles were observed (LS).

There are only scattered records of over-wintering shorebirds. Highest numbers include: 1,870 Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus on 12 December at the Puerto Rivas fishponds, Balanga, Bataan (AJ, MV, ML, MB, LF); 245 Common Redshank Tringa totanus at the Baluarte coastal fishponds, Bulacan on 1 September (JM, MV, AJ); 200

Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola in the fishponds of Iwahig Penal Colony on 23 October (AM, AJ); and around 700 Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis in the Puerto Rivas f ishponds on 12 December (AJ, MV, ML, MB, LF). Twenty Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinerea recorded on 31 December at Times Beach, Davao City (BG, MV), 21 Broad-billed Sandpiper Limicola falcinellus at the Baluarte fishponds on 1 September (JM, MV, AJ), and 25-30 Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus off Dipolog, Zamboanga del Norte on 19 August (BG) are fairly high numbers for these species. Baluarte also produced 127 Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus, including 2 individuals of the subspecies himantopus (JM, MV, AJ). One of the largest-ever reported congregations of Stilts (1,000 birds) was noted at Liguasan Marshes, North Cotabato on 15 November (RF).

Forty Purple Needletail Hirundapus celebensis took to the air over Infanta Road, Rizal on 20 September (JM) and 210 Striated Swallow Cecropis striolata were counted at the same place on 23 September (AJ, JM). The highest number of Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava was reported from South Reclamation Area, Cebu, where 300+ were roosting on 31 October (NA).

The highest counts of Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus include 50 on Calayan Island on 16-20 October (CO, MV) and 30 birds at Leisure Farms, Batangas on 24 October (CE, ML, AV).

Continued on page 8

Continued on page 7

WBCP ENDORSES PRINCIPLES OF CONSERVATION COMMONS

By Jon Villasper

Following a motion by Vice-President Jon Villasper, the WBCP Executive Committee unanimously endorsed the Principles of the Conservation Commons on 27 October 2005. The endorsement reflects WBCP’s firm belief in the promotion of unre-stricted access to data on Philippine birds.

As a result, WBCP has been made a partner of Conservation Commons, the first and only Philippine-based organization to have become so. The news was confirmed on 8 November 2005 by Ms Francine Proulx of the IUCN – The World Conserva-tion Union.

The Commons is a cooperation among organizations and institutions which encour-ages organizations and individuals alike to ensure open access to data, information, expertise and knowledge related to the conservation of biodiversity. Among the organizations that, like WBCP, have endorsed its Principles are the American Mu-seum of Natural History, BirdLife International, Chevron-Texaco, Conservation In-ternational, IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature), NASA, the Zoological Society of London and WWF International.

WBCP came upon the Principles through the University of Maryland–Global Land Cover Facility (GLCF). A member of the Conservation Commons Steering Commit-

- 7 - Wild about Birds. Volume 2, Issue 1. 14 January 2006.

By Mark Villa

In November 2005, WBCP participated in the Taipei International Bird Festival. It was the first organization from the Philip-pines to do so, and was the youngest among the clubs present.

The festival is held yearly during the mi-gratory season and attracts thousands of visitors. It is hosted by the Wild Bird Society of Taipei (WBST).

The two-day event took place in its usual venue, Guandu Nature Park in Peitou, Taipei. The 57-hectare Park has freshwa-ter and brackish ponds, mangrove swamps, reed beds, and rice paddies. It is an important stopover site for migrating birds and is host to almost 230 species of birds.

Participants Among the other foreign participants were birding societies from Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The Philip-pine booth, manned by WBCP members Mike Lu, Anna Maria Gonzalez, Leni Sut-cliffe and Mark Villa, displayed posters on Philippine birding and sold books, post-cards, caps and shirts with Philippine bird prints. The other bird clubs also gave out brochures, displayed books, birding ware and provided information on birding in their respective countries. Other exhibi-tors featured birding sites in Taiwan, in-cluding Matsu Island, where the Chinese Crested Tern, once thought to be ex-tinct, has recently been seen.

Report from the Prez ... The third and fourth quarters of 2005 were action-filled, as Presi-dent Mike’s report reveals.

Membership Membership now stands at 145. They come from Bataan, Benguet, Bulacan, Cavite, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Laguna, Metro Manila, Nueva Ecija and Pampanga, as well as from Canada, Denmark, Indonesia, Ja-pan, Singapore, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States of America, and Venezuela.

Guided trips There were 13 guided trips during the second half of 2005. These in-cluded forays to the South Ceme-tery for the Department of Envi-ronmental Sciences of the Makati Local Government Unit, the Fort Bonifacio grasslands for WWF-Philippines members and the Parañaque Coastal Lagoons on a birding/training session for person-nel of DENR Region IV.

Club trips On Club trips, totalling 12, mem-bers also ventured into new sites like the Hagonoy Pumping Station on the Laguna de Bay lakeshore in Taguig, Corinthian Gardens in Qu-ezon City, the Beacon School grounds in Taguig, and the Toyota plant in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

The Club was invited as guests of the Bataan provincial Tourism De-partment to identify sites for bird-watching in the coastal areas of Bataan peninsula. Mirant Founda-tion treated members to a bird-watching trip at the Mirant Pagbilao Plant and the Pagbilao Experimental Mangrove Forest.

Lectures Together with My Zoo Foundation, the Club made a presentation on birding to more than 300 school-children of the SSS Village Elemen-tary School. It also gave lectures on bird migration at the Beacon School, and on Philippine birds dur-ing the Philippine Environmental Educators Conference.

Continued on page 8

WBCP endorses Principles of Conservation...

WBCP participates in Taiwan Fair

tee, GLCF has a website that distributes raw satellite imagery from all over the world for free. The imagery can be used for land cover and conservation studies. WBCP obtains most of its supporting imagery for exploratory trips, such as the twice-yearly informal RaptorWatch, from GLCF.

“We will not save biodiversity with a data restricting license; we will only save it by putting information about it to use.” Michael Tiemann, Vice President of Redhat’s Open Source Affairs, a Conservations Commons partner, could not have said it bet-ter. Tons of data that can be used for conservation remain unutilized because of ownership and software licensing issues, and the creation and implementation of proper conservation plans is hampered by inaccessible data in the hands of some organizations.

The Principles promote open access to data, information and knowledge for all con-servation purposes; encourage participants to both use resources and to contribute data, information and knowledge; and acknowledge that contributors have full right to attribution for any uses of their data, information, or knowledge, and the right to ensure that the original integrity of their contribution to the Commons is preserved. Partners of the Commons are expected to comply, in good faith, with terms of uses specified by contributors.

Information on the Conservation Commons can be found at www.conservationcommons. org.

Leading optics manufacturers, like Swarovski and Zeiss, displayed top-of-the-line binoculars and spotting scopes. Cam-era manufacturers exhibited their latest digital cameras.

Activities At the Fair’s opening ceremony, WBCP president Mike Lu delivered a speech on behalf of the foreign delegates. At another session, Mark Villa gave a presentation on the Coastal Lagoons of Parañaque and WBCP plans to promote the area as a bird sanctuary. Anna Gonzales provided additional insights into the Philippine bird-ing situation.

The year’s theme for the talks inside the Park’s Nature Center was water manage-ment. Scientists and researchers dis-cussed wetland management plans and water quality improvement programmes for Taiwan’s river sites. Elsewhere in the Park, trained volunteers taught young visitors about bird ecology and the im-portance of the environment. The young-sters looked at the roles that birds such as the Dunlin play in the environment and carried out activities emulating how a bird might feed in the wild.

The one negative note of the event was the significant drop in the number of visi-tors. Parents and schools had chosen not to take children to the Festival for fear of Asian flu. The WBST past president at-tributed the drop in attendance to the lack of proper public information on bird flu and its causes.

- 8 - Wild about Birds. Volume 2, Issue 1. 14 January 2006.

myckle@birdwatch.ph www.birdwatch.ph

The Club:

Provides unrestricted access to the records that it publishes; maintains

the integrity of its records; is interested in all wild birds, in all habitats whatever their status;

assists all members of whatever experience; enables foreign

birdwatchers to access information on birdwatching in the Philippines,

and receives and collates their findings; assists local and foreign organizations in recording, sharing

and disseminating information; assists in relevant events within its

capacities; conducts activities to expose the general public to

birdwatching and the need to protect birds; remains sensitive to people living within birdwatching areas.

Editor Leni Sutcliffe

Editorial Adviser Jon Villasper

Design and layout Adrian Constantino

Photos Romy Ocon

Orly Punzalan Printing Ann Lim

© All rights reserved

Wild about Birds

Report from the Prez... Workshop The Club held its first bird photogra-phy workshop in December.

Media exposure Members Romel Barrera & Orly Pun-zalan were interviewed on birdwatch-ing on the DZEE radio programme Tuloy tuloy sa Kaunlaran. Ross Harper-Alonso featured WBCP and its World Bank environmental champion award in the Inquirer Sunday Maga-zine. The Club participated with the Earth Island Institute in a press con-ference on the occasion of World Animal Week. WBCP issued a state-ment on avian flu in NBN-4’s first daily update on the subject. Mike Lu was guest panelist on the NBN-4 Tinig ng Bayan talk show on avian flu. He was interviewed on ABC-5 Eve-ning News and served as a guest pan-elist on Bulong Pulungan sa Westin. The Club featured on the ABC-5 program Real Stories Kasama si Loren and was a panelist on Lakbay Talakay's forum on ecotourism.

Conservation

WBCP’s first environmental planning meeting focused on Tambo and the Parañaque Coastal Lagoon. Arne Jen-sen’s site plan for a bird sanctuary in the Parañaque lagoon and Caloy Li-bosada’s tourism proposals were presented at a consultative meeting with DENR and the local government units of Parañaque and Las Pinas.

NBN-4’s The Morning Show featured the site plan in a program focusing on Parañaque, its birds and the proposed bird sanctuary. WBCP becomes an honorary member of the Oriental Bird Club. The Club was invited by Congressman Albert Garcia to the ceremonies declaring the entire prov-ince of Bataan a bird sanctuary. WBCP signed a Memorandum of Agreement on the Sierra Madre Trail with Miriam PEACE and 20 other organizations. WBCP became the first Philippine signatory to the Princi-ples of the Conservation Commons. WBCP held a consultative meeting with DENR Region IV on avian flu

and the Asian Waterbird Census.

Festivals

WBCP staged the first-ever Philippine Bird Festival in November. The im-mensely successful one-day event featured art exhibits, lectures, chil-dren's activities and a bird show. The Club represented the country at the 7th Taipei International Bird Festival. At the Festival opening, Mike Lu de-livered a speech on behalf of the for-eign delegations. Later Mark Villa presented a case study on the Parañaque Coastal Lagoon and the Tambo mudflats.

Highlights from the field... In Metro Manila, good numbers of Brown Shrike were present on 18-19 September. These included 29 at the University of the Philippines, Diliman (NL) and 29 at Nayong Pilipino, Parañaque (ML). The American War Cemetery and Mt Makiling each had more than 20 birds in September as well.

New range distribution

More than 100 new range distributions were documented during the period under review.

Unexpected records from Metro Ma-nila include that of a male Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus of the resident subspecies ernesti. This was caught in a building in The Fort area, Taguig on 30 July and released soon after in the same area (KA). It fueled speculations about the existence of a breeding population in Manila.

Within Metro Manila, the campus of the University of the Philippines, Dili-man, with its extensive green areas and old trees, may be the only site other than La Mesa Dam to host a number of

forest-dependent species. Among these were Pompadour Green-Pigeon Treron pompadora seen on 15 August, Black-chinned Fruit-Dove Ptilinopus leclancheri observed in December, White-eared Brown-Dove Phapitreron leucotis recorded in September, and Common Emerald Dove Chalcophaps indica noted in October (GV).

A Philippine Hawk-Cuckoo Cuculus pectoralis was recorded in September and October (RO, GV). A fledgling juvenile Red-bell ied Pitta Pitta erythrogaster was found on 9 December (GV).

Odds, weirds and escapees

In the pristine beach forest of Bancauan Island, several medium-sized wood-pecker holes were found in an old de-caying tree. Woodpeckers are not known to occur on this site, which is located about 14 hours by boat from Palawan.

Outside the American War Cemetery, a known breeding ground for the Rose-ringed Parakeet Psittacula krameri, a flock of 5 birds was observed on 30 July at Villa Encarnacion, Valenzuela (ML). On 5 September 4 birds were also seen at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City (GV, RO).

/ColorImageDict > /JPEG2000ColorACSImageDict > /JPEG2000ColorImageDict > /AntiAliasGrayImages false /CropGrayImages true /GrayImageMinResolution 300 /GrayImageMinResolutionPolicy /OK /DownsampleGrayImages true /GrayImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /GrayImageResolution 300 /GrayImageDepth -1 /GrayImageMinDownsampleDepth 2 /GrayImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeGrayImages true /GrayImageFilter /DCTEncode /AutoFilterGrayImages true /GrayImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG /GrayACSImageDict > /GrayImageDict > /JPEG2000GrayACSImageDict > /JPEG2000GrayImageDict > /AntiAliasMonoImages false /CropMonoImages true /MonoImageMinResolution 1200 /MonoImageMinResolutionPolicy /OK /DownsampleMonoImages true /MonoImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /MonoImageResolution 1200 /MonoImageDepth -1 /MonoImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeMonoImages true /MonoImageFilter /CCITTFaxEncode /MonoImageDict > /AllowPSXObjects false /CheckCompliance [ /None ] /PDFX1aCheck false /PDFX3Check false /PDFXCompliantPDFOnly false /PDFXNoTrimBoxError true /PDFXTrimBoxToMediaBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXSetBleedBoxToMediaBox true /PDFXBleedBoxToTrimBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXOutputIntentProfile () /PDFXOutputConditionIdentifier () /PDFXOutputCondition () /PDFXRegistryName () /PDFXTrapped /False

/Description > /Namespace [ (Adobe) (Common) (1.0) ] /OtherNamespaces [ > /FormElements false /GenerateStructure false /IncludeBookmarks false /IncludeHyperlinks false /IncludeInteractive false /IncludeLayers false /IncludeProfiles false /MultimediaHandling /UseObjectSettings /Namespace [ (Adobe) (CreativeSuite) (2.0) ] /PDFXOutputIntentProfileSelector /DocumentCMYK /PreserveEditing true /UntaggedCMYKHandling /LeaveUntagged /UntaggedRGBHandling /UseDocumentProfile /UseDocumentBleed false >> ]>> setdistillerparams> setpagedevice