Philippines custom tour report March 2007
{{ One of only
two endemic pittas in the Philippines (and the only one that we had
a realistic chance of on the tour) - the breathtaking }}
{{ STEERE\'S (AZURE-BREASTED)
PITTA }}
{{ , PICOP. }}
{{ 15th March:
PICOP }}
{{ (MINDANAO)
Lowland forest. }}
{{ For our second full
day in PICOP, we concentrated our efforts on a different road - road 4/2,
that in complete contrast to road 1/4 has some good continuous unbroken stretches
of forest along it (largely by default, as the limestone substrate does not
lend itself to farming after clearing, so that the settlers have, for now
at least, left this bird-rich forest alone). We spent the best part of the
day birding this deserted forest-fringed road, in between the bouts of heavy,
unseasonal rain. Things were a little slow initially as the rain was heaviest
in the morning, although things picked up later as they rain moved off and
we logged some of PICOP\'s very best birds in our day there. Soon after arriving
and with the rain coming down heavily at the time, we focused our efforts
on the road itself, and soon after found our main target - the stunning }} |
