27th May - Freedom Island

After moving down to an apartment in Global City, I took a taxi to Freedom Island, which is surprisingly unknown to locals and taxi drivers alike, but with the help of our friendly security guards, I arrived around 05:30. If you have similar issues you need to ask them to take the toll road to Cavite and take the left just before the first toll itself. A taxi can return the way it came without having to go thru the toll, by using the parallel track, which takes you through the fish and veg market and under the toll road and into some back roads of Las Pinas Paranaque.

Having only been once before I had him drop me right near the toll road, which means you have to walk another 300 yards before you even enter the island track itself. But if you like Striated Grassbirds they are all around in the trees and bushes by the various piles of rubble and rusting old cars and diggers, Clamorous Reed Warbler and Yellow Vented Bulbul, also common before the security gate.

Black Crowned Night Heron are very common and in the twilight, there is a constant flow of birds heading to the mangroves where they breed, obviously in some numbers. Of course Little Egret and the odd Great Egret are there too, but most of the Striated Heron you are around the boulders along the shore to the left once you turn right towards the ponds, the odd Yellow Bittern can also be seen flying about on the way down the track.

The start of the track leading to the pools

As you walk along the track, Barred Rails run across from either side, Zebra Doves like to alight the track when it warms up later.

Lots of Clamorous Reed Warbler sing and call in the bushes along the track, I saw newly fledged young too and if you want to take your time, I expect other stuff is there to be found.

At pool 1, which I think of as the entrance, there is a birding screen, all the herons get on there, but most of it flushes as you approach, except the odd Black Crowned Night Heron.

I photographed Yellow Bittern here last time, so it is worth approaching slowly and quietly.

Funny how the Moorhen here are so shy and inclined to fly off too.


















Going left of pool 1, takes you to pool 2 more quickly, but again you arrive from an angle that is hard not to flush stuff, so if you take the path to the right you can creep up on pool 2 and see what is on it before it all flies off. In this case I had 3 Philippine Duck, White-breasted Waterhen, 20-30 Black-winged Stilt, Barred Rail and best of all, my first ever Rufous Night Heron, an adult and juvenile, so whilst it doesn't mean they breed there, it seems very likely.

 

Adult and juvenile Rufous Night Heron, juv BC above left

Walking the tracks near the mangroves is pretty tough going, hearing a lot, but seeing much less, Philippine Tailorbirds can be heard in various spots, some Asian Glossy Starlings alighted a tree briefly, Golden Bellied Flyeater is very common, Pied Fantail and Yellow Vented Bulbul feels like they are on every bush, Zebra Dove calling all the time, Olive Backed Sunbird twittering away too.

Lots of screechy calls are probably the various crakes and the odd call evaded my bins, so again more is there to be found.

When I left I walked all the way along the parallel track to the toll road, knowing flagging a taxi would not work at the toll itself. At the gate to the fish market, the friendly security guard Mark, got me a cycle ride to the other side of the toll road and I found it hilarious to be peddled on what looked like an old car seat welded on the back of a bicycle, thru the market, smiling at all the locals I was went by and up the traffic congested back streets of Las Pinas Paranaque. Laughably the young lad asked for 100 pesos (it would have been less in an air conditioned taxi) and I gave him 40 plus a cigarette, then walked another 1.5 kilometres to a big junction by the 7-11, where I did flag a taxi, only to be told he didn't know where I wanted to go even with my calling my wife to explain. Soon after I got another taxi and had a funny conversation with that taxi driver about world politics all the way back to Global City.