We, a group of six birders, joined a bird race in Palawan, the Philippines from 3 to 4 Nov 2018. We also did some birding before and after the trip. From the biogeography pt of view, the birds of Palawan are more similar to Borneo than the mainland Philippines as it once connected to Borneo.
Although we did not formally hire a guide, Mr Totic Failana, helped a lot during the trip. Without him, we might have missed a lot of endemic birds, in particular night birds. We would like to express our gratitude to him. He could be reached by facebook messenger (just search him in FB and then text him). Totic is highly recommended.
The birding locations are more or less the same as those on ebirds. Basically, you could tick most endemics around Puerto Princessa (the capital city of Palawan). The following is the itinerary
2 Nov - AM Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm + crocodile Farm; PM Badjao Seafront Restaurant (Spotted Wood Owl, Mangrove Blue Flycatcher, and Ashy headed Babbler)
3 Nov – Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, Irawan ecopark (two stakeouts of the Palawan Flycatcher and Blue eared Kingfisher, check the big wooden signpost along the main dirt road of the park), Badjao Seafront Restaurant and Princesa Garden Island Resort and Spa (our hotel, also the roosting site of Philippine Cockatoo)
4 Nov - Zigzag Road, Napsan (a very very good site, Palawan Tit, woodpeckers etc) and Irawan ecopark
5 Nov - Sabang (Palawan Peacock Pheasant – now an elderly and better to visit him as soon as possible, Tabon Scrubfowl, Palawan Blue Flycatcher)
我們一行6位鳥友於11月3-4號期間參加在菲律賓巴拉望島舉行的觀鳥拍攝比賽。比賽前後亦有在附近地方尋鳥。巴拉望島的鳥種在生物地理學來說，較接近婆羅洲而非菲律賓主島。這是因為在冰河期該島曾連接婆羅洲及亞洲大陸 (理論上一萬年前可從香港經越南及婆羅洲，步行到巴拉望) 。
雖然我們沒有正式請鳥導，但鳥導Totic Failana先生大力協助及安排找鳥，在此萬分感激 Totic的幫忙。我們極力推介 Totic (可在面書尋找Totic及用messenger聯絡他)。
觀鳥地點是日程請參看英文部份，實際位置可在ebird找到。基本上首府城市Puerto Princessa附近鳥點已可看到大部份特有種。順帶一提，Sabang個隻 peacock pheasant已垂垂老矣，要睇就快手。
Good photos can also be viewed at
http://matthewkwanbirding.blogspot.com
