Update

What with getting ready to go and all, we have been too busy to post. We still need to blog on Christmas; trips to Pangisanan, La Union, and Pagsanjan Falls; our last dive, in Anilao; and my trip to Davao way back when. Sheesh!!

In the meantime, Carolyn and Jordie have successfully made it home--today is their second full day back. They ran into several "adventures" at the Manila airport, so it was good they got there extra early, but after that it seems their trip was smooth. A friend picked them up at the airport, our neighbor turned the heat on (it was in the 30's) in the house for them before they got home (which was good because they forgot their coats here and all the winter coats are packed away in boxes in the garage), and another friend was kind enough to bring some groceries over. Now comes the unpacking--of both their bags and boxes from the trip as well as all those boxes in the garage (or at least enough to get comfortable before I get back and can help).

I am really glad that they made it home and that we have such wonderful friends to take care of them. I already miss their company!

However, I haven't been idle since they left. I am doing some writing for the Philippine Eagle Foundation, working on a photobook of our travels, doing more shopping, and still traveling. I went sightseeing with friends we made while on the whale shark trip, Noel and Hannah. They had one day in Manila before they were leaving back to Great Britain. Their hotel was near Intramuros, so we walked through Rizal Park to the walled city and walked around sightseeing. We eventually took a calesa (horse-drawn buggy) tour. Carolyn and Jo Jo and I had done the calesa tour as our first sightseeing trip (see our blog) but this time our tour guide, Greorgie, was more knowledgable and an entertainer as well. We went a few places that I hadn't been to on the first tour, so I enjoyed it. Anyway, we had a great time.

The next day, bright and early at 2:30 am, I left the house to walk to a Shell station, where I was picked up by members of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines. We were on our way to the Candaba marsh participate in the Asian Waterbird Census. I had heard about the swamp as being one of the premier spots in the world for birding, especially for waterbirds (like ducks), shorebirds (like sandpipers), and waders (like stilts). That is especially true this time of year because the Philippines is on the East Asian - Australasian Flyway, the migratory route for east Asian birds. During this time of year the number of bird species in the Philippines, already tremendous, goes way up, and many of those birds visit Candaba marshes. The Marshes themselves are what is left of what was once a vast marsh at the southern end of the Luzon central valley. They have been converted to rice fields and fish farms, leaving little habitat left for the local, not to mention migratory, waterbirds. However, there is an effort to save the marshes, and part of that effort is due to the mayor of Candaba. He owns a house and has preserved the swamp around it.

That was our destination. I'll blog more about it later, but right now I'll just say that I saw 41 species of birds, and the whole census team logged in over 12,000 individuals! Most wonderfully, we saw a pied avocet, only the third time it has been observed in the Philippines!! Here are some pictures:
This is the group searching for waterbirds.









This is the Pied Avocet--the bird with the bent-up bill. The quality of the picture is low because I had to stick the camera up to the spotting scope.









This is the mayor and the secretary of the environment being interviewed









Anyway, I really enjoyed being outside and birdwatching, especially with experts.

Now I am in the airport getting ready to leave for Davao. I will be there until next Saturday, participating in the prey-base study. After that I will hopefully be finally goin gto Negros with the UP group.

Gotta go... flight is boarding!