Negros Oriental

Greetings from Dumaguete, Negros Oriental; somewhere just belw left centre of the main Philippine islands group. Just a filler for the moment to while away some time before I get back to the airport to fly back to Manila. I've finished off a rapid-fire birding trip round the three main islands in the Phils: Luzon, Palawan and Mindanao, and have spent a couple of days unsucessfully chasing Negros endemics. The four of us who were on the trip managed to see approximately 120 of the 170-odd endemic birds of the Philippines, which looks better when you consider that many of the unseen species are possibly extinct, restricted to islands we didn't visit, or found in inaccessible parts of those islands we did visit!

Not content with birds, I've managed to photograph a good selection of dragonflies and damselflies, some of which I have been able to identify already (hoorah!) and a hatful of butterflies, none of which I have been able to ID. Watch this space for further updates when I get back home... I'll publish some photos on here and a stack more on my website, space permitting.

Been a pleasant trip overall, with generally good food, nice enough people and fine weather (boy have I tanned up!), but with some significant frustrations as well - particularly the field guide to the birds of the Philippines. I shall explain at a later point!

Oh, and as for the previous post, yes, we saw Palawan Peacock-pheasant... Tres bon!