The rare Siberian Stonechat

Taken at the sprawling Diliman campus of the University of the Philippines over six years ago, this is among the rare local photographs of a species newly added to the Philippine bird list. This bird was not included yet in the Kennedy Guide which was published in the year 2000.

 

Thanks to Prof. Gerry de Villa of UP-Diliman for discovering the individual bird and sharing its location. His digiscoped photos of the bird are the first I've seen from the Philippines. 

 

There is renewed interest lately about this bird among bird experts because of the recent split of the species into two different ones. This photo could shed light on which form was seen in our islands.

 

__________

 

Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola maurus, migrant)

 

Habitat - Grasslands and ricefields. 

 



Shooting info - UP-Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines, November 20, 2007, Canon 40D + EF 500 f4 L IS + EF 1.4x TC II, 700 mm, f/7.1, ISO 400, 1/320 sec, manual exposure in available light, hand held, major crop.