The PHILIPPINES: Palawan – The Road to Sabang

We spent the last days of our Philippine Fam Tour on the long, narrow island province of Palawan. This is probably the best-preserved major island group in the Philippines, well-known for it’s stunning seascapes, rainforests, caves and coral reefs. It may have looked familiar to those who saw James Bond’s Tomorrow Never Dies, which was filmed on location here. Palawan was proclaimed as a fish and wildlife sanctuary in the 1960’s, and the local government’s conservation efforts have not gone in vain. On Palawan, we enjoyed some of the best birding of our entire tour.

Upon our arrival in the city of Puerto Princesa, located on the central east coast of Palawn, we were warmly greeted with a banner at the airport (above), proclaiming “Welcome to Palawan Bird Tour Operators and Media Fam Tour.” From there it was a short ride to the Badjao Seafront Restaurant to enjoy a delicious seafood lunch, dining in the open air with a lovely breeze and waterfront views. The mango shakes were out of this world!

We spent the afternoon working our way to the small village of Sabang, located northwest of Puerto Princesa on the west coast. The recently-paved, 50-mile Cabayugan Road meant that the former six-hour journey could now be completed in a third the time! However, we were in no rush, stopping often to see many birds along the way. Slender-billed Crows, that fly similar to amazona parrots, were most noticeable.

Stopping at Buena Vista, our attention was drawn away from a Spangled Drongo (above) to track down a large and colorful Chestnut-breasted Malkoha. Our first Palawan specialty, a Palawan Flowerpecker showed well, along with Grey-cheeked Bulbul and Rufous-tailed Tailorbird.

As we walked another stretch of the road, it was evident that birding this island was going to be more rewarding than our previous experiences. The surprising mid-afternoon activity kept us enthralled for several hours.

We got wonderful views of many species, without having to crane our necks upwards to see them … Dark-throated Oriole, Yellow-throated Leafbird (above), Lovely Sunbird, Asian Fairy Bluebird, Hill Myna, White-vented Shama, Ashy Drongo, Common Iora and Green Imperial Pigeons or GIMPs as Gavin loved to call them. A pair of colorful Common Flamebacks caught all of our attention. If the enthusiastic women from the tourism board – Zeny, Edna, Jeannie and Vernie – were not already birders, they were certainly hooked by these sightings! Butterflies flittered about and Flying Dragon lizards glided from trunk to trunk.

On one of our stops we walked down the road to a stunning view of limestone karst (above), essentially a combination of cliff and outcropping. Three Striped Tit-Babblers were seen amongst a tangle of vines, Sulphur-bellied Bulbuls moved through the mid canopy, and White-bellied Munias perched on grassy stalks down the embankment. A Changeable Hawk-Eagle soared high overhead.

At the bottom of the hill (above) the road leveled out along a flat lowland dominated by a Rubber tree nursery, one of few commercial properties we saw. We admired the simple bamboo huts in which local farmers lived. The structures were built a couple of feet off the ground, framed in bamboo with a roof made of palm fronds, and exterior walls of braided coconut.

Our last stop produced a pair of Fiery Minivets and Brown-backed Needletails flying along the ridge. We were delighted to find our Daluyon Resort situated along a secluded Sabang beachfront, providing a picturesque setting in which to relax for 2 nights.

At dusk we walked along the main road close to the resort and tried for the Palawan Scops-Owl without any success, but did hear the deep hoo-hoo of several Spotted Wood-Owls close by. We had a brief glimpse of a calling Large-tailed Nightjar, and our guide Nicky found a Javan (Palawan) Frogmouth (above) which showed exceptionally well. As outstanding as that was, two roosting Hooded Pittas were also a major highlight of this dusk excursion.