The Power - Suede

I AM NOT A 'HAPPY BUNNY'!

It is well known that we are a number of days in arrears with the Blog which, given the amount of activity, is beneficial not needing to race back each day to edit photos etc for any given day. Late afternoon I arrived in the lively town of Vigan, found the best location/hotel yet in the Philippines and was immediately 'clapped in irons' by the Cyber Police. Charges, brought by Local Government, include impropriety and the use of unacceptable language on the web-site for which I was in the first instance denied access to the net. Having no redress until this morning made it impossible to publish a post yesterday, and having wasted most of today trying to convince the City Fathers that my site is kosha, no wonder I've got one on! Having managed to access the 'filter' I find the onerous crime is to have used words on the site such as Tit, Pecker (as in Wood), Sheer and Naughty. The solution to the problem was simply down to the fantastic staff here and their Manager(ess) who just happened to be at City Hall this morning. Anyway, time to get on with it.

Bit of a strange weather pattern today as setting out again at 06:00 the low cloud seeking the valleys allowed the early morning sun through, which was most welcome. Direction was the Rice Paddies with the plan being to access them via the steep downhill road then get a Jeepney back.

A few roadside blooms once again caught my eye, and very soon so did the first bird a

STRIATED GRASSBIRD

very common throughout much of Asia,

but good to see again. As I neared the paddies I met Jan a subsistence farmer, very proud of his lot and proud to give me a look around. A little bit of everything here

apart from the 'rice' which looked very healthy to me, but Jan showing me the result of recent drought conditions,

saying how desperate he and his neighbours were for some water (where have we heard that before?). Jokingly, I told him I had control over such things and would see what I could do to rectify things.

Next the pig sty's where things were totally OK as they were

the 'free-range' goats

and hens. Every family here have Chickens, at least 2 Roosters and any number of Dogs. With the racket each make, including all through the night, and along with every other conceivable noise maker, has led me to dub the Philippines the Noisiest Nation on Earth. That is not intended to be unkind as there is a lot going on here and the people are wonderful.

This is when I saw a small flock of birds fly across a field and land in an old ladies garden. She had no problem with my pursuit and found in her vegetable patch abort 20

CHESTNUT MANIKIN

a total nuisance to the Rice Farmer

but neither Jan nor the old lady for that matter, seem to have a problem with them. A Common Kingfisher also put in an appearance as dis another Grey Wagtail.

Unidentified Moth on rice leaf. It was now starting to get seriously hot, but I was distracted by a number of

RED-RUMPED SWALLOWS

that just seemed to appear from nowhere,

perch on the power cables and set about preening. I was now beginning to feel I was leaving my return a little late and went off in search of some transport. The heart stopping new was 'there was no transport'! Seemed by that time of day everyone was where they needed to be and the Jeepneys stood down until the return journey.

A little shelter was afforded at the, you can pick the bones out of that one, Pre-School

as the youngsters were busily practicing for the up-coming Summer Festival.

I was invited to sit in and was glad of the shade for a few minutes.

Little point going on about sun-stroke and the desert sands, but I was sure happy to find a cold drink half way up the hill, as I was this Butterfly.

My favourite eating house over these past 3 days had been The Lemon Pie where the fare is simple but palatable and breaking the rule once again it was a cold beer or nothing. Along with omelette, hot dogs and french fries I was ready to return to my 'humble', £5 a night, abode. No sooner had I sat down to start editing the days photographs than it started.

12 hours solid 'torrential rain', the photograph really doesn't paint the picture, but I did wonder if Jan thought he had met The Messiah this morning!

All of this inspired me to play (a few times) the motivating and meaningful

The Power

(from the highly recommended Suede album 'Dog Man Star')

Through endless Asia, 'cross the fields of Cathay
or enslaved in pebble-dashed grave with a kid on the way
If you're far over Africa on the wings of youth
or if you're tied to some satellite town and there's nothing you can do

Just give me, give me, give me the power
And I'll make them bleed
Give me, give me the power
(Although I'm just the common breed)

You might live in a screen kiss, it's a glamorous dream
Or belong to a world that's gone, it's the English disease
Chorus
'The Power' link (Dog Man Star Version)

This Little Piggy Went to Market

My 06:00 departure today found me a full hour late for the slaughter of the 'fatted family pig', by the time I got just a short way down the road head and hocks were already part smoked.

Within a couple of minutes this ELEGANT TIT (E) appeared in a tree above me,

but have to admit to nearly loosing it by passing it off as Great or Green-backed Tit.

According to the book there are a few 'endemics' to be had at altitude so an early start to climb Great Bitin the highest what the locals refer to as 'mountain' behind the village of Sagada in Mountain Provence.

There are lots of these Pinnacle Rock Formations hereabouts and luckily there was a

BLUE ROCK THRUSH

awaiting my arrival on this one. The Guide to the Birds of the Philippines describes this bird a a 'migrant' but a chance look at Wikipedia shows a Sub-species Monticola solitarius philippensis.

In a local garden a little further along but still within the village another 'endemic' CHETNUT-FACED BABBLER was waiting for me and giving reasonable views.

The weather wasn't really the best for mountain climbing, about 70F and quite humid, but the scenery almost immediately made up for the discomfort.

There were plenty of DRAGONFLIES of what was believed to be 4 distinct species in a habitat

that was mostly Pines, rough grassland and scrub. An OLIVE-BACKED PIPIT was seen at this location, but far too flighty to bring you a shot.

This WATER BUFFALO, likely awaiting a days work in the paddy-fields, gave me the once over as I passed by

while a male ORIENTAL MAGPIE seemed more occupied with procreating.

Lots of BUTTERFLIES on the slopes and on the grassy plateau as I reached as near the top as I was going.

The views too were well worth the climb,

so spent a full hour enjoying the good weather, surveying all around me and contemplating 'my lot' - no complaints!

I only encountered 3 people since stepping foot on the mount, all subsistence farmers, like this chap carting his crop to market.

I did ask him what it was but the answer was lost in translation. Bit high for 'rice' I would have thought.

There were some interesting low growing Juniper type plants with these lovely bells

and when I turned to look at my jacket hung on a fence post

this cracking Moth had taken up temporary residence there.

Copulating Dragonflies were also seen,

along with Fern Fronds about to unfurl but best

were views of the Rice Terraces in their '40 Shades of Green'. The plan is to get a little nearer to them tomorrow. On the way down, the strange sight of Swifts flying between the Pine trees and well worth checking out. They were most definitely picking something from the trunks and branches, but if this were insects or resin was never established. Another bird I may have just assumed was what I had seen before except for this behaviour. Closer inspection showed a heavily speckled white rump, lower belly and under-tail making these most certainly GLOSSY SWIFTLET.

Close to the foot of the mountain there was a school which I discovered later were on their Summer Vacation. Nevertheless a good number of the children were busying themselves in the SCHOOL GARDEN while others were playing Basketball and all girls Baseball.

Among the many fruiting trees there were 4 species of bird I just could not get a grip on. Most escaped without photographic record, but

this, complete with a fairly decent photo,

still remains unidentified.

Having thumbed through the Guide dozens of times I have wanted to call it Thrush or Bulbul but nothing seems to fit. Any help would be gratefully accepted with clues including Luzon Island, altitude above 1,200 metres.

Outside of this typical Sagada house was to be the final addition to the list for today. A very fast flying BUZZING FLOWERPECKER behaving, as the name suggests, like a Bee, settling for only a split second to pick off food.

This 'real' Bee was doing the same thing at a far more sedate pace.