Susan Myers from her ongoing tour of the Philippines

As we near the end of our Philippines tour we find ourselves on the island of Palawan, looking for a lovely bunch of birds peculiar to the island. High on everyone’s want list is the Palawan Peacock-Pheasant. This small exotic jewel of a bird is normally an exceptionally shy denizen of the deep forest but over the last decade or so we birders have been blessed with a particular individual bird who has become quite habituated and allowed so many of us to marvel at his undoubted beauty! if you think I might be prone to hyperbole just look at this photo, below. 

Throughout our tour we’ve enjoyed fabulous rain-free weather - albeit a little on the hot side - and had some exceptionally fine birding. Highlights have been many but the real standouts have been the always-gorgeous Steere’s or Azure-breasted Pitta, which despite putting up a little bit of a fight showed beautifully in the end; and a last minute reprieve with the magnificent Great Philippine Eagle, surely one of the most magnificent birds in the world! And what superb views! For me personally, I always find this bird incredibly thrilling. On top of these we’ve seen a fine collection of kingfishers, including the gorgeous Silvery Kingfisher; parrots such as the Blue-headed Racquet-tail; and many other of the wonderful Philippine endemics - Philippine Trogon, White-eared Brown-Dove, Red-crested Malkoha, Rufous Hornbill, Philippine Falconet, Apo Myna and many, many more.