#celestial monarch

Celestial Monarch! What a beautiful bird.

Then dump the gas on them!

A new variant has been added!

Celestial Monarch (Hypothymis coelestis) © Cheta Chua

It hatches from black, blue, clear, crested, long, pale, short, similar, small, turquoise, and white eggs.

[2137/11056] Celestial monarch - Hypothymis coelestis

Order: Passeriformes Suborder: Passeri Superfamily: Corvoidea Family: Monarchidae (monarch flycatchers)

click here for more photos Why do I go birdwatching?

Honestly? I go for the view and the landscape. The birds have to live and fly somewhere, and they stay in some of the best addresses in the planet.

There is no birdwatching without "everything else." Birding goes with having to deal with crawling critters (that sometimes bite), thorns and mud that stick to the skin, shoes and clothes. And those leaves! They hide the birds!

There are of course the delicate flowers that play hide and peek and provide tired astigmatic eyes some rest.

Oh, I must not forget to mention this. Aside from the 31 Writhed Hornbills, another highlight of our trip to Bislig was seeing the gorgeous Celestial Monarch (Hypothymis coelestis). Yes, gorgeous is a scientific term. :)

I also learned something important about the Celestial Monarch: it usually (always?) travels in mixed flocks. A Rufous Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone cinnamomea), another lifer, heralded its arrival, momentarily distracting me with its flaming appearance. Fortunately, the royal blue CM decided to land where my binoculars were pointed. The CM twirled, turned towards us, and with a flick of its tail, it raised its crest, like one would raise an eyebrow. I'd like to think we deserved its curiosity and not its disdain.

What I will say next is horribly cliche-ish, but yes, my heart started to pound, I started to hyperventilate and I felt faint and goose-pimply all over. I actually started to tear up. But I had to stop myself from crying and wasting the few precious seconds I had to see it. I simply had no time for drama.