This is the Northern Indigo-banded Kingfisher, a small Blue-orange Kingfisher endemic to the Philippines. The Subic Aeta tribe calls the Northern Indigo-banded Kingfisher “Talakiwan.” The tribe refers to the Talakiwan as a guardian bird that signals the community when something is crossing the stream.

I stumbled upon this individual in a small stream within the protected forests of Subic Bay. I noticed that some of the rocks had markings of bird poop, which indicated that this area was undoubtedly the territory of a Kingfisher. Low and behold, a sudden Northern Indigo-banded Kingfisher darted by my side and perched on top of the rocks. I took my time with the Kingfisher as it was pretty unfazed with my presence along the stream. Considering that my previous encounters with the Talakiwan only garnered me docu shots, I took the time to fill up my card with the Subic Superboy in front of me.

The experience of watching the Talakiwan hunting was simply stunning. Coming from two previous sorties set in Pangasinan, I was extremely grateful that I had the opportunity to photograph the Talakiwan in Subic on my third encounter.