It was raining hard the night before and we went to sleep wondering if our birding trip to Sta. Elena would push through. Luckily the weather improved. Sylvia and I were with Christian Perez and Mark Wallbank on a bird trip to check out the birds in the Sta. Elena property. We saw 44 species with good numbers. There were lots of White Collared Kingfishers and White Throated Kingfishers. There were also many Black Naped Orioles and Bee Eaters. In the end the rain was not a big problem and we even went home with a bit of sunburn. June 3, 2009.