Friday 7 October 2011

6/10/2011: Kubang Semang (Penang)

A congregation of munias attracted my attention as I made my around the paddy fields. Upon further scrutiny it turned out to be a mixed flock of White-rumped and Scaly-breasted Munias and they were gorging on plant matters that were submerged by this flooded patch. As the munias appeared to be quite confiding and the water provided a great natural backdrop for photography, I decided to stop my car and started shooting these little adorable birds.

The commoner of the two species, the Scaly-breasted Munia, accepted my presence in no time and came really close to my car. At such close quarters, they provided some of my best images to date.

The White-rumped Munias, on the other hand, were slightly more reserved but still managed to provide a memorable performance.

Everything was perfect when I photographed this lone Zitting Cisticola. Well, everything except the bleedinbacklight

A group of four immature Brahminy Kites were seen foraging along another flooded patch of the paddy fields. These youngsters circled around and around and made a couple of half-hearted attempts as they skimmed just above the water. Come to think, they could just be fine-tuning their hunting skills.

From the look of things, they certainly need all the practice they can get. Oops…

All the activity attracted the attention of an adult kite. It proceeded to come closer and investigated what the youngsters were up to. I guess all the fun the youngsters were having must have brought back fond memories of a time when it still an adolescent. It must have decided to relive those memories and joined them.

2 comments:

Angad Achappa said...

Lovely images.. :) What are the munias doing in the first pic, picking off seaweed?

Choy Wai Mun said...

Thanks, Angad. They were feeding on plant matters submerged in water when this patch of paddy field wad flooded.