The
constant rain brought more woes and kept me away from the field for most of the
morning on my rest day. Afternoon saw the rain ease a little and the call of
the wild was a little too strong to resist. However, I dread the thought of
crossing the Penang
Bridge to get to my usual
birding spots as the rain would have created traffic congestion. I have been
shunning birding localities on the island because of late, birding here is
simply incomparable with the mainland side. So, today is a good day to see what
the Pearl of
the Orient still has to offer to a frustrated birder. I headed towards the
mangroves and scrublands of Sungai Burung in the southwestern part of the
island - a local patch that I have not visited for a long time.
The
visit started off slow initially and I really had no idea that it would end up
as one of the best birding trips on the island that I have ever experienced. I
even had the time to take a few shots of a foraging Scaly-breasted Munia.
On
the school field next to the access, a trio of female Pied Trillers was busy
picking up insects that were flushed out by the downpour. It must be a girls-day-out because no males were seen at all.
With
the rain trickling down to a stop, the locality gradually came more alive and
the birding got better. This Greater Coucal finally got a chance to dry itself
and did not give much thought to my approaching vehicle. A shot of a Greater
Coucal on exposed perch does not happen very often and I had a feeling then
that maybe the pearl has not lost all its shine yet...
A
Brahminy Kite also enjoying the change of weather from its lofty perch...
The
calls of the Blue-tailed Bee-eaters broke through the silence of this gloomy
afternoon when I passed the paddy planting areas of this district. It did take
much effort in locating one as they love exposed perches on which to launch
their graceful aerial pursuits of their insect prey.
When
I reached the section where the access road runs parallel to the mangroves, the
afternoon's birding intensified. A migratory Large Hawk-cuckoo put my field
craft and photography skills to the test. In the end, I had to concede defeat to
the cuckoo and no photographs were obtained. However, this handsome male Tiger
Shrike was more than willing to pose for my camera. He was so tame that no
skills were required this time. I just needed to remember how to press the
shutter.
The
resident pair of Crested Serpent-eagles was seen and heard throughout my time
here. Whatever disappointments I had with the Large Hawk-cuckoo evaporated when
one of the eagles provided another close-up photo session. Majestic still comes
to mind even though this is one of the commonest eagles in Malaysia.
When
I was about to come to the area where I usually turn back, a few pigeons
resting on a sparse tree caught my attention. Upon further scrutiny, they
turned to be Thick-billed Green-pigeons. A few pairs were snuggled up quite
affectionately. My guess is the cold and gloomy weather must really be getting
to them.
Just
a short distance from the loving couples, a fruiting tree was in season and I
found myself in the midst of a lot of pigeons - a whole lot of them I might
add. Much to my delight, I found more Thick-billed Green-pigeons. The males are
striking birds and I wasted no time in shooting them as I do not have any good
photographic opportunities with this species before.
The
females lack the rich chocolate on the wings and inevitably, lose out to the more
colourful males in terms of time in the limelight. I'm only human after all....
I
have recorded three species of green-pigeons so far in Penang Island
and this fruiting feast naturally attracted the commonest of them all, the
Pink-necked Pigeons. The males are just as attractive as the male Thick-billed
Green-pigeons but I found the former to be slightly more aggressive and will
often chased away the latter if they get too close to each other. I did look
out for the third species, which is the Little Green-pigeon but to no avail. In
fact, I cannot recall the last time I saw this species in the field.
The
female Pink-necked Green-pigeon is even duller-coloured than her Thick-billed
Green-pigeon counterpart.
The
fruiting tree was overhanging the access road and because it was a narrow road,
my stationery vehicle was certainly blocking the way. I had to shift to and fro
a couple of times to let other vehicles past and on one of those occasions, I
noticed a small raptor on a dead tree over the mangroves. I immediately took a
few shots but the raptor was on to me the moment I aimed the camera at it and
gave me suspicious stares. Most sparrowhawk-like raptors that I have come
across in the field are extremely shy and wary. This one is no different. It
dived into the mangroves after a few clicks of the shutter and was never seen
again. I had a quick look at its images and did not think much of it as I was too
eager to get back to the fruiting tree.
It
was only when I got home that I had a long good look at this raptor. After
doing some homework, I realized it might not be the usual Japanese Sparrowhawk.
In fact, the absence of tail bars on the upper tail strongly suggests the
rarely seen Shikra and a would-be lifer for me.
These past few months I let my enthusiasm get the better of me when I
seek confirmation for a few of my possible rare raptor sightings. So this time,
I sent the images to Chaiyan accompanied by a rather conservative message but
the reply that came back from him was anything but conservative. Finally, I got
my first Shikra! Christmas certainly came early this year and my dormant life
list erupted back to life. The pale grey
upperwings and unmarked central most uppertail feathers were the distinguishing
factors. Thanks to Chaiyan, I now know that this is an adult female of the dussumieri race and this girl came all
the way from the Himalayas. She is also
possibly the first perched Shirka to be photographed in Peninsula Malaysia. That's a good girl. Merry Christmas!
Now
back to the fruiting tree. I paid more attention to the Thick-billed
Green-pigeon because they are the scarcer of the two pigeons. These pigeons are
far from graceful when they gorged on the fruits and the fruits are just about
bite-size for them and are swallowed whole at a rapid pace.
To
wrap things up from this unexpectedly remarkable trip are a few more images of the
Thick-billed Green-pigeons in more presentable poses. I embarked on this trip
with very low expectations but at the end of the day, I was given a very good
reminder by the birds - that in birding you can never know what to expect and
something amazing could be waiting for you when you least expect it.
7 comments:
Beautiful images,superb photography.
Happy Christmas have a wonderful 2015.
John.
Thank you, John and Merry Christmas.
That post just shows that the best can often happen just when we least expect it. A great set of sightings and pictures Choy. Although many pigeons can be rather unremarkable those Thick-billed Green-pigeons have tremendous colours -super pictures of it. The Large Hawk-cuckoo may be common but it is very photogenic, as is the Tiger Shrike. Well done with the Shikra as I can imagine how difficult they are to see sat still for more than a second or two.
Happy Holiday and New Year to you.
I have only been following your blog for a few weeks but I am very impressed with your photographic skills.
I have seen a number of Shikras in Thailand, where they seem to be common. Could I have been mis-identifying them? Great photos.
Thanks, Phil and John for your comments. I truly appreciate them.
John, Shikras are not that uncommon in Thailand. It is only rare (or overlooked) here in Malaysia.
Congratulations on your Christmas Shikra - and the Green Pigeon shots are great, too. Serpent Eagle is widespread here in HK, but it is hard to nail good shots of usually.
Thanks, John. Serpent Eagles are probably one of the most confiding of our eagles here.
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