Welcome to my world

With each passing year, I can feel the drop in the wild bird population especially around Penang and northern Peninsular Malaysia – my neck of the woods. Destruction of habitat, poaching, trapping – you name it. All these and other factors contribute to this depressing fact of life. I suppose I ought to be grateful of what is still present and I am. Through the years, you will notice that a number of my posts will have the same old birds from the same old locations. But it is not like I have much a choice. Travelling half the length of the peninsular and beyond on a regular basis just for a chance of better birding is not really a viable option. However, as long as there are still wild birds out there to amaze and I still have the passion to carry on blogging, the Penang Birder will continue to pay tribute to these feathered deities through humble writings and images.

I was back, again, at the mangroves of Sungai Batu for a short excursion with a couple of British birders. My visits here are of such regularity that I can time our arrival at the location to coincide with the moment enough illumination starts piercing through the swamp forest to observe the feathered denizens that dwell here like this handsome male Mangrove Blue Flycatcher.

Less appealing but no less intriguing are the resident pair of Abbott’s Babbler. The pair did what they do best and it is to entertain with their charm and antics. After the inquisitive babblers left the stakeout, an uncomfortable silence crept into the vicinity. Naturally my mind started to wonder. This cannot be all there is to it for this spot today. I suppressed my feelings of anxiety as best I could. I engaged my guests in conversation just to ease my nerves. 

Then an all-too-familiar call stopped me in mid sentence. Consecutive calls brought a grin to my face. When the Mangrove Pitta finally revealed itself, my guests could now understand the reason for the abrupt end to our little chat. It was their first ever pitta and in the birding world, it is a monumental experience rivaled by few.

The Mangrove Pitta was in no hurry to appear and much to our delight, in no hurry to depart as well. It was a prolonged encounter - a substantial compensation for the agonizing wait earlier on.

Trying its best to steal some attention from the human birders was the adorable and striking Forest Wagtail. Unlike most of the regulars of this stakeout, the Forest Wagtail is a winter visitor and will soon answer to the call of its breeding ground up north.

With the arrival of the lumbering White-breasted Waterhens, the site was again vacant except for the presence of these attractive rails. With no other species expected to be discovered here, we scouted around the adjacent areas.

It is always a delight to observe the Dollarbird in good lighting. The distance was not favourable but the encounter was interesting as the bird showed off its true colours in the golden hues of the morning sun.

Grey Herons have an almost cosmopolitan distribution. So, this elegant water bird is not new any one of us. But the background in which the heron was hunting had a certain appeal and it made a good environment shot.

The next location of the day was the Air Hitam Dalam Educational Forest in mainland Penang. On the way into the park, one will pass a big area of paddy fields and this agricultural land can sometimes provide interesting encounters. This time a confiding juvenile Asian Openbill provided the excitement. Apart from the greyish plumage, the indistinct gap of the bill is another indication of its age.

We came across a few more youngsters along the way and they were Barn Swallows. This common winter visitor can occur in good numbers in all suitable habitats throughout the country during the migratory season. This juvenile appeared ragged but it is no fault of it. That was the stage of its plumage transition and every swallow has to go through it once in its lifetime.

The second youngster was almost in full adult plumage and soon, it will be able to scythe across the sky in its attractive adult colours.

In the park itself, the loud territorial calls of the Collared Kingfisher filled the vicinity. While the White-throated Kingfisher thrill foreign birders inland, coastal areas belong to the equally common Collared Kingfisher. Most of the time in birding, the birds will be flying away from their human observers. It was the opposite with this encounter and this pleasant surprise was much appreciated.

The migratory Black Kites congregate in big numbers here and soaring kites are a common sight during this time of the year. A row of trees opposite the river is the favourite roosting spot for these elegant raptors and at any time of the day, a few would be present. The distance was the only factor that hampered the quality of the observation.

As with any birding excursion, I try my best to end it on a high note and the final bird of the day was a more than qualified candidate. I have had very little luck with the resident Spotted Wood-Owls of late and when I managed to locate one roosting high up among the canopy, I could hardly contained my excitement. My guests obtained a most memorable lifer for the trip and for me, I am just happy to be able to reconnect with an old friend.