Almost paradise...(20/12/2014)

Dave's Big Year eventually brought him to the forest of Sungai Sedim in Kedah where he managed to tick off quite a few more species in his list which at the time of writing, stands at an amazing 564 birds. His visit to the locality was better than usual and I decided to try my luck there as well. A flock of foraging Yellow-bellied Bulbuls started things off for the day. Their preference for the lower levels of the forest provided great eye-level views. Unfortunately, the lighting conditions were terribly challenging the entire trip with the rain clouds threatening to cut short my birding excursion.

Babblers are well represented in this educational forest especially along the access trail that leads up to Gunung Bintang. As always, photographing this family of birds can be frustrating especially the terrestrial species. This Short-tailed Babbler was kind enough to give me a one-second window to focus and take a shot of it in the open. After that, it was back to the undergrowth and the usual fleeting views...

I do not think anyone can ever get bored with the Asian Paradise-flycatcher. The white-morphed male is nothing short of extraordinary. His grace and beauty captures the heart and imagination of birders of all ages and status. I have been trying for years to obtain good shots of the males but somehow or another managed to elude my efforts. This time, I spent 30 minutes stalking, begging, playing dead and every other means I could think of but this image was all I could manage in the end. It was a prolonged and interesting encounter but the image is not what I was hoping for...

The adorable Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher on the other hand was surprisingly accommodating this morning. Its sweet whistling notes can be heard on almost every visit but the bird itself prefers the comfort and security of the canopy levels. This habit makes it difficult for me to obtain good images despite the frequent encounters. 

I also came across a small birdwave and was utterly excited to make out the shape of a trogon in the wave. Naturally, all other species were ignored and the trogon soon revealed itself, or should I say herself, to me as a female Scarlet-rumped Trogon. 

The highlight of the trip must be this flock of inquisitive Hairy-backed Bulbuls. This species behaves more like babblers than bulbuls and is fairly common throughout suitable forested habitats in Peninsula Malaysia.

The Hairy-backed Bulbul gets its name from the supposedly hair-like feathers on its back. I have never once notice this feature in the field and even with rather close-up images like this, the 'hair' remain invisible to us mere mortals. 

Today was definitely a day for bulbuls as a third species found its way to my memory card. The Grey-cheeked Bulbul is not as common as the two other species but it is quite regularly seen in the forest here. With so many different species of bulbuls occurring in this one locality, each have their respective niche to fill to ensure their own survival. That is why it tends to keep to the higher storey of the forest. 

Eventually, rain drops started to fall and although not heavy, it was rather persistent. I reluctantly made my way out of the locality because before the rain, it was very good in terms of birds. On the way home, I turned into the paddy fields of Bandar PERDA in mainland Penang to check if anything was about on this wet and gloomy midday hour. Along the pylons, I found the mighty Eastern Imperial Eagle overlooking its winter domain on this lofty perch. I do not need much reason to take my time to admire this majestic raptor and with the weather showing no intentions of improving, this is possibly the best thing I could wish for to end today’s outing.

And talking about winter, I would to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It's that time of the year again (11/12/2012)

December is an exciting month. It is a month full of celebrations and fun. With the school holidays and of course, Christmas and New Year, it does not get any better than this. Coincidentally, December has always been a great month for me – in terms of birding. In recent years, it has produced quite a number of outstanding birding experiences and a few lifers in between. A short visit to the paddy fields of Bandar PERDA in Penang this morning, unfortunately, yielded nothing out of the ordinary. A mixed group of waders foraging and resting on a slightly flooded patch was given their due attention – just in case. Towering above the rest of the group were the Grey-headed Lapwings.

The presence of a lone adult Imperial Eagle, the first record for the season, hopefully is a sign of better things to come in the following days. This majestic raptor was once considered a vagrant to Malaysia but in recent years, a few individuals have been wintering at this locality regularly. Although this morning’s encounter was only a distanced observation, I still took the time to enjoy the moment. I have learned not to take rare species for granted as you just do not know what the future may hold. For instance, there are no signs so far this season of the Asian Openbills - another rare visitor that has been wintering here in small numbers for the past 3 seasons. And I am afraid that last season’s encounter was my last with this enigmatic stork here. Their presence will be sorely missed and I can only hope that they have found a better wintering ground.

 

A paradise no more...(03/11/2012)

When Graeme told us that the marshlands at Pulau Burung, Penang are being developed, I can only fear for the worst. I finally had the time to see for myself the magnitude of the damage and it was a sight I hoped that I will never have to see. All unprotected birding sites in my beloved home state usually  will not be able to stand the test of time and it would be very foolish of me to believe that would be any different here at Pulau Burung. According to Dave, the extension of the landfill into the marshlands was always part of the plan and it was only a matter of time. 

With a heavy heart I bid farewell to one of my favourite birding sites. Not only is it the best and easiest place for bird  photography, it also gave the birding community rarities like the Red-necked Phalarope, Garganey, Little Stint and Pheasant-tailed Jacana. And it is not always about rarities. Even the commoner species provided hours of priceless birding memories – to me anyway.

With the ongoing "works", most parts of the marshlands are now inaccessible unless you are willing to thread on soggy and muddy grounds. Photographing Wood Sandpipers will require more work from now on. I guess it will never be the same without the aid of my car as a mobile hide.

There was quite a number of wintering Whiskered Terns present here today and this pair was taking a breather after a hearty breakfast.

I will certainly miss the flocks of Lesser Whistling-ducks that are thriving here if the marshes are completely destroyed in future.

And how can I forget all those close-up shots I managed to obtain here of the stunning Blue-tailed Bee-eaters. No, things will certainly never be the same again. 

I then decided to try my luck along the surrounding mangroves and that is something that I must admit, have neglected in the past. I did not have to drive far before I came across this lone Stork-billed Kingfisher hunting from a shaded perch.

A small flock of Black Bazas were also seen circling above the mangroves. Despite the distance, these striking birds of prey were reasonably wary of my presence. 

But I guess it would take something really rare or really big to cheer me up today. And it was the latter - an adult White-bellied Sea-eagle resting at the edge of the mangroves. The distance and angle of this majestic raptor from my stationery car was just within the reach of my camera and this was something that I have been waiting for because all of my past encounters were either from a distance or in flight. Much to my delight, this individual was quite confiding and totally ignored my intrusion. I took quite a number of shots as an opportunity like this is pretty rare even though this eagle is not.  

I was dumbfounded as soon as I turned into the gravel access road of the paddy fields at Bandar PERDA Penang – my second locality of the day. A huge eagle glided overhead and it only took one look to identify the species. I  finally unblock  the  last of  the  Aquila eagles from my life list. It was a juvenile Steppe Eagle in all its glory. As fate would have it there was another car behind me and I had to frantically drive to the nearest lay by to let the car pass. Unfortunately, when I got out  of  my car with my gear in hand, I had lost the eagle. How can one possibly lose sight of an eagle that has a wing span the size of a door? Apparently you can because I did.

Streams of  profanity  were  immediately  replaced by  phrases of  joy when  I managed  to  locate a large  flying  raptor  being  harassed  by  a smaller one shortly after. My happiness was short lived when the large raptor turned out to be, no disrespect intended, only a Greater Spotted Eagle. The smaller raptor was a juvenile Brahminy Kite and it must have struck a nerve of the big guy causing it to retaliate quite aggressively. 

I could hardly believe my luck when a second eagle came into view. This must be the Steppe Eagle or so I thought. But it turned out to be another Greater Spotted Eagle. So much for luck. Judging from its much streakier underparts, it could be a younger bird than the first one. Why I am so adamant of obtaining the image of this lifer?  Well, let's just put it as a photo is worth a thousand words. Especially if it is as rare as a Steppe Eagle and you have no one else with you at the time to back up the sighting. 

Anyway, the second Greater Spotted Eagle must have felt my disappointment because it decided to give quite a performance by gliding very low directly where I was standing and it came close. Pretty darn close I might add. 

The migratory Black-winged Stilts are starting to build up in number and they will always be a welcome sight to me.

Wrapping things up for the day was this handsome Brown Shrike looking perfectly at home at his wintering ground. 

24/12/2011: Mainland Penang

I decided to start off today’s birding at the lowland forest habitat of Bukit Panchor – a location which I have neglected for quite a while now. It is mostly because birding has been poor of late and today was not much different. I did manage to do a little catching up with some old friends at this locality – the leeches. And they certainly gave me a warm (and bloody) reception. A couple of hours and 10 leech bites later, I was off to the marshlands of Pulau Burung which happens to be located in the neighbouring district. The Garganey pair was enjoying some blissful slumber under the warm tropical sun and so was the Lesser Whistling-duck. 

I was a little disappointed to find there was not much waders at the ‘Little Stint Corner’. However, Pulau Burung has this tendency to present a surprise or two just to regain your faith and get you coming back to the place again and again. This time, it was a dark-phased Changeable Hawk-eagle that took center stage. Although the raptor was quite close and confiding, the lighting condition was a little too harsh for photography. Otherwise, the encounter would have been so much more memorable.

I was elated when it decided to make a swoop down towards the scrublands and alighted on a very low perch. Unfortunately, the excitement was short-lived when I realized there was no way I could get close enough to obtain the type of images I wanted for my archives of this beautiful raptor.

The Great Egret is a beautiful and elegant bird that is frequently taken for granted because of its abundant numbers during the migratory season. Anyway with nothing much about, I took the time to admire and photograph this individual resting on some low bushes overlooking a canal before making my way to my next destination.

Thing were also a little quiet at the paddy fields of Bandar PERDA with the exception of the adult Eastern Imperial Eagle resting on a distant pylon. The Pale/Sand Martin was also around. I did follow its movement for a while – hoping that it would alight somewhere close in order for me to capture some good images that could help shed some light on the true identity of this mysteriously Martin that has been wintering here for the past couple of seasons. The presence of a small flock of mixed waders foraging on a flooded patch provided a glimmer of hope that this trip could have one last surprise before I called it a day. And it did – in the form of a lone Little Stint foraging among a few Long-toed Stints and a Wood Sandpiper. Hopefully with the field experience I gained from the Stints at Pulau Burung, this fellow will not eventually be re-identified as a Red- necked Stint.

Although I adore waders, they are certainly some of the most difficult birds to identify – especially when they are in their drab and similar-looking winter plumages. I guess the challenge is what makes them so interesting. They also seem to somehow know where the limit of your photography gear is and will rest, preen, forage or even pose just a little beyond that. Anyway if by any chance, you are having difficulties picking out the Little Stint from my first image, here is another one for good measure.

17/12/2011: Mainland Penang

Upon my arrival at the marshlands at Pulau Burung, I spotted the silhouette of a large raptor perched on an electrical cable and it turned out to be one of the resident Changeable Hawk-eagles. Using the cable as a lookout point to hunt, it particularly ignored my presence and concentrated fully on the task at hand. Unfortunately, the lighting conditions prevented me from obtaining better shots and that was a real shame as this is probably the closest I have ever been with this bird of prey.

Whilst photographing the eagle, a second eagle alighted on the cable that was directly above my car but out of my field of view. There was nothing I could do to about it because at that close distance, any movement from me or my car will certainly spook the eagle. After a few minutes, the second eagle probably did not feel comfortable in my presence and flew off. And I continued to admire and photograph the first eagle to my heart’s content.

I was delighted to see the two Garganeys settling in well here and hopefully, in time to come will gradually become less wary. Until then, distance observations like today will just have to do.

Meanwhile at the ‘Little Stint Corner’, there was a high level of bird activity. The Little Stints were foraging along the slightly flooded patches as usual. Unlike my previous visit, the stints came quite close to my stationery car and provided a fair share of good photographic opportunities.

 

The Long-toed Stints are also another regular at this patch and I guess the condition here really suits both these species of stints.

I find it a little odd that at this time of the year this Little Ringed Plover has not even started to moult into winter plumage. Perhaps it’s just a little reluctant to shed this striking plumage for the much duller one. 

At my second birding locality of the day, the paddy fields of Bandar PERDA, it was again a raptor that started things off. For the third consecutive season, the mighty Eastern Imperial Eagle is spending the winter here. Welcome back, big guy.

 

When I drove along the adjacent paddy fields of Kubang Semang, the Grey-headed Lapwings certainly made their presence felt with their alarm calls long before I actually laid eyes on the first flock of these uncommon but regular winter visitors.

The graceful Black-winged Stilts are also back for the winter and like the former, filled the locality with their distinct calls as well.

A slightly flooded and muddy patch of the paddy fields certainly appeared quite promising to me. When I got closer, my hunch was right and I noticed several waders foraging in the vicinity. There were the usual Little Ringed Plovers, a few Wood Sandpipers, Common Sandpipers and Long-toed Stints as well. As I was scrutinizing the waders, I thought to myself that I could sure use a Temminck’s Stint now. And one came into view.

I wasn’t sure if I was hallucinating until a second bird decided to join the first one. It saved me the task of having to pinch myself. This is my second only sighting of this rather uncommon species and it certainly became the highlight of the day. And just as I thought things can’t get any better, I spotted a lone third Temminck’s Stint foraging slightly further away. I have a feeling this migratory season will be a good one – a very good one indeed.