Sea, sun and skuas (24/05/2014)

You know the saying how time really flies? Well, it really does. I found it hard to believe that it has been two years since my last pelagic trip. Since it is now that time of the year when the sea-faring rarities are about, I found myself aboard the anchovy fishing boat and my companions for this time's maritime adventure were Choo Eng and Hor Kee. As usual, it is another dawn to dusk excursion as we follow the fishermen out to reap the rewards from the sea off Tanjung Dawai in Kedah. 

It was a bright and sunny day and when the boat casted the first net after a couple of hours’ "hunt", the birds came in from all directions and breakfast was served. The majority of the patrons today were Bridled Terns. Identification for this species is rather straightforward due to its brownish upperparts contrasting greatly with its whitish underparts.

The usually abundant Common Terns are greatly outnumbered this time of the year. However, some of them were sporting their beautiful breeding plumages and some were rather confiding, coming quite close to our boat. And I found it hard to resist taking a few shots.

Like angels floating around the boats, the Black-naped Terns are truly a sight for sore eyes. Graceful and beautiful, I do not think I will ever grow tired of this. 

The arrival of a lone juvenile Sooty Tern caused some excitement as it was a lifer for Hor Kee. In fact if it was not for our forays to sea in this fishing boat, most of the pelagic lifers would not have found their way into our life lists. 

The Short-tailed Shearwater certainly know how to make an entrance - skimming just above the water surface at great speeds. It is always good to see this pelagic species and today, three of them were present. 

I may be a novice when it comes to pelagic birding because after all, I have only done it a handful of times. But I am experienced enough to know that this incoming brownish seabird was something different. Something new. When it finally got close enough, we found ourselves staring at a Brown Noddy - a lifer for all of us!

It was a shame that the noddy did not stay around for long. I would have loved to be able to observe it with my binoculars but we only had time to photograph it a few times. That was its one and only appearance for the day. Anyway, just being able to record this rare off-shore resident alone was worth the trip. 

I have had the good fortune of recording all the 3 species of jaegers (or skuas as some prefer to call them. Honestly, I think both names are quite accepted and it really depends on which part of the world you come from) that occur in our waters in the past. The presence of two birds floating on the water still got my adrenalin pumping. I have yet to obtain any really good images of jaegers but these Parasitic Jaegers did not answer my prayers and flew off as our got within optimum shooting distance. 

10/05/2011: Sea off Tanjung Dawai (Kedah) - Part Two

We all know that the sea is the last frontier to be fully explored by man and with many treasures and mysteries yet to be uncovered. So, it was no surprise when the sea off this locality provided me with 5 lifers from a single visit and that to me is as good as discovering any hidden treasure. Seabird watching took off here only about a few years back and since then, we have been encountering more pelagic species than ever before. This was my fourth pelagic trip and it turned out to be one of the highlights of my birding life. And what better way to start off a most memorable trip than with a lifer that I have always wanted to see a in the wild ever since I came to know that of its existence – the Brown Booby. Sadly, the population of this beautiful resident seabird is greatly reduced due to poaching of its young and eggs. I guess that is the price you have to pay for sharing the planet with man.

My next lifer was a Sooty Tern and despite our efforts to search for an adult bird, this young bird was the only one present in the vicinity.

The shape and jizz of the Sooty Tern makes it quite recognizable even in the presence of the smaller, similar looking Bridled Terns.

The Pomarine Jaeger, the biggest of the 3 species that occur in our waters, was the third species to make it into my life list. The presence of the spoon-shaped tail streamers eased our task of concluding the identification of this striking adult bird.

It provided a glimpse of the pirate-like behaviour that all Jaegers are infamous for by virtually landing on top of a few resting Short-tailed Shearwaters at a far distance. It then proceeded to chase them over the water surface with some swimming, some flapping and a whole lot of intimidation. Being beautiful and aggressive, this predatory seabird instantly earned a special place in my heart.

When a slightly smaller Jaeger alighted near the earlier Pomarine, I knew I was looking at my second Jaeger species and my fourth lifer but the question was, which species was it? Jaegers are certainly not one of the easiest of seabirds to tell apart at times and as soon it landed on the water, we realized that resting Jaegers are even more confusing.

Luckily, we did manage to capture a few flight shots and by reviewing the images later, we saw what we needed to see to solve the dilemma. It was a Parasitic Jaeger.

We made history by being the first to see all the 3 species of Jaegers in Malaysia on the same day when a Long-tailed Jaeger flew into view. However, I had to wait for my man Dave’s confirmation of its identity the following day before I could put down my fifth lifer for the trip and it was certainly a wait worth waiting for. The Jaeger turned out to be most probably a first-winter bird and I did not even get a shot of it. Choo Eng again had my back and it was his shots that provided us a second chance to identify the Jaeger. Unfortunately, none of the Jaegers came close enough for us to obtain any really good images. The birder in me was of course more than satisfied but the photographer in me was left yearning for more. Well, until the next time…

PS. I had to re-post this entry because it was simply not showing up in my other blogger friends' blog roll. My apologies to Terrence and Dave for indirectly removing your comments. Thanks for your opinions and compliments.