21/08/2010: Sungai Sedim (Kedah)

It was back to this locality again due to the great results we enjoyed from our last visit. At the entrance as well as other parts of the forest reserve, we came across quite a number of the yellow “police-line” ribbon. It is a warning that this area is closed to public due to the leptospirosis outbreak. This bacterial disease is not new but recent deaths in Pahang have captured the nation’s attention. Since you can only be infected through open wounds or skin injuries that come in direct contact with any freshwater source or soil that is contaminated with this deadly bacterium, it was birding as usual for the three of us. Muin decided to join us this time round as he wanted to capture some images of the White-crowned Hornbills. We arrived at the car park just in time to wait for the hornbills’ daily visit to the fruiting tree. While waiting for the hornbills to show up, we tried our luck at another nearby fruiting tree that was attracting not hornbills but a whole lot of bulbuls.

We had an unexpected surprise when a female Diard’s Trogon decided to fly in and join the bulbuls. This forest jewel is much shyer than the bulbuls and as expected, she did not stay as long as the other patrons. Luckily, I did manage to obtain a few decent images during that short period of time although the lighting was still quite dim.

With the departure of the trogon, we diverted our attention back to the bulbuls. By then, the fruiting tree was already teeming with them. We managed to identify a total of seven species altogether. Due to the high number of bulbuls present and the tedious task of separating some similar-looking ones, it is possible we could have missed out on a couple of species. However, one particular species stood out from the rest this morning simply because it stayed the longest and came down the lowest – the Finsch’s Bulbul.

There are only a few birding localities where this is species is regularly recorded and this locality happens to be one of its strongholds. It can be relatively uncommon elsewhere. It has a very distinct call that once learned, is easily recognizable. If calls are not your forte, there is always the yellow throat to help distinguish it from other species.

Here are some of the other bulbuls that I managed to photograph from this morning’s fiesta. It was not an easy task despite having a “bulbul magnet” around. Anyway, there were quite a number of all-brown bulbuls flitting about. The one with the diagnostic pale iris is the Cream-vented Bulbul.

The Spectacled Bulbul is quite similar looking but wears an orange ring around its red eyes instead.

This is a Buff-vented Bulbul - just my take my word for it….

The Grey-bellied Bulbul is one of the most stunning representatives of the bulbul family but unfortunately, my photographs of the bird do it no justice at all. Now if you can’t identify a Grey-bellied Bulbul, then I guess it is time to really consider if birding is for you. There is just no way can this bulbul be mistaken for anything else.

The White-crowned Hornbills did make an appearance eventually and much to Muin’s delight, started to gorge on the fruiting tree. However, they did not stay long although this time there was no worker around. The male bird stole the limelight today by providing the most photography opportunities.

At times, it looks as though he is playing with his food…

The immature male remained partially hidden most of the time and received a lot less attention from me…

Besides, I was trying to determine if during my last visit I made a mistake of identifying the third bird in the flock as another immature when the logical answer is that it should be a female. Today’s observation pretty much settled any doubts I have over its identity. The almost completely black underparts typical of female birds were clearly noted. The third hornbill is indeed a female and this flock is one happy family.

The “unusual” Asian Brown Flycatcher which made all of us (including Dave during his visit) quite reluctant to put it down as what it is due to the slight plumage variance, was still hunting in the same locality.

It is not only the drab-looking birds that often look very similar to each other but the colourful ones as well. It can be quite a challenge when it comes to separating the male of Brown-throated from the male Red-throated Sunbird. Anyway, I’m pretty sure that this bloke is a Red-throated Sunbird.

The Red-billed Malkoha is certainly the most striking of all malkohas but this beauty often goes unnoticed because it tends to keep to the upper reaches of the canopy level.

We were lucky in a way to enjoy a second encounter with the Diard’s Trogon later on in the form of a handsome male. Typical of the species, we were given a tough time trying to obtain decent images and this is all I have to show in the end. And I thought that this morning’s female was being difficult…

The Fluffy-backed Tit-babblers can be quite the performers and I have had quite a few memorable experiences with them in the past. When a lone bird alighted on a slightly exposed perch and showed no signs of darting back into the undergrowth anytime soon, I knew we were in for a treat.

Pretty soon a second bird, presumably his mate, joined him with on the same perch. I am also assuming that the first bird is a male because of its tendency to raise its crown feathers. Anyway when the two of them got together, that was when the real performance unfolded and we had the best seats in the house.

All I can say is that the seductive swaying of bodies and eruption of vocal cords was truly a captivating display and it was a real privilege to be able to observe this dynamic duo in action.

Black-crested Bulbuls, along with a few other species, will occur in much lower elevations but this occurrence is restricted to only the northern parts of Peninsula Malaysia.

The male Blue-winged Leafbird is another gorgeous forest bird that is not uncommon but good photography opportunities are very far to come by.

This male Verditer Flycatcher appeared quite arrogant and relaxed on his perch despite all the attention we were giving him. I guess he knew that we pose no real danger to him at that distance.

In between the birds, I did manage to find the time to appreciate some of the other resident of the forest like this moth.

Dragonflies are quite an interesting and attractive group of insects. I’m rather poor, as usual, when it comes to anything else other than the birds. I know that there is more to life than just birds. Maybe I will develop more interest and passion for other wildlife as well as plants later in life but for the time being I am still, very much, a bird-person.

20/08/2010: Permatang Nibong (Penang)

When Terrence reported that the Asian Openbills were back last week, I knew that I had to pay these old friends a visit soon. When the chance finally came this faithful morning, there were no signs of the openbills at all upon my arrival.

However, something much smaller stole the limelight for the trip momentarily – Zitting Cisticolas. The entire vicinity seems to be filled with their presence as well as their diagnostic calls. And most of them were certainly in the mood to be photographed.

These adorable little birds really put on a terrific performance for me today.

They were not the least bothered by my presence and I just went on shooting them as they go about their daily routine.

In fact, I suspect the birds were trying to outdo each other to gain my undivided attention and some individuals even took extreme measures just to do that.

It is a little too early in the year for the mighty Aquila Eagles so it comes as no surprise that the only raptor I managed to capture today was a resting Brahminy Kite.

This would have been a great photo of an adult Purple Heron if the sun was not in front of it. I guess that’s the challenge of wildlife photography. It’s not like you can just politely request the big fellow to change its position, you know.

This immature bird, on the other hand, was in a better position and had the sun behind it. But unfortunately, it was a little camera-shy.

Bitterns are never easy subjects to photograph due to their usual elusive nature. It was a lucky break for me when I managed to capture images of this 2 somewhat confiding Yellow Bitterns.

I could hardly believe my luck when I came across more bitterns later on and this time in the form of a pair of Cinnamon Bitterns foraging right out in the open.

There was even a third bird in the vicinity, which was another striking male. He kept a distance from the earlier pair and foraged on the far side of this recently harvested patch of the fields. Today was definitely a good day for bitterns.

A small crake foraging among the dense paddy stalks caught my immediate attention because there is a certain little migratory crake that I would certainly love to have under my (photography) belt. I know that the migrants have only started to trickle in but one can always hope, right? The crake kept itself quite hidden and all I could do was followed its movements while using my car as a mobile hide. But when an all too familiar nasal chattering started to come out from the vicinity of the foraging crake, the possibility of having a Baillon’s Crake slowly slithered away. I was still in denial that the crake was not the much commoner resident White-browed Crake (which deep inside I knew it was) until the bird finally showed itself long enough for me to capture a record shot.

As soon as I jotted down the words White-browed Crake into my notebook, a second bird came into view and rested on top of some paddy stalks – in full view.

The egrets were back though not in their usual strong numbers yet. Quite a handful of them were the Little Egrets.

Male Watercocks in breeding plumage are one of the handsomest waterbirds around but they are also one of the shyest. This species will not hesitate to take flight or dive to safety at the slightest sign of danger. I have been trying for years to obtain reasonable shots of the breeding plumage male but without much success…until today that is.

Although there is still room for improvement, I am rather delighted with how the images turned out in the end. I know very well that most photography opportunities with a Watercock will usually…

end up…

like this.

This immature Striated Heron was simply asking to be photographed as it was a bit more confiding than most of my other encounters with this particular species.

This lone female Pink-necked Green-pigeon looked a little out of place as she rested on some low scrub vegetation along a bund dividing the paddy fields. Female Green-pigeons can be difficult be tell apart at times but in this case, I had all the time in the world to check her out as she was extremely confiding.

After the initial disappointment with the openbills, I did swing by their favourite resting area again later in the morning. This rewarding trip just got even better when I could make out the distinctive silhouettes of the openbills on a distant tree – all five of them. So for the second consecutive season, these fascinating water birds will spend their winter in this paddy planting district of my home state. Welcome back to Penang my dear distinguished guests…

When the storks suddenly took flight after a few minutes, I’m not sure if the presence of my stationery car as well as all the camera action that was going on was a little too much for their tolerance level. However, when they just circled the vicinity once and alighted back at the very same perch, I thought to myself maybe I was not the actual cause.

Anyhow, I was at the right place, at the right time to capture their descent.

When the storks finally settled down, I got out of my car and slowly made my way closer. The storks appeared were pretty cool with my slight intrusion into their space and allowed me to capture their images to my heart’s content.

Now I’m pretty sure if that they could put up with me here, my earlier position should not be the reason why they were spooked.