12/12/2009: Tanjung Dawai Pelagic Trip (Kedah)

I finally had the opportunity to join Choo Eng's for one of his pelagic trips off the coast of Tanjung Dawai in Kedah. Together with Muin and another friend of Choo Eng, we arrived at the pier before dawn. When the tide was finally right for the boat to leave to pier, the sun had just rose above the distant horizon. As we slowly headed into the big blue yonder, I was rather excited as this is my first pelagic birding experience.

The boat that is taking us out is a fishing vessel that catches anchovies. It is quite a big and sturdy boat but space was a real constraint. We spend most of time on the top board and just below the captain's cabin. We didn't want to get in the way of the crew when they start working. The view was quite stunning with the deep blue sea and the sky was clear as well - with very little clouds.

The crew are made up of about a dozen friendly chaps and after the trip, I could feel the hardship of their of work. We were there from dawn to dusk and beyond to satisfy our birding needs but these fellows do this for a living. They serve as a good reminder of how lucky most of us are with our own line of work and way of life.

Anyway, this crew is no ordinary crew. They are quite knowledgeable about sea birds by now - courtesy of Choo Eng and Dave frequent trips with them. The guys even gave the crew a visual reference to help them identify the birds.

A large bird flying low above the sea really got our adrenalin pumping. However when it got closer, the bird turned out to be a raptor. The adrenalin must have gotten the better of me as I mistook this juvenile White-bellied Sea-eagle for a juvenile Osprey - initially that is. Once the adrenalin wore off and logic reclaimed back its rightful place, this magnificent raptor had already flew quite low over the boat and when on its way.

The crew will really get busy whenever the Captain locates a huge shoal with the help of the on-board sonar. Once the nets are cast, it is time to work.

The same goes for the terns that follow these fishing vessels. Through time, the terns have associated the fishing vessels to food. Not only is the food source abundant but easy as well since the nets will drive the shoals near the surface. Whenever the nets are cast, the terns will swoop in and congregate in quite huge numbers.

It also time for the on-board birders to get to work as well. The shooting conditions on the boat is quite difficult due to the constant rocking of the boat, the wind factor, the harsh lighting and the agility of the birds. I really struggled with my gear and most of the images I took were not satisfactory in the end. The Common Terns, as their name implies, provided the most opportunities for me to photograph.

Although shooting against the sky was much easier, I prefer the shots where the deep blue sea provided the perfect backdrop...

Beside the Common Terns, quite a huge number of White-winged Terns were seen on this trip as well. Identification of terns is a real mind-buster at times because all they look quite alike. I needed to clarify that just in case I make any mistakes on any of the species in this posting.

I even managed to capture this shot that shows the similarities as well as the differences of the 2 species quite clearly...

Little Terns are quite common here as well but their numbers are no where near the larger Common and White-winged Terns.

Black-naped Terns are one of the most elegant and stunning terns that occur in our waters. However throughout the trip, we only came across them on a couple occassions and I could only manage record shots.

I was rather disappointed when a lone Greater Crested Tern managed to slipped past my camera but when an unfamiliar tern decided to join in one of the feeding frenzies, I was totally elated. I can finally tick off Bridled Tern from my rather stagnant life list. Lifers are hard to come by for me nowadays and the sighting of this juvenile bird alone would have made this whole trip worth while. Although the shots I took were not that clear, a lifer will be a lifer - period.

This trip offers me ample time to reflect on life while drifting into the tranquility of the rolling waves. And at the same time, try my best to locate some rare pelagic species.

In between observing the terns, I did find the time to capture the crew reaping rewards from the sea...

They are primarily after anchovies and anything else is an added bonus like this 3-foot mackerel...

The setting sun was no hindrance for the crew to cast the nets a couple of times before calling it a day. In the end, my maiden pelagic trip turned out to be quite a memorable experience and I'm pretty sure it won't be my last.

06/12/2009: Bandar PERDA & Kubang Semang (Penang)

I decided to hunt for more Aquila Eagles at the same locality taking into consideration the success of yesterday's search. At the paddy fields in Bandar PERDA, I was faced with the same dilemma as yesterday - the Greater Spotted Eagle was resting on a distance pylon with no way to reduce the distance.

While scanning the other pylons in the vicinity, I spotted a migratory Peregrine Falcon using the pylons as a place to rest as well.

Large-billed Crows are facing stiff competition from the highly successful House Crows here in Penang and I feel that their numbers are greatly reduced. This rather confiding individual was foraging at the edge of the paddy fields and I took full advantage of the situation to obtain more images of this species into my collection.

The Brown Shrikes were tame as usual like this lovely lady...

I decided to spend more time at Kubang Semang this morning as this is where I saw the Imperial Eagle yesterday. As it was still a little to early for the eagles to hunt, I concentrated my attention to a mixed flock of Black-winged Stilts and Grey-headed Lapwings. The stilts were rather confiding as usual...

And much to my delight, so were the lapwings this morning...

One of the fields had quite a number of foraging waders. I tried my luck to see if by chance the Temminck's Stint was around but the only stints here were the Long-toed Stints.

There were a couple of Curlew Sandpipers in the vicinity as well...

Snipes are notoriously difficult to identify and this shy individual was no exception. I can only guess it is a Common Snipe...

I came across a few Black Drongos hawking for insects just above the paddy fields. The low angle provided me with a good opportunity to obtain their images.

As the morning sun rose higher, I spotted a couple of Black Kites circling in the sky above. I took it as my cue to start my search for the eagles and true enough, I could make the shape of 2 large raptors circling at a far distance. I put my poor car through the "rally regime" again to reduce the distance and fired away my camera. One of the raptors turned out to be a juvenile Imperial Eagle and is most probably the same bird I saw here yesterday.

Unfortunately, it turned and soared away from me after a short while. The remaining raptor was a juvenile Greater Spotted Eagle and it, on the other hand, remained to provide me with a very good show indeed. Merry Christmas to you too!

05/12/2009: Bandar PERDA & Kubang Semang (Penang)

I managed to convince myself to visit the paddy fields of Bandar PERDA again despite dipping out on the last few visits to locate the Greater Spotted Eagles.

The ploughed fields attracted the usual patrons like this Jungle Myna...

And Pond-heron...

I find the Brown Shrikes here to be exceptionally tame and like the last visit, I managed to obtain great portraits of little predatory bird. Here are a few females which are not camera-shy at all...

This male was hunting from a signboard at the edge of the paddy field...

From this vantage point, it swooped down and caught a dragonfly with its feet in mid air and returned to the same perch with its prized catch.

He then removed parts of the wings, transfer to poor insect to its gaping mouth and swallowed it whole. I feel so lucky to be at the right place and the right time to capture these images.

As I was about to give up hope on the eagles and move to the adjacent paddy fields, a large dark raptor resting on one of the pylons caught my attention immediately. After further scrutiny, it turned out be an adult Greater Spotted Eagle - finally! I tried to get closer to the resting eagle but I soon realized that this was the closest I could get without getting myself knee-deep in mud and water of the flooded field. Well, beggars can't be choosers and I was just happy to observe the eagle from a distance and took a few record shots.

As I was observing the first eagle, a second one flew across the horizon, unfortunately also at a great distance. The birder in me was more than satisfied with observing two of these magnificent raptors but the bird photographer in me felt otherwise. I couldn't help but to feel a little disappointed as I made my way to the adjacent paddy fields.

Upon my arrival at the paddy fields in Kubang Semang, I was greeted by a foraging immature Purple Heron. This species will usually take flight when approached but not this time though...

My disappointment with the Greater Spotted Eagles earlier vanished with the sight of another eagle circling low over the paddy fields.

When it landed in an overgrown patch of the fields, I drove as quickly as possible to the vicinity and searched frantically for about 15 minutes before I managed to pick it out from the dense vegetation and it turned out to be an immature bird. I waited patiently for it to show more of itself but I guess it wasn't in the mood to be photographed.

All was not lost when another eagle circled overhead. Initially, I thought it was another Greater Spotted Eagle. After seeking Dave's help and doing some homework, it turned out to be a juvenile Imperial Eagle. Looks like Christmas came early again for me this year and with the same species providing the magic. About this time last year, I recorded my very first Imperial Eagle at this very locality. This raptor is a scarce migrant and it took me nearly 2 decades just to see one. Merry Christmas, big guy!

Large raptors have to put up with constant harassment from House Crows at a locality like this and if the crows are not around, there are always others to take their place. In this case, it was a Black Kite.

I managed to capture both the raptors in one frame and I guess size is not a hindrance to the smaller kite at all.