The Jewel Hunter

These past few weeks, I could not find the time to do any birding due to my work load. Luckily, I got to borrow a splendid book from Choo Eng - The Jewel Hunter. The book provided some relief for my birding addiction although it was only armchair birding. I'm not the type to get submerged into books unless the book is about something close to the heart like birding. This book is not only about birding but also about one of my favourite birds - the Pittas. It is a story about a man, Chris Gooddie, and his quest to see all of the world's 32 species of Pittas within one calender year.

Overall, it is a great book. Well written and witty. For a better review of the book, you can check Dave's post here. Anyway, this is one of my favourite paragraphs from the book where the author tries to describe how incredibly hard it is to see a Giant Pitta in the wild.

White water birding (04/08/2012)

The Sungai Sedim Recreational Forest in the state of Kedah may be well known for its white water rafting facility but to us birders, it is one of the best and easily accessible forest birding localities in the northern region. As we are now in the Ramadhan month (a period of fasting before we celebrate the Muslim New Year or Hari Raya), there were hardly any picnickers along the main river just next to the car park. 

It also explains why we finally managed to photograph the resident Blue-banded Kingfisher despite all our previous visits to the locality. The absence of human activity has made this river specialist much bolder than usual but most unfortunately, my attempt at capturing this striking male bird turn out rather poor.

The white waters of the rivers here are also home to the Chestnut-naped Forktails – another striking species that is extremely wary of humans. Although I wish that this foraging pair would come closer to our side of the river but they didn’t and the images obtained left much room for improvement. Anyway, I am still quite happy with the images in the end. 

However, there are some residents here which are so accustomed to human presence they will let you walk right up to them to capture their images – like the ever-present Pacific Swallow.

And the locally common Whiskered Treeswift.

Both species of Treeswifts are found within the boundaries of this birding hotspot but the Grey-rumped Treeswift is never as tame as the former.

As for the forest birds, this Rufous-winged Philentoma stopped long enough in the sunlight for me to capture a few images.

A male Banded Kingfisher teased our senses and lenses by alighting directly overhead before making his way deeper into the forest.

We also came across some feathers along the access trail. It was probably a recent kill of a civet or some other predator. From the colouration and size, I am guessing that the unfortunately victim was an Orange-backed Woodpecker. Anyone wants to take a shot at this?

And to conclude the trip, the three of us helped ourselves to some local durians. The season for this king of fruits is drawing to an end soon for this year but that is not the reason why we decided to have the durians here and not back home in Penang where it is famous for the best durians in the region. This durian seller has been giving us tips on where birding is good in the surrounding areas. Some of his tips may have been a bit exaggerated like wild Partridges being as tame as domestic chickens but I guess that’s how you keep your patrons entertained and coming back for more.

The cuddly couple

Earlier this year, I had the good fortune of being able to observe a pair of Silver-breasted Broadbill nesting. This species is one of the smallest found in Malaysia and without a doubt, is one of the cutest. Together with the brilliant colours of its plumage, Silver-breasted Broadbills are one of the most after targets for both birders and bird photographers alike. I have encountered this species on numerous occasions while I’m out in the field but I never get tired of them. But this time, the encounter was better and more memorable than usual because I managed to obtain far better shots than all my previous attempts. Broadbills build untidy dome-shaped nests that are usually suspended above rivers, ravines and rather unfortunately, access roads as well. This particular nest was indeed built above an access road but it was quite close to the forest edge and well away from the dangers posed by passing vehicles.

Both the male and the female shared the nest building duty and it was the fairer sex that provided the best photographic opportunities this time round.

The male looks almost like the female but lacks the silver necklace. Here, he was putting the finishing touches the top part of the nest and pretty soon, this pair will become proud parents to the next generation of adorable and stunning forest dwellers.

An evening by the swamp (14/06/2012)

I decided to do a short visit to the swamp forest at the Air Hitam Dalam Forest Reserve in Penang as I was quite curious as how the upgrading construction works are getting along. The rotting wooden boardwalks are now being replaced by concrete ones. Although it loses the “wild” look, I feel that it is the right way to do it as the wooden ones will not last long. I have been birding at this locality since it first opened its “doors” to the public and that was back in 1996. Through the years, this locality has provided me countless memorable experiences. It has also gone through and endured a lot – including having a road cut right across the center. Despite all that, the birds are still there and this area still remains as one of the main birding locations in the state and my heart.

The Spotted Wood-owl is one of the many alluring residents that draw me and my fellow birders back here time and time again. Although it is a relatively large bird, it can remain undetected at times because it prefers to roost well hidden among the tall densely crowned trees.

The Crested Serpent-eagle is another predatory bird that calls this forest home and their piercing cries are very much a part of the sights and sounds here. 

Although the Greater Racket-tailed Drongo is quite a common bird, it still does it for me. Not only because of the racket tail but its “charming” personality as well. However, this subadult bird is little scruffy or it would have been a really nice capture.

Just who do you think you are calling scruffy? It has been a really rough day. That’s all.

In search of the Barau (31/05/2012)

The Royal Belum State Park is part of the Belum-Temenggor forest landscape located at the northern-most corner of Perak state and is one of the largest forested areas in Malaysia. This was my third only visit to this particular area and every single one of them concluded quite satisfactory. 

Unlike Taman Negara, it has managed to maintain accessibility by boat only and this helps to keep the park relatively as wild as it should be. Anyway, the four of us chartered a small boat for the day to explore this pristine birding locality and most of the birding and photography from this trip were done from the boat. 

The Lesser Fish-eagle is rather scarce everywhere and the Temenggor Lake is probably one of its last strongholds where it can still be seen quite regularly. Unfortunately, it is rather shy and I was only able to obtain record shots despite crossing paths with this eagle a couple of times throughout the trip. And the constant movement of the boat did not help much in improving my photographs.

If you are a big fan of hornbills, and to be totally honest who isn’t, Royal Belum is one of the best places to observe these majestic and regal birds. It is the only place in Malaysia where all the 10 species of hornbills have been recorded. On this trip, we managed to record 3 species and obtained record shots of 2 of them – a flying male Wreathed Hornbill…

And a resting Black Hornbill.

We had our lunch at Sungai Kejar base camp. It is one of the few basic accommodations can be found within the park. There are no big resorts here and I sincerely hope it will stay that way. 

Anyway, the base camp was quite rich in bird life and a nearby fruiting tree was really luring in the forest birds – much to our delight. Unfortunately, the tree was quite tall and good photographic opportunities were rare. A rather confiding male Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher eventually prevented me from leaving the base camp empty handed.

The indigenous people of Belum-Temenggor are also one of the attractions for visitors to the park but not quite so for a quartet of birders from Penang. We are solely here for the feathered residents only.

The star performer of the trip is a species of bulbul that I have not seen in more than 17 years and one of the main targets for this trip – the Straw-headed Bulbul. By the way, the local name is Barau and hence, the title of this post. It may be the largest of all the bulbuls in Malaysia but sadly, it is also one of the rarest as well. Being a highly-prized songbird in the illegal bird trade is the main reason for its scarcity. And that is a real shame because not only does it sing beautifully but it is also visually stunning. This bulbul favours riverside vegetation and it is not particularly shy as we were able to approach it reasonably close by boat.

Despite all the threats that this bulbul is facing, we discovered that there is still hope…

Like all young birds, this fledgling had a ravenous appetite and the parents had to work hard to keep it happy.

A Praying Mantis is certainly not beyond their means. 

Before I end this post, I would to share this image of a family of Black-thighed Falconets taken along the Kupang-Gerik highway a few days before our trip to Royal Belum. The birds were having some quality time together as the day draws to a close but like all loving families, occasionally there may be one that is just not in the mood to cuddle up.

Dressed for success (11/04/2012)

It is coming to the end of the spring migration and this is the best time to catch some of the remaining migrants, especially the waterbirds, in their breeding plumages before they undertake the migration back north to breed. Today was declared a public holiday as it was the installation day of our new King and at first light, I was at the marshlands in Pulau Burung, Penang. Luckily, there were still quite a few of the migratory waterbirds present to keep me company – like this Intermediate Egret in partial breeding plumage.

Despite a careful sweep of the area, the only Pond-herons present in the vicinity (and everywhere else today) were the Chinese Pond-herons. This species may be the commonest of the three species that occur here in Malaysia but their plumage is certainly the prettiest. There is a high possibility that I may not get to photograph the Javan and Indian Pond-heron as I have had very little luck with them this season and time is now running out.

The bird that really got my adrenalin pumping for this visit was not a waterbird. It was a Tiger Shrike and a first record for me for this area. Much to my delight, it was a male and in breeding plumage. Inevitably, this handsome bird immediately gained my complete attention and admiration.

This Yellow-bellied Prinia was belting out his territorial song from an exposed perch when he was interrupted by my approaching car. My sincere apologies. Please carry on, Sir…

Some waders undergo amazing plumage transformations for the breeding season. The Pacific Golden Plover is one such wader. Unfortunately for me this rather confiding individual foraging along the mudflats of Batu Kawan, Penang has yet to attain its full breeding plumage. And that would have really made my day.

This Long-toed Stint is also in partial breeding plumage but was a lot more wary of my presence than the much bigger plover.

At the paddy fields of Kubang Semang, Penang I came across a rather big mix flock of egrets following a tractor that was working the field. This is a common practice among the waterbirds as the tractor will flush insects and other prey out and they will be easy pickings. The majority of the egrets present were Cattle Egrets and most of them were sporting their smart breeding plumage.  

Among the few Intermediate Egrets that were present at the locality, one individual was in partial breeding plumage. The thing that really caught my attention was the piercing red eyes. This is not the first time I have seen this species in breeding plumage but the red eyes were certainly new to me.

Among the other “normal-looking” Intermediate Egrets, this individual just appear a little evil to me – like an egret possessed. Egrets are just so angelic but one with bloodshot eyes looks more suitable representing the other “side”.

A quick detour to the Blue-throated Bee-eater nesting ground showed that it was likely to be another successful season.