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. 

1,2,3,4,5...(20/10/2012)

The Asian Raptor Research and Conservation Network organizes a yearly Collaborative Research Project of Migratory Raptors and this year, the two sites in Malaysia that was selected to join the research was Pulau Tioman (Pahang) and Bedong (Kedah). At the Bedong site, which is still ongoing, it is a 35-day survey and volunteers are coming in from as far as Selangor. Choo Eng is the coordinator as this site was discovered by him a few years back. The site is basically a small hillock overlooking palm oil and rubber estates. Here, the price birders have to pay for the unobstructed view is the scorching heat of the sun and sometimes, the conditions can come close to being unbearable. Due to my workload these days, I could not commit myself to help out until I found myself a free Saturday. So, here I was, counting raptors, under the hot tropical sun with three other birders – Choo Eng, Phang and Tan.

A flock of forty Oriental Honey-buzzards started things off for the day…

While we were observing the flock, a handsome male Chinese Goshawk came into view and put on a really good show. It has been a long while since the last time I managed to observe this raptor from close range and I guess I must have forgotten how beautiful this species truly is because I was momentarily spell-bounded by this male bird. And to top it all off, this time I finally managed to capture a few reasonable shots.

The majority of raptors passing through today were Oriental Honey-buzzards. However, most of them did not come enough for my camera’s sweet spot except for this pale morph individual. We were also keeping an eye out for the four satellite-tracked Oriental Honey-buzzards that are part of the Hachikuma Project. The main purpose for this project by Keio University is to make available the real time status of these raptors’ migration online not only for scientific researchers but the general public as well. Anyway at the time of writing, one of the buzzards has reached the northern tip of Peninsular Malaysia.

The sighting of a migrating Osprey caused much excitement among the group. This fish-loving raptor is not a rare winter visitor to Malaysia but it is a new record for the site. I did miss out on a migrating falcon as it was simply too far and fast for me to confirm its identity. I can only hope that it was only a Peregrine Falcon (as seen by other counters a few days back) and not something rare - like a Eurasian Hobby.

White-bellied Sea-eagles do not migrate, right? Well, try telling that to this big fellow that decided to join the migrating flocks. The far-fetched thought of an Egyptian Vulture did cross our minds but as soon as the distinctive honking of the Sea-eagle filled the vicinity, we fell back to Earth with a loud thump.

The resident raptors, like this Crested Serpent-eagle, must have felt slightly neglected and decided to try and divert our attention from the passing migrants. Passing low overhead was certainly one fail safe way of doing it.

The resident Changeable Hawk-eagle also made its presence felt when it scouted around the vicinity a few times hunting for food.

There were times when we were staring at empty blue skies for long periods because the migrating raptors do not passed through non stop – not here in Malaysia anyway. So, what better way to help pass the time than to observe and try to photograph whatever migrants that are passing through like this Blue-tailed Bee-eater. I personally look forward to passing Bee-eaters during a raptor count. Bee-eaters are extremely vocal when migrating and I take their distinctive calls as a sign that the raptors are coming because on most occasions, this is all so true.

Swiftlets are notoriously difficult to photograph in flight but this time I had plenty of time and opportunity to try. At the end of the day, after numerous attempts, this is the only reasonable image I have to show. Photographing a Swiftlet is only half the battle. Positive identification is the other half. Who am I kidding – positive identification is a whole new battle and one that I rarely experience the sweet taste of victory. Apart from the Glossy Swiftlet with its distinctive whitish belly, all Swiftlets look remarkably alike and to make matters worse, have varied plumages. Anyway, I'm putting my money on Germain's Swiftlet in this case.

The Brown-backed Needletail is not only the largest of the Swifts found in Malaysia but they are also one of the fastest bird in the world - in direct flight that is. Naturally, their images are far and few for me and this one, despite the poor quality, is certainly a keeper.

Below is the result of our count for the day. Click here for past results and as well as results from other participating sites.

Oriental Honey-buzzard 150

Chinese Goshawk 16

Japanese Sparrowhawk 15

Black Kite 3

Grey-faced Buzzard 2

Osprey 1

Unidentified Accipiters 227

Unidentified Falcon 1

Unidentified Raptors 35

Total 450

Finally, some birding time...(29/09/2012)

I have not been out on the field for about a month now and when I finally found myself with some time to spare, I was at the marshland of Pulau Burung, Penang just after the break of dawn. With the migratory season coming into full swing, the timing could not have been any better. This first rarity of the season has been recorded by Madi in the eastern state of Trengganu. It was a Horsfield’s Bronze-cuckoo and a probable second record for Malaysia. With that in mind, I started scanning the marshlands full of optimism and anxiety. However, the level of bird activity was well below par but the flocks of resting Lesser Whistling-ducks did keep my spirit up and provided quite a few lovely images.

 

The migrants have certainly arrived but not quite in their usual numbers yet. There was nothing suspicious about this lone Yellow Wagtail because it was, after all, only a Yellow Wagtail. I have been without a lifer for many months now and I guess it is kind of getting to me.

A dark raptor perched on a distant dead tree provided a much needed boost of excitement to this morning’s excursion. However once the distant between me and my quarry was reduced, it turned out to be only a dark-morph Changeable Hawk-eagle. Since it totally ignored the presence of my car, I decided to capture a few images as best as I could in the harsh lighting conditions at the time. 

Nevertheless, it was a Changeable Hawk-eagle and once the twitcher in me was no longer in the driver’s seat, I took the time to observe and admire this powerful raptor from such a close range.

My next destination was another marshland habitat – Batu Kawan. Much to my dismay, a thorough search did produce anything extraordinary or exciting. But at the adjacent mudflats, I bumped into a wader species that I have longed to photograph but was never given any good opportunities. Well, not until today that is. Even from a distance the sheer size of the Eurasian Curlew made it stood out from the rest and I have not even come to the fact about its wickedly long bill. Distant record shots are not what my heart truly desired and so, I slowly reduced the distance between us by using my car as a mobile hide. Lady luck was certainly on my side today as I managed to get into a position that was within the reach of my gear. It may not be rare but I had to wait all these years to finally obtain some reasonable images of the impressive wader.

Unfortunately, it was slightly perturbed by my presence and gradually made its way further onto the mudflats. It found some sanctuary in the company of another large wader, the Whimbrel and the two of them resting so close to each provided me with an opportunity to capture a comparison shot.

My final destination of the day was the scrublands at Juru. Nothing much here as well except for a Brown Shrike giving me the evil eye for driving too close to her vantage point.

The resident Crested Serpent-eagles of Juru are so accustomed to human presence that I think they are probably the friendliest eagles I have ever encountered before. For them, it is not a matter of whether you can get close enough but whether the perch and lighting is optimum.

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.