A trip to the heart of Asia (9-16/11/2013)

My maiden trip to the beautiful island of Taiwan has left quite an impact on me – both emotionally and physically. This trip was not a pure birding trip but a promise that I made to my better half that we would go for a long vacation just to get away from it all. And away we went - an 8-day guided tour of the entire island of Taiwan. We had quite a memorable experience but it was also rather taxing. The itinerary, as with most tours of this nature, is all about quantity and not quality. We were taken to as many tourist locations as possible within the 8 days and with very little time to rest and truly soak in the sights and sounds of this amazing country.

Taichung City

Taipei 101 Tower

Love River (Kaohsiung City)

Hualien Town

Chiufen Old Town

Wen Wu Temple (Sun Moon Lake)

European Court Garden (Sun Moon Lake)

Countryside (Taitung District)

Taroko National Park

Yehliu Geo Park

The renowned Taiwanese night markets were one of the things my wife was looking forward to in the trip and at the end, she was certainly not disappointed. In fact, it is safe to say she had a very enjoyable and memorable trip. My only qualm about the night markets were they can sometimes be quite crowded.

As for me, I am a simple man with simple needs. Give me a chance to do a little birding in a foreign land and I will be a very happy man. Although I did not have much opportunity to bird, I am quite satisfied with the results in the end.

The very first bird that I managed to photograph in Taiwan simply blew me away. I did not imagine I would be able to see Black-billed Magpies at the outskirts of Taipei City. But I did and the magpies were just foraging on the compound of a popular tourist destination – the C.K.S. Memorial Hall. They seemed to be accustomed to human presence and that in turn provided me with some good photographic opportunities. And my birding excursion in Taiwan was off to a very good start.  

The Japanese White-eye is another species that was regularly encountered within townships throughout the trip. As usual, these active little birds were a nightmare to photograph.

The Styan's Bulbul, an endemic to Taiwan, was regularly encountered along forested areas. It looks quite similar to the commoner Light-vented Bulbul and thanks to Dave for correcting my such earlier error and giving me another lifer for the trip!

I managed to see a few species that reminded me of home like these Eurasian Tree Sparrows behaving very much like how they would behave.

Egrets were also regularly seen during the trip and because I have had plenty of egret time back home, I only stopped once to shoot an egret – a lone Great Egret foraging at the edge of the Love River.

The birding highlight of the trip took place in the least expected locality – a Buddha Memorial Center in Kaohsiung. I do not consider myself a religious person but when of all places I came across a fruiting tree here, I guess it is high time I start to renew my faith in religion.

As expected, the fruiting tree was a center of bird activity and I was a simply overwhelmed – just like a kid in a candy store. I did not do much home work before my trip here and without the aid of a printed field guide, I was struggling to identify some of the bird species that were present. A little woodpecker foraging on the tree trunk turned out to be a Grey-capped Woodpecker. I was a little disappointed as I was hoping for it to be a new species for me.

The Collared Finchbill was a lifer and I took quite a number of shots of this interesting species. Unfortunately, it preferred to stay slightly concealed by the vegetation and I was not able to obtain a single clean shot.

The Black Bulbul with its striking colouration and unmistakeable character was quite easy to identify.

The Light-vented Bulbuls are the equivalent of the ever-common Yellow-vented Bulbul back home. Not surprisingly there were quite a number of them present at the fruiting tree. In fact, I think the majority of the birds were of this species and they are ones who usually come the closest to where I was standing.

The presence of a brownish thrush got me all excited but after much scrutiny, it turned out to be an Eye-browed Thrush – a species that I have recorded before back in Malaysia.

The star bird of this fruiting tree was the Grey Treepie. It arrived at the feast half way through my observation and basically stole the limelight from everyone else. It is a beautiful bird indeed and I fell for its charms immediately.

At another tourist destination, the Sun Moon Lake, I almost mistook this Oriental Turtle-dove for a Spotted Dove and I was lucky to be able to obtain this record shot without the aid of my telephoto lens.

This was the closest I came to seeing an owl in Taiwan…

There is a small bird aviary at Sun Moon Lake and here, a number of Blue Peafowls are kept. However, captive birds are not quite my cup of tea. It also took some effort for me to explain to my tour guide the difference between shooting captive birds and wild birds.

The star bird of Taiwan is undoubtedly the Taiwan Blue Magpie. It is a good enough reason to plan for a pure birding trip here in future if given the chance and hopefully, capture one of these stunning birds in their natural habitat.

A solemn start to the season (19/10/2013)

I have not been out in the field as often as I would like to of late due to my working schedule and other commitments. However with the migratory season now in full swing, I just have to make the time – one way or the other. So, it was off to one of my favourite haunts – the marshlands of Pulau Burung, Penang. This locality has undergone a major make-over since the last migratory season and from the looks of things, all the effort was not for the better in terms of birding. Previously, during the migratory seasons this place would be teeming with birds - both residents and migrants. But today, it looks partly deserted. Even the commoners were few and far. This rather confiding Paddyfield Pipit did its best to try and restore my faith in this birding locality and it worked to a certain extent.

I can take comfort in the fact that the resident Purple Herons still call this place home and this lone adult was foraging among the long grass by the edge of the river. Generally shy by nature, it is often difficult to get close to this graceful waterbird even when using the one’s car as a mobile hide.

The Collared Kingfishers are regularly encountered among the vicinity of the mangroves. With their raucous calls and bright colouration, it is in fact rather difficult to miss them if they are around. And with three resting on the same perch, it is downright impossible.

Pulau Burung used to be the best place to observe and photograph Wood Sandpipers. Although this species is quite common throughout the country during the migratory season but it is only here that the birds come just short of letting you giving it a pat on the head. Today, not even a mediocre performance was given. The birds were absent from their usual spots and whenever I did come across one, it kept its distance. However, all was not lost. This Common Sandpiper reminded me why this birding hotspot holds a very special place in my heart.

The resident waders were seen at their usual spots and that certainly brightened up a slightly overcast morning. The vocal Red-wattled Lapwings were still in good numbers along the drier grasslands…

And as for the Black-winged Stilts, well these graceful waders have seen much better days. Only a handful was present today at the edge of the river.

The Chestnut-winged Cuckoo is a undoubtedly a very stunning bird, gracing us with its presence for only a few months each year as it avoids the cold, harsh winter up north. But it is also a very shy bird. I guess this photo, taken from a distance as this is as close as I was allowed today, says it all.

Yellow Wagtails come in all sorts of colours, races, sub-races, seasonal moults, etc, etc. To keep life simple and my sanity intact I just call them as they are, Yellow Wagtails - period.

The highlight of the day, surprisingly, turned out to be a mammal - a Wild Boar foraging in the open in bright daylight. The foraging must be good along this section of the access road next to the mangroves because the boar was so preoccupied I was able to drive rather close to it. But the clicks from my camera reminded it how dangerous humans can be and it bolted hastily into the safety of the mangroves.

A ruckus along the river attracted my attention and it turned out to be two male Monitor Lizards fighting for the affections of a female. Boys will be boys, I guess…

While I was making my way back, I came across a fine-looking Crested Serpent-eagle resting on a lamp post along the busy main road. This species is quite accustomed to human presence and it is not unusual to see it resting comfortably on such perches.

And a handsome Brown Shrike back from his northern breeding grounds wrapped things up for the day.