A Comparison Between Wood Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper

When you are out there watching birds, you will probably meet two types of people, namely the bird photographers and the birders. How do you differentiate them? Just listen to their conversation:

Wood Sandpiper

A Friend and A Bird Photographer

Friend:  "Wow ! nice. what bird is this?

Bird photographer: TQ. Dunno but i think it is rare. Probably from Alaska or Mongolia. I have waited two hours for this bird.

Friend: I think it is a common sandpiper or maybe a green sandpiper.

Bird photographer: Dunno ! but it looks the same lah.

Friend: You use 1 stop exposure compensation?

Bird photographer: No. i actually used +3 stops, iso speed: 4000, exposure time: 1/640 sec, f/stop: 5.6, metering: spot and auto white balance. You must put one of your hands on the lens you know. So that your camera can be more stable.

Friend: same place ah?

Bird photographer: Yeah ! near the small lake area. Don't tell Ah Seng ah !

Friend: OK, OK !

Tringa glareola

A Friend and A Birder

Friend: Wow ! what bird is this?

Birder: aah ! its just a wood sandpiper. Very common winter visitor. Can be found almost everywhere, paddy fields, river banks, wetlands but rarely on mudflats.

Friend: It looks like a common sandpiper.

Birder: No. Common sandpiper do not have speckles or a prominent white supercilium as a wood sandpiper. Both birds bob their tail but common sandpiper does it more. Common sandpiper has a distinctive gap between its carpal area and breast patch. It also has dull greenish legs as compared to more yellowish of a wood sandpiper. Their legs are also longer than a common sandpiper. In flight, wood sandpiper shows fine black barrings at its outer tail while a common sandpiper does not show any.

Despite the differences, the gap between a birder and a bird photographer is narrowing by the day. Nowadays most bird photographers has shown deep interest in the birds' welfare besides just taking their photos.

Recently i have a rare opportunity to watch a wood sandpiper and a common sandpiper side-by-side. 

Common Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

This is how they look in flight.

Wood Sandpiper in Flight (above)

Common Sandpiper in Flight

Here are both of them side-by-side

Common Sandpiper (left) and Wood Sandpiper (front)

Here are the other birds which were seen together with the sandpipers.

Common Moorhen

This was the first time that i was able to get it on photo.

White-Breasted Waterhen

"Hey guys, this fella here looks very strange" !

A group of Jungle Myna having a look at an odd looking friend of theirs.

Here is the close-up look of their mutant friend

Note: the above bird could have been just a juvenile Jungle Myna

A large flock of Asian Glossy Starling. In flight they can form amazing murmurations.

Note: It is encouraging to see that many bird photographers have taken the initiative to identify and learn more about the birds they shoot. Organisers of photography competitions should also encourage photographers to identify and put a name on their subjects especially those which depicts wildlife.

"Wisdom begins with putting the right name on a thing"

(old Chinese proverb) - IOC World Bird List

Happy Birding !

Common Birds of Paddy Fields - Dec 2015 to Jan 2016

When i was young i used to be confused by the words rice and paddy. So for the benefits of those who are just as blur as me, here is an abstract on the differences / similarity between a paddy and a rice.

"Paddy becomes rice after the removal of its husk by threshing. Therefore, rice is a part of paddy. Paddy is the rice grain with husk. The term paddy was derived from the Malay word "Padi" which means “rice in the straw or husk”. Rice is the seed of paddy. Generally, rice plant also is called paddy. This is a crop which belongs to the family Graminae. Botanical name of the paddy is Oryza sativa. It is a staple food of the majority of the world population. It is the second major crop in the world" 

When you travel around Peninsular Malaysia especially before the harvest season, you can be treated with some spectacular views of the paddy fields. Along with the views you can also find yourself with some of the birds which you may be hoping to see. Here are some of the common birds which can be found around the paddy fields in the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

Those little white spots in the above photo were dews / water droplets. This photo was taken in the early morning - about 7.30am.

The most common bird of them all are the Cattle Egret

Black-Shouldered Kite are also common in paddy fields as well as around open grass lands.

At times you may also come across some Intermediate Egrets. Just wonder how it has kept its feathers so clean and white.


Another common bird which you may find foraging in paddy fields are the pond herons. Apparently all three types of pond heron (Chinese, Indian and Javan ) do occur in the paddy fields here and they are virtually indistinguishable in the field during non-breeding season.

Some field reports however described that Chinese Pond Heron is slightly larger than the Indian Pond Herons and Javan Pond Herons. While the smallest of em all is the Indian Pond heron.

This pond heron is noticeably smaller than the earlier one. Although i do not discount that it could have been a juvenile but based on its features - blue lore, shorter wingspan and bolder neck stripes, this could have been an Indian Pond Heron.

White-Rumped Munia are also common in the paddy fields

Striated heron has been a very adaptive bird lately

Black-Winged Stilt can at times be as common in certain paddy fields.


Once the paddy fields are cropped the scene can be significantly different but the common birds will still be around.

Could this be a pseudo Collared Crow or a real thing?

There are still plenty of food to look for - example worms, frogs, small fishes, insects etc.


When you go birding in the paddy fields, don't forget to bring plenty of your sun block with appropriate SPF properties.
  

Common Birds of Chuping Grassland - Dec 2015

The ancient mariners have probably carved their name into the history books due to their exploration expeditions and quest for new lands. Although i ain't no Vasco da Gama or Christopher Columbus but to finally set foot at this location it was like an achievement by itself to me. I took my almost 90 years old dad along as he has not been to this area for the past 50 years. While he tried to enjoy the vast grassland, i took the opportunity to search for as many mega birds as i could.

Reached the location at 7.15am and immediately i saw this medium-sized raptor gliding slowly just above the grass land. So i decided to chase it with my old rickety car. 

Luckily it landed and it started to sand bath. I was fortunate indeed to be able to witnessed and photographed a sand bathing Kestrel. After awhile it decided that it had enough and flew off. I decided to follow her.

Eurasian Kestrel - female

After a few minutes of searching i finally found her again on the top of a pile of earth. From her looks, i believe she is a female Common/Eurasian Kestrel and not a 'Lesser Kestrel'. After this encounter she flew off again and this time it was just too far from my reach. This kestrel species has been seen by a few birders before but it was the first lifer in my bag !

I have taken note of the advice from other birders that every birds seen here could be a potential rarity. So anything that resemble a bird with some feathers, it immediately goes into my collection including these ones:

Paddyfield Pipit

Expert says this is a Paddyfield Pipit as well.

"Mai sini nak tengok burung luak biasa tapi pi mai pi mai burung ini juga". By the way, Perlis residents do speak northern malay accent and as well as fluent Thai. Some of the Malays here can even speak fluent hokkien. "My Gow Koon" (means "don't play play" in Hokkein)

Brown Shrike

Expert says this bird is not a Grey-Backed Shrike but most likely a Brown Shrike of 'L. lucionensis' race. Too bad !

Large-Billed Crow

This crow has the thickest bill i have ever seen and it probably just had a hefty breakfast.

Pied Harrier - male

You don't need an introduction for this bird.

Just look how low it flew to get its prey.

The next bird has many variations in its appearance.

Zitting Cisticola

Very common in rice fields and open grass lands and all these photos point to just one bird species.

Siberian Stonechat - female

Luckily i did not passed out this bird for a 'zitting cisticola' although it perched nearby to one.

Black Drongo

Its tail isn't too deeply forked but i believe it was just a black drongo based on its bill size.


Just as i have started this maiden trip with a lifer, i was glad to end it with another lifer.

Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga)

From the pattern on its wings, this raptor is most likely a juvenile. Despite its huge size, it appears like a small black dot in the sky from a distance. This raptor current status is "vulnerable". So please take good care of the environment for its sake.

After visiting 18 places and netting 260 bird species in 2015, i wonder where else should i go next in 2016 - Mantanani Islands perhaps?

HAVE A WONDERFUL BIRDING YEAR !