Kuala Selangor Nature Park (KSNP) - Feb 2013

Here we go again. This time i was in KSNP with a Swedish couple where the husband is a fan of Mark Knopfler from a British rock group named Dire Straits - remember the song "Sultan of Swing" during the early 80s! Not bad for a 60+ year old guy. There were not many "white birds" at this time but this place was never short of surprises.

First bird seen was this raptor, perched quite low near the trail. By late morning it was seen circling up in the sky.

Crested-Serpent Eagle

Purple Heron in Flight

A nice flight formation from a group of Purple Heron

Great Egret

One of the only hand full of "white birds" seen.

Brahminy Kite

Quite an agressive raptor as we saw it disturbing some Pacific Swallows near the abandoned bird house.

Pink-Necked Green Pigeon (Male)

Saw plenty of them this time.

Pacific Swallow

Chestnut-Bellied Malkoha

There were many books out there describing its facial features around its eyes with words such as "orbital skin", "facial skin", "red skin around its eyes" etc. It was at this moment i realised that the facial "skin" was actually consisted of a group of fine and tiny hairs.

I was able to see the tiny hairs from my bins as well as from this photo as the bird was just a hand length away from us.

Little Bronze Cuckoo (Malayan Bronze Cuckoo)

This time i had the opportunity to view two resident cuckoo birds. The first cuckoo bird was the Little Bronze Cuckoo which was easier to id despite having a back-focus problem with my camera.

H. fugax or nisicolor?

When i saw this cuckoo bird i immediately knew that i had to take a few good photos in order to id this controversial bird.

From the many literature notes and photos taken, there was only one feature from the above photos which could differentiate this bird from H.fugax (Malaysian Hawk Cuckoo) i.e the greyer color on the top of this bird as compared to the more brownish color of H.fugax - Malaysian Hawk Cuckoo ). Other variations such as white patch on wings, and narrow/even tail bars seem to be similar with both birds. So for the moment i would think that the above cuckoo bird was a Hodgson's Hawk Cuckoo (H.nisicolor). As compared to the little bronze cuckoo, this cuckoo bird was completely silent.

Note: From the photos in the OBC and the statement from Robson's field guide which stated that nisicolor is greyer above than the Malaysian Hawk Cuckoo as well as the absence of  the white patch on its nape and the rufous brown streaks (although the rufous color cannot be clearly seen here) i strongly believe that the above bird was actually a Hodgson Hawk Cuckoo. For a better understanding on the comparison of both the two cuckoo birds (H.fugax and H. nisicolor) you may refer to A write up by Con Foley dated October 6 2013 in his blog and some splendid photos and info  from Dave Bakewell from a post in his blog dated Feb 28, 2014 )

In addition to birds i could not resist taking photos of the other inhabitants of KSNP. Here were some of them. Enjoy :)

These are fiddler crabs i believe.

The eye of a dragon !

A sun bathing green lizard

Do visit this place once a while if you have the time as it could spring some surprises or provide something for all the possible wildlife which you have wished to look for.

Coppersmith Barbet at Nest - Feb 2013

I decided to re-visit the old durian tree where i saw a coppersmith barbet trying to carve a hole into it last month. Initially i did not see any birds but lo and behold a head suddenly poped out from another hole just below the initial trunk.

Then i saw a magical moment.....there were two of them fetching food into the hole.

From then on i decided to spent more time to observe them. The differences between a male and a female Coppersmith Barbet are documented here.

The bird on your right is a male (in both photos) while the female is on the left. In the birds' kingdom  the male birds seem to be more colorful than the female. In these pictures (above & below) you could see that the male has a brighter red and yellow bands on its chest as compared to its female counterpart. The streaks on its body are also bolder and refine than the female. Another thing which differentiate them is their calls - male calls are louder while the female calls are softer. Another interesting fact i have observed is that the flight pattern of the coppersmith is like riding on a wave - up and down (undulated flight) and seldom on a straight path.

Female Coppersmith Barbet

Male Coppersmith Barbet

Female Coppersmith Barbet.

Both the parents were seen carrying food (mainly fruits - esp figs) into the nest. Food delivery was more frequent in the morning (about 5 - 10 minutes interval) while there were fewer deliveries towards the evening. The nesting hole could only acommodate one parent at any one time and there were no faeces throwing done by the parents. For three continous days i could not see or hear the hatchling(s) but the frequency of the food delivered may suggest that it could still be very young. Here are some of the fruits brought in by the parents:

A male Coppersmith Barbet

A female Coppersmith Barbet with a mouthful of fruits.

male

female

Through out the three observation days i did not see them bringing any insects or any source of proteins into the nest. This may suggest that the hatchling is fully on a "vegetarian" diet. Both parents are nevertheless dedicated and fearless as depicted by the pictures below:

On the first day of observation i saw this garden snake sliding slowly up to the tree trunk in the afternoon where the nest is located. Immediately the parent birds undertook their mission to save their nest - diving down and pecking the snake one at the time. What an auspicious way to start the new year with this encounter. Finally the snake gave up and slid away from the nest.

Female Coppersmith Barbet guarding her nest

 Both parents stayed close to the nest hole through out the afternoon while normal feeding activities only resumed in the second day after this close encounter. It was such joy and pleasure to observe this small but lovely birds.