Birds of Pulau Burung - Pt 2 (25 Oct 2011)

On our way back to KL, we decided to stop at this great marshland again, hoping to add more birds we saw earlier on. Yes indeed we did saw more birds including some new ones.

The first bird which greeted us was this White-Throated Kingfisher.

This time we saw more Little Grebes

This Little Grebe swam quite close to us.

Today we saw only this single Black-Winged Stilt.

We also saw plenty of this Lesser Whistling Duck.

We also saw some of its ducklings.

Here are some of the ducklings image been magnified.

Then we came across a group of Red-Wattled Lapwings. This fellow is one of them.

We continue to see more Wood Sandpipers including this one.

We also saw many more White-Breasted Waterhens...

....including its chick.

This is a Common Sandpiper looking for earthworms to eat for breakfast.

Could this possibly be a Chinese Pond Heron? You will not be able to distinguish it from the other two pond herons (i.e Javan and Indian) by just looking at it while stationary. According to Craig Robson (2007) field guide, it tends to have more obvious dusky tips to its outermost primaries feathers than Javans.

....from this picture you could see a tinge of dusky color on the tip of its primaries. We saw close to 5-6 of this Chinese Pond Heron.

This is a handsome Brown Shrike/Long-tailed shrike?

We concluded our outing by passing by this Yellow Wagtail.

Birds and Fauna of Bukit Hijau and Sedim Recreational Forests

I took my father for some bird watching recently. Bukit Hijau is located about 45 minutes drive from a town called Sungai Petani, Kedah. One needs to drive pass another town called Kuala Ketil before reaching the place. Today Bukit Hijau was rather quiet as compared the last time we visited the place.

The first birds we encountered are this pair of Common Flameback - male (at the top) and female (below).

Then we came across this handsome Giant Squirrel which was quite funny with its tree antics.

Besides the common Gold-Whiskered Barbet and a Red-Eyed Bulbul, the only other bird we saw was this Grey Wagtail.

We only spent about an hour at this place and since it was low in bird activities we decided to drive to Sedim which is another 18 km from Bukit Hijau. As we reached at the post where we need to pay RM2/- to enter, we saw this flycatcher:

It could be a Dark-sided Flycatcher as it was quite small as compared to the usual Asian Brown.

The next flycatcher we saw near the car park is this Ferruginous Flycatcher.

Not so sure whether is this a Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo ?

(Note: expert has confirmed that this bird is a Crow-Billed Drongo !)

While walking we saw this colony of jungle bees and we were informed by a local boy that usually in the afternoon there was a bird which likes to disturb the bees - could it be a bee-eater? or honey guide?

Then we saw and heard this Oriental Honey Buzzard (as id by Seng)  circling just above the tree top - i believe it has caught something.

This male Orange-Bellied Flowerpecker was the last bird we saw.

Birds of Pulau Burung - Pt 1 (22 Oct 2011)

Recently on my way back to my hometown, i dropped by at a birding site named as "Pulau Burung" (or "Island of Birds"). It is a reasonable size marshland located in Penang mainland about the length of 4 - 5 soccer/football fields. This time my two daughters came with me to see for themselves the different types birds in a marshland. Indeed we saw quite a number of interesting birds. Most of them are either wintering birds or common migrants. Here are some of the birds we saw:

These are Blue-Tailed Bee-Eaters. Said to be migrants but some do breed here as well. A sort after bird for bird photographers.

This is a common Pacific Swallow - saw plenty of them.

Looks like this water monitor lizard is trying to catch a Wagtail/Warbler.  Fortunately he did not get the bird !

This is a White-Browed Crake. Said to be common but i hardly see one nowadays.

These are Whiskered Terns. Said to be a "common" migrant at this site.

These are also common migrants to marshland areas - a Wood Sandpiper. We saw plenty of them here i.e. close to about 10 - 15 birds.

A pair of Black-Winged Stilts - we actually saw 4 today and a common wintering bird to this site as well.

This is a Little Egret - also a common migrant but most have become residents and breeding successfully here.

A group of Cattle Egrets - a common resident here.

A lone Common Sandpiper - said to be a common migrant which has become a permanent resident here.

This looks like a Little Ringed Plover - also a wintering visitor here.

This is a Yellow Wagtail.  - a migrant as well.

This is a White Throated Kingfisher (a local resident) basking in the morning sun.

A pair of Lesser Whistling Ducks swimming leasuirely

This is a Little Grebe. We saw two today.

This is a very common bird - a White-Breasted Waterhen crossing the road. Can also be found in edges of golf fields and oil palm plantations.

This is a small part of how the place looks like. Certaintly a beautiful place which needs to be preserved by the Goverment and Local Authorities !