Ron-Nature-Adventures

Tuesday, 25 December 2012

Black-Winged Flycatcher Shrike (Hemipus hirundinaceus)

Black-Winged Flycatcher Shrike (Hemipus hirundinaceus)

This bird is reported to be a locally common resident of lower elevations. Can be found near forest edges of countries in South East Asia right down to Bali.

All the above pictures show a male bird.

Tuesday, 11 December 2012

Flying Terns and Fighting Crabs - Part 2

Continuing from the first part......the waders such as Bar Tailed Godwits were noticeably missing so were the Sand Plovers and Common Redshanks.

Brown Shrike

White-Winged Tern

White winged terns continued their presence through out the morning.

Marsh Sandpipers made up the most waders counted this time.

Here's a group of them swimming like ducks with a lone common redshank.

Another group of Marsh Sandpipers which prefer not to swim.

Common Redshank

This is the one of the only 2 redshanks spotted today.

Another Marsh Sandpiper

A Great Egret alright

Whimbrel

Collared Kingfisher

Terek Sandpiper

Looks like it still has a bit of its summer plumage. Just like the Wimbrels, it was seen chasing after small crabs to eat.

A Crested Little Heron?

Unidentified Pond Heron
(Note: an expert says this could be an Indian Pond Heron)

David versus Goliath.

These fighting crabs provided some entertainment in the absence of the waders.

I believe this is a Common Fence Lizard

Here is a summary of some of the birds seen:
Date: 11 December 2012
Time: 7.15am - 11.00am

Eurasian Curlews (Numenius arquata) = 10
Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) = 15
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) = 6 (with two hatchlings)
Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia) = 5
Marsh Sandpiper (Tringa stagnatilis) = 30
Common Redshank (Tringa Totanus) = 2
Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybridus) = 25
White-Winged Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) = 15
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) = 5
Terek Sandpiper (Xenus cinereus) = 3
Lesser Sandplover (Charadrius momgolus) = 2
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) = 2
Great Egret (Casmerodius albus) = 1
Collared Kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris) = 5
Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) = 1
Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus) = 1
Blue-Tailed Bee Eater (Merops philippinus) = 5
Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus) = 1
Paddy-Field Pipit (Anthus rufulus) = 1
Red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) = 1 (heard call only)
Unidentified Pond Heron = 3

Hope all these info will be of some use to the Asian Waterbird Census which would usually be held in the month of January each year.

Flying Terns and Fighting Crabs - Part 1

Its amazing how things can change so fast. I was at the Kapar mudflats just a few months back and saw thousands of waders but now there were only pockets of them. Wonder where have they all gone? Scientific as well non-scientific theories quickly mushroomed. One theory states that since it is a migratory bird, they could have gone elsewhere while the other theory says they were probably spooked by the machines doing some extensive earthworks around the ashpond area.

A flock of Eurasian Curlews heading out to sea. Despite reaching the area at 7.15am, the waders were already on their way out to search for food.

At the same time a group of "White-Winged Terns" have make their way inland. It was nice to see them hovering above a canal and then dive down in tandem to pick their food. White-Winged Terns and Whiskered Terns featured quite prominently today.