Birding in a Swampy Area - 16 Sept 2014

I had an opportunity to go birding recently but i have to choose between one of these three locations which i have yearn to explore i.e Bagan Belat mudflat, Sungai Sedim or Swampy Forest. Making this swampy forest my choice was easy as it was not too far away and i have always wanted to see and photograph the brown hawk owl. 

After having a quick breakfast i reached the location at 8.15am and went straight to the dense foliage which i thought the owl would be roosting. After having waited and scanning around for about 30 minutes, not a single owl appeared. So the next best thing to do was to venture out to look for other birds. Not many birds were seen this time around but i did witnessed a spectacular aerial display by a flock of Asian Openbills of a colossal proportion. Here are some of the birds photos:

Mangrove Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis turcosus) - male

Lineated Barbet (Megalaima faiostricta)

Saw both of them foraging together and the above one looks like a dominant male (the one with more brownish color on its chest).

White-Throated Kingfisher (Hylcyon smyrnensis)

Ashy Tailor Bird (Orthotomus ruficeps)

Pied fantail (Rhipidura javanica)

Black-thighed Falconet (Microhierax fringillarius)

Saw three of them. The individual in the above two photos has more rufous color on its under belly as compared to the earlier two birds.

Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopacea) - Male

Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradisues)

Look how close it resemble an Asian Koel without its trailing rackets.

Black-Naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis) - sub adults

Laced Woodpecker (Picus vittatus) - Male

You certainly don't want to get too near to this hornet's nest.

Most likely these swifts were from the Collocalia/Aerodramus family. Their numbers were few though.

Asian Openbill (Anastomus oscitans)

First they came with just a few numbers.

Then they flew in with greater numbers. 

White-Bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) - juvenile

More posting on the Asian Openbill coming your way soon.

A Starry Frog

It is rarely that i would come across an amphibian or a reptile in my trips. After all as you know they are mainly nocturnal creatures. To see one hopping in the jungle floor in a day time was like finding an exoplanet in a large milky way.

Thanks to the MNS Herp Group, i was able to identify this frog as a "White-Lipped Frog" (Hydrophylax labialis) and not a "common green frog" as earlier predicted. Asked an Indonesian, he would probably say: "Ini kodok dong bukan chok kodok" ! Could the word "hydro" in its scientific name means that it is associated with some water elements?

You could clearly see the twinkly spots on its entire upper part body. "A Sky Full of Stars" ! Not sure how or why the spots appear. Need to ask a herpetologist to know the answer.

It stood there for awhile before it hop deeper into the jungle.

This was another specimen which i have spotted nearby. Are they a pair and was trying to mate?

Talking about frogs there was a tale of a group of frogs which some how fell into a deep pit. All the other frogs gathered around the pit. When they saw how deep the pit was, they told them that they would be as good as dead. So some of the frogs started to jump to reach to the top and as soon as one is near the top the other frogs inside the pit would pull it down until there were two frogs left. The other frogs kept telling them to give up. Finally one of the frogs took heed and gave up. It eventually laid down and died. The other frog continued to jump as hard as it could and the crowd yelled at him to stop and just die. In one final push, he jumped as hard as it could and finally managed to get out of the pit. When it got out, the other frogs said "did you not hear us"? Then the frog explained to them that it was almost deaf and it thought that they were encouraging him all the time :-)

In life there are always people who try to run you down, saying bad things and doing nasty things like some radio DJs. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill him or her. Whereas an encouraging word to someone who is down can help him/her make it through the day. That is the power of the tongue. 

Enjoy Nature! Enjoy Life !

Birding in Jelebu - 1st Sept 2014

Malaysia is fortunate to have many good birding locations. Here are my top ten (10) birding locations which i would recommend to you before your life time warranty expires. They are based on my personal observations as well as field reports i.e. in terms of its accessibility, varieties and uniqueness.

In no particular order:

i) Gunung Ulu Kali, Pahang - for mountain birds and its uniqueness.
ii) Fraser's Hill, Pahang - for sub-montane birds and its varieties.
iii) Air Tawar-Kuala Muda Mudflats, Penang/Kedah - for its shore birds and varieties.
iv) National Park (Taman Negara), Pahang - for forest birds and varieties.
v) Panti Forest, Johor - for forest birds and varieties
vi) Pulau Mantanani, Sabah - for pelagic birds and its uniqueness.
vii) Danum Valley, Sabah - for forest birds and its uniqueness.
viii) Mount KK Park, Sabah, for mountain birds and its uniqueness.
ix) Kampung Felda/Ladang tebu, Chuping, Perlis - for rarity and varities.
x) Bukit Rengit, Pahang - for forest birds and varieties

Now back to birding - i have not been to this location for many years. So it was inevitable that i decided to see how are the birds getting on over there. Reached the location at about 7.50am which was surrounded by a thin veil of mist. By 8.15 am the mist was quickly replaced by a chorus of the apes which echoed throughout the entire valley. Bird calls started thereafter with a Grey-Headed Canary Flycatcher leading the way. This was followed by calls from two Great Argus and a mini bird wave at about 9.15am. Here are some of the birds photos:

Chestnut-Naped Forktail

It came and took off within 5 seconds but their calls can be heard from a distance.

Crimson/Temminck's Sunbird

Look how well it tried to camouflage itself with the flower of the same color. Although said to be fairly common but you don't see this sunbird everywhere.

(Note: based on experts comments, this bird was most likely a Temminck's aka Scarlet Sunbird)

Black Eagle

 Differentiated from Changeable Hawk Eagle (Dark Morph) through its yellow cere. Correct / No?

Raffles's Malkoha - Male

Dark-Necked Tailorbird

I think it should be more aptly called a Dark-Throated Tailorbird.

Blue-Winged Leafbird - Male

Blue-Winged Leafbird - Female

Lesser Cuckooshrike

Unidentified Swiftlet

I believe it could be from one of the "Collocalia" family.

Barn Swallow

This female bird was a toss between a female Plain Sunbird or a female Orange-Bellied Flowerpecker but i would go for a female Orange-Bellied Flowerpecker in view of its shorter tail.

At this place you can also see various types of  bulbul under one canopy. Here are some of which i have seen:

Cream-Vented

Cream-Vented

Ashy Bulbuls

I believe Ashy Bulbul is now called 'Cinereous Bulbul"

Red-Eyed bulbul

Hairy-Backed Bulbul

Tak hairy pun!

Black-Crested Bulbul

You may think that bulbul is an easy bird to identify. Well try this one below:

Even experts can't really nail this fella!

(Note: this could be a juvenile Spectacle Bulbul)

Velvet-Fronted Nuthatch - Male

Photography is both about science and art. As a birder it was sufficient enough for us to know the basic functions of a camera and its lenses rather than indulging in the image quality of the picture.  But if we can have both i.e good images and greater knowledge of a camera functions, it should be an added bonus. For the above image of the nuthatch i have tried several camera settings before i could come out with this decent photo. Here are the "exif" of the photo:

ISO: 12800
F-Stop:  f5.6
Exposure: 1/2000
Metering mode: partial
Shooting mode: handheld

As it can be tiring walking up and down at this location, so i have laid down a marker at this point for my next adventure here.