Harrier Survey at Ulu Dedap - Part 1

Recently i had the opportunity and privilege to join a group of experience birders on a trip to Ulu Dedap to study harriers or more precisely to study, count and pin point the coordinates of the Eastern Marsh Harriers (EMH) roosting sites and its numbers. In my group was 3 very notable birders in this region i.e. i) Yang Chong (a walking field guide and encyclopedia of bird watching), ii) Aun Tiah ( who has close to 30 years of birding experience)  and iii) Mr Rafi (who is the Chairman of MNS Conservation Council). That was indeed a privilege! My role was to photo-document the behaviors, diet(if possible) and the roosting sites of the EMHs.

On the way to Ulu Dedap ricefields, we stopped by at a place called Chui Chak. Chui Chak is a small town with a population close to about 5000 villagers who are mainly farmers. After a short pit stop for breakfast, we went around the padi fields to look for EMHs.....

We did saw a few EMHs at Chui Chak but majority of them were located quite a distance from us. To id and photo-document them from a distance was quite a task.

Here is an EMH doing its acrobatic dive. When it spots a prey below, this was the most common flight pattern observed.

An EMH about to land. Although they roost and breed on the ground, they do occasional land to take a break - it could be due to the insufficient thermal to lift their wings or maybe to conserve some energy. The numbers of EMHs observed here are few and this is probably not the main roosting area for them. We expect more EMHs at Ulu Dedap - our main survey site !! 

While heading to our sheltering site, we did some birding as well. Here are some of the interesting birds seen at this location:

A pocket of Cattle Egrets (i think it is safe to call them "Bubulcus ibis" at the mo).

A lone Common Myna perched on a man-made bird house. I noticed that it is made of fiberglass material !Locals informed us that they have erected these houses to attract birds of prey namely owls or more precisely barn owls to hunt for rodents. That was certaintly a great idea for biological pest control!

At our shelter which was just a small tree, we saw a group of fishes. Although the water looks clear but we are not sure whether it is safe for drinking.

This is a genus of a common snake head family - locals call it "haruan".

This bird has many names  - "Black Headed Munia" and "Chestnut Munia" are the most common ones given.

We also saw a lone Yellow Wagtail.

....as well as a bunch of waders - here you could see a Plover.

This Large-Billed Crow also pretended like a harrier

We saw plenty of this White Throated Kingfisher.

This is a resident Black Shouldered Kite. Now is called a Black-Winged Kite, i was informed. Very common in open areas.

The tree where we were sheltering was actually its nesting site and it continued to circle around the tree several times.

After circling awhile, they decided to perch nearby to observe us. In this picture they are not calling but were actually panting ! Yes it was quite hot in the paddy fields although it was just around 11.00am.

This is a Brown Shrike basking in the hot sun.

While searching the skies for raptors we were entertained by these two juvenile Brahminy Kites

They seem like trying to mock at each other.

Out of no where Yang Chong suddenly called out Imperial !!

It circle a few times from a distance but luckily it flew quite close above us.

A majestic fly past !

These are my best shots of the Imperial Eagle ! Although it looks close here but it was actually gliding quite high up in the sky.

This majestic eagle was certaintly a lifer for me although the team also saw not one but three greater spotted eagles from a distance through their scopes.

Birding at Jeram Perlus and Nuang - 2012

My first birding trip for year 2012 was at a new place called Jeram Perlus. It is located at the same route to Gabai waterfalls in Ulu Langat. Birding can start as soon as you turn into the road leading right up to the orang asli village. It is advisable not to go beyond the orang asli houses. This was because the trails are covered by bushes and some of the orang asli folks don't look so friendly here.

Here are some of the birds seen along the road:

This Oriental Magpie Robin certainly knows how and where to make itself heard early in the morning.

The next bird i saw was this Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo.

This was the highlight of the trip - a Little Green Pigeon ! Said to be quite common in this region but you won't see it in every birding trips.

This is a more common Black-naped Oriole

This little bird is an Orange-Bellied Flowerpecker - its just about 9cm in length.

As the birding activities were slow at this place, i proceeded to Gunung Nuang which is located just nearby the area.

The first bird i saw at Gunung Nuang today was this Banded Woodpecker. It certainly has an intense red in its feathers as compared to other woodpeckers in this region.

Then i came across this Greater Coucal.

This Purple-Naped Sunbird, according to Dr Ronald Orenstein has DNAs which are closely related to spiderhunters - could it possibly be a streaked spiderhunter relative?

When this Crested Serpent Eagle came out to make its calls, the entire jungle was silent.

Then out came this Warbler. Can't positively id this bird due to the lighting conditions which have hidden some of its features.

I reckon this bird is a Hairy-Backed Bulbul.

Birding at UNISZA and UMT

Recently i went back to Kuala Terengganu to see my mother-in-law who was very ill on X'mas day. I took the opportunity to visit two universities which are located nearby to each other at a place called "Gong Badak" i.e. Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UNISZA) and Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT). A local birder (Mr Annuar McAffee) has written and published a book on birding at UNISZA alone, listing close to 135 birds seen around its campus. I must say that the guards at both the universities were friendly and allowed us (me and my kids) in without much questioning.

Although Mr Annuar McAffee was in KL during my visit, we did not have any problems locating the birding area as the guards are kind enough to show us the lake area in UNISZA. Here are some of the birds seen along the way:

The first bird we saw was this White-Throated Kingfisher.

Then we saw this lone Yellow-Bellied Prinia.

My kids spotted this juvenile Purple Heron across the lake.

We saw plenty of this Pond Heron, not only around the campus area but in most places in KT. We also saw a juvenile Yellow Bittern, about 15 Scally-Breasted Munias, lots of swallows flying around and a Common Sandpiper near the lake area.

Since the birds were probably having a X'mas holiday, we decided to visit UMT which is just 5 minutes drive away from UNISZA. Its signage can be seen here from the boundaries of UNISZA.

The first bird we saw at UMT was this Asian Brown Flycatcher. 

Then we also saw a Common Sandpiper along the banks of a man-made canal which was built on a mangrove area.

We saw close to 15 of these Ashy Minivets. They seem to enjoy the strong wind blowing from the sea front.

At a glance this bird could have been a white wagtail but after further observation this was just an Ashy Minivet - probably an adult male.

Amongst the minivets, we saw this Olive-Backed Sunbird.

As i was crossing the bridge near the mangrove area i saw this kingfisher. Before i could raise my camera again, it flew away @3#$%%&^&*@

God must have been kind to me as it flew back and allowed me to take a few shots before it flew away again. This is an uncommon Common Kingfisher !

The following day i went around the neighbourhood to look for more birds and here are some of them:

This Pond Heron was shot from the car.

Then came this Brown Shrike trying its best to hide himself.

These pipits actually was hovering before it landed just like a richard's pipit description but i think these birds were just Paddyfield Pipits.

This could be a Black-Bellied Malkoha.

This is a Dollar Bird perched high up on a tree trunk. Back-light was the order of the day through out my stay.

Finally a clear shot of a Pied Fantail - the MNS SBBG's mascot!

 ...and this Ashy Tailorbird concludes my birding trip in Terengganu.