Birding in Sekinchan Ricefields - Nov 2013

The place is huge alright but unlike Ulu Dedap in Perak, this ricefield is well demarcated with boundaries of land ownership. We reached the place about 8.45am and my aim was to see as many migrants birds as possible. Indeed we saw more migrant birds then local/resident birds. Let me start with some common birds which you might just able to see in a paddyfield.

Little Egret

Some how Little Egrets numbers are significantly higher than any other egrets which you can find in a paddy field. Not sure why this egret species can do so well as compared to other egrets - for example Great Egrets.

Here you could see a mix group of cattle egrets, little egrets and some intermediate egrets.

Great Egret in Flight

It has longer legs, longer bills and neck as compared to Intermediate Egret below

Intermediate Egret in flight

Cinnamon Bittern

Here is another common sight which you might find in most paddy fields - a long neck and beak sticking out among the paddys.

Yellow Bittern in flight

Cinnamon Bittern in flight

Another typical scenario which you could see where a bird suddenly burst out from the undergrowth and glide for a short distance before abruptly dove down into the paddys again.

Cinnamon Bittern?

Another Yellow Bittern or Cinnamon?

Schrenck's Bittern

Experts have confirmed that this was a Von Schrenck's Bittern ! Yahoo! another lifer in the bag. There were probably a healthy population of bitterns here.

Black-Winged Kite

This kite was seen waging its tail non-stop just like a wagtail.  This was the first time i have seen this phenomenon. 

Black-Naped Oriole

Zitting Cisticola

I think this is the only bird which likes to do such a spliting pose.

Here are some of the common and not so common wintering birds. 

A Blue-Tailed Bee-Eater with a huge moth

An unidentified Pond Heron. Got this shot from a car otherwise i would not be able to get so close. It eventually flew off but not until i got this great photo.

In Flight

Common Kingfisher

You can only see this kingfisher in greater numbers during the wintering season.

And here are some of the birds which are reported to be from Siberia, Mongolia and Far Eastern China.

Brown Shrike

Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler/Rusty-Rumped Warbler (Locustella certhiola)

This was my other lifer. Most of the time you might just see part of its tail or heard its calls which are reported to be quite similar with the "tik" "tik" "tik' calls of a zititng cisticola.

Here is the same warbler in flight.

This was probably the highlight of this trip. I was scanning the paddys when i saw a big black bird slowly flapping its wings. Immediately i screamed HARRIER ! without realizing that my partner Mr CY Tan was actually looking at another Eastern Marsh Harrier (EMH). He was probably too awe to see the harrier until he has forgotten to open his mouth.

It circled around for awhile before making a land fall. 

Here is another significant discovery - at least to me! The above two photos actually show a different harrier. Want to know what it is?  More of its photos will be put up in my next posting.

For such a huge place you would certainly need a big machine such as this one.

Last but not least we saw a number of Golden Apple Snail eggs. Although its numbers may not be significantly higher than other places like in Penang but who knows one day the Open Bills may just drop in at this place.

Kemensah - 2 Nov 2013

What would you do if you have just 2 hours of birding time? Well i was a bit lucky that my home is near to a secondary forest which was just about 30 minutes drive. Knowing that the day will be full of people due to the festive holiday (Deepavali), i parked my car further down the road and birded along the road. True enough there were lots of "Valentino Rossi" and "Sebastian Vettel" going to & fro the area but the birds can still be seen.

Stripped-Throated Bulbul

Grey-rumped Treeswift

House Swift

A common White-throated Kingfisher on an unusual perch.

Asian Brown Flycatcher

Orange-Bellied Flowerpecker

Drongo Cuckoo

Until today i have not seen the white patch on the nape of this species as described by some field guides.

As the day was quite sunny, the butterflies also did appeared on the trail.

Chocolate Albatross

Yamfly

This was the first time i was able to take a decent photo of a butterfly in flight.

Mapwings - C.nivalis

Here is what a butterfly expert (Mr LiewNL) has to say about this butterfly: "Mapwings are usually found at a certain elevation in the hills in Malaysia and are decidedly insects of the forests - meaning it is unlikely to be seen in a town park or wooded area in a housing estate. That having said, it should be considered a common butterfly and they are most common throughout the months of April - July"

Despite the crowded area, i believe i have heard the calls of a trogon. It has just called twice and then went quiet. This certainly gave me more reasons to visit this place in the near future.

Birding at Tanjung Karang Mudflats

This was the first time i have done birding at this place. It has huge mudflats which are spread out as far as your eyes can see. I thought i have reached the place early i.e. about 8.45am but the tide has already started to go down rapidly. So most of the waders were wading quite a distance away. The birds spotted were common though.

Common Sandpiper

I was contemplating to id this bird as a spotted sandpiper

Until i saw its wing bars.

Juvenile - Striated Heron

Adult - Striated Heron

Grey Heron

Interestingly only two was seen here as compared to Bagan Sungai Buloh which  has more.

Black-Crowned Night Heron

A sub-adult i believe.

Eurasian Curlew

Whimbrel

They were the only ones which does not bother about my nearby presence.

A mixture flock of common redshanks and sand plovers flying out to the sea.

Terek Sandpiper

Barn Swallow

Most of the field guides over here recorded this bird as the nominated "Hirundo rustica". Unlike its close relative i.e. the Pacific Swallow (H.tahitica),  this swallow is a winter visitor in this region right down to Australia (Ref: Allen J & Pearson Field Guide, 2012). They are reported to breed in North America and Europe and this certainly makes them a strong migratory passerine. Saw loads of them here. Could the above bird be moulting into its non-breeding feathers?

Thinking that there may be something wrong with my camera when shooting waders as the colors of the above photos were quite pale, so i tried to shoot other common birds near by and it turns out that it was still functioning quite well.

Plain Throated / Brown Throated Sunbird

White-Throated Kingfisher

Zebra / Peaceful Dove

Blue-Tailed Bee Eater

Purple Heron

Its numbers here are fewer than the Grey Herons.

I have not seen so many Javan Mynah congregating at one place in such large numbers. Also having EGM kah?

Large-Billed or Slender-Billed?

Although not uncommon the two species can be seen in mangrove areas.

Didn't pay much attention to butterflies in the mudflats until this one came along.
Note: This butterfly was a "Tawny Coster"(Acraea terpsicore). Said to be common in India and Sri Lanka and this fella is a male.

There were lots of them here and if they have ever started to move en mass  they would have make the x'mas island crabs a run for their money.

Overall this place was not too bad. There were ample places to watch waders. Just need to reach there before the receding or during rising of the tide and you will certainly able to get a closer look at the waders.