Birding on X'Mas Day (Ulu Kali) - 2013

Year 2013 has been both an exciting as well as a challenging year! It was challenging in the sense that the events prelude to the 13th GE as well as its aftermath has make life difficult for some common people. Nevertheless the good and exciting thing about year 2013 is that there were many new country records been established or almost confirmed. In addition more lifers were recorded by many birders alike. Thank God the birds do not wear any political hats. I have my fair bit of lifers this year namely the "Bar-Bellied Cuckooshrike", "Bridled Tern", "Schrenck's Bittern", "Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler", "Lesser-Crested Tern with a ring band" and "Aleutian Tern" to name a few. 

I spent sometime on X'mas day to do some birding with my dad and i think he was quite happy to see the familiar telekom station up on the hill. Here are some of the common birds seen.

Mountain Leaf Warbler

Have not seen many of this wabler nowadays.

Adult Male - Black-Throated Sunbird

Most of these mountain birds were quite friendly and you do not need to use worms to lure them out to photograph them except perhaps for some like the wren babblers.

Mugimaki Flycatcher

This male Mugimaki Flycatcher was probably the highlight of this trip. Shot its photos in low light due to thick mist and a cloudy sky.

Chestnut-Tailed Minla

This ever-friendly bird wrap up the trip for this year. Hope next year i.e 2014 will bring more good tidings and more lifers for all people. Adious Amigos !

Little Tern (Sterna albifrons)

Last but not least in my series of terns' photos is the Little Tern (Sterna albifrons). At 22cm - 25cm it is the smallest tern as compared to other terns such as White-Winged and Whiskered Tern. There are probably three (3) common ways which you could use to identify this little tern:

i)  From its long and very sharp pointed bill.

ii) From its rapid wing beats (like a Black-Winged Kite) in mid air.

iii) From its smaller size.

At times they do also rest on mudflats/shore but seldom seen them "floating" on debris in the sea.

If you could enlarge this photo you could see its fifth rectrices (p5) which is just like a thin filament. I don't see such feature in other terns so far (see photo below).

Little Tern in breeding colors (below)

HAPPY BIRDING !

Lesser Crested Tern (Sterna bengalensis)

From my recent pelagic trip off the coast of Kuala Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia on 16 November 2013, i have the opportunity to observed and photographed the Lesser Crested Tern (Sterna bengalensis) which were reported to be frequently seen here but lesser in numbers as compared to the Greater Crested Terns (Sterna bergii). 

It was reported that there were three main subspecies for this tern:  i) S.b bengalensis (medium-dark grey above), ii) S.b torresii (dark grey above) and iii) S.b emigrata: (pale grey above). S.b bengalensis were reported to breed in abundance in the red sea and have been ringed in large flocks under the Mediterranean Seabirds Action Plan in Libya and Bahrain. Here are some of the photos of the Lesser Crested Tern seen at this coastline:

Adult winter birds were reported to spot all grey on its upper wings as depicted from the above two photos while the top most photo could possibly shown a juvenile or a 1st winter bird.

They (the Lesser Crested Terns) have occupied almost all the poles located in the sea.

While looking at their images back home, i have noticed a metal ring on its right tarsus. Location coordinates: 3°14'42.6"N 101°16'38.1"E

It was unfortunate that we were not able to read the info/inscriptions on the ring as our equipment was beyond the reach of a clear image at that point of time. Nevertheless the above bird could have been possibly ringed in Bahrain as explained by Professor Dr. Brendan Kavanagh:

"Hi Ronnie

Thanks for the photo and information re the Lesser-crested Tern with a ring. There is a very strong possibility that this bird was ringed in the Persian Gulf in the Bahrain waters. We have ringed chicks on an island at Al Jarrim for about 6 years and have had recoveries (of bridged and lesser-crested terns from the west coast of India, the east Coast of Sri Lanka and as far south as the Maldives. So I am not surprised that they might have made their way as far as Peninsular Malaysia. We ring our birds with a British Trust for Ornithology ring on the right leg so if you even got a few numbers of a piece of an address we might be able to confirm the ring source.

Thanks once again for this exciting report.

Regards

Brendan Kavanagh"

Its wing span is reported to be between 94-105cm and its flight is also quite similar to a Common Tern (S.longipennis). Its bill as you can see was also slightly drooped. 

This one here has a peculiar way of tugging its feet - instead of facing the back it has decided to place its feet in front.

Lesser Crested Terns were also reported to do "plunge diving" for fish.

They would certainly look better in their breeding colors.

HAPPY TERN WATCHING !