Birding at Permatang Nibong and nearby Ricefields - Feb 2014

Finally i had the opportunity to bird at Permatang Nibong, Penang recently. Thanks to Wai Mun for the earlier directions i did find the location with ease. As i was rushing for time on this occasion so i have only covered an area about 400 meter radius behind the Shell station - more like an incidental birding session if you may call it. Some of the ricefields were bone dry while the un-cropped ones were the home of the zitting cisticolas and snipes. Here are some of the birds seen:

White-Vented Myna

Its all jet-black plumage here with just a white patch on its wing were quite diagnostic. Another feature to look for is probably the color of its iris which is different than the jungle mynas as shown below.

Jungle Myna

Wood Sandpiper

Always a nice bird to photograph.

After Permatang Nibong, i went further north to survey the ricefields along the highway leading to the town of Semeling, Kedah. Besides a lone Red Collared Dove flying by, other birds seen here were quite common though.

A Black Shouldered Kite / Black Winged Kite with a prey. The first thing it would do is to "dismantle" the head of its prey and then slowly tearing off its meat.

Brown Shrike

Looks like it was saying: "Hi! finally you have spotted me".

In the ricefields especially during the dry months from January to March, the birds which you would most likely not to miss out are swallows and swifts.

Red-Rumped Swallow

The bird above was actually doing a flight routine akin to a rocket on a vertical takeoff -  ain't no photo tricks or any optical illusion or manipulation here.

A Germain's Swiftlet or an Edible Swiftlet?

House Swift

BEST WISHES AND HAPPY BIRDING!

Raptor's Watch - 28 Feb 2014

I decided to volunteer myself for one day in this year's raptor watch at Tanjung Tuan. The spring migration of raptors to their northern breeding grounds had already begun in early February but things look a bit slower in this initial stage. Perhaps the migration might just peak from mid March to early April this year.

Setting up the tents before the incoming raptors. 

Without the tents one might probably be "roasted" up there as the mercury went up to 35 Celsius in the afternoon. Perhaps the sun worshipers might love this occasion for a good tanned. We also have Cik Nur Atiqa a Conservation Officer from MNS to assist in the count for the first time.

On a clear day you could see Tanjung Rupat in Indonesia across the Straits of Malacca from this point.

We have only two scopes this time but it was more than sufficient in the absence of many raptors.

Purple-Naped Sunbird

On my way up i saw this sunbird. Decided to take its photo as this was the first time i have seen it at this location.

Pink-Necked Green Pigeon (Treron Vernans) - Male

Javan Myna

A flock of Javan Mynas and a lone Common Myna congregating on a dead tree.

Asian Dollar Bird

They were seen communicating with each other which then ended up with one chasing the other. A lovey dovey pair indeed.

Common Myna

A pair of residence Common Myna

A sail boat with a British flag on board - Ahoy there !

Swallowtail Moth  (Lyssa Zampa)

Barn Swallow

At about 10.30am, came the first migrating raptor - a falcon to be exact.

Peregrine Falcon (Japonensis)

It did not stay too long as it headed straight north. Apparently this Peregrine Falcon could have been the same falcon which appeared and seen by other counters on 25 Feb 2014. Experts are currently comparing its photos. (note: experts have confirmed that this falcon was different than the one seen on 25 Feb) !

After the appearance of the Peregrine Falcon, things just went back to slow mode. This was a Germain's Swiflet i think.

Another sail boat passing by

Changeable Hawk Eagle

Occasionally one or two brahminy kites and a white bellied sea eagle would appear. We have also seen both the white morph as well as the dark morph CHE. The above photos show a white morph and the photos below was another white morph seen.

Here you can see the upper and lower wings of the same CHE. Its upper parts were brownish in color when in direct contact with the sun.

Things only got exciting at about 3.00pm onwards when we spotted a group of  30 Oriental Honey Buzzards (OHB) thermalling behind the lighthouse in a distance. We suspected that they might probably have used the Linggi passage to head North instead of the light house route. One hypothesis was that it might have been due to the different wind direction. 

These OHBs appeared close to the light house just before we pack up. This phenomenon (i.e. appearing just before the humans decided to leave), according to the regular raptor counters have been going on for some time. The third photo here looks like an adult male OHB while the other two were juvenile OHBs.

Happy Raptor Watching !

Watching Waders at Bagan Belat, Muara Sg Abdul - Jan & Feb 2014

Watching waders is not really my forte but if you want to enjoy what you like to do then you will just need to get through it. So after having some splendid views of the flycatchers at Air Itam Dalam i drove up to Bagan Belat, hoping to catch the waders just before the receding tide. Relying on the fishing tide chart which i do at times i reached the place at about 4.40pm and lo and behold the tide had already gone down half way across the mudflats. To add to the misery, the waders were "muddling"  (if there is such a word) in an area where the sunlight was shining directly on it creating reflections of an unkind nature. Not satisfied with the initial trip i did visit the place again a few days later. So the photos depicted here included both the days.

Here are some of the "better" photos from the first visit (30 Jan 2014):

Terek Sandpiper

There were lots of them on the first day but only a few were spotted on my second visit. They were probably wading elsewhere i guess.

Eurasian Curlew

I believe this is a Common Greenshank rather than a Marsh Sandpiper

Looks like a Greater Sand Plover

A Brown-Headed Gull with a Broad-billed Sandpiper in the back ground.

A group of plovers and Curlew sandpipers

I think this was just a Germain's Swiftlet 

Day 2 - 2 February 2014

My second trip was much better. I reached the mudflats about 40 minutes before the tide receded at about 17.00 hrs/5pm.

A flock of Pacific Golden Plovers. I have noticed that they would circle around before deciding to land on a suitable site.

The waders were more concentrated here as compared to the first visit hence allowing better scrutinising of the birds. Bulk of the waders were Pacific Golden Plovers followed probably by Curlew Sandpipers.

White-Bellied Sea Eagle

Whiskered Tern

The one of your left is a Common Greenshank while the one on the right was probably a Spotted/Nordman's Greenshank. Looks like they might have some kind of disagreement. Note: after further checking both the birds could have just been Common Greenshanks after all.

A Great Egret had also just landed.

A trio of Bar-Tailed Godwits. Initially i thought i have also seen an Asian Dowitcher but in the absence of a positive id and for ethical reporting i decided to forgo it.

Curlew Sandpiper

Marsh Sandpiper

Common Redshank

Common Greenshank

There were lots of this small whitish colored sand plovers but i believe they were just Lesser Sand Plovers

Initially i thought the bird behind the curlew was a Grey Plover but experts say it was just a Pacific Golden Plover. 

Broad-Billed Sandpiper or Curlew ? (left)

A group of Curlew Sandpipers 

Although the weather was extremely hot on both days but i did enjoyed the trips and would certainly continue to do wader watching in the near future.