The Hunting Behavior of Common Kestrel, Marsh Harrier and Black-Shouldered Kite: A Photographic Documentary

It has been widely acknowledged that many scientific data were obtained from the information provided by amateur birders as well as citizen scientist. Bird watching in a non conventional way does not only involve identification of birds. It may also involved observing the type of prey they eat, how they hunt, the interaction between them and their ecosystem etc. When that happens you have actually inadvertently looking at the ecology of things, which is the study of how living things (in this case, birds) interact with their environment/surroundings.

There are not many birders in this region who have the opportunity to observe or let alone photograph the hunting moments of a Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), an Eastern Marsh Harrier (Circus spilonotus) and a Black-Shouldered Kite (Elanus caeruleus), all within one location.

I will start with the Common Kestrel which is a winter visitor in this region.

I was cruising along the dirt track when i spotted a raptor on a perch. Going closer i have identified the raptor as a Common Kestrel (female). Immediately i stopped my car about 50 meters away and tried to take a few photos of this uncommon winter visitor. 

At first she look to her right.

Then a bit to her left.

She then took off and flew towards my direction. 

Oops ! there is a strange looking human being inside the car. So she decided to change her flight direction.

Like an airplane, she tried to gain some height. Here she is doing just that - gaining as much altitude as possible.

Once she has gained enough height, the hunt begins. RSPB, UK reported that a Common Kestrel can spot a beetle 50m from its perch. Amazing !

Cruising at about 60-70 meters above, the search for prey begins.

Searching diligently for her morning breakfast.

Then i believe she has spotted something on the ground. Wings folded and she is ready to dive.

And then the moment of glory happened. Diving almost 90 degrees with talons all expanded towards her prey.

Holy cow ! she missed the rat by just a few inches.

She did a u-turn in case the rat was still there.

Nope it has gone.

No luck this time and she was back to her perch waiting for another chance.

Next on the hunting list was a male Eastern Marsh Harrier.

Eastern Marsh Harrier hunting style is different. They would prefer to hunt closer to the ground i.e just a few meters above the reeds.

They are just like a big fat Lancaster. Flapping slowly and cruising silently in their hunt for prey.

Their eyes were constantly looking downwards.

I believe he has spotted something on the ground. 

Did he got the prey?

Oh dear ! no luck as well. Off he went to look elsewhere.

Now here is the grand old master of stationery flight. This Black-shouldered Kite aka "Helang Tikus" was spotted not too far away from where i stood.

Here is the master demonstrating the famous "hover-hunt style".

I did not pay much attention to it as it did some semi circles and a few dives. 

Before i knew it there was already a rat in its talon ! Guess you need to learnt from a local resident on ways to catch a prey in this region.

It was truly an amazing experience to witness all the above spectacular hunting sequence unfolded just right above and in front of me. 

HAPPY BIRDING !

Sungai Batu Mangroves - revisited (Sept 2017)

In Science, the proof of concept usually relies on empirical results where else in bird watching, the proof of existence, i believe would depends on photographic evidence. This time i decided to revisit this location to find out whether the group of Oriental Pratincole seen in June 2017 were just passing by or were actually using this location as their 'home ground'. As i drove slowly along the dirt road, i could not see any of them flying around as i did the last time. So i decided to parked my car and walk towards some ploughed ground. 

It took me some time before i could spot some of them. 

Look how well they have blended with the ground and vegetation colors.

Majority of them were seen with their bills wide open. It was not because they were calling but more like trying to cool themselves in the middle of hot sun.

 

The absence of throat patch, red bill based and clear black necklace shows that majority of them were either juveniles or in their non-breeding colors.

I counted all seven of them i.e the same number i have seen in June but the figure may not be conclusive as there were a few more cleared land which i did not explore.

Most of them were standing up and alert but they did not attempt to fly away. 

A typical "broken-wing" posed.

Here are some of the 'local' birds and insects i have seen prior to my maiden discovery trip at this location.

    The size of the above Black-Crowned Night Heron is not really as big as a Purple Heron but their slow and gentle wing flaps certainly a sight to behold.

Finally i was able to photographed this Paddy Field Pipit which had eluded me earlier.

This White-throated Kingfisher had a nice splashed at a nearby pool of water.

I flushed this Little Egret out from the middle of the mangrove. Hundreds of them can be seen in some paddy fields along the highway.

Olive-backed Sunbird (female)

Olive-backed Sunbird (Male)

Yellow-Vented Bulbul

Odonata anyone? There are just a handful of people out there who enjoy photographing these little creatures.

This place has the largest stink bug i have ever seen.

HAPPY BIRDING !

A Close Encounter with Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus)

Many a times most people would prefer to watch wild animals in their natural surroundings. Some may even pay big bucks for it. Human-animal conflicts are inevitable in any urbanisation efforts. When we take away their habitat they have no other places to go but to find refuge or source for food in our world. Fortunately there are small pockets of forest reserve just outside the city to provide some shelter for these animals when a conflict happened.

A juvenile Asian Palm Civet had literally came 'knocking' at my balcony door at 5.00 am on August 12. Initially thought as a mischievous cat trying to impose some spooky scratching sound but when i saw a long black tail, i knew i was seeing a different animal. I quickly went down to take my fishing net and waited awhile for some sunlight. At about 6.30am, i slowly open the balcony door and there it was, cuddling quietly at one corner. As i slowly place the net over it, suddenly it jumped up and tried to scale the balcony. There were moments of a "Tom & Jerry" chase before it finally entered the net. Once it has calmed down i moved it slowly into its temporary cage and went back to sleep.

Here is the juvenile Asian Palm Civet which i have named "Musky". For starters, i gave Musky a slice of papaya, a banana and an apple. She ate the entire banana and half of the papaya but she did not touch the apple at all. It certainly live up to its Asian namesake for liking only local fruits. Perhaps i should have tried to give Musky some nasi lemak or roti canai to eat ! 

Then i raided the fridge and found some cooked chicken and decided to give it a try.

You can see Musky gladly took the piece of chicken from my hand. Although it may looked tame here but it was still a wild animal. It would puff loudly like the sound of a cobra when i tried to touch it. Her eyes remind me of some fruit bats i have seen before. I believe they would use three important senses in the wild i.e eyesight, smell and hearing. All three senses are equally important for their survival.

Yummy chicken which Musky gladly ate. In intervals i fed it with more banana and papaya for moisture. 

To cool it, i sprayed some water over Musky but i think she doesn't really like it. Through out the day this celebrity mammal was seen cleaning her self while being surrounded with flashlights. On the following day (i.e August 13, Sunday), it was time for Musky to go 'home'. Drove about 25 km and found a secluded trail and placed Musky down in an open space inside the jungle. The smell of the jungle had certainly got Musky excited as she had bolted out as soon as i opened the cage door. 

The first thing Musky did was to rub her scent on a dead tree stump as can be seen in this photo. 

After awhile of rubbing and a few leaps Musky was already on her way exploring the natural world. Although there were no farewell ceremony or kenduri held, i believe Musky was very happy to be back to her real home. There are certainly more fruits to eat in the jungle than just papaya or rambutans.

There was a saying that "sometimes goods things come in pairs".  Not long after Musky left, another Civet came to my balcony on 16 August (Wednesday) at 2.15 am. This time it was "Sniffy" whom i believe was Musky's sibling. Since Sniffy arrived on a weekday, i have more time to study his behavior and took more decent photos.

Here is Sniffy having a bite at his favourite fruit. 

Sniffy is much smaller as compared to Musky but he was not as 'friendly' as Musky. Sniffy looks more like a racoon here.

Wish Sniffy could bark instead of bite. 

He too enjoyed a piece of the home cooked chicken.

Now Sniffy looks more like a fox from this angle !

Finally it was Sniffy's turn to go home. On August 19th (Saturday), i went about 20 km further than Musky so as to prevent any 'inbreeding'. Literature says that this animal are usually solidarity so i guess they should be fine 'alone'.

Here is Sniffy having one last look at me before departing. Not sure what was in his mind though!

Unlike Musky, Sniffy took his sweet time and headed to the nearest available tree.

He kept sniffing at the tree trunk as he made his way up.

A vertical climb without any harness ! 

There are certainly bigger trees to climb here than just telephone poles. 

On my way out from the jungle trail, i saw a familiar bunch of leaves and twigs hanging down from some branches. 

As i approached the nest, a bird quickly flew out. Ah ! it must be an active nest. I waited for awhile and it came back. It was a Black-and-Red Broadbill (Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchos). 

Here you can see it poking its head into the nest feeding another bird inside.

After just a few photos i quickly left the area so as not to disturb their nesting activities.

What a memorable occasion !

The End