Birding Trip - Awana - 11 May 2018

During the Renaissance era, explorers watched birds basically to discover new species of birds. Today watching birds means many things to many people. It could be a science, an art, a hobby or a combination of any of those. To me, birding is a time for me to chill out with the birds. They can also be your best friend forever to help you to distress.  Here are some of the endemic birds i have seen today.  Most of them were common though. 

I started birding at 7.00am and along the way i saw this not so happy looking bird. 

Rufescent Prinia

This Prina probably didn't slept well because it rained overnight.

As i entered the trail at 7.20am the scene was slightly different.  It was quite dark as compared to the path before the entrance of the trail.

I thought this could be a new bird for me. So i tried to increased the ISO but still can't really nailed it. The two tone colors on its chest and belly had me flipping furiously at the field guide until i took its flight photos (see below).

I believe it was just a juvenile minivet. 

The sun was just rising at the horizon but the birds were already feasting on whatever they can see.

A couple of Grey-Headed Canary Flycatchers were also one of those birds which strongly believed in the proverb that says "the early bird catches the worm". In this case it was insects.

While the birds were busy feasting, this nocturnal Giant Millipede was heading back to its home to have a good sleep.

The feast continued with this Large Woodshrike grabbing what looks like a jungle roach nymph.

Not all birds are insectivorous. Some of them believe in a balance diet like this female Orange-bellied Leafbird.

By just using its bills. it could removed the skin and eat the seeds just like how you would eat your corns. Think of a typewriter.

I believe not many people have seen a blue shoulder patch on a female Orange-bellied leafbird. Have you?

As the sun gets brighter, more and more birds came out.

Yellow-bellied Warbler

At the moment there are close to 13 nominated sub-species. Initially i thought these Grey-throated Babbler could be from the S.n coltarti sub species due to its black crown and a warmer buffish color but i guess they were just the usual S.n davisoni (ref: HBW Alive).

White-bellied Erponis or prevoulsy named as White-bellied Yuhina.

Mountain Fulveta (Acippe peracensis)

It probably undergone some molting process.

Red-bearded Bee eater.

It was calling for awhile before it makes its appearance. Unfortunately my camera always have this back focus problems.

Bar-winged flycatcher shrike.

This little flycatcher which is only at 13 cm is reportedly to be more common than the Black-winged flycatcher shrike.

(note: the little white freckles in the background of the above photo are not snow/rain drops but they were actually remnants of a butterfly undergoing some torturing above it)  

Large Woodshrike 

A sub adult male i think.

There are plenty of them out there right now.

A juvenile female Grey-chinned Minivet

An adult female Grey-chinned Minivet in flight

This is an adult male Grey-chinned Minivet of the montanus subspecies. If you wish to see these montanus Ssp, you will need to fly to Peninsular Malaysia because they only occur here.

Back view of a female Grey-chinned Minivet.

Back view of a male Grey-chinned Minivet (P. s montanus)

(Note its orange tail feather which is probably molting into red)

Bronze drongo

It can mimicked other bird calls too.

Some birds do wake up a bit later than others like this Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush

Sorry mate you probably missed out on some of the juicy caterpillars out there.

Some nice looking tail you have there.

Streaked Spiderhunter

"i am looking to my left"

"Now i am looking to my right"

"Nope there are nothing out there Sir !"

A bird full of character and style. It was always fun to take its photos.

Sometimes in a birding trip you might bumped into some old 'friends'. Here are some of them whom i have not met for sometime.

Sultan Tit

or should we named it as  a "Yellow Crested Tit" instead?

A photo which i would never show to a butterfly watcher.

When a bird show this posture, it was meant to access you further. 

This is probably a sub adult male Sultan Tit which is still depending on the above male to feed it. Saw it been fed a few times by the above male and you can also see the flapping of its wing in the above photo which is a sign of begging for food in the avian world.

Here is another 'friend' which i have not seen for sometime. A Sooty Barbet.

 It has also been a long time that i last saw this pretty looking female Silver Breasted Broadbill.

Note the white patch at its tail which i believe could be a fresh molting tail.

Until we meet again adieus senorita ! 

Raptor Watch 2018 - An Exhilarating Experience

Once a upon the time, you can find numerous birding couples in this region who like to watch raptors. Some are still quietly active while some new ones are also emerging. There are many reasons for one to watch birds of prey. It could be due to their magnificent and highly variably under wing patterns or perhaps it could be due to their majestic appearance as well as fascinating behaviour. Some ornithologist even spent their entire life to study solely on raptors. At the end of this post you might understand just why.

Here are some of the birds of prey which were spotted in Peninsular Malaysia from Dec 2017 to March 2018. Majority of them were Oriental Honey Buzzards as expected.

Oriental Honey Buzzard (pale morph)

This should be an Oriental Honey Buzzard (OHB), soaring upwards in a truly raptor like way.

My personal opinion: Dark wings tips and narrow tail bands points it to a juvenile. While pale face and narrow trailing edge bands points it to a female.

This is most likely a migrant orientalis which reported to migrate from Siberia and Sakhalin in Russia, North East China as well as from Japan and Korea (HBW alive)

It glides on flat wings. 

From above, its upper wings coverts show a darker coloration and its primaries slightly held upwards. Note: its whitish rump. It was also the same bird as above.

A twitch of its tail were commonly observed in raptors in flight.

Below is a different morph of OHB - Pernis ptilorhyncus torquatus 

According to local birding experts here, this is an adult male migrant OHB. Identified from its greyish face. The resident P.p torquatus (tweedle morph) is reported to have an overall black head. Note its lack of whitish rump.

Its status at the top of the food chain certainly makes it a fearless raptor as it make a small turn and then headed straight at my direction.

With its wings held-up high and head tilted lower, its approach certainly makes it looks like a vulture.

It flew just about 30 - 40 meters away, knowing fully well of my presence but he was not bothered at all as it slowly glides past me. 

Field guides have described OHB eyes as brown, dark brown to orange. 

This was the OHB way of making a fly past.

Below is probably the only one of its kind photo which shows a Changeable Hawk Eagle (dark morph) carrying a domestic chicken ! This raptor is a resident raptor.

Only upon cropping the photo that i realised it was actually carrying a prey.  Its loud calls of "Kwi Kwi" was quite similar to a Crested Serpent Eagle (CSE) except that it has two notes instead of three notes from a CSE.

Here is another raptor (a Brahminy Kite) holding and eating a prey while in flight. 

Crested Serpent Eagle

With a mouth so wide open, no wonder its calls can be heard from quite a distance.

White-bellied Sea Eagle

A truly huge resident raptor soaring overhead.

Here is another migrant raptor which frequent here almost like clock work and continuously every year.

Black Kite (Milvus migrans)

All the above three raptors are of different individuals.

If you have been regularly watching raptors in this region, you will most likely realised that some migrant raptors actually used this region (especially near the coastal regions) as their staging / re-fueling base. Here are some individuals which i have spotted on different days from the same observation site in Northern Peninsular Malaysia:

Black Baza (Aviceda leuphotes)

From a distance, this raptor looks just slightly larger than a common rock pigeon. According to raptor experts, the more stripes on its body, indicates that of a female. 

This one above should be a male then.

They were seen criss-crossing from the same area on several occasions. Usually in late mornings.

When i first posted online the photo below, it has created some buzz among the local birders here due to its whitish spots on its upperwings and its whitish rump. I have initially thought it was a juvenile pied harrier as well ! 

Luckily for me, this raptor did a "U" turn and it was eventually confirmed as an Oriental Honey Buzzard (OHB) from the above photo! Amazing indeed !

Here are a few more different OHBs which have been observed:

The OHB above was actually diving down towards some swiflets but i think it did not succeed in grabbing anyone.

All these OHBs are different individuals as observed from their wing and tail patterns.

Occasionally you can find them thermaling together. The above OHB presumably either a juvenile/a female was slightly smaller than the OHB below it.

HAPPY RAPTOR WATCHING !