Surveying waders at Teluk Air Tawar (TAT) - Important Bird Area (IBA) - Nov 2022

We do have several IBAs in Peninsular Malaysia. One of them is the well known IBA of Teluk Air Tawar which apparently stretches almost 10km from Bagan Belat right up to the cape of Kampung Sungai Tembus. It's one of the very few places of mudflats which can hold thousands and thousands of waders every year. So this place is a category A++ IBA which we'll need to maintain and preserve. 

On 26 November 2022, I joined Dr Nur Munira and her hubby Mr Nasir Azizan for a short survey of about 2 hours. Besides the thousands of waders seen, there were three important / significant findings in this survey I think. First is the discovery of a Great Knot with a Black over Yellow Flag, followed by an Asian Dowitcher in breeding plumage and a possible Bar-Tailed Godwit from the Limosa  lapponica baueri subspecies.

Lets start with the Great Knot with a flag on its tibia.

We don't get to see tagged birds quite often here. So this sighting of a Great Knot with a Black over Yellow flag which is reported to have been ringed in Kamchatka, Russia can be considered a very important observation.

You can also see there's a metal ring on its right tibia.

Great Knot  is a large wader with a long and strong looking bill.

I always love to photograph them in flight like this one.

Great Knot

The second important find in this survey is an Asian Dowitcher which looks like a late breeder. 

Here you can clearly see the Asian Dowitcher which is still spotting its breeding plumage. 

Among the hundreds of Asian Dowitchers seen in this survey, this is the only one which is having/showing breeding plumage.

A group of Asian Dowitchers foraging for food.

Here is another interesting find which if proven correct it could be one of the first official sighting of a Bar-tailed Godwit subspecies which breed as far as west Alaska.

The Bar-tailed Godwit (bird# 3) shows what looks like a dark rump which is usually associated with the subspecies Limosa apponica baueri. The only way to confirm this sighting is to view its underwings pattern which are barred. In the absence of this field mark, the above Godwit would be the common Bar-tailed Godwit which is usually seen here.

The Bar-tailed Godwit which commonly occurred here are those from the Limosa lapponica lapponica tribe which has a whitish rump.

I believe the number of Far Eastern Curlews seen here are usually in a single digit. That is why they are quite uncommon in this region. This could also be due to the difficulty to differentiate them from the more common Eurasian Curlew unless you have a very clear comparison photo like the one below.

Eurasian Curlew (left) and a Far Eastern Curlew (right)

Meanwhile, I think this curlew could be either a female or a sub-adult Eurasian Curlew - its bill is kinda short.

Here is a small group of them (Eurasian Curlews). The one on the far right could be a Far Eastern Curlew.

Aside from rare sights of uncommon birds in TAT, what makes Dr Nur Munira and other researchers kept returning to conduct their research month by month and year by year is probably due to the reason that this location is a significant staging area and roosting place for migratory waders.  Its long stretch of mudflats is an ideal place to accommodate thousands of waders each year. 

Most of the species seen were Lesser Sand Plovers, Red-necked Stints and Curlew Sandpipers.

The "woosh" sound they make as they fly-by is a soothing therapy. 

Once they take off, they will usually fly towards the sea.

This time we saw lots of Asian Dowitchers - hundreds of them !

Stream after stream of waders leaving the shore.

Some of them will fly off to another location.

They will usually try to fly higher as they leave.

Some will return again to the shore.

and then off they go again.

They will traverse along the shore line - finding a suitable place to land.

They will land wherever they think is safe.

As we move along the mudflats we witnessed many waders flying up and down the shoreline.

Although they will fly towards the sea, some of them will do a "U" turn and return to shore.

Here you can see a mix group of waders.

Some Asian Dowitchers show a slightly up curved bill like the one above.

and some show a shorter bill.

A group of Pacific Golden Plovers.

We saw a few hundreds of them - Pacific Golden Plovers.

This is a Red Knot (the one in the middle) as pointed out for me by the more experienced birders.

Asian Dowitcher

Once they have landed we can observe them even closer.

Here is an Asian Dowitcher with a slightly upcurve bill.

The middle one is a Broad-billed Sandpiper (BBS) flanked by a Lesser Sand Plover (LSP) and a Red-necked Stint (RNS).

Here are a few Ruddy Turnstone in the back ground.

We also saw a few of them not too far off-shore like the one above.

The gathering of the greats.

Greater Sand Plovers 

This area is usually frequented by a few Nordmann's Greenshanks but this time we only saw one.

A plain looking Broad-billed Sandpiper. They will look smarter in a few months time.

This Red-necked Stint body looks longer in person.

When in comparison, they will look smaller.

A Whiskered Tern flying above us.

TAT - ONE OF THE BEST WADERS ROOSTING SITE IN MALAYSIA !

Rare and Common Birds in December 2022

Year ends usually provide much relief for most birders because they could have more time to go out to look for birds. I managed to squeezed a bit of time to get a few rare and exotic ones before the close of Year 2022. 

This one is not rare but it perched so nicely that I can't resist taking a shot.

Pacific Swallow

When I first heard that a rare flycatcher had just landed in KL, I thought I will miss the bird cause usually rare birds don't stay long at one place. But since its photos have been appearing frequently so I thought I will join the birding paparazi.

We will go a great distance and wait at any locations (even beside a big longkang) just to snap a photo (usually a dozen photos) of a rare bird.

Taiga Flycatcher (Ficedula albicilla)

There's nothing spectacular about the colors of this female flycatcher but because it came as far as Siberia and Mongolia, birders don't mind to travel a distance to snap its photos.

I first known its existence in Malaysia when a birder (Choo Eng) first reported and photographed one in Kedah many many years ago. Then a few years later, another birder saw one in Penang. Since they have all occurred in the Northern States I thought I will never get to see this flycatcher. When it finally came down to KL I thought this is my one and only chance. So I went for it.

She was silent through out the day. From a distance it can be mistaken as a Red-breasted Flycatcher (F. parva). But this Taiga FC has more whitish colour on its breast as compared to a buff colored on a Red-breasted FC.

Occasionally she would fly away but she will then return to the same spot after about 10 minutes.

The next bird I saw, unfortunately I believe is an escapee / a bird been released. It is so spectacular that I think ornithologists couldn't find a proper nomenclature hence named it as a Superb Starling (Lamprotornis superbus) !

It was quite friendly and a standout among the many Common Mynahs in the same area.

It did make some calls which sounded quite metallic liked.

After some down time of birding activities, the birding community was awaken with another rare flycatcher been reported.

This time it was a Blue n White Flycatcher. Unfortunately I missed seeing the bird and so does the guys in the above photo.

I saw this Grey-breasted Spiderhunter instead. 

After waited for an hour plus without any success, I drove to another location and saw another flycatcher. Although not rare, this female Green-backed Flycatcher can only be seen at certain locations.

Green-backed Flycatcher (female)

I have seen this flycatcher before but this one is much more friendlier. 

First time seeing it so close - just above my head.

It perched quite low and was calling excitedly some more.

(Nope ! I did not use any playback songs)

In the above photos you can see its slight whitish coloured vent which is seldom depicted in most field guides.

This female flycatcher has been around for quite awhile and I bet many birders have managed to get even better photos of it.

Although its actual frontal feathers are yellowish but in the darker part of the jungle, they will look more greenish.

Lurking nearby the female flycatcher is this Eastern Crowned Warbler. Differentiated from an Arctic Warbler via its yellowish vent as can be seen in the above photo. 

A comparison between an Eastern Crowned Warbler and an Arctic Warbler

                              Eastern Crowned Warbler                                        Arctic Warbler                                                                                  

I think it's about time we can call this bulbul a Purple-headed Bulbul instead of its current name - Black Headed Bulbul.

Blue-winged Leafbird (Male)

Greater Green Leafbird (Male)

Here is a Banded Woodpecker which has just raided some ants colony.

Many birders I met says this a a Greater Coucal but more experienced birders have earlier informed me that this a Short-toed Coucal.

After spending sometime in the forest, it's time to checkout the paddy fields and mudflats.

A Lesser Sand Plover about to take off.

A Pacific Golden Plover

I have plenty of photos showing this waders which I will show in another upcoming post.

A Whiskered Tern flying away with a "Pek Hair" (White Prawn)

I never get bored taking Painted Stork photos.

and also this Grey Heron. They are never afraid of passing boats.

An Asian Openbill in a paddyfield. This one is a bird with breeding colours according to birders who are more familiar with them.

When I posted the above photo in a FB group, it gathers a lot of "likes" - Not sure why people like this photo. These are a group of Black-winged Stilt.

White-throated KF

You can't miss this kingfisher when you are in this region.

Oriental Reed Warbler - almost as large as a Yellow-vented Bulbul

Black-crowned Night Heron

People say human and birds can live side by side. So this photo says it all.

UNTIL THE NEXT TIME. SEE YOU IN 2023 ! HAPPY BIRDING !