Birds around Serendah - 2012

Serendah is a small town near Rawang, Selangor. This place can be unpredictable in terms of bird watching - at times you can see quite a number of birds and other times it can be as dry as a desert. Today i went for a short general birdwatching in late morning and here are some of the bird i have managed to see:

This is a Common Iora which is a common resident here.

This is another common bird which you can find here - a "White-Breasted Waterhen".

At times you may be able to see this Ashy Tailorbird.

and so as this Pied Fantail.

Today i saw this Baya Weaver (female).

So as this Yellow-Bellied Prinia which was singing its favourite song very late in the morning.

This is an Arctic Warbler - has white vent and a shorter supercilium. According to Yang Chong: "The Arctic Warblers will be here even until May. Their breeding season is rather short and some will be back as early as late August /early September. I do not ,however, know of any over-summering Arctic Warblers in Malaysia"

This is a Black-Headed Bulbul which is also quite common here.

Today i saw quite a number of sunbirds - above is a female Ruby-Cheeked Sunbird.

This is an Olive-Backed Sunbird (male).

...and this is a Brown/Plain Throated Sunbird (male). Note: Allen J & Pearson (2012) has actually differentiated brown-throated and copper-throated with the latter said to frequent mangroves area more.

Could this be a Rufescent Prinia?

And finally could this be a Jungle Mynah? Nope its a Javan Mynah although it was seen at the edge of a jungle. Here is what sifu Yang Chong has to say: "Jungle Mynas are now almost exclusively confined to the north and are hardly ever recorded south of the Bidor area. Note there is no blue at the base of the bill in your photo and the upper plumage is much too black. The Jungle is always brownish on the uppers. All the birds in Selangor and south of the state are Javan Mynas"

White-Rumped Munia

Olive-Backed Sunbird (Female)

Little Egret

Robinson's Angle-Head Lizard (Gonocephalus robinsonii)

Recently i came across a lizard which looks like a miniature ancient dinosaur. With the help of Dave and Muin, i found out that the lizard is called Robinson's Angle-Head Lizard. Here is a description of the lizard which i got from the net: "Robinson's angle-head lizard, or Gonocephalus robinsonii is a highland agamid species that is identifiable by its white lower jaw and flap beneath the neck as well as the bluish eyes. This is a common species in mid to upper-level rainforest. Little is known about its ecology. It appears to be endemic to Peninsular Malaysia and is not found anywhere else in Southeast Asia. Length is about 47 cm and can live to about 10 years"

I believe the lizard i saw could be a juvenile as its body color is greenish and it does not have a bluish eyes as described. There was a saying that "most birders are nature lovers but not all nature lovers are birders" ! I don't mind living with that tag. Happy Birding !

Awana Old Pump House - Apr 2012

On the way down from Gunung Ulu Kali, we decided to detour to the famous Awana OPH. It was just an after thought so we actually started birding at very odd hours which is from 12 noon to 14.00 hrs. The usual birds were seen here:

This was the first bird we saw near the entrance of the trail - a "Black-Naped Oriole". It seems to have more black colors on its wings than its lower land counter parts.

Another common bird we saw near the entrance - an "Oriental Magpie Robin". We also saw one at Gunung Ulu Kali earlier.

Could this be an Arctic or an Eastern-Crowned Warbler? I believe it looks more like an Eastern-Crowned Warbler as its supercilium goes right down to the base of its bill. We saw two packs of this bird near some bamboo shrubs - each pack has about 4-5 birds.

This is a male minivet hiding behind the leaves.

These are Grey-Chinned Minivet (female) - id from its greyish-white chin. So i guess the earlier male should be from the same species because they were foraging nearby.

We also saw this Golden Babbler along the trail.

We also saw this Mountain Fulvetta.

Other birds which we have saw and heard are as follows:

i) a Spiderhunter (could not positively id)
ii) a call of a barbet
iii) a male orange-bellied leafbird
iv) a drongo (presumably a bronze)
v) a pair of white-rumped munia which was building a nest nearby the trail.
vi) a lone Chestnut Capped Laughingthrush - calling and foraging

Birds of Gunung Ulu Kali - Apr 2012

Me and Mr CY Tan had planned this trip for quite sometime and decided to proceed no matter whether it rain or shine on that day. Unfortunately it did rained heavily and when it stops thick fog came and enveloped the entire place. We only managed to bird for about 45 - 60 minutes in aggregate despite staying on the hill for 3 hours. Although we did not see the star birds like cutias and wren babblers nevertheless in between the extremes we saw other lovely birds of which some were lifers for both of us. Here are some of the birds we saw here:

These were my first lifers up at this place - "Chestnut-Tailed Minla". Saw a few of them and apparently these birds were only seen here and Cameron Highlands but somehow they do not occur in Fraser's Hill.

Here you can see the bird has got a moth in thick fog. They were using the little window of opportunity to fill up their stomach in between the rain and fog.

This is a common bird - a "Grey-Throated Babbler".

This is another common bird up in the highlands - a "Mountain Leaf Warbler".

We also saw this "Chestnut-Capped Laughingthrush" which was drenched by the rain just like the both of us. After this photo was taken, the thick fog came in full force.

This Mountain Bulbul flew in and perched in the middle of the thick fog. These were the conditions we birded which i would termed as extreme bird watching.

When the fog went away, we saw this "Chestnut-Crowned Laughingthrush". I understand that this bird is also called a "Malayan Laughingthrush". Although it is common up in the highlands but it is more reclusive than the former laughingtrush.

This was my second lifer up here - a "Rufous-Winged Fulvetta". We saw two of them flying between the shrubs and drain to look for insects.

We also saw this jungle moth up here. According to Mr CY Tan, in the day time these moths will not buldge from its place. After the rain stops it was indeed still at the same place. Wonder how its wings were able to withstand the heavy downpour.

We also saw a Mountain Tailorbird (juvenile/sub adult) as confirmed by Yang Chong - note it still lacks the clear supercilium and rufous crown of an adult.

Mountain Tailor Bird (Adult Male)

The photo of this adult male Mountain Tailor Bird was taken from my subsequent trip in July 2012.

On the way down we saw this Large Niltava (Male). It was very curious to see these two birders looking at him. So it flew down quite close to us.

Watching us nearby was his girlfriend - a female Large Niltava. They were both calling at each other - probably telling each other to watchout for the two strange looking and drenched human beings.

Despite the rain and thick fog we certaintly enjoyed the trip and will be back again for the star birds.

Black-Throated Sunbird (Female/Juvenile?)

This sunbird image was taken from my subsequent trip in July 2012

Streaked-Wren Babbler

These images was taken in July 2012. Waited close to 30 minutes for this fellow to come out in the open. Images look quite hazy in view of the thick fog blanketing the entire place at that time.

Note: as at 2015, Gunung Ulu Kali has been closed ! No more access to Public.