A Late Morning Birding along Old Gombak Road

At the very last minute i decided to look for birds at along the old gombak road with Mr CY Tan who was kind enough to join me at a very short notice. We reached the location i.e the first rubbish dump at around 11.00am and as expected you don't see many birds at this time. The cloudy day makes the trip a bit dull but nevertheless we did saw some birds albeit mostly common ones.

  

Oriental White-Eye (Zosterops palpebrosus)

Blue-winged Leafbird (Chloropsis sonnerati) - a male

Asian Brown Flycatcher (Muscicapa dauurica)

A usual winter visitor at this time of the year



Chestnut-breasted Malkoha (Zanclostomus curvirostris)

Whiskered Treeswift (Hemiprocne comata)

As both male and female have white patches on its tertials, it would be difficult to ascertain this bird's gender without seeing its ear coverts.



Spectacled Bulbul (Pycnonotus erythropthalmos)

Buff-vented Bulbul (Iole olivacea)

Other birds heard and seen were as follows:

i)  3 White-bellied Erpornis (Erpornis zantholeuca) - previously known as Yuhina.

ii) 1 Dark-necked tailor bird ( Orthotomus atrogularis).

iii) 1 Rufous woodpecker (Celeus brachyurus)

iv) 1 Blue-eared Barbet (Megalaima australis) - heard call only.

The birds sighted on this trip will just be recorded as general information since the trip was for a very short time.







Birding in JB - Jan 2013

For the brand new year i went to a new birding spot which is located at Janda Baik (JB) :-). Although there were no lifers but a few interesting birds did appear at this place.

Red-Eyed Bulbul (Pycnonotus brunneus)

Stripped Throated Bulbul (Pycnonotus finlaysoni)

Red-eyed bulbuls and Stripped throated bulbuls were the most common bulbuls spoted here.

Black Hornbill (Anthracoceros malayanus)

According to Robson (2007) field guide, black hornbills are quite rare while Allen J & Pearson (2012) reported that it belongs to a Near Threatened category. This could be a female as most guide books described females as having smaller and blackish bill/casque. However do note that it has a broad white supercilium which usually points to a male bird ! So could this be a juvenile male bird then?


Bamboo Woodpecker (Male)

Bamboo Woodpecker (female)

Mountain Imperial Pigeon

Scarlet Minivets (male & female) were presence here as well.

Its only early January however this White-rumped munia (Lonchura striata) is already in the midst of building a nest.

Rufescent Prinia (Prinia rufescent)

Although its a common bird but it is more often heard than seen. This fellow seems to be in a breeding mood as illustrated by its greyish color head.

According to an old folks tale a righteous person could see fairies flying or dancing around lily flowers like this one in a moonlit night.

Year-end Birding at Hutan Lipur Perdik - Dec 2012

I have been bitten by the birding bugs real hard lately. I have no choice but to get rid of them as soon as possible before i go bonkers.  Perdik Forest Reserve was the easiest choice as it was near and provides many unexpected encounters.

Yellow-Vented Flowerpecker

Saw two of them. They were rather small at 10cm but certaintly beautiful birds.

Greater Green Leafbird (Male)

Asian Brown Flycatcher

 Another one of the many small birds seen here.

Buff-vented Bulbul

A forked bill Sunbird

Plain Sunbird

Ashy Minivets

Saw 5 of them in a bird wave.

Asian Paradise Flycatcher

Tiger Shrike

This fellow was rather silent.

Eyebrowed Thrush

Thanks to Dave Bakewell who confirmed the bird's id. Reported to be a common passage migrant from Siberia which can be found right down to Indonesia. Although this picture could not show its orangy flanks and chest  but its diagnostic white supercilium and whitish belly/vent areas points to the bird. Another diagnostic features which can be seen here is the white stripe under its eye and chin areas. It was seen together with other birds in a bird wave. A lifer indeed.

There is nothing better to end another exciting birding year with a lifer !



Black-Winged Flycatcher Shrike (Hemipus hirundinaceus)

Black-Winged Flycatcher Shrike (Hemipus hirundinaceus)

This bird is reported to be a locally common resident of lower elevations. Can be found near forest edges of countries in South East Asia right down to Bali.

  

 

 

All the above pictures show a male bird.

 



Flying Terns and Fighting Crabs - Part 2

Continuing from the first part......the waders such as Bar Tailed Godwits were noticeably missing so were the Sand Plovers and Common Redshanks.

Brown Shrike

White-Winged Tern

White winged terns continued their presence through out the morning.

 Marsh Sandpipers made up the most waders counted this time.

Here's a group of them swimming like ducks with a lone common redshank.

Another group of Marsh Sandpipers which prefer not to swim.

Common Redshank

This is the one of the only 2 redshanks spotted today.

Another Marsh Sandpiper

 

A Great Egret alright

Whimbrel

Collared Kingfisher

Terek Sandpiper

Looks like it still has a bit of its summer plumage. Just like the Wimbrels, it was seen chasing after small crabs to eat.

A Crested Little Heron?

Unidentified Pond Heron
(Note: an expert says this could be an Indian Pond Heron)



David versus Goliath.

These fighting crabs provided some entertainment in the absence of the waders.

I believe this is a Common Fence Lizard



Here is a summary of some of the birds seen:
Date: 11 December 2012
Time: 7.15am - 11.00am

Eurasian Curlews (Numenius arquata)  =  10
Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) = 15
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) = 6 (with two hatchlings)
Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia) = 5
Marsh Sandpiper (Tringa stagnatilis) = 30
Common Redshank (Tringa Totanus) = 2
Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybridus) = 25
White-Winged Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) = 15
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) = 5
Terek Sandpiper (Xenus cinereus) = 3
Lesser Sandplover (Charadrius momgolus) = 2
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)  = 2
Great Egret (Casmerodius albus) = 1
Collared Kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris) = 5
Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) = 1
Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus) = 1
Blue-Tailed Bee Eater (Merops philippinus) = 5
Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus) = 1
Paddy-Field Pipit (Anthus rufulus) = 1
Red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) = 1 (heard call only)
Unidentified Pond Heron = 3

Hope all these info will be of some use to the Asian Waterbird Census which would usually be held in the month of January each year.