Common Birds and Winter Visitors of Sungai Chongkak - Nov 2015

The recent sightings of 3 mega birds by Noah Strycker here had activated my curiosity hormone yet again. I have planned to reach the location at the same time as his but was caught up a bit in the morning rush hour. It was about 8.00am by the time i set foot at the site and immediately i scanned the area which was still dark. After an hour i gave up but i did saw some birds for the very first time (first time here unfortunately did not mean a lifer but more of a first sighting of such birds at this location by myself). Let me start with the winter visitors.

Korean Flycatcher aka Yellow-Rumped Flycatcher

This flycatcher had remained silent through out. Not a single whisper.

Gray Wagtail

It looks like it has a tinge of yellow on its supercilium which resulted of me thinking that it could be a "flavissima" initially. Luckily Dave Bakewell has corrected its i.d before i could raised more unfortunate eyebrows.

This bird is believed to be a Siberian Blue Robin - probably a juvenile. If the i.d is positive then it looks like we do not have to travel up to highlands anymore to see this bird species.

Eastern Crowned Leaf Warbler

 This was the first time i have heard an Eastern Crowned Leaf Warbler calls which i believed was more of an alarm call rather than a song. Unfortunately i was too engrossed to take its photos than to record its calls.

You can see the faint stripe on its crown.

Here are some of the local birds seen.

Chestnut-Naped Forktail

The current raining season had raised the water level in the streams which might have resulted in this bird to forage outside its usual habitat. Despite her striking colors it was actually well camouflaged among the jungle litter.

OK i had enough. Time to run. 

This is a Crimson-Winged Woodpecker !

Checker Throated Woodpecker

Ha ! caught you there.

Olive-Backed Woodpecker

It was lying low as the Wallace Hawk Eagle was seen flying just above the tree canopies.

A look at a Buff-Rumped Woodpecker from the back.

Chestnut-Breasted Malkoha - male

I was really glad to see this malkoha again.

Little Spiderhunter

This usually noisy Little Spiderhunter had remained silent too.

Tickell's Blue Flycatcher - male

Some parts of this jungle was so well covered that sometimes you might just have to use a flash lite even at 11.00am !

Could this finally be Taylor Swift? In my wildest dream i guess.

Gray-Rumped Treeswift

This Purple-Naped Sunbird was trying to do a humming bird stunt.

Initially i thought i might have seen a lifer.

But it just turned out to be a male Lesser Cuckooshrike. Anyway its not everyday that you would see a male lesser cuckooshrike if you do agree with me.

Note its color which looks more like some Philentoma rather than dark greyish colors as depicted by some field guides.

In poor light and thick foliage, these white-rumped munia can be easily mistaken as a dusky munia if you are not careful enough.

HAPPY BIRD WATCHING !

Backyard Birding - November 2015

Bird watching in your backyard usually does not produce many rarities but the common birds here can certainly give you some decent account of themselves. My 'backyard' birding was just a 15 minutes drive away from my home. Reached the site recently at about 6.55am, hoping to catch a glimpse of some nocturnal birds if possible. Well i actually did saw a nightjar flying from one thick foliage into another thicker foliage down the ravine. Can't really tell which species it belongs to except that it was a nightjar (i did caught a glimpse of its two white patches on its wings though).

In the early hours of the morning, things were a bit slow and quiet except for the sounds from some crickets and frogs which sounded like some ducks quacking. The birds were really not out from their siesta. As i was walking slowly along its trail, a brownish bird suddenly dashed across the trail. Heck! my heart did skipped a few beats as i reckoned it could have been a ferruginous babbler. So i stopped and waited for a moment hoping it would reappear or at least make some noise. The bird actually did reappear and it turned out to be a "Tiger Shrike".

Tiger Shrike

The first few photos were blur. So i decided to use some light to ensure that it was a tiger shrike. It hunted the insect right down to the ground as depicted from the above photo.

This was a record shot of the tiger shrike. From its size and its brownish color, it can put you in the spot if you don't identify it correctly.

The next bird you will see would surely make you freeze for awhile.

In poor light every bird would look like a mega lifer especially with such pose.

Before your imagination runs wild like mine, let us first see what the field guides / books have to say. If you are familiar with "The Handbook of the Birds of the World" which i believe uses del Hoyo's classification and Clement's checklist, this old world flycatcher has been divided into several subspecies:

i) Muscicapa dauurica dauurica - non -breeding in S.E.A

ii) M. d. poonensis

iii) M. d. williamsoni - breeds in Peninsular Malaysia

iv) M. d. siamensis

Dr Wells (1982) recently added another subspecies i.e M.d umbrosa which supposedly only occurs in Borneo. The classification of the above subspecies apparently were mainly hypothesized from the differences in their breeding grounds and not so much on their morphological characteristics. Who knows there may be a superfamily or supersubspecies be created in the near future should their breeding ground overlaps. Nevertheless, according to Allen.J & Pearson (2012) field guide, M.d Williamsoni has a tinge of rufescent on its upper tail. From the second photo above, you could see there was a tinge of rufescent on its upper tail. Hence i believe that the above Asian Brown Flycatcher is most likely a W. d. Williamsoni which is reportedly to be less common than W. d. dauurica.

Now how about this Asian Brown Flycatcher which was also seen nearby?

Looks more like the common M.d. dauurica with its whitish underparts.

Lurking nearby was this Tickell's Blue flycatcher

Tickell's Blue Flycatcher

This flycatcher was located from its usual calls which ends with a "tuck". This is most likely a female Tickell's Blue.

Eastern Crowned Warbler

You do not need to bring out your field guides or scratch your head on this warbler. It has a crown stripe shown on another photo but unfortunately the photo was not publication worthy.

Now you can relax a bit as the next few birds are as common as your dandelions.

Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo

It looks like it has a butterfly or a swallow attach to its extensions.

This is a pair of Little Green Pigeon (Treron olax)

A half asleep young Pacific Swallow.

A fast asleep Stripped-Throated Bulbul. Probably did some
odd jobs the night before.

A pair of Olive-Winged Bulbul.

Chestnut Munia

Ruby-cheeked Sunbird (male)

Orange-Bellied Flowerpecker (male)

Long body shape, notch tail and pointed wings = Germain Swiflet?

Ashy Minivet (male)

This was only the second time i have seen a male Ashy Minivet.

Ashy Minivet (female)

A female Ashy Minivet from the back.

This Asian Paradise Flycatcher was playing peek-a-boo with me.

A look from the back of an Asian Paradise Flycatcher

Black-Winged Flycatcher Shrike

So there you go - a host of common winter visitors and local common birds for your viewing pleasure. Hope you have enjoyed viewing the common backyard birds as much as i have enjoyed showing their photos.

Exploring the Jungle Trails of Rengit - Sept 2015

Nowadays going into the social media is like walking across a minefield. You will never know what you might step on. However there is nothing better than spending a day in the forest. The day over here started with a pair of Great Slaty Woodpecker (M.pulverulentus). The pair flew towards me from the direction of Lancang and as they came closer i could hear one of the pair calling as if saying that they have finally reached their destination. Fortunately and to my delight they decided to land on a huge tree just opposite of the road where i stood.

This is my lifer for this year.

Male (left) and female (right). 

While some of us would probably be seeping some nice warm tea at 8.00am, these woodpeckers have  already started to work by then - attending to their unfinished nest holes.

There are three nest holes as you can see here and it certainly take some great effort from a mighty great woodpecker to excavate such huge holes on a tree. 

Going further in i finally saw the 'transformation' that this place has experienced. Since "Science" is about exploring and discovering new things and not creating stuff which can destroy humankind for one's own vested interest, i decided to explore some of the trails which i could enter from the gaps in between the fences.

This was one of the trails which i have entered. While it was good to have a two fencing reinforcement strategy but i hope that the authorities, in this case probably the "Perhilitan" people are aware that some of the fences were erected on slopes which can be prone to landslides and they are also subjected to corrosion over the years. As you know "Pak Belang" can just be as smart as some domestic cats. Certainly there are lots of surveillance and maintenance work to be done here.

In ancient times, the samurai warriors were trained to access all aspects of their enemies, from their legs and hand movements to their facial expressions. Similar observations can be made in the antics of the 21st century boardroom meetings. If the Chairman or President accidentally drops his pen, the board members will be interpreting among themselves on the meaning of that incident - no bonus for this year?  Then when he coughed once or twice, does he meant yes or no? Should he accidentally gassed the room, his secretary would probably be the first one to excuse herself while the jokers would try to analyse whether it came from the mutton curry or the curry fish head he ate. The same principles taught by our ancient martial arts can be applied while you explore the jungle trails especially those which are new and unfamiliar to you unless you are going for a suicide mission. Hence "staying alert" and "be aware of your surroundings" are the two essential aspects that you should take note before entering the trails.

Besides the birds, here are some of the interesting things that i have found from the trails.

This print could have been made by a deer or a boar.

This one above most likely came from an elephant - perhaps a juvenile (Yana Kuti !)

Another elephant foot print. Looks like a big one !

Now how about this one? I believe it came from a small cat - leopard ? Notice the small print just right above the cat's print ! The predator is following right beside you!

Another profile of prints - predator and victims all in one. Most of the prints were fresh - meaning the animals could have just passed thru these trails the night before or just a few hours before i came. Once "pak belang" is inside the enclosure you will probably see a different set of prints - yikes !

NOTE: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO VENTURE INTO A JUNGLE TRAIL ALONE IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE AREA!

Stripped-throated Bulbul

From my archive i have recently managed to retrieve a local research paper written by Hossein V. Moradi and Mohamed Zakaria (MNJ, 2009) which reported that insectivores are particularly prone to forest fragmentation and habitat destruction. The forest edge specialist such as Stripped Tit babbler, Fluffy-backed babbler and common tailor bird have shown highest density close to the forest edge. While its still early to ascertain the effect of this fence project on the forest edge inhabitants here but it is apparent that some of them especially the bottom dwellers like Pittas, Great Argus and Asian Red Junglefowl were noticeably missing this time. Same goes with the Stripped Tit babbler, Rufous-crowned babbler and trogons. Sooty-capped babblers can still be heard but they too have moved further into the interior of the forest.

The early drongo catches the caterpillar ! This is a Lesser Racket-Tailed Drongo.  

I realised that it is not so easy to take good photos in the forest. You either need some fast lenses or a tripod. If you have neither then you will just need to make do with what you have and try to get the best out from your equipment. 

Looks like Taylor Swift has also visited this place !  Nah this was a Whiskered treeswift.

Chestnut-rumped babbler

I have also heard a Black-capped babbler and a Chestnut-winged babbler calling near the road side. They were the only babblers heard and seen during my visit. 

Red-billed Malkoha

Although i have not seen the Chestnut-breasted Malkoha for quite awhile, i was glad to see this malkoha again.

This time i saw a flock of 6 Black Hornbills hanging around at their favourite tree. This was the alpha male which was seen disturbing the other males and the two female hornbills. 

This was one of the female Black Hornbill.

(note: photos have shown that female black hornbills do have broad white long supercilium too. This means that both sexes actually do have white supercilium which was previously only associated with males of this species).

The best time to see this hornbill is in the early morning (about 7.30am to 9.30am) after which they will dispersed deeper into the forest. 

In addition to the occasional calls from White-rumped Sharma, the Common Hill Myna's calls were the most often heard.

Blyth's Paradise Flycatcher

Wonder why don't they call it a Ron's Paradise Flycatcher? 

Olive-winged Bulbul

Black-bellied Malkoha

Plaintive Cuckoo (female)

Beside Black-bellied Malkoha, Plaintive cuckoo is reported to be a forest edge specialist too. This lone cuckoo was spotted near the vicinity of some Black-and-Yellow Broadbills.

Black-and-Yellow Broadbill (male)

By 11.30am i was actually done with this place and from the looks of things it will certainly take awhile before this place reclaims its past glory and fame. 

Until then Happy Birding!