Common Birds of Chuping Grassland - Dec 2015

The ancient mariners have probably carved their name into the history books due to their exploration expeditions and quest for new lands. Although i ain't no Vasco da Gama or Christopher Columbus but to finally set foot at this location it was like an achievement by itself to me. I took my almost 90 years old dad along as he has not been to this area for the past 50 years. While he tried to enjoy the vast grassland, i took the opportunity to search for as many mega birds as i could.

Reached the location at 7.15am and immediately i saw this medium-sized raptor gliding slowly just above the grass land. So i decided to chase it with my old rickety car. 

Luckily it landed and it started to sand bath. I was fortunate indeed to be able to witnessed and photographed a sand bathing Kestrel. After awhile it decided that it had enough and flew off. I decided to follow her.

Eurasian Kestrel - female

After a few minutes of searching i finally found her again on the top of a pile of earth. From her looks, i believe she is a female Common/Eurasian Kestrel and not a 'Lesser Kestrel'. After this encounter she flew off again and this time it was just too far from my reach. This kestrel species has been seen by a few birders before but it was the first lifer in my bag !

I have taken note of the advice from other birders that every birds seen here could be a potential rarity. So anything that resemble a bird with some feathers, it immediately goes into my collection including these ones:

Paddyfield Pipit

Expert says this is a Paddyfield Pipit as well.

"Mai sini nak tengok burung luak biasa tapi pi mai pi mai burung ini juga". By the way, Perlis residents do speak northern malay accent and as well as fluent Thai. Some of the Malays here can even speak fluent hokkien. "My Gow Koon" (means "don't play play" in Hokkein)

Brown Shrike

Expert says this bird is not a Grey-Backed Shrike but most likely a Brown Shrike of 'L. lucionensis' race. Too bad !

Large-Billed Crow

This crow has the thickest bill i have ever seen and it probably just had a hefty breakfast.

Pied Harrier - male

You don't need an introduction for this bird.

Just look how low it flew to get its prey.

The next bird has many variations in its appearance.

Zitting Cisticola

Very common in rice fields and open grass lands and all these photos point to just one bird species.

Siberian Stonechat - female

Luckily i did not passed out this bird for a 'zitting cisticola' although it perched nearby to one.

Black Drongo

Its tail isn't too deeply forked but i believe it was just a black drongo based on its bill size.


Just as i have started this maiden trip with a lifer, i was glad to end it with another lifer.

Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga)

From the pattern on its wings, this raptor is most likely a juvenile. Despite its huge size, it appears like a small black dot in the sky from a distance. This raptor current status is "vulnerable". So please take good care of the environment for its sake.

After visiting 18 places and netting 260 bird species in 2015, i wonder where else should i go next in 2016 - Mantanani Islands perhaps?

HAVE A WONDERFUL BIRDING YEAR !

Common Birds of Hill Stations - Oct and Dec 2015

Recently i went up to two (2) local hill stations which are well known to birders down here. Both locations do offer a variety of birds for every birders. From the photos below i believe you can roughly guess where these birds have came from although some of them can occur at both locations.

Black-Browed Barbet

Red-Throated Barbet

Streaked Spiderhunter

These are OHBs

Red-Headed Trogon

White-Throated Fantail

Lesser Racket-Tailed Drongo

Black-and-Crimson Oriole - male

I would go for a 'Mountain Fulvetta" on this one.

I would call this one a "Barn Swallow"

This one is a toss between a 'Himalayan Swiftlet' and a 'Black-Nest Swiftlet' but on current description of the species i will go for a 'Black-Nest Swiftlet' instead (95% sure)

Rufous-Bellied Swallow

The last time i saw this swallow was in 2011.

These are really large pigeons but i believe they were just 'Thick-Billed Green Pigeon'

Blue-Winged Leafbird

A sub-adult bird.

Spectacle Spiderhunter

It looks more like a goggle and it is probably looking for a spider i believe.

Blue-Throated Bee-Eater

This one is a male but majority seen were either females or sub-adult. 

Buff-Vented Bulbul

This bulbul has become increasing difficult to find and its status should be changed to a localised resident bulbul instead.

Gray Wagtail

These 'Gray Wagtail' are easier to identify as compared to the one i saw at Sungai Chongkak recently.

Tiger Shrike

This shrike was waiting patiently for insects inside a very low undergrowth.

I saw this female 'Greater Green Leafbird' screaming something at her partner

"Get down here before that branch breaks"

Greater Green Leafbird - female

What a feminine looking leafbird !

HAPPY BIRD WATCHING !

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 !