A Close Encounter with Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus)

Many a times most people would prefer to watch wild animals in their natural surroundings. Some may even pay big bucks for it. Human-animal conflicts are inevitable in any urbanisation efforts. When we take away their habitat they have no other places to go but to find refuge or source for food in our world. Fortunately there are small pockets of forest reserve just outside the city to provide some shelter for these animals when a conflict happened.

A juvenile Asian Palm Civet had literally came 'knocking' at my balcony door at 5.00 am on August 12. Initially thought as a mischievous cat trying to impose some spooky scratching sound but when i saw a long black tail, i knew i was seeing a different animal. I quickly went down to take my fishing net and waited awhile for some sunlight. At about 6.30am, i slowly open the balcony door and there it was, cuddling quietly at one corner. As i slowly place the net over it, suddenly it jumped up and tried to scale the balcony. There were moments of a "Tom & Jerry" chase before it finally entered the net. Once it has calmed down i moved it slowly into its temporary cage and went back to sleep.

Here is the juvenile Asian Palm Civet which i have named "Musky". For starters, i gave Musky a slice of papaya, a banana and an apple. She ate the entire banana and half of the papaya but she did not touch the apple at all. It certainly live up to its Asian namesake for liking only local fruits. Perhaps i should have tried to give Musky some nasi lemak or roti canai to eat ! 

Then i raided the fridge and found some cooked chicken and decided to give it a try.

You can see Musky gladly took the piece of chicken from my hand. Although it may looked tame here but it was still a wild animal. It would puff loudly like the sound of a cobra when i tried to touch it. Her eyes remind me of some fruit bats i have seen before. I believe they would use three important senses in the wild i.e eyesight, smell and hearing. All three senses are equally important for their survival.

Yummy chicken which Musky gladly ate. In intervals i fed it with more banana and papaya for moisture. 

To cool it, i sprayed some water over Musky but i think she doesn't really like it. Through out the day this celebrity mammal was seen cleaning her self while being surrounded with flashlights. On the following day (i.e August 13, Sunday), it was time for Musky to go 'home'. Drove about 25 km and found a secluded trail and placed Musky down in an open space inside the jungle. The smell of the jungle had certainly got Musky excited as she had bolted out as soon as i opened the cage door. 

The first thing Musky did was to rub her scent on a dead tree stump as can be seen in this photo. 

After awhile of rubbing and a few leaps Musky was already on her way exploring the natural world. Although there were no farewell ceremony or kenduri held, i believe Musky was very happy to be back to her real home. There are certainly more fruits to eat in the jungle than just papaya or rambutans.

There was a saying that "sometimes goods things come in pairs".  Not long after Musky left, another Civet came to my balcony on 16 August (Wednesday) at 2.15 am. This time it was "Sniffy" whom i believe was Musky's sibling. Since Sniffy arrived on a weekday, i have more time to study his behavior and took more decent photos.

Here is Sniffy having a bite at his favourite fruit. 

Sniffy is much smaller as compared to Musky but he was not as 'friendly' as Musky. Sniffy looks more like a racoon here.

Wish Sniffy could bark instead of bite. 

He too enjoyed a piece of the home cooked chicken.

Now Sniffy looks more like a fox from this angle !

Finally it was Sniffy's turn to go home. On August 19th (Saturday), i went about 20 km further than Musky so as to prevent any 'inbreeding'. Literature says that this animal are usually solidarity so i guess they should be fine 'alone'.

Here is Sniffy having one last look at me before departing. Not sure what was in his mind though!

Unlike Musky, Sniffy took his sweet time and headed to the nearest available tree.

He kept sniffing at the tree trunk as he made his way up.

A vertical climb without any harness ! 

There are certainly bigger trees to climb here than just telephone poles. 

On my way out from the jungle trail, i saw a familiar bunch of leaves and twigs hanging down from some branches. 

As i approached the nest, a bird quickly flew out. Ah ! it must be an active nest. I waited for awhile and it came back. It was a Black-and-Red Broadbill (Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchos). 

Here you can see it poking its head into the nest feeding another bird inside.

After just a few photos i quickly left the area so as not to disturb their nesting activities.

What a memorable occasion !

The End 

A Birding Trip to Awana - June 2016

This customised day trip was intended to see as many bird species as possible within a day at this important hill station for bird life. A total of 26 species were seen and heard which included a diverse spread of common lowland sundaic birds as well as some much sort after mega specialities such as Red-Headed Trogon, Golden Babbler, and Malaysian Hawk Cuckoo. The journey along the Karak highway was nothing spectacular except for a flyby Creasted Serpent Eagle. 

The trip up to the hill station was accompanied by a symphony of chorus from Striped-Tit babbler, Grey-Throated babbler as well as some tailor birds. An obliging Oriental Magpie Robin was also seen hopping along the roadside. Reaching the site at about 8.15am. i have probably missed some early/nocturnal birds such as Collared Owlet and Slaty-backed Forktail which have been seen here before. This little set back was later compensated by a few bird waves that came soon after. Here are some of their photos: 

Black-browed Barbet

A common barbet which can be found in sub-montane and montane regions.

The two red spots on the upper breast as well as its overall colors appeared to be less intense on this bird as compared to the first one at the top. Hence could this be a female bird?

Little Cuckoo Dove

HBW Alive had mentioned a subspecies called M.r malayana which is said to be found in Peninsular Malaysia and has an overall darker color than M.r orientalis. Could this be one of them?

The above bird was probably a female as shown from its heavily blackish mottling breast.

Hume's White Eye

In the highlands, they would represent the white-eyes.

A look at its undercarriage.

Streaked Wren Babbler

The distinctive clear bold black streaks on its chest certainly points it to a Streaked Wren babbler but could this belong to the sub species T.b leucostictus ? The bird attracted my attention through its call which was quite different than its normal one or two note calls.

This was a record shot of a Malaysian Hawk Cuckoo !

I have tried my best to a get a frontal view but a bit more closer would mean that i will be taking its photo from 30 meters down below the ravine.

Little Pied Flycatcher

What a cutee !

This one was a juvenile.

A stunning looking Mountain Bulbul

and an equally nice looking Striped Throated Bulbul

Golden Babbler

Birders will agree that this bird is always on steroids.

Grey-chinned Minivet (male)

I love its scientific name: P. solaris. Could this be a P.s montanus due to its intense red color?

Grey-chinned Minivet (female)

She is about to take off

She is looking like a little parakeet here. This time the female had outshined the male minivet.

Female Blyth Shrike Babbler

A common sundaic bird.



A well respected bird in the highlands and mountains - Chestnut-capped Laughing Thrush



Not sure why this swiflet has more spots on its body? Ah ! just found out that this could be a "Plume-toed Swiflet" (effective in 2017). Formerly called 'Glossy Swiflet'

Red-headed Trogon (male)

Any birder, young and old alike will be mesmerised by this bird. So blessed that we have such a nice looking bird here. Despite its bright colors, it wasn't easy to spot this bird in the forest.

It was a joy to see it sally for insects. Unlike a flycatcher, this trogon does not return to the same branch after grabbing the insect in flight.

Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike

Despite its common and non vulnerable status, it was not an easy bird to find.

Sometimes when a bird is present continuously in a particular area it does not really mean that the bird species is common because in other parts of the world it may have become extinct.

Ah ! here is another common bird - Long-tailed Sibia. They are easily the noisiest bird in the mountains.

Bronzed Drongo

Despite its common status, little is known about its life.

Lastly but not least, here is my favourite barbet

Fire-tufted Barbet

From its weird cicada-like calls to its colorful head pattern, this barbet never fail to amazed me.


HAPPY BIRDING !

Birding in Merbok, June 2017

Merbok is a small sleepy town located in a Northern state of Peninsular Malaysia. It was believed that the place was once a site of an ancient civilization or trade centre where its archaeological sites/ruins can be seen just from the roadside. I was there not as "Indiana Jones" but more for the birds which can be seen/found in the area especially the Mangrove Pitta. Here are some of the birds which i have seen although the Mangrove Pitta had decided to stay hidden. 

Jungle Myna (Acridotheres fuscus)

Jungle Myna are common in the Northern states of Peninsular Malaysia especially from Penang upwards. They can be found mostly around plantation areas, jungle edges and interior villages. There were some discussions out there as to why most photos don't show the bluish base at their bill as described by some field guides. I have actually seen Jungle Myna with their bluish bill base but unfortunately it was in a pet shop. Could the bluish color only appear during courtship, or when they are afraid or perhaps it will only shown if the birds are not hybrids? They are known to cross breed with Common Myna. 

Oriental Pratincole (Glareola maldivarum)

I didn't expect to see Oriental Pratincole at this time of the year. Alan J (2012) field guide however mentioned that there are a few resident colonies in the state of Kedah and Perlis. Could this be a resident bird then?

I saw a total 5 birds. They were mainly airborne, thanks / no thanks to Mr Brahminy Kite which was thermalling above them. Most of them were juvenile/sub adult and probably just one adult as shown below.

If you happen to bump into this bird, do come out from your car and watch them fly. Their graceful flight patterns are definitely pleasing to see.

At times they would do some preening in flight.

This swiflet is the master of airborne activities. They could do almost anything in flight, from eating to preening etc.

Oriental White-Eye (Zosterops palpebrosus)

Hardly see them in my birding trips and i think you can see Everett's white-eye (Zosterops everetti) more often than these white-eye.

Pacific Swallow

Photos were taken near some mangrove area hence the pleasing greenish background albeit with some noise texture.

On my way back, i bump into a family of Smooth-coated Otters (Lutrogale perspicillata)

The above photo was taken from inside my car about 60 m away. I decided to stop the car as i sense they are about to cross the road. The first otter probably an alpha male / patriarch was constantly looking at my direction before signaling them to cross the road.

One by one they dashed across the road as fast as they could. The young ones were accompanied closely by their parents as would by any human parents with their children. 

Once everyone were safely across, the adults lead the way into the mangroves.

"No, you go first, i will cover for you" !

Even at this young age, the behavior of "looking out for each other" in this species of otter had already embedded into them. Not sure whether this behavior had emerged thru observation from their parents or perhaps they are already in their genes. Anyway they really cute animals!

HAPPY BIRDING !