23 Jan 2010: Kubang Semang, mainland Penang

I'd not been to this site since returning from the UK, so I went to see if the Aquila eagles were still around.

My first bird of the day was an adult Imperial Eagle, sat on a pylon next to the road. It ignored a jogger and numerous motorcyclists passing beneath it, but flew as soon as I got out of the car!



Hence I only got this distant shot.




Later on I relocated the bird, but again it was wary of me, and I only managed flight shots of it taken directly into the sun! Still, this view shows the relatively long tail and head projection and narrower wings than Greater Spotted.



Scanning the wires I noticed a couple of Riparia martins alongside the other hirundines. This was the first time I've had chance to see these birds perched. The wingtips were seen to narrowly extend beyond the tail, which is supposedly a good feature of Pale Martin. Unfortunately the birds suddenly took flight, giving me no further chance to study them.



This adult Greater Spotted Eagle came down to feed on rats disturbed by a tractor ploughing.



Once it caught one it flew up to this telegraph pole.






















Where it was hassled by a Black Drongo and a Brown Shrike - a pair of plucky migrants joining forces!





This subadult Imperial didn't seem interested in hunting.





Scanning the pylons for eagles also revealed a couple of Peregrines. This well-barred bird, with its broad moustachial patches, seems to be the resident 'ernesti' race.




This one, more finely-barred below and with narrower moustachials, seems to be the migrant 'japonensis/calidus' form.