5th April 2011: Kapar Power Station, Selangor

A few more shots from my second day at the roost (morning and evening).



This is the roost before dawn, lit by the security lights.

There's a video here. See how many birds you can id!I can see Marsh Sandpipers and a sand plover, and hear Terek Sandpipers ("wi-di-di"), Common Redshanks (single downward-inflected "tew") and Savanna Nightjar (regular 'chwizz') with some Black-crowned Night-heron calls in the background (a duck-like "kwak").







Simon's White-faced Whimbrel was around again today, and I got some better pics of it.



And some more normal ones!



At last I got a nice comparison shot of Black-tailed (front) and Bar-tailed Godwit (right rear) in non-breeding plumage. Apart from the difference in size, leg length and upperpart colour and pattern, this picture shows the difference in supercilium pattern well.



And this one the difference in underwing pattern and flight profile.





A Bar-tail against a threatening sky.



And a flock with a Whimbrel.



A better shot of Marsh Sandpipers in flight than I got yesterday.



Common Redshank (left) and Terek Sandpiper (right) showing the difference in upperwing pattern and leg length.



Two Red Knots and a Great Knot behind. The left hand Red Knot is surely of the 'piersmai' race. The right hand one could be 'rogersi', but equally, could be a female or later moulting 'piersmai', as far as I can tell! Can anyone shed further light?










































A couple of Grey Plover portraits.



A couple of Lesser Sand Plovers, showing a)how long and sharp the bill can be on 'schaeferi' birds and b)that sand plovers can sometimes show quite a prominent pale collar when in worn (in this case, 1st summer) plumage.



A plover with a mostly white head would normally get one thinking about Oriental Plover at this time of year! However, this one, with its pink, black-tipped bill, clearly isn't! It's a leucistic Lesser Sand Plover.



What amazed me was that I only 'saw' this bird during my fourth visit to the roost in two days (even though it was right in front of me yesterday - did you spot it in this photo?). Could I have missed a Spoon-billed Sandpiper? Absolutely!



In 2008/9 we had a sandy-coloured Lesser Sand Plover (here) and a mostly white Common Redshank (here). Leucistic or albino birds usually don't last long in the wild, where it's definitely not an advantage to stand out from the crowd! I wonder whether we'll see this one again. The bill is interesting!



There's a video of the bird here.



More stints! Here's a bird showing quite obvious chestnut fringes to the longest two tertials. So - is it a Little? While Little Stints in breeding plumage do have chestnut fringes to the tertials, Red-necked can frequently show chestnut fringes to these feathers as well, and even to some inner greater coverts. Chestnut fringes to the outer greater coverts, and to the median and lessers is diagnostic of Little (cf Red-necked). What can be seen of the inner greater coverts on this bird reveals rather inconclusive greyish fringes. Structurally, the long body, large squarish head and short, straight bill all favour Red-necked (which is what it is).



What about this one? In addition to the tertials and inner greater coverts showing chestnut fringes, the visible median and lesser coverts are also chestnut-fringed, so this is the Real McCoy!



And this? The colder, darker tones should tell you that it's neither Red-necked nor Little, nor even a stint, but a Broad-billed Sandpiper!





A nice comparison of plumage and structure.





I could only find two Little Stints today.







A few shots showing the difference in bill structure: Little's bill is less deep-based, thinner and finer-tipped than Red-necked's.





A couple more shots of the duller bird.



And the brighter one, showing all you need to make a positive id!

A couple of clips, showing each bird, here and here.





Two Painted Storks put in an appearance from time to time. This was the brighter of the two birds. These are assumed to be dispersants from the full-winged feral colony which has spread outward from Zoo Negara in KL.

30th March 2010: Lower Kinabatangan, Gomantong Caves and Sepilok

Our last morning at KJC was spent on another excursion to look for the ground-cuckoo.





The river just after sunrise.



One of our first birds was this Storm's Stork feeding rather close to the water's edge.



It flew up into a nearby tree at our approach, so we probably saved it from being a croc's breakfast!



Have a guess what this is!



Taking a morning bath at speed!



Did you guess right? A pair of Brown-backed Needletails came down to bathe near our boat. This stunning performance was one of the highlights of my whole trip. Sadly neither the camera nor the photographer were quite up to doing the whole experience justice!



Turning up the creek to look for ground-cuckoos, I finally got a shot of an Oriental Pied Hornbill in good light. This is a male.



Wood Nymph butterflies have a unique slow fluttering wing action. This one went right over us!





Black-naped Monarchs are commonly heard, but less easy to see well. This male had just had a dip in the river and was finishing off his morning ablutions.



We came to a log that had fallen across the creek, effectively turning it into a cul de sac. This Oriental Darter found itself caught between us and the fallen tree, and wasn't quite sure what to do, enabling us to get great views of it.



The tertials and tail feathers are quite extraordinary. They look as if they're made from PVC rather than feathers!



Eventually the bird had to move, so it opted to fly as far as the fallen log.



It then sank out of sight like a submarine diving, only to appear from the neck up near the bank, trying to look inconspicuous.



Finally, it decided to make a dash for freedom, so with much flapping and splashing, it took off and flew past us. Fantastic!



Meanwhile on the fallen tree itself, a troop of Pig-tailed Macaques were sunning themselves. These youngsters were busily quarrelling, quite oblivious to us.



They made friends again later!






















I started to feel guilty under this one's reproving stare!



I decided this one must be a teenager!



On our way back we came across this female Rufous-tailed Shama carrying food. Robert told us that this is a rare bird here - more rarely seen than the ground-cuckoo in fact...! This was not much consolation for the continuing silence from the cuckoos.

We had brief views of Scarlet-rumped Trogon and a Hooded Pitta, but otherwise, the birds were much the same as yesterday, until...






















...Robert pointed out a couple of White-fronted Falconets - two males. My first lifer since arriving in Sabah!



Fairly high up, but that's quite typical of falconets I guess!

Oh well, plenty to come back for, which I certainly plan to. The Lower Kinabatangan is one amazing place!

En route back to Sepilok, we stopped to look at a few birds...







...a Striated Grassbird



...and several Bat Hawks. Bat Hawks were about the most frequently encountered raptor on my trip. I counted 7 birds between Kinabatangan and Sepilok. Every mengaris (tualang) tree seemed to have at least one bird, even if the tree was the only one standing in a sea of oil palm.



We stopped off at Gomantong Caves so that we could tick off Edible-nest, Black-nest and Mossy-nest Swiftlets (pic), which can all be safely identified as they sit on their distinctive nests. The rain made the steps in the cave treacherously slippery, and the handrails were not much help, being covered in guano and crawling with cockroaches. The stench of ammonia from the guano in the cave was pretty powerful.

Also en route back to Sepilok, we stopped and scanned a weedy pool in an oil palm estate. It only had five Common Moorhens and a Little Grebe on it, so we didn't spend much time there. It was only when we reached Sepilok and I checked Myers that I realized that there are only a small handful of records of Little Grebe from the whole of Borneo, and that it was undoubtedly the rarest bird of the trip!



Back at Sepilok just before dusk, we made for the Bristlehead Tower again. I got another chance to photograph the male Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, and another chance to miss Bristlehead! The flying squirrels weren't in the mood tonight either - only a couple appeared long after dark.






















After dinner we went out to try for night mammals and birds. Our success was limited - a few Brown Hawk-owls, this Colugo...



...and a roosting Black-backed Kingfisher, looking like a gem in the spotlight!

So, four mornings and four evenings at Sepilok produced no Bristleheads, three days at KJC produced no ground-cuckoos, and in the whole trip I only saw one new bird! Nevertheless I was well-pleased with this trip, and it gives me a good excuse to go back again!