28th January 2009: Fraser's Hill

Chinese New Year means it's time for my wife's family to have their annual get-together at Fraser's Hill. I had nothing to do with the choice of venue, but I thoroughly approve of it! While they are busy with mahjong and numerous other games involving lots of conviviality and noise, I slip away before anyone else is awake into the quietness and beauty of the forest trails and roads!

As always, I have my 'wish-list' of target birds, top of which are the species that continue to elude me after 20 years of visits: Pin-tailed Parrotfinch, Marbled Wren-Babbler, Bamboo Woodpecker, Barred Cuckoo-Dove, Ferruginous Partridge and the mythical Rusty-naped Pitta!

On the first morning I decided to try the so-called 'New Road' - a bit of a euphemism as the road has been closed practically since it was built due to numerous landslides. It's now an expensive cul-de sac ending in an enormous landslip. It does however, get down to altitudes that allow some submontane and lowland species to put in an appearance, including most of the birds on my wish-list!





The weather was fine, and good for aerials feeders and raptors. Several hundred migrant Fork-tailed Swifts and about 50 Asian House Martins competed for airspace with the resident House Swifts and White-bellied Swiftlets. These are the best shots of the Fork-tailed Swifts I could manage.







A magnificient Black Eagle appeared in and out of a patch of low cloud.




































And this Blyth's Hawk-Eagle flew in even lower to perch on a branch overhead.



A noisy flock of Black Laughingthrushes flew across a gap in the canopy.



As did a couple of pairs of Wreathed Hornbills, the yellow-pouched males being visibly larger than the females. The whoosh of their wingbeats allowed me to get the camera ready long before they appeared.



A singing blue flycatcher from within thick undergrowth surrounding a stream proved to be a Hill Blue Flycatcher.





A pair of foraging Red-billed Malkohas proved unusually obliging for malkohas, which mostly seem to stay in thick cover, eluding attempts to get a clear shot.






















I was surprised how 'fluffy' they were. They seemed almost furry!






















There was no sound or sight of my bogey birds, so I returned to the hilltop, where this Large Hawk-Cuckoo was the highlight of the rest of the day.

There seemed to be good numbers of Siberian Thrushes around, but getting a decent photograph was another story!





But I was pleased to get a couple of shots of a fine adult male Mugimaki Flycatcher in the late afternoon.

26th January 2009: AWC count, Tanjung Tokong

Every year, at the end of January, the Asian Waterbird Census takes place. This is conducted by an army of (mostly) volunteers in 21 countries throughout Asia, who visit a wetland site, note its present condition, and count the birds using it. The focus is predominantly waterbirds, but note is also made of non-waterbirds that are using the site (eg raptors, kingfishers, pipits and wagtails, etc).



Waterbirds come in many shapes and sizes!

Today I was joined by Lim Aun Tiah and his wife to do a count of Tanjung Tokong mudflats. Numbers were relatively modest compared to numbers in the passage periods, with a mere 596 birds of 15 species recorded. 2 "White-faced" Plovers were present, though, for the time being, they will go into the Census as 'Kentish' Plovers.





Some people are surprised to find that it is possible to identify waders in flight. In fact, sometimes identification is simpler in flight, when wing, tail and rump patterns can be seen, than when the bird is at rest. What differences can you see here between the Common Greenshank (above) and the Common Redshank (below)?

I still remember a friend challenging me to draw the head pattern of a Blue Tit (a common and familiar garden bird in the UK) from memory. I found that I couldn't do it very accurately! My friend's point was that, although we can spend many hours examining every feather of a rarity in detail, we often take little notice of the birds which are all around us.



Here's a case in point. Baya Weaver is the only weaver likely to occur as a wild bird in Malaysia. It's pretty common. But how sure am I that this is a Baya Weaver? Can I rule out an escaped weaver of some other Asian species? Actually, I couldn't! I had to do a bit of research into Streaked Weaver (subspecies 'williamsoni'), and learned something in the process!



So, is it or isn't it?!



Here's another one that had me going. I had read up on Long-billed Plover and could remember some of the distinguishing features. I had studied photos on the web and had been surprised how similar they could look to Little Ringed Plover. And I had subconsciously been on the look-out for one. When I picked out this bird with its prominent black frontal bar, thin breastband and very slender appearance I began to wonder. The bill was covered in mud, so wasn't giving much away.



I noted that the tail extended beyond the wingtips, and was fairly sure that this was a feature of Long-billed. By this time the bird was looking more and more like a Long-billed to my mind! I was on the verge of texting a few friends to that effect, but still a vestige of doubt lingered. Could Little Ringed look like this? The truth was that, despite often seeing "LRPs", I had never really sat down and studied them in detail. I started scanning around at other birds and found 2 other similarly plumaged individuals. One Long-billed Plover in Malaysia would be a remarkable find, but THREE??? Unlikely! Doubts began to grow and I put my phone back in my pocket.

Once home I dug out an excellent article in the December 2006 issue of BirdingASIA by Nick Lethaby. There I discovered that Long-billed Plover has a white forehead, while Little Ringed has a black forehead ... quick check of my birds - black forehead! Lesson (re)learned: Take more notice of common birds!



Crested Myna - a common bird, at least in Penang, but when was the last time I really sat and looked at one?

January 12th - 17th: Biodiversity surveys in Pahang

This is a short photographic summary of some biodiversity surveys I was involved in recently. The survey work was mostly on the fringes of oil palm estates bordering forest reserve areas around Segamat and Maran, Pahang.



Black-shouldered Kites do very well in oil palm estates, especially if there are sufficient trees left in which to nest. They are the commonest raptor, but beautiful nonetheless!



At night, our surveys usually reveal a healthy population of Barn Owls.






















Spotted Wood Owls are even more evident, being the most commonly recorded owl in the estates, though mostly along the fringes.



They are usually pretty approachable!



Buffy Fish-Owls are much less common, and always in the vicinity of streams, drains or rivers.







Collared Scops Owls are more often heard than seen, but we got lucky with this one. We also heard Reddish Scops, Oriental Bay and Brown Wood Owls, and Gould's and Javan Frogmouths, but these were too elusive to photograph.



The commonest mammals recorded on our night-time surveys are usually Common Palm Civets. Any mammal spotted off the ground is likely to be this species.

A pair of eyes in the lights on the ground could also belong to a civet, or a feral dog, cat or cow, but I always hope they'll reveal my favourite night survey species - a Leopard Cat!






















This adult seemed unperturbed by our presence.



...And we were able to watch this delightful half-grown kitten going on a hunting foray.






















This big (male?) one seemed a lot more reserved.



Evidence of Wild Boar incursion is usually very obvious, but we rarely get chance to observe the culprits on the scene!



By day, the mammals we see are usually squirrels of various species, and this time we recorded the impressive Black Giant Squirrel.



Red Junglefowl, the ancestor of our domestic chook, are plentiful and relatively easy to observe.



Around the staff quarters we observed three myna species. This photo shows a Jungle Myna (left), distinguished by the blue bill base and whitish belly, with a Javan Myna (right), distinguished by the evenly grey underparts down to the vent. We observed mixed flocks of these two taxa. This is interesting, as Javan (a feral invasive species spreading from the south) has tended to displace or genetically swamp Jungle wherever it colonizes. Javan were recorded from this area from 2001 and, 7+ years later, Jungle still seems to be holding its own.



A group of Jungle Mynas.



The only evidence of hybridization we saw was this bird, which we identified as a Common x Javan Myna, on the basis of the yellow facial skin (Common) and slate-grey belly (Javan).



Hill Mynas aren't really related to the other mynas at all. These hang on in the estates along fringes with forest reserves, and take advantage of tall trees left standing within the estates to build their nests in a hole in the trunk.






















A small number of species live in the forested areas but make use of the oil palm fruits as an alternative food source. One is the Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot.



More species survive in the forest reserves along the estate boundaries, such as Black Hornbills...



...and Chestnut-breasted Malkohas.



Oriental Pied Hornbills tend to frequent settlement areas where there are ornamental fruiting trees.



Tiger Shrikes are typical forest fringe migrants.



Wetlands offer the chance of surprises, even when they are well inland. This Watercock had made a temporary home in the settlement ponds.





An interesting bird to finish with. I've seen juvenile Barn Swallows with white throats before, but this is the first time I've seen one apparently in adult plumage.