30th and 31st August: Bukit Penara and Mainland Penang

A visit from Rafi and Angela from KL gave me another opportunity to go look for the Oriental Bay Owls on Bukit Penara. However, not only were the 'OBOs' not showing, even the normally reliable Brown Hawk-owls were silent and absent. Collared Scops-owl was the only owl heard, and we didn't really come close to seeing it.



This Colugo with young was the only success of the evening. This is the second time recently I have drawn a blank with the Oriental Bay Owls.

The fact that the weather has been fine for a few days may be partly responsible for the lack of birds along the coast today. No waders at all were on view at my usual coastal haunts.



Some compensation was had in the form of a Streak-eared Bulbul at Teluk Air Tawar. I had heard it at the site on my last visit, but been unable to see it. It was quite obliging today. These are pretty rare in this far south.



Apart from the call, which sounds more like an Oriental Reed Warbler than a bulbul, Streak-eared can be told from the much commoner Olive-winged Bulbul by the heavier, pink-based bill, pale iris and the more prominent streaks on the ear coverts.



Even the normally reliable Pulau Burung was unusually quiet today. Just a few Wood and Common Sandpipers and this solitary juvenile Common Redshank were on view. It's not often you see Common Redshank alongside Wood Sandpiper, as Redshanks are usually coastal mudflat birds, while Wood Sandpipers prefer freshwater habitats.



This subadult Black-shouldered Kite is helping to keep the local rat population in check.