10th November 2009: Bandar PERDA ricefields, Bukit Mertajam, mainland Penang

Some pics from a short late afternoon visit before rain stopped play!



Couldn't resist this obliging Wood Sandpiper!



This female Pied Harrier was a new Penang bird for me.



In flight the very white underwing and rear body, and the greyish bases to the primaries are distinctive of female Pied.












































I found some tractors ploughing a field, and these are the pick of the Barn Swallows pictures I managed. No Red-rumped or Riparia martins among them today.



This one seemed to be managing OK without much of a tail.



And then the rain came! The flock of Pacific Golden Plovers came down in a field near the road and hunkered down.



The monsoon rains this year are exceptionally severe, so I guess they'd better get used to it!