16th February 2011: Mainland Penang

Reports of an interesting falcon from Hakim send me over the bridge to the paddyfields at Kampung Permatang Nibong at first light. The falcon was not immediately evident, so I scoured the area, ending up at the ponds where the Asian Openbills roost. This is a superb little spot for marsh birds, and would make a perfect ringing site - hmmm - something for the pipeline perhaps!





The openbills were soon located in the early morning light, roosting separately on some low trees.









A couple of birds are now in pretty smart plumage.







Once the sun was well up, they went for a bit of morning exercise!







Interesting to see the exposed red skin on the underwing.









The inner primaries and outer secondaries of this bird are glossed with a beautiful green-bronze sheen.





A bristling reception from an Intermediate Egret!



The video gives a flavour of the other birds in the area - Oriental Reed Warbler, Asian Koel, House Crow and Black-crowned Night-heron can be heard in the background.



A few juv Black-crowned Night-herons were perched on the bushes. I don't often photograph these, so took the opportunity today.



A female Pink-necked Green Pigeon indulging in an early morning sunbathe!



The vegetated ponds looked very 'crakey', but all I could see were Slaty-breasted Rails and this White-browed Crake and its mate.



There were also some Greater Painted-snipes. Unfortunately I didn't get a sharp shot while they were in the open, but amazingly, the camera locked on when they went behind the bushes!

Hakim alerted me to an interesting-looking biscuit-coloured Aquila eagle soaring some distance away, but, while I was driving to get closer to it, he called to say that he had relocated the falcon, so I did a quick U-turn.



The bird was still present on my arrival, but very wary indeed! It turned out to be a fine juvenile Peregrine.





Having had a good look at the Peregrine, I decided to resume my Aquila-hunt, and got lucky when I relocated the 'biscuit-coloured' eagle on the other side of the highway.



I was hoping it might be a Steppe Eagle, but was happy enough to find that it was an Eastern Imperial - my guess is that it is a second calendar year bird. I'm not sure if this is the same bird that was seen regularly in the area a month or more ago.



Before long a second Eastern Imperial appeared - an adult this time. I couldn't see any white on the scapulars of this bird, but couldn't be sure that it was a different bird from the earlier adult.



The long, rectangular, parallel-sided wing and longish tail and head projection of Eastern Imperial are markedly different from the shorter, rounder wings and shorter tail and neck of Greater Spotted. This is a juv. At one point we had 2 Eastern Imperial and 3 Greater Spotted Eagles in the air together - quite a sight!



The differences are quite apparent in this picture of the adult Eastern Imperial (above) and a Greater Spotted together.









The young Eastern Imperial landed in a field, but it soon flew off as we approached. None of these pictures are particularly sharp unfortunately.

Still, I was pretty happy with the morning's birding overall!

7 February 2011: mainland Penang ricefields

Had another shot at tracking down the Steppe Eagle today, this time with Aun Tiah of the Raptor Study Group.

We started off at Permatang Nibong, where one adult Greater Spotted Eagle was roosting on the favourite pylon. The Peregrine pair were still on pylon 319, and another could be seen distantly perched on another pylon.



Here's the pair.





A close up of each bird. Compared to the one at Sungai Dua (see the photos on this post), these are noticeably darker above, lack the pale forehead, have broader moustachials, a peach wash to the underparts and heavier spotting on the belly and flanks. These differences seem to accord with what we could find in literature about the differences between the japonensis and callidus subspecies. Could it be that these birds are japonensis and the Sg Dua bird is callidus? They all seem in fresh plumage (so the differences can't be attributed to wear). I'd be interested to hear views on these birds.

We spotted some mistnets with dead birds in them in the distance, so started walking toward them. As we did so, we regularly flushed Zitting Cisticolas left and right out of the paddies.



But it would be a mistake to assume that everything that comes out of the rice is a Cisticola! Especially early in the morning, when skulking Locustellas come out to sun themselves, as this Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler did.



"PG Tips" as we called them in my UK twitching days (not that I ever saw one in the UK!) start singing early in the year while still on the wintering grounds. The song and call are quite distinctive, and best heard early morning.



I moved to get closer to the bird. The light was less favourable so I didn't have much hope for these pics, but actually I find the effect of the strong backlighting quite pleasing.



This worn individual is quite well-streaked on the breast and has lost its white tail-tips.






















Flashing its undertail at me before diving into cover!

It's quite amazing how the light affects the appearance of the plumage of this bird. Had I not seen it in good light (first two pics) I might have been wondering if this was a Middendorf's Grasshopper Warbler, as it looks relatively unstreaked above in the backlit pics. Before you ask, it's definitely the same bird - and even the same stalk!



An adult female Pied Harrier gave us brief views. The rear flanks are distinctively white and unstreaked.



The nets had 5-6 birds in them, some dessicated by the heat to the extent that they were unrecognizable.



A female Greater Painted-snipe.






















Cinnamon Bittern.






















Barn Owl.

This illegal practice is still widespread over many rice-growing areas. The rationale is apparently to deter birds that might eat the paddy, although the mesh is large enough to let munias, the main crop-feeders, pass right through.

We moved onto Sungai Dua, where the juv Steppe Eagle had been seen. We had another good view of the Peregrine there - our 4th for the morning, and on our way back toward the road, came across this sitting in a field.







A superb juvenile Greater Spotted Eagle.





It didn't stay perched for long.



Getting some unwanted attention from a local Brahminy Kite.

So still no Steppe Eagle on my third attempt. In the afternoon, we headed to Perak to watch a large harrier roost at Ulu Dedap. More in the next post!