18 January 2011: Kamunting mining ponds, Perak

This was a quick 'twitch' to see a Little Cormorant reported over the weekend. The light was terrible first thing in the morning, but the bird obliged, despite being rather distant!





This scarce, but probably annual visitor was a new Malaysian bird for me. Thanks to Kim Chye, Yian and Terence for getting the news out promptly!



There was also a pair of Cotton Pygmy-geese at the pond. This is one of them.

Another good bird was a Lanceolated Warbler, which I flushed while trying to get around to the sunny side of the lake. It didn't stay visible long enough for a photo however.





A Lesser Coucal sunning itself provided another opportunity to try out the new digiscoping set-up.



This was a dragonfly 'lifer' for me - Neurothemis tullia. Very common in this habitat.

Cormorants and Australian Darter

Mainland Australia has five cormorants, four of which are pretty widespread.



Here are three of them: Little Black, Great and Pied







The same three airborne.



This is the fourth widespread spcies - Little Pied.





The fifth, Black-faced Cormorant, is restricted to the south eastern corner.



Not a raptor ... an Australian Darter!

25th December 2009: Olhos De Agua, the Algarve, Portugal

It was a different Christmas! We had booked lunch at a Chinese Restaurant in town, but as a good many of us were down with some kind of sickness, only a reduced crowd attended. After lunch a walk along the beach was in order to try to walk off some of those calories!







Some Great Cormorants sleeping off their Christmas lunch!



I don't normally photograph this species, but as it looked relatively wild and in its natural habitat, I snapped this Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon on a sea stack. Whether the Algarve has a relict population of wild birds I know not, but it looked good!





More Ruddy Turnstones.





A Whimbrel fly-past and another sitting on the cliffs, not a place you normally expect to see one.



Doughnut in the sky over Albufeira harbour.

24th December 2009: Olhos De Agua, the Algarve, Portugal

A selection of photos from within walking distance of our rented accommodation...






Azure-winged Magpies were numerous and noisy but also exceptionally difficult to get close to. These shots were the best I managed all week.



Partridges in Western Europe don't quite have the same mystique as partridges in Asia, but Red-legged Partridges are nonetheless pretty smart birds.



My only lifer of the trip was the not terribly inspiring Spotless Starling. This was the only view I got of one on the ground.



Mountainous waves and a thick mist of salt-spray meant I had to keep my optics under wraps, but there were a few birds passing - like this flock of Black-headed Gulls...



There were several 'Bonxies' or Great Skuas, all well out to sea.



And a lone Sandwich Tern flew past just offshore.



...as did a Great Cormorant.



One of the resident Yellow-legged Gulls.



A few Ruddy Turnstones provided plenty of photo-opportunities on the beach.



These small reddish bivalves washed up on the tideline seemed to be the prey of choice.



Once one was found it was whisked away to a solitary spot suitably distant from other turnstones.



The shellfish's muscle was no match for the chisel bill of the turnstone, and before long, the succulent-looking white flesh was extracted, shaken and eaten.





Some birds preferred to hunt on the beach, others preferred the rockpools, where they seemed fairly unconcerned by the .regular surges of breaking surf.





Getting flight shots was a challenge as the sun was always on the seaward side, so getting the light behind me meant getting wet feet!

23rd December 2009:Olhos De Agua and the Alvor Estuary, Algarve, Portugal

A rare moment of blue skies! By migrating south to Portugal, we found we had exhanged snow for rain. Only two days out of eight were rainfree during our short visit.



Lesser Black-backed Gull. This was a family holiday rather than a birding trip, so most of my pics were taken near where we were staying, in Olhos De Agua, just outside Albufeira.















A selection of Mediterranean Gulls. 'Med Gulls' were at times the commonest gull around, and on other days completely absent.





















One of many sea stacks just offshore, beloved of cormorants as roosting and drying out places.



A subadult Great Cormorant.

We paid a short visit to the A Rocha field studies centre where we were treated to warm Portuguese hospitality by the couple who run the centre, Marcial and Paula. We also drove down to the marvellous Alvor Estuary nearby, though sadly the weather was awful!





A group of 17 wintering Greater Flamingos was an incongruous sight!



One of several Common Stonechats feeding along the edge of the saltmarsh.



And a Common (Greater) Ringed Plover feeding on the estuary side of the sea wall.





Crested Larks were numerous in the fields were cattle were grazing.



As were Western Cattle Egrets - looking much smaller-billed than their eastern counterparts.



A Black-winged Stilt (a male presumably) with an exceptional amount of black on the head and neck.