Showing posts with label crow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crow. Show all posts

Sunday, October 24, 2010

16th October 2010: Borneo Bird Festival, Sepilok, Sabah

Today was a 'working day', in that all of the speakers gave their presentations. There were some excellent talks, a full list of which can be found here, but not much time for birding!



Although I've seen Bristleheads once, at Danum Valley, I've never seen them at Sepilok, which is 'the' site for them. They were seen each day of the festival, but I maintained my Bristlehead-free record (extending it to 8 days and counting!), and the only bird on view from the canopy walkway was this Slender-billed Crow.

Back at the Nature Resort, the usual suspects were making their way too and from the fruiting tree...







A female (top) and two male Black Hornbills.



The female Rhino enjoying the evening sun.



A Blue-winged Pitta was calling from the scrub across the lake from my chalet. This is a common bird in parts of northern Peninsular Malaysia but is apparently less so in Sabah, judging from the amount of interest it generated among local birders! It got progressively less showy as time went on, but was nevertheless quite obliging both morning and afternoon.






















This Brown-throated Sunbird was camped in the flowers outside my chalet (what are they called by the way?) and would not allow any other birds near, much to my frustration, as both Little and Thick-billed Spiderhunters were trying to come to feed as well!



The swiflets weren't flying so near today, so this was the best I got - a Mossy-nest Swiftlet.



This was a bonus, a male Blue-eared Kingfisher against some attractive reflections!



I did a short night-walk, and this Brown Boobook ('borneensis' race) was the only fruit for my labours.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

14 July 2010: Sungai Burung, Penang Island

It's mid-July, times are hard, pickings are slim!

I equipped myself with the call of Horsfield's Bronze-cuckoo and headed off to some mangroves this evening, but again, not surprisingly, drew a blank!

The Copper-throated Sunbirds which I discovered 4 years ago are still in their favoured area, but less photogenic owing to the undergrowth having been cleared. Now they keep to the tops of the palms.



I told you times are bad. Reduced to photographing House Crows...



Jungle Mynas...



Crested Serpent-eagle...





Brahminy Kite...



...and Asian Glossy Starlings. Actually, these birds are one of my favourite common birds. Juvs and adults both look smart in different ways. This is a juv already starting to grow some glossy green adult feathers.







This younger juv is still all in fresh juv plumage, and the eye is just changing from brown to red.





Check out the difference in eye colour between these two birds!

This post just shows that it's not all about finding interesting and exciting birds! You have to put the hours in as well!

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

25th March 2010: Rainforest Discovery Centre, Sepilok, Sabah

After three days of workshops in Sandakan, it was a nice change to get some fresh air at the Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC), Sepilok, which is just a half hour drive west of the town.

I stayed at Sepilok B & B, which was reasonably priced, clean, and more importantly, just a couple of minutes' walk from RDC.

At RDC I made a bee-line for the Bristlehead Tower and canopy walkway, with high hopes of getting great views of Bristleheads, which are regularly viewed from there.



A male Van Hasselt's (ex Purple-throated) Sunbird had its territorial songpost in a tree next to the tower. Outside of Singapore this is a difficult species to see, as it is a canopy specialist, so it was great to get eye level views here.



A large black bird making funny noises, but disappointingly, not a Bristlehead! A pair of Bornean Black Magpies foraged in the trees in the early morning.



Giant Squirrels in Sabah are an interesting colour variation on the animals in the Peninsula, with an attractive ringed tail.



The Prevost's Squirrels here look different as well, lacking the white flank stripe.





Fiery Minivets and Red-eyed Bulbuls were other visitors during the morning's wait.







The only crow species here is Slender-billed, which is rather scarce in the Peninsula. They're pretty shy, and these were my closest shots.





At the entrance to RDC, flowering plants attracted a variety of sunbirds, including Olive-backed, and more surprisingly, a Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker.























































A pair of Black-and-Red Broadbills had built their characterstic hanging nest over water. They appeared to be still building, and would bring a green leaf with which to line the nest whenever they returned to it.



Swiftlets aplenty! This is one of the darker species - Black-nest or Mossy-nest Swiftlet.



And an unfamiliar dragonfly to finish with.

So, no Bristleheads today - perhaps tomorrow...