28 December 2011: Batu Kawan and Pulau Burung, Penang

Two days after we arrived back from holidays in the UK, a small window of opportunity became available, and there was only one place to go; Batu Kawan, to see whether Mun's superstar visitors had waited for me, as he had promised they would! Getting up early wasn't a problem, courtesy of jetlag, so I was on site as first light dawned.



Sure enough, a quick scan soon located a solitary Oriental Darter roosting in a dead tree, and not long afterwards, the second bird flew in, having apparently been fishing in the floodwater beneath the tree.







As the light improved, I was joined by Mun himself, so was able to congratulate him personally on a memorable find (his finder's account is here).

Having had a good look at the darters, I decided to make my way to Pulau Burung. Mun was a bit shocked when I announced that I was moving on so soon, and in retrospect, I probably should have hung around longer, as his superb shots testify, but it was my first time out in over a month, I only had a few hours, and was anxious to get better views of the Garganeys, and whatever else may be lurking at Pulau Burung.

My first port of call was the temporary pools where the Little Stints had been last time. Since then, there've been White Wagtail and Pectoral Sandpiper, so I gave it a good grilling. There were now fewer birds, and all were were much more distant. Just one Little Stint was in evidence, and no rare wagtails or waders!



As I drove along the track I disturbed a pair of foraging Barred Buttonquails. This is quite a familiar scenario. The birds run along the track directly in front of the car. They are wondering how they can escape into the foliage either side, while I am wondering how to avoid the windscreen, get my eye to the viewfinder out of the side window (pointing forwards!) while keeping my foot gently on the gas and the car from meandering off the road! As usual, I largely failed, but the male did dither long enough for me to get one or two acceptable shots.





Next up it was time to focus my attention on the Garganeys. Oddly, they didn't associate with each other the whole time I was there. This rather bright bird turned out to be a female (you can check out the forewing colour in Mun's blog here.)





The male (told by the bright blue-grey forewing) kept much more distant, and hung out with the Lesser Whistling-ducks most of the time.

The other birds present were the 'usual suspects', but, even though I have filled my memory cards many times over with their images, it's hard to resist them when they pose so beautifully!



Blue-tailed Bee-eater.



A subadult (and subtly colourful) Common Moorhen.



Common Sandpiper (and friend!).







Wood Sandpipers.

So, thanks to Mun and those Oriental Darters, I managed to pick up my 560th species in Peninsular Malaysia on my last birding outing of the year! What surprises will 2012 turn up? Bring it on!

Every best wish for 2012.

6th - 11th April 2011: Lahad Datu, Sabah

Actually about an hour and a half north of Lahad Datu, not in Danum Valley I'm afraid, but doing some surveys in oil palm plantations.



It was wet! We were cut off for 24 hrs at one point, with water rising to shoulder height!



Not much yellow on the bellies of Yellow-bellied Prinias in East Malaysia! This is the endemic subspecies 'latrunculus'.






















Bird diversity in oil palm is pretty poor, but around the edges it can get interesting if there is forest remaining, even where it is severely degraded. This menggaris (tualang) tree was home to a pair of nesting Changeable Hawk-eagles, and the same area had Storm's Stork, Black-and-Crimson Pitta, Chestnut-necklaced Partridge, 4 hornbills including Wrinkled, Thick-billed Flowerpecker and Blue-and-White Flycatcher.



Crimson Sunbirds occur wherever there are nectar-producing plants.



A couple of recent arrivals...Red Junglefowl has been introduced to many plantations as a pest control measure...



Little Grebes have arrived under their own steam. We found them in two estates where suitable ponds existed.



Another relatively recent immigrant - this one from the Philippines - Striated Grassbirds frequent open grassy areas and love telegraph wires to belt out their song!



Wandering Whistling-ducks, on the other hand, have wandered up from Kalimantan, and are now the commonest duck in many areas. Compared to Lesser Whistling-duck, Wandering has a blacker, more substantial bill (shoe-shaped rather than triangular), has richer, more orange tones below, and a more pronounced dark line up the back of the neck and over the crown, which 'spills ' onto the face down to about eye level, especially in the loral area.



The flank plumes are much more prominent on Wandering than on Lesser. Compare with some Lessers here.






















In flight, viewed from above, they have obvious whitish uppertail coverts, unlike Lesser.



From below they're a little trickier, but with a decent view, the different bill structure and flank plumes distinguish them.

The wetland areas were the most interesting. Being cut off for a day gave us chance to wander round some effluent ponds, which, despite being well inland, proved a haven for a good variety of migrant and resident waterbirds.





White-browed Crakes were everywhere!



We found just one Moorhen, which proved to be Common rather than Dusky, to our disappointment!



This juv Yellow Bittern, with its browner streaked body and lesser coverts, could be mistaken for a Schrenk's (and had me going for a moment!).



There was quite a good variety of waders in small numbers. There were about 20 Long-toed Stints...



Some Pacific Golden Plovers, including this smart bird...

There were Wood Sandpipers, Common Sandpipers, Common Greenshank, Marsh Sandpipers, Black-winged Stilts, Pintail/Swinhoe's Snipes...



A Black-tailed Godwit, looking very out of place!



And, best of all, a Red-necked Phalarope! This was a Malaysian lifer for me, and was probably there as a result of all the rough weather we'd been having.







It was typically full of energy, chasing after waterborne invertebrates.







Quite flighty too, it would make little sorties round the pond, usually returning to its original spot.













Amazingly, the commonest hirundines were these Riparia martins. There were at least 10 birds. "Sand Martin" is a rare visitor to Borneo. However, these looked just like the birds I've been seeing in the Penang area over the last few years, very little tail fork, clean white belly below a narrow breastband, tiny bill; all of which hint at the possibility that these birds may be Pale Martins. We'll work it out eventually!






















Common Sandpiper footprints. It's the only wader that will routinely feed inside the plantation.






















Leopard Cat seems to be the only feline which thrives in oil palm. This young animal was one of 27 we observed in four night surveys!

Gallinules

Dusky Moorhen - distinguished from Common Moorhen by its reddish legs and absence of white flank lines. There are historical records from south-east Borneo, so another one for East Malaysian birders to watch for?











Purple Swamphen - noisy, aggressive, common, and looks nothing like the form we get in Malaysia!