23 - 25 March 2012: Kapar power station. 3. Curlews and Whimbrels

We counted 1,470 curlews and 1,450 Whimbrels. The curlews, as always, were distant, being the least tolerant of human company.

This was a challenge, as at least one of our number had not yet seen Far Eastern Curlew.



The bird at the front, two right of the Grey heron, looked significantly darker through the scope. This photo shows, however, that it was a Eurasian, and that the darker appearance was caused by the bird being in breeding plumage, giving it a much richer background colour to the breast and flanks than the others.



We went to the coastal bund as the tide dropped to watch the birds fly out to feed, and I was pleased to photograph the same or a similar bird in flight (top right). The apparently small size and short bill suggests that it's a male, so perhaps, like the godwits, males tend to moult into breeding plumage earlier than females. Note also the enormously long bill of the left hand bird (probably a female). I may sound like a broken record, but bill length is NOT a useful feature in separating 'orientalis' Eurasian from Far Eastern Curlew! We did get one by the way - or some of us did. Unfortunately, it was in a larger flock and those who especially 'needed' Far Eastern did not get onto the bird before it disappeared behind the mangroves. Ah well - next time!



I didn't take many pictures of Whimbrels at the roost this time, but liked the light and the contrast with the godwit in this one.

I did, however, take many pictures of Whimbrels as they flew off to feed, as I'm interested in the range of variation in underwing barring. Here are just a few!















There seems to be quite a variation in the extent of barring on the underwing coverts and flanks. This could be related to state of moult at this time of year though. More work needed!

5th April 2011: Kapar Power Station, Selangor

A few more shots from my second day at the roost (morning and evening).



This is the roost before dawn, lit by the security lights.

There's a video here. See how many birds you can id!I can see Marsh Sandpipers and a sand plover, and hear Terek Sandpipers ("wi-di-di"), Common Redshanks (single downward-inflected "tew") and Savanna Nightjar (regular 'chwizz') with some Black-crowned Night-heron calls in the background (a duck-like "kwak").







Simon's White-faced Whimbrel was around again today, and I got some better pics of it.



And some more normal ones!



At last I got a nice comparison shot of Black-tailed (front) and Bar-tailed Godwit (right rear) in non-breeding plumage. Apart from the difference in size, leg length and upperpart colour and pattern, this picture shows the difference in supercilium pattern well.



And this one the difference in underwing pattern and flight profile.





A Bar-tail against a threatening sky.



And a flock with a Whimbrel.



A better shot of Marsh Sandpipers in flight than I got yesterday.



Common Redshank (left) and Terek Sandpiper (right) showing the difference in upperwing pattern and leg length.



Two Red Knots and a Great Knot behind. The left hand Red Knot is surely of the 'piersmai' race. The right hand one could be 'rogersi', but equally, could be a female or later moulting 'piersmai', as far as I can tell! Can anyone shed further light?










































A couple of Grey Plover portraits.



A couple of Lesser Sand Plovers, showing a)how long and sharp the bill can be on 'schaeferi' birds and b)that sand plovers can sometimes show quite a prominent pale collar when in worn (in this case, 1st summer) plumage.



A plover with a mostly white head would normally get one thinking about Oriental Plover at this time of year! However, this one, with its pink, black-tipped bill, clearly isn't! It's a leucistic Lesser Sand Plover.



What amazed me was that I only 'saw' this bird during my fourth visit to the roost in two days (even though it was right in front of me yesterday - did you spot it in this photo?). Could I have missed a Spoon-billed Sandpiper? Absolutely!



In 2008/9 we had a sandy-coloured Lesser Sand Plover (here) and a mostly white Common Redshank (here). Leucistic or albino birds usually don't last long in the wild, where it's definitely not an advantage to stand out from the crowd! I wonder whether we'll see this one again. The bill is interesting!



There's a video of the bird here.



More stints! Here's a bird showing quite obvious chestnut fringes to the longest two tertials. So - is it a Little? While Little Stints in breeding plumage do have chestnut fringes to the tertials, Red-necked can frequently show chestnut fringes to these feathers as well, and even to some inner greater coverts. Chestnut fringes to the outer greater coverts, and to the median and lessers is diagnostic of Little (cf Red-necked). What can be seen of the inner greater coverts on this bird reveals rather inconclusive greyish fringes. Structurally, the long body, large squarish head and short, straight bill all favour Red-necked (which is what it is).



What about this one? In addition to the tertials and inner greater coverts showing chestnut fringes, the visible median and lesser coverts are also chestnut-fringed, so this is the Real McCoy!



And this? The colder, darker tones should tell you that it's neither Red-necked nor Little, nor even a stint, but a Broad-billed Sandpiper!





A nice comparison of plumage and structure.





I could only find two Little Stints today.







A few shots showing the difference in bill structure: Little's bill is less deep-based, thinner and finer-tipped than Red-necked's.





A couple more shots of the duller bird.



And the brighter one, showing all you need to make a positive id!

A couple of clips, showing each bird, here and here.





Two Painted Storks put in an appearance from time to time. This was the brighter of the two birds. These are assumed to be dispersants from the full-winged feral colony which has spread outward from Zoo Negara in KL.

21 March 2011 (afternoon) Part 2: Kapar Power Station, Selangor

In this post I'll put up some of the closer pictures I managed to take of birds at the roost, species by species, more or less!



At the roost, birds tend to divide into groups according to size. Whether this is determined by the depth of water they are comfortable to stand in or some other factor is difficult to say. Anyway, at the front are the sand plovers, Tereks and smaller calidrids; in the mid-distance are the Grey Plovers, knots and Tringas, and at the back, the godwits and Whimbrels.



Of course, these are not rigid distinctions, and you do get occasional non-conformists, like the Great Knot in this picture.



Or the Black-tailed Godwit in this one!



The adult male Bar-tailed Godwits are looking stunning now. They are smaller than females, and have shorter, narrower bills.



The less bright birds behind could be females or immature birds.On the other hand, there's been some research which indicates that the extent of breeding plumage acquired during migration could also indicate things like fitness to breed or even tapeworm infestation!



A couple of Great Knots joining a band of Bar-tailed Godwits, Grey Plover, Common Redshanks and Whimbrel.



Breeding plumaged Bar-tails have chestnut all the way to the undertail coverts. Black-tailed, on the other hand, have the chestnut mainly restricted to the breast and flanks, where it gives way to fantastic 'tiger-stripes' on the belly, making this one of the most attractive waders of all in my view!



Note the subtly different-shaped bill and head pattern of Black-tailed compared to Bar-tailed. I just noticed that the Great Knot to the left appears to have a green ring on the tibia. However, it doesn't look like a conventional leg flag. Can anyone shed any light on this?



Great Knots (and a Red Knot) huddle together in typical knot fashion! Their cryptic plumage does a great job of breaking up their outlines. I imagine they'd be almost impossible to find when sitting on a nest in the Arctic tundra.



There's great variation in the extent of rufous on the scapulars, and there's some evidence that this increases in extent via an extra partial moult after the birds reach the breeding grounds.





A couple more for good measure. I love the heart-shaped spots on the flanks!



One of the brighter Red Knot. This one seems to be of the 'piersmai' race, judging by the richness of the red on the underparts and new scapulars.



I was surprised that most Grey Plovers were not well-advanced in their body moult. Perhaps I had already missed the main passage of breeders.



Sand Plovers are generally easy to identify at this time of year, since the Greaters have almost all moulted into breeding plumage, whereas the Lessers mostly haven't.



A line of Lesser Sand Plovers all seem to be gazing rather enviously at this splendid Greater Sand!



Eighteen of the 41 Nordmann's Greenshanks on show (which works out as 5% of the estimated world population!).

Lots of pics, for which no apology!













Some handy comparisons with Common Greenshanks.



And with Terek Sandpiper, to which it is often compared, shape-wise.



Foursquare! Seven Tringas, four species: Marsh Sandpiper, Common Redhsank, Common Greenshank and Nordmann's Greenshank.



First year birds (right) are obviously plainer than adults (left), and have a more clearly bicoloured bill.









A few more portraits.



And one more of that underwing!



Or click here for the full version.



Moving on...! I did manage to spot a Singapore-flagged Curlew Sandpiper from Sungai Buloh. As far as I know, this it the first sighting of a Singapore-flagged bird in Malaysia. I suppose most of them fly straight over.



There were 2600 Red-necked Stints to be sifted through. No cutlery was in evidence sadly, but there were a number of Little Stints, some easier than others.



Here's one of the easier ones.



Bright chestnut fringes to the coverts are a giveaway feature of Little (right). At best, Red-necked may show a few chestnut-edged tertials and inner greater coverts.Mostly, Red-necked shows grey-brown fringed coverts in breeding plumage.





Another individual with some signs of breeding plumage, again, with some tell-tale chestnut on the lesser and median coverts.





This much less obvious individual (left) can be identified by the finer bill (more obvious on this bird than on some other Littles), longer legs (very evident in the field, less so in this pictures), and body shape - round body with small, high-foreheaded head up on top of the body rather than in front of it. Note also the thick-necked appearance of the Red-necked - absent on Little.



A fourth bird (right) - rather tatty-looking. Despite this, long legs and bill and body shape mentioned above give it a distinctive appearance.





And a fifth, typically rather browner than Red-necked in non-breeding plumage, with a distinctive pointy-ended supercilium. This bird has a rather thicker bill than the two above, but it still tapers rather more than Red-necked. The legs are markedly longer (they appear yellowish, but I think this is mud). Note also the darker central crown when seen head-on.



Here's the same bird (and the second in this series also makes an appearance from 0 up to about 19 secs and again at 38 - 41 secs). To see the full, untruncated version of this video, go to this link.

By dusk I had enjoyed a fantastic show. The following morning my plans to have another session in the hide were spoilt by torrential rain, so I headed back to Penang well satisfied with what I'd seen, knowing that I would be back again in a couple of weeks time.