2nd April: Penaga rice-fields, mainland Penang

Birds in rice-fields tend to occur in concentrations rather than being evenly-spaced. I guess that's because prey abundance depends on the exact state of the individual fields. The good thing about this is that it's rather easy to spot a flock of egrets, and once you find the egrets, you find the other birds as well - wagtails, hirundines, terns etc.



Find the egrets, find the birds!



Intermediate Egrets (left) feeding alongside Cattle Egrets. Sometimes egrets can present identification problems, especially when seen alone, when size can be difficult to judge accurately. Here a helpful difference in the gape pattern can be seen. The loral skin on Intermediate Egret extends to halfway back along the width of the eye, whereas, on Cattle Egret, the loral skin extends only about a third of the way under the eye, and then the gape-line extends further in a thin 'whisker'. Notice also the difference in bill shape, and of course, the distinctive black tip of Intermediate.



Cattle Egrets in breeding dress present no such identification issues! The combination of yellow,orange, pink, purple and red around the eye and bill is visually stunning!






















The egrets and pond herons are here for the frogs and water beetles, which seem abundant, and apparently easy prey. Here a Chinese Pond Heron grabs a snack.



Three species of Pond Heron occur here (in the north of the country). In immature and non-breeding dress they are practically indistinguishable from each other.



However, in spring, each species develops their own distinctive and beautiful colour scheme. Here we have the Chinese Pond Heron, available in burgundy, charcoal and cream...



...the Indian Pond Heron - a recent addition to our range, in tasteful beige and maroon,... and the Javan Pond Heron, in peach, charcoal and cream, which is unfortunately currently out of stock. Actually, Javan tends to prefer estuarine habitat, though they do occur in rice-fields.



A small flock of White-winged Terns paid a fleeting visit.



Hundreds of Yellow Wagtails (mostly of the 'simillima' race) hunt for insect and snail prey. Despite much searching, I've yet to find a Citrine or a White Wagtail among them.



The tasty morsels on offer also tempt Zitting Cisticolas out of hiding.

March 28th, Tanjung Tokong

Construction has now reached a point immediately adjacent to the wader roost site, and the level of disturbance is now so high that I suspect the waders are now only using the site as a feeding are at low tide.

The most noticeable thing as I arrived today was not the sights, but the smell! There was a powerful stench pervading the air, and eventually I stumbled across its source... the decomposing carcase of a six-foot long crocodile!



Fairly gruesome stuff - sorry! But at least photographs don't smell!



A croc expert from the local university had the carcase removed to obtain the skeleton. He thought it most likely that the animal came from the Crocodile Farm on Langkawi Island, which is about 2 hours by ferry from here. Whether it arrived in Penang waters alive or dead is open to question, but it's a sobering thought that we were floundering around in water up to our middle catching shorebirds at night about a month ago!

The wildlife of oil palm plantations - Part 3: Perak

This estate is in Perak and adjacent to the famous Matang mangrove forest reserve. The entire estate is actually below sea level, and maintained by a system of bunds and pumps.



Of the estates we visited it was the richest in terms of nocturnal wildlife, with Spotted Wood Owls being especially common. We counted 5 birds along one row of oil palms that was no more than a couple of hundred metres long.















Buffy Fish Owls were also quite frequent, and we got some close views of these beautiful birds.



Common Palm Civets proved to be accurately named, as they were the most frequently encountered nocturnal mammal. Some were rather shy...



... while others seemed curious to get to know us at close range!

In the daytime, the bund marking the boundary between the plantation and the mangroves was an especially productive area.



We surprised this troop of Long-tailed Macaques on their way back from breakfasting by the river.




As well as this male Red Junglefowl, the original ancestor of the Domestic Chook!



Brahminy Kites take over from the owls as top predators during the daytime.











Meanwhile dragonflies, such as this Orthetrum sabina, take care of smaller beasties.



A Crocothemis servilia brightens up its surroundings.















X marks the spot. This Common Palmfly butterfly has chosen to alight at the intersection of two branches.






















The mangroves have their own highly distinctive flora and fauna. One of the commonest trees is Bruguiera gymnorhiza, but when its red calyxes emerge, it is also one of the prettiest.



A couple of likely lads. These two young macaques remind me of my brother and me in the days when we were young enough to climb trees. He's the one with big ears by the way!



The mangroves are rich in kingfishers, and five species can be seen rather easily in the northern winter months. This one is typical of the mangroves - a Collared Kingfisher.



This one is a migrant, and always a much shier bird - a Black-capped Kingfisher.



And here's one that is familiar from my years in the UK, the not particularly well-named Common Kingfisher.



We spotted this Oriental Whip Snake gliding through the mangroves overhanging the river. It's a non-venomous species which apparently preys on lizards.



A couple of marine species to finish off with; a kind of halfbeak - very common in the shallows. It has a jade-green tip to it's upper mandible, which I guess is to attract smaller fish within range of its jaws.




The local men called this strange beast 'umpun-umpun'. It's about a foot long, looks like a centipede, and apparently causes your whole arm to swell up if you brush against it. Our guide was keen to show us the oddest thing about these weird creatures. When he lobbed a rock into the water in the vicinity of one of these, it disintegrated in a cloud of green inky fluid (he said this was the poison in the body). When the water settled, the head of the creature could still be seen swimming as before, but all the rest of the body floated around in bits. Charming!

The wildlife of oil palm plantations - Part 2: Negeri Sembilan

This photo was taken by Rick Gregory, one of my colleagues on the trip.

This estate is located not far from Port Dickson, in Negeri Sembilan. The plantations there hold a precious jewel, nestled far away from roads and other public access - a freshwater swamp of simple but breathtaking beauty.

It must be far richer than our brief visit revealed, as much of it is impenetrable without a boat of some kind.






















Acisoma panorpoides frequents the ditches around the swamp. This male is quite a stunner!















A small group of Blue-tailed Bee-eaters burned in the early morning sun.















This Blue-throated Bee-eater preferred to hunt alone.
















Some ferns looking photogenic.














A couple of young Purple Herons were evidence of possible breeding at the site.




A Yellow Bittern dives for cover.








This Black Baza was one of a flock flushed from a tree where they had obviously roosted for the night. These birds are making their way northward to breed.
















This Pacific Swallow, on the other hand, is a resident.





Peaceful Doves are a popular cage-bird, prized for their crooning abilities, so it is always good to see them in the wild.



A pair of Dollarbirds were prospecting this old tree around the main estate office, in competition with the local mynas.



Dollarbirds are so-called because their pale wing flashes apparently look like dollar signs... if you have a lot of imagination!

The wildlife of oil palm plantations: Negri Sembilan

A bit of a long silence lately - I've been out visiting a number of oil palm plantations - courtesy of one of the larger plantation companies. They want to identify and develop plans to conserve the natural habitat and wildlife that exist on the estates. Here's a selection of the fauna and flora I managed to photograph.



Some species seem to do really well on the estates; Black-shouldered Kites seem extremely common, and several nesting pairs were found.






















Purple Heron is another species that occurs commonly in the swampy areas.



In the mature oil palm, Barn Owls do really well, aided by the nest box scheme run by the estates - one is placed every 10 hectares - and the result is natural control of rats and other rodents that feed on oil palm fruit.



Large-tailed Nightjars are also common in the mature plantations.



The newly-planted areas provide more open habitat that favours Savanna Nightjars...




...and Red-wattled Lapwings.



Black-crowned Night Herons, Yellow and Cinnamon Bitterns feed in the irrigation ditches at night. This is a male Cinnamon Bittern.


And the swampy areas provide a wonderful haven for migrant waterbirds such as Watercocks.
















The mangroves provide roost sites for waders such as Common Sandpipers.



And here's a rare mangrove specialist - a Great Tit! It's a common garden bird in much of Europe, but here can only be found in mangroves. Can it really be the same species?










Some other wildlife: two of a large family of Smooth Otters we saw along the river. These are large otters, much larger than Eurasian species.



Rhyothemis phyllis, a common dragonfly, cruises around in the midday heat.














And here's a Mangrove Skink, a species that exists in Asia only on the west coast of Malaysia, and on Singapore and Penang islands.













A fruiting Xylocarpus granatum tree overhangs a river bank thick with mangrove; a real treasure of the plantation, and one well worth preserving.