Quiz: Your tern!

Taken at sea yesterday off the Kedah coast - let me know what you think these are!

Want to see Swinhoe's Storm-petrel and Aleutian Tern in Peninsular Malaysia?

Anyone out there with a day to spare, some sunblock and a pioneering spirit? Then here's a suggestion!

First, let me draw your attention to Con Foley's wonderful account of a pioneering trip out from Parit Jawa, Johor he made last November with Danny Lau and Lau Jia Sheng: http://confoley.com/trip-to-parit-jawa

In just three hours, they saw a dozen Aleutian Terns (they were the commonest tern out there!) and Jia Sheng had tantalising views of an all-dark storm-petrel - probably Swinhoe's. They saw more  off Parit Jawa in three hours than they typically do all day on a Singapore pelagic outing.

Fast forward to last weekend, and the monthly pelagic trip in Singapore waters. For Con's account and scintillating photos, go to: http://confoley.com/pelagic-outing-may-2012. Almost a hundred Swinhoe's Storm-petrels!

So, my suggestion is, take the plunge, dive in, get your feet wet (all metaphorically speaking of course!), get down to Parit Jawa, get onto one of those little fishing boats, and get Swinhoe's Storm-petrel (and quite possibly Aleutian Tern, Short-tailed Shearwater and a few jaegers) on your Pen Mal list THIS WEEKEND!

Lastly - let me know how you get on!

Peninsular Malaysia 500 Club: Is 600 possible?

For a while now I've been wondering whether it is feasible to see 600 species in Peninsular Malaysia - that's 91% of the total list ever recorded (currently 661). I have 37 species more to go to hit that magic number. In case you want to help me get there, I'd be especially glad to receive any up-to date information on the following species in Peninsular Malaysia.

Phasianidae
Long-billed Partridge
Black Partridge
Chestnut-necklaced Partridge
Ferruginous Partridge
Crestless Fireback
Crested Argus

Anatidae
Northern Pintail

Procellaridae
Swinhoe's Storm-petrel 16 May 2012


Threskiornithidae
Black-headed Ibis

Fregatidae
Greater Frigatebird
Christmas Island Frigatebird

Falconidae
Amur Falcon
Eurasian Hobby

Accipitridae
Jerdon's Baza
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Common Buzzard
Mountain Hawk-eagle

Rallidae
Slaty-legged Crake

Heliornithidae
Masked Finfoot

Charadriidae
Oriental Plover

Jacanidae
Bronze-winged Jacana

Scolopacidae
Spotted Redshank
Green Sandpiper

Columbidae

Cinnamon-headed Green-pigeon

Cuculidae
Hodgson's Hawk-cuckoo
Himalayan Cuckoo
Horsfield's Bronze-cuckoo

Strigidae
White-fronted Scops-owl
Oriantal Scops-owl

Upupidae
Eurasian Hoopoe

Picidae
Grey-and-buff Woodpecker

Pittidae

Giant Pitta

Oriolidae
Black-hooded Oriole

Monarchidae
Japanese Paradise-flycatcher

Timaliidae
Grey-breasted Babbler
Eyebrowed Wren-babbler

Sturnidae
Chestnut-cheeked Starling
White-shouldered Starling
Rosy Starling

Turdidae
Chestnut-capped Thrush
Eurasian Scaly Thrush

Muscicapidae
Brown-streaked Flycatcher
White-tailed Flycatcher

Dicaeidae
Brown-backed Flowerpacker

Estrildidae
Tawny-breasted Parrotfinch

Motacillidae

Richard's Pipit
















This is a selection, not every bird on the Peninsular Malaysian list I haven't seen. The photos  were all taken outside Pen Mal (obviously!), in Singapore, East Malaysia and Thailand. The list includes a few embarrassing misses, but most resident species on the list read like a who's who of the most difficult ones to see in the Peninsula these days.

So - can anyone help me plan my itinerary over the next twelve months?!

1 May 2012: Long-tailed Skuas

I often remind myself during the long, hot, birdless hours of a typical pelagic trip that it only takes one bird to turn a dull day into a great one. On our Labour Day pelagic, this third year Long-tailed Skua was that bird!

The hunting strategy is mesmerizing to watch. The skua will 'breeze into town' all innocent and casual, mingling among the terns as if it has nothing on its mind other than enjoying the breeze.

Cruising back and forth in a relaxed manner, it's actually casing the joint, checking out the locals, seeing who's 'loaded'.

Suddenly, it drops a shoulder and launches into top gear. One unfortunate tern is about to suffer skua-induced seasickness!

Like a guided missile, the skua 'locks on' to one Bridled Tern.

From now one, it's as though they are connected by an invisible wire. No matter how the tern twists and turns, the skua is always there, relentless.

 

 

 

There's only one way for the tern to cut the wire, and it knows it's about to lose its lunch!

  

The skua's eye never leaves the tern for an instant.

Finally, the tern delivers, and you can almost hear the 'twang' as the tension between skua and tern is released.

The skua uses its webbed feet as brakes.

 Now that the prey is no longer mobile, the final descent is leisurely.

 

The prize - fish marinaded in tern saliva - mmmmm!

Most of these tern ambushes take place in the far distance, but we got lucky with this one!

This is a more usual scenario. Reminds me of a certain painting in Michael Warren's epic 1984 book, Shorelines.

1 May 2012: Pelagic off Tanjung Dawai, Kedah

Labour Day, but the fishermen weren't taking a day off, so Choo Eng, Hakim and I decided we shouldn't either! (Hakim's account of the day is here.)

First thing in the monring as we left the estuary, we passed these two fishermen in their cheerfully-coloured boat.

Two Indo-pacific Humpbacked Dolphins raced us right under the bows as we left the river. Taking these pics involved hanging over the prow of the boat and staring at the water surface rushing past about 2 metres away! Not good for the stomach! The pink-nosed one has a dorsal that looks remarkably similar to the one I photographed last September. I guess there's a good chance it is the same animal.

The sea was completely windless, a sure sign of approaching rain (and those clouds were an extra clue!). A lone Great Egret migrating north was trying to get ahead of the storm.

 A rare waterspout - only partial and momentary, but a remarkable sight while it lasted.

And then the inevitable! Rain on the sea's surface transforms its appearance totally!

Just before the storm, this 'flock' of Long-tailed Skuas flew past. Rather neatly, they were a first year, a second year and an adult!

 

After the storm, the weather brightened considerably, but there was still no wind and... what's wrong with this picture?? The nets are out, but ... NO BIRDS! This was the first time in all my trips that I had experienced completely bird-free nets! So - very hot, no wind and no birds - wonderful! Oh well, the crew still seemed to be having fun!

I've never met a nicer bunch of hard-working, happy blokes as the crew of this boat. In all my time on the boat I can't remember an angry word being spoken, and there's always lots of laughter, joking around and singing.

Maybe they're laughing at each other's choice of headgear! But at least it keeps the fish-scales out of your hair!
 

Control centre. This is where the captain sits, 'drives' the boat and detects the fish, using a combination of high-tech equipment and experience.

There were a few Short-tailed Shearwaters about, always distant. It was amazing what a difference lighting conditions made to the colours. I do think the bird in the water was genuinely pale - whether as a result of bleaching or pigment aberration I couldn't say.

An Aleutian Tern put in a typically fleeting appearance in the heat of the day. I'm thinking of renaming the species Aloof Tern - it seems they never hang around the boats. Even when seen distantly, there's something very distinctive about the shape - short head and long tail projection, coupled with a more bouyant flight style than Sterna terns.

OK, so a few terns did start showing up around the nets later in the day. Numbers of Bridled Terns are starting to build up. The majority are 1 and 2 year old birds, but there were a few smart breeding plumaged adults, like this one.

Long-tailed Skuas put in appearances throughout the day, mostly distant. I'm beginning to think that a strangely pale vent (and a prominent breastband) is a feature of 2cy birds, after seeing a similar bird on the last visit.One Long-tailed Skua did come a bit closer, and in doing so, made the day worthwhile, but I'll save that for another post.

At least someone found fish! Our boat only let the net out twice today, and headed back to port early.

Tanjung Dawai in the late afternoon sun. It's not often we come back in daylight, but today was a public holiday!

As we came into the estuary, there was the same colourful boat and the same men we'd seen on the way out that morning! Good to see they'd changed their shirts! We saw the dolphins again too. A strangely symmetrical day!