Bonjour...

I'm usually at the pickup points, wherever they may be, well before daybreak. That is unless the guests will be arriving in a cruise ship. This is not the first time for me to be picking up guests at Swettenham Pier but these cruise ships usually dock later than my preferred time to start my tours.

So once Gaetan and Christine got into my car, I had to get this French-Canadian globe-trotting birding couple to the closest birding hotspot and it was none other than Air Hitam Dalam.

With the breeding season just around the corner, the resident pair of Crested Serpent-eagles was making their intentions very clear. A sparse tree overlooking the rear car park appears to be one of their favourite vantage points to survey their kingdom. As common as these raptors may be, they are still regal and impressive.

The migratory Black Kites have a few more months to go before their biological clocks start clicking. For the time being, it is just easy living in a tropical paradise.

Meanwhile, closer down to Earth, this Abbott's Babbler made sure that it had our attention by providing a good performance. This is one of the best places to see this skulking species and at times, it looks a little out of place being away from the dense and dark realm of the undergrowth.

However, it could not outshine the Mangrove Blue-flycatchers (very few birds can at this locality) and this female was certainly one of the highlights of the visit. It was their first lifer of the trip and it certainly made an impression.

The next locality that we visited was the paddy fields of Permatang Pauh. The thing about paddy fields is that every month or so, the landscape changes. Exposed mud and shallow water patches, which are ideal for water fowl, will be overgrown with paddy stalks. It is only a matter time. It took a while for me to find a new 'birdy' patch on this visit and all I had to do was find a spot to park my car where all the motorcyclists could pass and enjoy the show. Grey-headed Lapwings, Ruffs, Common Snipe, Long-toed Stints, Temminck's Stint are among the water birds that made the visit here memorable. However, I was too preoccupied trying to locate more species and did not have too much time to shoot except for this foraging

Black-winged Stilt.

The open country habitats of Penanti were next line as we searched in vain for Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters and Oriental Pratincoles - two species that are in my guests' list of birds to see. A Black-thighed Falconet hunting from an electrical cable provided some comfort for missing out on the target birds. Small in size but big in character, the Falconet is always a delight to observe.

A visit to a couple of open country habitats within the Kulim Hi-Tech Park further north yielded no results for the 2 target birds as well. My guest have been to every continent on Earth and have recorded over 3,600 species of birds and it was good to see them excited when I showed them a roosting Savanna Nightjar even though it was in the shade and partly hidden. Judging from their reaction, I need not have to ask them if it was a lifer.

Our last location for the day was the hilly forest of Sungai Sedim where they managed to tick off another two lifers. The last leg of their tour provided some memorable encounters and some were courtesy of birds that they have seen before during their last trip to Malaysia 5 years ago. A couple of inquisitive Hairy-backed Bulbuls were certainly one of them.

Despite being one of the largest of our forest birds, good views of the Rhinoceros Hornbill are a bit of a novelty. A female that was perched on a distant tree certainly had us mermerised. It does not matter, if it is a close or far observation. If you do not get excited by the sight of this majestic creature, you do not deserve to be called a birder. My guests expected to see 10 lifers on this trip but unfortunately, I could only managed 8. But they were far from disappointed and I guess it had a lot to do with the non-lifers putting on memorable performances as well. 

The flowerpecker frenzy continues...(16/03/2015)

For his second day of day, there is only one place that my Singaporean guest Nigel must go to at the present moment. Some place where something of a phenomenon was waiting for him and his brother. It was unfortunate that his son could not join us today as we are going to the Scarlet-breasted Flowerpeckers' fruiting tree at Sungai Sedim in Kedah. At day break we arrive at the locality and got ourselves ready for the performance to come.

The first to arrive for the feast was this rather confiding Buff-vented Bulbul. I am rather fond of the image I managed to take of it. In fact, it could one of my best efforts of this non-descript bulbul.

When the flowerpeckers came, I focused my attention on the duller ones for a change. As this is already my third visit to this fruiting tree, I was able to resist the mesmerizing presence of the male Scarlet-breasted Flowerpeckers a little better. Much to my delight, their female counterparts were also showing themselves far better today and I took full advantage of that.

The Yellow-breasted Flowerpeckers finally received their due attention from me. Today, it felt like they were more confiding and provided more photographic opportunities. Maybe it could be the spell of the Scarlet-breasted Flowerpeckers is starting to wear off from me and I am more observant of the other birds present at the fruiting tree.

For this species, the sexes are identical and this duller looking individual should be a young bird.

The Yellow-vented Flowerpeckers were also overshadowed by the Scarlet-breasted Flowerpeckers as well and I tried my best to make amends today. Unfortunately, they did not show themselves quite that often enough.

On my every visit here to this fruiting tree, this juvenile Green-backed Flycatcher will swing by for a second before moving away. And this time I was finally fast enough to capture a single shot before it disappeared into the forest. Got ‘ya!

Although I am a little more used to seeing the male Scarlet-breasted Flowerpeckers now, their beauty still do it for me. For my guests, they were lost in the moment just like yours truly one week ago when we first discovered the flowerpeckers. 

Countless birders have made their way here to experience the Scarlet-breasted Flowerpecker phenomenon. Up to today, birders are still coming in from far and wide. One of them actually left Kuala Lumpur at two in the morning; drove all the way here for these flowerpeckers and back in the evening. That is a round trip of about 800 kilometers. Would I have done the same if I was in his shoes? Well, given the fact that it is a fruiting tree and based on the quality of the images of this flowerpecker posted on various social media, hell yeah!

The Red-eyed Bulbuls are so confiding probably because they have been ignored and they do not see the humans present at this fruiting tree as a threat anymore. This individual must be quite surprised when I started to take notice of it.

Later in the morning, we retreated into the cooler access trails to carry on our birding excursion. This migratory Ferruginous Flycatcher reminded us on how bird photography in the forest is like most of the time and it is a timely reminder because of late, I have been spoilt by fruiting trees, the birds that patronize them and all the excellent photographic opportunities that came with them.

The Red-billed Malkoha is one of the rarer malkohas here in Sungai Sedim. Typically of the family, this striking cuckoo loves to move along the highest canopies and good views are hard to come by.

This is certainly something a whole lot easier to photograph - a confiding male Whiskered Treeswift on an exposed perch.

From the forest of Sungai Sedim, we made our way to a Palm Oil estate next to the Kulim Hi-Tech Park. Here, there is a particular Rain Tree next to the estate that is a regular roosting site for a pair of Barred Eagle-owls. It did not take long to locate one of the owls as it was roosting at almost the exact spot that I saw it a couple of days back. Unfortunately on this perch, it was slightly blocked by the vegetation and there is nothing we can actually do about it. Birding and wild bird photography can sometimes be frustrating, unpredictable and difficult. Most of the factors and elements involved are beyond your control. But on those occasions when everything does come together perfectly, it is sheer ecstasy.

Our final destination was the bee-eater colony at Penanti in mainland Penang. At this time of the year, it is possible to see both the Chestnut-headed and Blue-throated Bee-eaters together at a single locality. The former is a permanent resident and can be seen throughout the year.

The latter is a breeding visitor and will migrate to Malaysia just as the other winter visitors make their way up north to breed. Their breeding season has just begun thus making the birds very conspicuous and vocal.

After dropping off my guests at their hotel, I still had a few hours of daylight left and I decided to visit the Sungai Burung area in Penang Island. I was hoping for another memorable trip like the one I enjoyed during my last visit here around Christmas last year. But like I said, birding is unpredictable. Nothing but the very common birds were seen and to make matters worse, most of them were taking shelter from the blistering heat we have been experiencing here in Penang for past week. This Olive-backed Sunbird is either an eclipsed male or a juvenile bird. Because of this unfamiliar plumage, it finally gave me a reason to actually stop my car and look.

It so not very often that I get to see all of our open country bee-eaters on a single day and the sighting of this Blue-tailed Bee-eater cheered me up a little as it was the third and last species. When I just started birding, this locality used to have all three bee-eaters breeding here in one big colony. I can roughly recall the sight and sound of the colony where hundreds of bee-eaters can be seen but that sadly, is a thing of the past. I usually do not end my posts on a down note but this is something that is not only happening in my country but everywhere else in the world. Natural habitats are disappearing at an alarming rate. My only hope is there will still be a few places left for me to bird in the future.

Return of the openbills

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from a British birder enquiring about birding around Penang. One thing led to another and soon, I found myself with a mother and son team of British birders at my local patch - the swamp forest of Air Hitam Dalam in mainland Penang on a beautiful Sunday morning.

This small area of birding delight has yet to disappoint any of my guests so far and it provided yet another memorable outing. The resident pair of Brown Hawk-owls had a lot do with the outcome. They were at their usual roosting tree and by now, are quite accustomed to human presence. Daytime observations of roosting owls are not a common thing but this locality is probably where you stand a better chance of experiencing them.

The Forest Wagtail is a common migrant to Peninsula Malaysia. However, I do not have much luck with obtaining their images but that was before this individual unexpectedly walked up to where we were standing and just stood there posing.  Well, are you going to photograph me or not?

Unfortunately, a lot of the images that I took had some blurred motion because the wagtail did not remain still for long. And I simply did not have the time to adjust my camera's settings. Either that or I was too excited. This was the best encounter I ever had with a Forest Wagtail and the bold markings that we normally take for granted, were simply mesmerizing at this close distance.

At noon, we were about to call it a day as this was only a half-day tour. However, Air Hitam Dalam had one last surprise for our group. From the car park, I could make out some all-too-familiar silhouettes circling in the sky above and it is a sight I have not come across for the past four months. The Asian Openbills have returned and all my worries about them moving on to another place for good can be put to rest. Although it is only a small flock of about 50-strong, it was still a breathtaking sight.

For the second day of their tour, the Vickers found themselves surrounded by the captivating sights and sounds of the tropical rain forest as we visited the Sungai Sedim Recreational Forest in Kedah. As it is their first time birding in such a habitat, it was a little overwhelming for them especially during the birdwaves. Thankfully for them, and me, some of the participants of the waves did remain still long enough for us to enjoy some good and prolonged views. This male Green Iora that was preoccupied with the meal at hand was certainly one of them. It is one of the many canopy-loving denizens of the rainforest here and close views are hard to come by. So, this encounter had both foreign and local birders quivering with excitement.

During a wave, you can easily overlook some of the birds. Several species frantically foraging for food can be very distracting and confuses their enemies and the birders alike. And if the bird is drably-coloured than the chances of it being overlooked is even higher. But there was no way in the world I could have overlooked this unfamiliar flycatcher that alighted momentarily on an exposed perch in front of us. It took a second for its identity to kick in but it was a female Green-backed Flycatcher - a scarce migrant that I have only seen once before. No wonder she looked unfamiliar!

On the way back from Sungai Sedim, I took my guests to a location that hardly seemed relevant for a birding tour - a motocross track. But to the local birders, this relatively unknown locality in Penanti in mainland Penang is one of the best places to observe bee-eaters. At this time of year, the Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters will be on hand to perform for any visiting birders.

It is a mystery why the birds choose this location to call home as they could have easily found similar habitats in adjacent areas. Whatever it is, they appeared to have found their little piece of heaven and so have the birders.

The Red-wattled Lapwing is not a bird you can easily miss. Being loud and colourful, it is one of the most conspicuous waders of the open country and a good bird to wrap things for this time.

Soaked to the bone (04/04/2013)

It was drizzling when I dragged myself out of bed. The cold air was making me sluggish but to miss yet another birding trip was unforgivable. As Choo Eng and I were making our way across the Penang Bridge, it really started to pour and we had to consider carefully where our destination would be on this dark and damp morning. At the time, we had no idea that the rain will eventually cause Penang Island's worst flash flood in 5 years and luckily by the time we got back home, the flood had subsided.  

Anyway, we were car-birding along the eastern side of Kedah state when Choo Eng spotted a couple of Barred Eagle-owls roosting on a huge Rain Tree. Although I feel sorry for the owls, braving tropical downpours with hardly any shelter is something that is very much a part of their lives. Birds and animals are more than prepared to face anything that is thrown at them by Mother Nature. Sadly, evolution simply did not have time to make them withstand the destructive nature of man as well.

Eventually, we found ourselves at Tengas - a locality which basically consists of plantations and secondary forests. I have not visited this area for many years now and naturally, quite a substantial area of the forest has been replaced with plantations. With the birds laying low and no signs of the weather improving, we were back on the move again sooner than anticipated. 

Our final destination was the scrublands of Penanti in mainland Penang. Here, the Red Junglefowl is a relatively common sight. And I thought the cold weather today will make this skittish species a little more tolerant. I guess I was wrong…

Even from a far distance, this gamebird is not willing to take any chances with approaching humans.

The rain also brought out hoards of flying termites - much to the delight of the birds found here. The termites are like a never-ending food supply and a feasting was inevitable. One of the birds of benefited from this natural occurrence was the White-throated Kingfisher.