14 July 2010: Sungai Burung, Penang Island

It's mid-July, times are hard, pickings are slim!

I equipped myself with the call of Horsfield's Bronze-cuckoo and headed off to some mangroves this evening, but again, not surprisingly, drew a blank!

The Copper-throated Sunbirds which I discovered 4 years ago are still in their favoured area, but less photogenic owing to the undergrowth having been cleared. Now they keep to the tops of the palms.



I told you times are bad. Reduced to photographing House Crows...



Jungle Mynas...



Crested Serpent-eagle...





Brahminy Kite...



...and Asian Glossy Starlings. Actually, these birds are one of my favourite common birds. Juvs and adults both look smart in different ways. This is a juv already starting to grow some glossy green adult feathers.







This younger juv is still all in fresh juv plumage, and the eye is just changing from brown to red.





Check out the difference in eye colour between these two birds!

This post just shows that it's not all about finding interesting and exciting birds! You have to put the hours in as well!

Read more »

14 July 2010: Sungai Burung, Penang Island

It's mid-July, times are hard, pickings are slim!

I equipped myself with the call of Horsfield's Bronze-cuckoo and headed off to some mangroves this evening, but again, not surprisingly, drew a blank!

The Copper-throated Sunbirds which I discovered 4 years ago are still in their favoured area, but less photogenic owing to the undergrowth having been cleared. Now they keep to the tops of the palms.



I told you times are bad. Reduced to photographing House Crows...



Jungle Mynas...



Crested Serpent-eagle...





Brahminy Kite...



...and Asian Glossy Starlings. Actually, these birds are one of my favourite common birds. Juvs and adults both look smart in different ways. This is a juv already starting to grow some glossy green adult feathers.







This younger juv is still all in fresh juv plumage, and the eye is just changing from brown to red.





Check out the difference in eye colour between these two birds!

This post just shows that it's not all about finding interesting and exciting birds! You have to put the hours in as well!

Read more »

14th May 2010: Gelugor coast, Penang

A late afternoon excursion in the hope of finding a few waders in good light, this was also a chance to try out the RAW settings on my camera for the first time (!)



I could see about thirty Common Redshanks roosting on the other side of the lagoon, and I hoped that as the tide went out, they would come over to feed in front of me. In the meantime I contented myself watching the Little Herons hunting. This subadult was digiscoped.



This breeding adult, with legs flushed pinky-red, should have come out well, but the RAW image produced a jpeg that is rather badly pixellated to my eyes.



The same applies to all the images I processed from RAW. In addition, the range of tones seem to be poorer than when I shoot jpegs. I'm obviously doing something wrong! Can anyone enlighten me?



The stinky mud isn't just for the waterbirds. A variety of Mynas - Jungle, Crested and these Common, came down to feed. I was surprised by the apparent difference in size between these two birds.



Here's what they were after - worms for their babies!



Another pixellated shot. This was taken at ISO200, but looks like ISO1200!





Asian Glossy Starlings are a really common species that I rarely manage to photograph well. They're usually obscured by foliage. Not today though! These were digiscoped.



I waited and waited, but the Redshanks refused to come over and be friendly. I've got nothing against crabs, but times are hard when I start digiscoping them!



Eventually a wader did fly in - it was a Whimbrel - no doubt the same bird that has used the site for some months.



Back in January it had the use of both its legs, but now it is clearly lame, which is probably why it has not attempted the return migration.



A lone, injured bird is an easy target for predators, and it was clearly conscious of its vulnerability. It was keeping a wary eye on a Brahminy Kite soaring very high overhead.

Before you write me an email telling me that waders often stand on one leg and that the bird is perfectly OK, check the video!

Read more »

14th May 2010: Gelugor coast, Penang

A late afternoon excursion in the hope of finding a few waders in good light, this was also a chance to try out the RAW settings on my camera for the first time (!)



I could see about thirty Common Redshanks roosting on the other side of the lagoon, and I hoped that as the tide went out, they would come over to feed in front of me. In the meantime I contented myself watching the Little Herons hunting. This subadult was digiscoped.



This breeding adult, with legs flushed pinky-red, should have come out well, but the RAW image produced a jpeg that is rather badly pixellated to my eyes.



The same applies to all the images I processed from RAW. In addition, the range of tones seem to be poorer than when I shoot jpegs. I'm obviously doing something wrong! Can anyone enlighten me?



The stinky mud isn't just for the waterbirds. A variety of Mynas - Jungle, Crested and these Common, came down to feed. I was surprised by the apparent difference in size between these two birds.



Here's what they were after - worms for their babies!



Another pixellated shot. This was taken at ISO200, but looks like ISO1200!





Asian Glossy Starlings are a really common species that I rarely manage to photograph well. They're usually obscured by foliage. Not today though! These were digiscoped.



I waited and waited, but the Redshanks refused to come over and be friendly. I've got nothing against crabs, but times are hard when I start digiscoping them!



Eventually a wader did fly in - it was a Whimbrel - no doubt the same bird that has used the site for some months.



Back in January it had the use of both its legs, but now it is clearly lame, which is probably why it has not attempted the return migration.



A lone, injured bird is an easy target for predators, and it was clearly conscious of its vulnerability. It was keeping a wary eye on a Brahminy Kite soaring very high overhead.

Before you write me an email telling me that waders often stand on one leg and that the bird is perfectly OK, check the video!

Read more »

4th March 2010: Chuping, Perlis

A spot of forest birding en route to Chuping netted me a nice selection of birds:



A flock of Great Slaty Woodpeckers were vocal and active, but never came very close. These are the largest woodpecker in the region.



The best I could do with a Malaysian Hawk-cuckoo - noisy but secretive!



A male Wreathed Hornbill flying overhead, showing the two odd-shaped outer primaries that cause the amazing whooshing sound as the birds fly.



The same bird in better light!



A blue-pouched female.






















A sleepy Bat Hawk roosting beneath the canopy.






















I noticed that the legs appear to be scaleless - the scales must be very small I suppose.



Chuping - so much habitat - where to begin?!





The skies were disappointingly raptor-free today. This Grey-faced Buzzard was the only exception.



Every pipit was carefully scrutinized, but all proved to be Paddyfields.



Another common inhabitant of wide-open spaces - Red-wattled Lapwing.



This tree reminded me of the famous Cree prophecy: "Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we cannot eat money."

There were very few harriers left at the roost site. I counted just 8 Eastern marsh and 4 Pied. Still, the few that came in were interesting!







A female Pied gave a nice close fly-by.





Then a male Eastern Marsh for comparison.



Two interesting subadult female Eastern Marsh arrived late. First this one.





Then this one.



Other birds coming to roost included Black Drongos...





...and Purple-backed Starlings. I couldn't find a Chestnut-cheeked in amongst them!



A typical Perlis sunset.

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