26th January 2010: Kubang Semang, mainland Penang

I don't think I've seen rain this year ... till today! I decided to finish work early and skip across to the mainland for the last few hours of the day. There were some grey clouds around but that's not unusual, and they usually don't produce rain. But today, the moment I arrived at my destination, the heavens opened! I couldn't help smiling at God's sense of humour!

It rained and rained for about 2 hours. What to do in the pouring rain? Well, luckily I found a dried out patch of mud, which rapidly became a puddle, then a pool, with a bunch of snipes feeding, and then bathing in it. Using my car as a hide, I was able to watch and stay reasonably dry.

There were at least two species - Swinhoe's and Common - and by watching them preen, bathe and skirmish with each other and some Wood Sandpipers, I was able to see the tail feathers on three birds.



The light was awful, and this was taken at half a second inside a car being buffeted by the wind and rain. I didn't get too many sharp shots! Instead, I took lots of video, which was useful to check the tail when momentarily fanned. I'll include a few grabs from the videos, since Youtube isn't accepting my uploads at the moment.

So this one is either a Swinhoe's or Pintail. This pair can be differentiated from Common Snipe by:

- the lower row of scapulars having a thin buff fringe on both the outer and inner webs of the feathers

- the background colour of the scapulars being quite brown, rather than blackish

- the wing coverts (especially the medians) being well barred buff and dark before the whitish tip

- the bland face pattern, lacking a strong cheek bar

- the bulging supercilium in front of the eye

Between Pintail and Swinhoe's it's practically impossible to be certain without a good view of the outer tail feathers, but the thick-based, rather long bill, the eye set well back in the head, and the rather thick, yellowish legs are all pro-Swinhoe's characteristics. On the other hand, the very short tail projection beyond the tertials favours Pintail.



Here's a Common Snipe for comparison. Subtle differences from Swinhoe's/Pintail are:

- lower scapulars are broadly fringed buff on the outer webs only

- the background colour of the scapulars, mantle and lateral crown stripes is blacker than Swinhoe's/Pintail, making the bird look more contrasty

- the wing coverts are rather plain and dark, except for the strongly contrasting white tips

- a strong face pattern, with prominent pale and dark cheek bars

- Supercilium doesn't obviously bulge in front of the eye

- Bill is very long and rather slender, not especially thick at base.



If you are lucky to catch them even half-raising their wings, the axillaries are another useful clue. On Swinhoe's/Pintail, the black bars are about the same thickness as the white bars...



Whereas, on Common, the black bars are much narrower.



If they lift their wings even further, identification between Common and Swinhoe's/Pintal is easy - Common has a largely plain underwing, whereas on Swinhoe's/Pintail, it's evenly barred.

Snipes characteristically fan their tails when performing a threat display, and since they're quite aggressive, it's well worth spending some time watching them.



Common Snipe's tail is very obviously orange with a broad white tip. The outer tail feathers are similar in width to the central ones. Here it is exposed but not spread.



And here it is in full threat mode.



Even when completely closed, the white tip of Common's tail can be quite obvious at times.

Getting a decent view of the tail is critical to separating Swinhoe's and Pintail with certainty.



















I got lucky with this one when it gave a threat display to a nearby Wood Sandpiper. It's the shape of the outer pairs of feather that you need to see well. On Swinhoe's each pair of feathers is successively narrower toward the outer edge of the tail, with only the outermost being very narrow. On Pintail, the outer six or so pairs of feathers are pin-like - hence the name. So this is a definite Swinhoe's.



Here's the same bird, unfortunately against what little light there was.



I think this is almost certainly Swinhoe's too, though the videograb doesn't let me see the shape of the outer tail feathers clearly. At least, they don't appear pin-like.



The same bird, typically much more buffy than Common, with well-barred coverts and a bland face pattern.

At last the rain stopped, and although it was too dark for bird photography, I was quite pleased with these scenic views.









Despite the rain I managed to see a number of interesting birds - an Eastern Stonechat, 6 Watercocks, a Greater Spotted Eagle, a pair of Greater Painted-snipes, oh - and this...



If you think you know what it is, let me know (I know what it is!).

Read more »

26th January 2010: Kubang Semang, mainland Penang

I don't think I've seen rain this year ... till today! I decided to finish work early and skip across to the mainland for the last few hours of the day. There were some grey clouds around but that's not unusual, and they usually don't produce rain. But today, the moment I arrived at my destination, the heavens opened! I couldn't help smiling at God's sense of humour!

It rained and rained for about 2 hours. What to do in the pouring rain? Well, luckily I found a dried out patch of mud, which rapidly became a puddle, then a pool, with a bunch of snipes feeding, and then bathing in it. Using my car as a hide, I was able to watch and stay reasonably dry.

There were at least two species - Swinhoe's and Common - and by watching them preen, bathe and skirmish with each other and some Wood Sandpipers, I was able to see the tail feathers on three birds.



The light was awful, and this was taken at half a second inside a car being buffeted by the wind and rain. I didn't get too many sharp shots! Instead, I took lots of video, which was useful to check the tail when momentarily fanned. I'll include a few grabs from the videos, since Youtube isn't accepting my uploads at the moment.

So this one is either a Swinhoe's or Pintail. This pair can be differentiated from Common Snipe by:

- the lower row of scapulars having a thin buff fringe on both the outer and inner webs of the feathers

- the background colour of the scapulars being quite brown, rather than blackish

- the wing coverts (especially the medians) being well barred buff and dark before the whitish tip

- the bland face pattern, lacking a strong cheek bar

- the bulging supercilium in front of the eye

Between Pintail and Swinhoe's it's practically impossible to be certain without a good view of the outer tail feathers, but the thick-based, rather long bill, the eye set well back in the head, and the rather thick, yellowish legs are all pro-Swinhoe's characteristics. On the other hand, the very short tail projection beyond the tertials favours Pintail.



Here's a Common Snipe for comparison. Subtle differences from Swinhoe's/Pintail are:

- lower scapulars are broadly fringed buff on the outer webs only

- the background colour of the scapulars, mantle and lateral crown stripes is blacker than Swinhoe's/Pintail, making the bird look more contrasty

- the wing coverts are rather plain and dark, except for the strongly contrasting white tips

- a strong face pattern, with prominent pale and dark cheek bars

- Supercilium doesn't obviously bulge in front of the eye

- Bill is very long and rather slender, not especially thick at base.



If you are lucky to catch them even half-raising their wings, the axillaries are another useful clue. On Swinhoe's/Pintail, the black bars are about the same thickness as the white bars...



Whereas, on Common, the black bars are much narrower.



If they lift their wings even further, identification between Common and Swinhoe's/Pintal is easy - Common has a largely plain underwing, whereas on Swinhoe's/Pintail, it's evenly barred.

Snipes characteristically fan their tails when performing a threat display, and since they're quite aggressive, it's well worth spending some time watching them.



Common Snipe's tail is very obviously orange with a broad white tip. The outer tail feathers are similar in width to the central ones. Here it is exposed but not spread.



And here it is in full threat mode.



Even when completely closed, the white tip of Common's tail can be quite obvious at times.

Getting a decent view of the tail is critical to separating Swinhoe's and Pintail with certainty.



















I got lucky with this one when it gave a threat display to a nearby Wood Sandpiper. It's the shape of the outer pairs of feather that you need to see well. On Swinhoe's each pair of feathers is successively narrower toward the outer edge of the tail, with only the outermost being very narrow. On Pintail, the outer six or so pairs of feathers are pin-like - hence the name. So this is a definite Swinhoe's.



Here's the same bird, unfortunately against what little light there was.



I think this is almost certainly Swinhoe's too, though the videograb doesn't let me see the shape of the outer tail feathers clearly. At least, they don't appear pin-like.



The same bird, typically much more buffy than Common, with well-barred coverts and a bland face pattern.

At last the rain stopped, and although it was too dark for bird photography, I was quite pleased with these scenic views.









Despite the rain I managed to see a number of interesting birds - an Eastern Stonechat, 6 Watercocks, a Greater Spotted Eagle, a pair of Greater Painted-snipes, oh - and this...



If you think you know what it is, let me know (I know what it is!).

Read more »

7th January 2010: Chuping Sugar cane plantation, Perlis, Malaysia

Choo Eng, Hakim and I spent half a day at one of my favourite places for pioneer birding in Malaysia - on my first birding trip out since returning from Europe. Perlis is as underwatched a state as almost any in Malaysia, and being right on the Thai/Malaysia border, has considerable potential for rarities. In the last few years Malaysia's first Asian Openbill was found here, as well as a hybrid Long-legged x Upland Buzzard (both of which would be new species for the country).

Unfortunately we were greeted on our arrival by persistent drizzle - the kind of weather I hoped I had left behind in Europe!



Our first good bird after arrival was a fly-by Osprey carrying a fish, and the second was this White Wagtail, a lifer for the other two and a new Malaysian bird for me.






















It didn't think much of the weather either!



Looks like a male of the 'leucopsis' race.



The white face and isolated heart-shaped breast mark are distinctive.



With the rain continuing to fall, we opted to bird from the car, driving slowly along and stopping for anything interesting, like this male Eastern Stonechat.











As we drove along I was alerted by an unfamiliar call. On stopping and scanning we located a pipit, which ran past the car, forcing me to twist my neck painfully to get a few photos. The bird then flew. On my brief views through the viewfinder, the bird seemed to be a Paddyfield Pipit. I got out of the car in an attempt to find the mystery caller, but all I could see was the same pipit, which I pretty much ignored, despite it landing nearby. Not hearing the call again, I got back in the car and we left the scene.

I didn't get chance to review my pictures till just a few days ago, when I was immediately struck by several features of the bird which rang alarm bells that it might be a Blyth's Pipit. I put a couple of pics up on the Surfbirds Advanced Bird Identification Forum, still more in hope than conviction, and got unanimous feedback from experts familiar with both Paddyfield and Blyth's that it is indeed a Blyth's Pipit! You can read the comments here. As the icing on the cake, when I listened to recordings of Blyth's call here and here I heard a very good match for the initial call that caught my attention.



So what makes this bird a Blyth's rather than a Paddyfield Pipit (right)?

1. The shape and colour of the median coverts. Adult Blyth's in fresh plumage show crisp squarish dark centres to the median coverts, and the central shaft streak does not bissect the pale tips (see this picture for example). I was fortunate in that this bird has very fresh plumage apart from a very worn, unmoulted tail.

2. The well-marked crown and mantle - the streaks are not only dark, but quite fine, so that the buff-brown and dark streaks seem roughly equal in thickness.

3. Structurally, the bird is shorter-billed and legged than Paddyfield, and the hindclaw is markedly shorter.

4. The supercilium is less obvious than on Paddyfield, and the lores are paler, leading to a less well-marked 'face'.



Another comparison with Paddyfield (right). The shorter legs and much slighter bill of the Blyth's are obvious in this composite. Also, the head of the Blyth's seems smaller in proportion to the body. I notice that the malar stripe doesn't reach the base of the bill, but I'm not sure if this is a useful distinguishing feature, as it may be variable.

The differences seem so obvious looking at them now, I can't believe I didn't pick this bird out in the field! Oh well - that's the benefit of photography!



After the pipit, we discovered a fallow field over which a few harriers were circling. Realizing that this might be a potential roost, we decided to sit and wait till dusk. By the time we were done, we had counted 55 Pied Harriers and 43 Eastern Marsh at the roost - quite a spectacle! This picture of a male Pied Harrier coming to roost reminds me of the many cold evenings I spent in my youth watching Hen Harriers coming to roost in winter in the UK. Then if I got 10 birds I was ecstatic!



Another male Pied approaching the roost. Many of the birds arrived with full crops, showing they had recently had a successful catch.



A juvenile Pied inspecting its toes!



And a female Pied on a roadside fence.



A male Eastern Marsh Harrier incoming. The upperwing pattern is superficially similar to Pied, but it lacks the clear white leading edge to the inner wing.



Eastern Marsh Harriers of all ages and both sexes show a much more prominent head in flight than Pied. This is another male.



Even in near silhouette, the slim-wings, slim tail and small head of Pied are distinctive.

So, Perlis does it again - another first for Malaysia - even though retrospectively identified! Let's hope the bird hangs around long enough to get more looks at it!

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