Sg Balang :: Siberian Stonechat

31st Dec 2010 

Sg Balang @ 7am

"Must get the Russian before new year"  - that was the motto i had in mind few weeks ago after news that the Siberian Stonechats were sighted in Nov. I am not really sure if they are from Russia but generally speaking migratory species are the priority, for most birds photographers.


My previous visits were too obsessed to get something big and rare, like a vulture! So all the little ones were basically ignored.

Being small they are not easy to spot, but luckily they are tame and only perch clean and low, and as long as you maintain a safe distance of around 20', you could have whole day to photograph them.

I was lucky to find the male and female roughly 100' apart. Lighting was extremely harsh and the male was not that tame compared to the female. It always looked  cautious and nervous, almost every shot that I have shows a watchful eye at me. Getting a bit too near would see him fleeing away and perch another 30' away. 

Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola torquata)

Murai Sawah * 黑喉石䳭 * ノビタキ * Sẻ bụi đầu đen

Tarier pâtre * prhlaviar ciernohlavý * Чекан черноголовый * นกยอดหญ้าหัวดำ

Not so much drama on the female, she would land on the paddyfield not far in front and come back to the same perch again if I had back off a little.  So it was a real joy to shoot the couple. Every time one flies away I would walk to look for the other one! Simple and effective works almost every time!


And after shooting the Stonechats I was getting really hungry because my usual restaurant for breakfast and Nasi Lemak bungkus store were both closed on my way to Balang. In fact many shops and food stalls along the main road were closed...

female Siberian Stonechat

And Corn/peanut pancake for breakfast and lunch was not something i had in mind, but that was the only food i could get without venturing far from the paddyfield. The whole town was celebrating the winning of the soccer match against Indonesia and little did i know that 31st of Dec was declared as public holidays! 

RM1.50 (US40cents) for both breakfast and lunch! That must be my cheapest meal for the record!

Farmers are flooding the fields in broader scale now, with many pumps used at severalt locations to help speed up the flooding.

Sandpiper, Snipe, and PG Plover were sighted in many areas but all in very small flocks or as an individual in a single field. Perhaps the spaying of pesticide might explain that. 

"STOP spraying pesticide, we are eating here!!"

A few flocks of Tern came by and left without feeding. Besides the single BSK I saw near the entrance in the morning, and a Brahminy Kite came hovering for a few mins at noon, no other raptors were seen for the whole day. 

Common Greenshank

Pacific Golden Plover

Pintail/Swinhoe Snipe?

This probalby giveaway its true ID! So, Ah Swin or Ah Pin?

Little-ringed Plover

Friends who came last week reported the sighting of GH Lapwing and scores of Long-toed stints but unfortunately they were not celebrating their holiday here. 


I don't really know how to do bird count but if my fingers and toes were telling the truth, the no. of Paddyfield Pipit and Wagtail were about 50each and mostly occurred at the S Eastern part of the paddy fields, in a group of 4-6 for the wagtail.


The Pipits would flee long before you are in the 20' vicinity, unless you caught them doing the stunt of "sand massage" on the dirt road which happened to me twice.

Paddyfield Pipit (Anthus rufulus)

Ciak Bendang * 田鹨 *ヒメマミジロタヒバリ * 

 Pipit rousset * labtuška ryžová * นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก

This particular pipit was having a complete/full-course rub of its neck, sides and bottom, for a full 5mins before I was allowed to pass thru the dirt road. 
. 

"Not so fast! My bottom is not finished yet!"

And the mixed flock of Munias were having some leftovers so don't expect to see them next month i guess. 

Can you spot the sarcastic smile of the white-headed munia right 

in the centre? I am still unable to get a good shot of it yet! Arrrg!

And Wei Luen, in case you are reading this, I have checked every nest box and banana tree in Sg Balang, no Barn Owl for me again........ :(


And some common birds of Sg Balang

Lesser Adjutant

 White-breasted Waterhen

 Yellow Bitten

Myna

 Purple Heron

White-throated Kingfisher

Sg Balang :: 2nd Nov 2010

Errr...just drop by to check my mail!

Migratory raptors are arriving in full swing according to reports i read recently, but obviously Sg Baling is not their passage or final destination, at least not yet!  The farmers are just starting to harvest the crop and it would probably take 3 more weeks before they start removing the dead stalk for burning. Then another two week for ploughing, hence the best time is likely to be mid or end Dec.

The farmers have finally leveled the dirt road near the dump sites. I found only 3 of the inner mud tracks not passable with saloon cars due to the muddy condition. But i literally drove pass all the inner tracks, scrapping the underside of my car mercilessly and twice i was stuck in the mud for half an hour! As the saying goes, "don't buy any equipment from wildlife/nature photographer!"

I did a bird count for the fist time with my trusted fingers and these are findings for the day, for both migrants and res species (7am to 2pm).

Lesser Adjutant : 12

Black Kites : 6

Black-shouldered Kite : 8

Pied Harrier : 1

Spotted Eagle : 1

Blue-tailed Beeeater : 150+

Brown shrike : 80+

Reed Warbler : 50+

Woodsanpiper: 1

White-winged Tern : 100+
 Red-wattled Lapwing : 50+

And of course not forgetting thousands of Munias, Mynah as well as hundreds of herons and egrets. 

My greatest catch has to be the Pied Harrier. It was hovering feets above the paddy field but I could'n Id at sight, knowing the Blk Kite/Brahminy Kite do not fly low over the crop for prey, I took a few shots of it and glad that it turns out to be the Pied Harrier, a lifer for me! In fact if had known its ID earlier i would have spent the day with it!

Pied Harrier (Circus melanoleucos)

Helang Sawah Hitam-Putih *  鹊鹞 * マダラチュウヒ * Diều mướp

The BSKs, perched on the designated poles built by farmers to help control the field mice population. They are the farmers' best friends indeed.

I saw these two were having a mid air fight, it was the Black Kite on the left made the attack initially, but eventually defected by the larger rival . i am still unable to Id the bird on the right! Harrier? White-headed Kite??

One unusual sighting in Sg Balang was the flock of White-winged Terns feeding on insects. I thought they had flown all the way here for our delicious tropical marine fishes! They must be hungry as they were searching non-stop all over the paddy fields.

White-winged Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus)

Camar Hitam Sayap Putih * 白翅浮鸥 * ハジロクロハラアジサシ * Nhàn xám

The Brown Shrikes and the Blur-tailed Bee-eaters were everywhere and easy targets. I am just happy to get some improvement shots for the shrikes.

Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus)

Tirjup Coklat * 虎纹伯劳 * アカモズ * Bách thanh mày trắng

Blue-tailed Bee-eater (Merops philippinus)

Beberek Ekor Biru * 

The Oriental Reed-warbler were elusive, often hide in the bush once sighted, and getting a full body shot basically require a great deal of patience. Here is the tips, off your engine, cover your window with camou cloth so that they don't see your ugly faces, within mins, they would start popping out wondering where you have gone, at least this works for me every time.

Oriental Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis)

Cekup Paya Besar * 

this particular ORW was just 2' away from my car window for more than 20mins and i have to wait until it perch further for my 500mm lens. I should have snapped with my Nokia though.

With the crop unharvested, the lapwings roost on the dirt track most of the time, so rather useless for gear mounted on beanbag on the window's ledge. I was lucky to see three grumbling Lapwings at a tee-junction and managed to capture some decent shots at about 25' away.

Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus)

Rapang Minta Duit * 肉垂麦鸡 * インドトサカゲリ * Te vặt

from the movies, "hidden dragon and the crouching tiger" ?

Mixed flocks of the Munias feeding on the fields could be seen from time to time. Often when a flock dive in for feeding frenzy on the rice grains, one would stay on top on the look out for danger. And I was surprised to see this WR Munia on guard for the Scarly-breasted and White-headed Munias. I guess they all speak the same language then!

White-rumped Munia (Lonchura striata)
Pipit Tuli * 白腰文鸟 * コシジロキンパラ * Di cam

Chinese Pond-Heron (Ardeola bacchus)

Pucung Cina * 池鹭 * アカガシラサギ * Cò bợ

Funny i saw two Wood Sandpipers in Sg Balang last year, so another one is arriving soon!

Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola)

Kedidi Kayu * 林鹬 * タカブシギ * Choắt bụng xám

Lesser Adjutant (Leptoptilos javanicus)

Burung Botak * 秃鹳 * コハゲコウ * Già đẩy Java

Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea)

Pucung Serandau * 草鹭 * ムラサキサギ * Diệc lửa

juvenile

Black-headed Munia (Lonchura malacca)

Pipit Rawa * 白腰文鸟 * コシジロキンパラ * Di cam

So the birds do queue up for water! The one on right is female i think!

I couldn't get a good flight shots of the terns with the 500mm lens, so i switched to 300mmF4 with TC1.4 on my D3s, AF was faster,

and managed to get a FIM shot!

And this tern made the 'goodbye' turn right in front of me just mins before i left for home.

I will be back soon, for the Pied Harrier, and hopefully the Common Kestrels, Marsh Harrier, Spotted Eagle....... !