Kampung Langsat :: Oriental Pied Hornbill

17th Oct 2010 Sunday

Weather looked extremely gloomy when I set out my journey at 6am. And I was disappointed too when I realized my fav bitter-cot soup restaurant  at Senai was closed for business on sunday's morning for no apparent reason, so I proceeded to Kg Langsat  hungrily craving for food, and the Oriental Pied Hornbills of course.

By 6:40am I reached Kg Langsat via the newly-built Senai-Pasir Gudang Expressway, Here I found the delicious nasi-lemak serves in the traditional way, and after consuming 2 pkgs, somehow I felt really satisfied and the overcast weather was suddenly not much of concern. 

According to the folks at the village, the hornbills could be seen everyday but their timings are unpredictable, they usually appear around the Jetty area early in the morning, and sometimes, return in the late afternoon roosting at trees next to the seafood restaurant, and those trees were just around 15' tall with open branches (no leaves)!!

Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris)

Burung Kelingking * 冠斑犀鸟 * キタカササギサイチョウ * Cao cát bụng trắng

( this mynah, obviously not impressed with my presence, 
gave me a stern look while i took its pic.....)

6 OPHBs were seen in this tree behind the green-coloured house. But the perch was high, around 30’ and they were playful and surprising active for such big birds. Crows, mynah came roosting on this tree were constantly being chase away by the hornbills, and 2 squirrels were seen pecked by the hornbills mercilessly. 

Two of the hornbills were busy following the crows around to the nearby trees, and would peck at the crows if they perch.

The hornbills didn’t stay long, after just 20mins, they flew further to the trees along the coastal line and unfortunately, beyond access by foot. 

( On my way out of Kg Langat for lunch, I saw this gorgeous Green

 Imperial Pigeon,strangely with its mouth open all the times )

By noon, I paid a visit to the Kg Langsat's Crocodile Farm, no sign of birds except crocs and I was stuck "roosting"  here for more than an hour due to the heavy rain.

( Entrance fees is RM4, according to one worker, Crocs are fed 3-4 times per week, 

with raw chicken meat)

On my way back to the Jetty, two White-bellied Sea Eagle were sighted roosting at the mangrove forest, and another big bird that I couldn’t ID with bino, perched on a stick almost 70m away  Attempts to gain access by the dirt road at the construction site almost got my vehicles stuck at some of the potholes, which obviously were softened by the heavy rain earlier. So I have to be contented with my distanced shots earlier.

On close examination at home, I was thrilled to learn that I’ve got another great lifer here, an Osprey. a migratory species I have never seen before. 

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

Helang Tiram * 鱼鹰 * ミサゴ * Ó cá

Hoping to catch the hornbills again, back at the Jetty, a lone sandpiper was seen foraging at the mudflats with a Collared Kingfisher roosting nearby. A lone Grey Heron at the beach, and the fisherman was laying trap nest hoping for a good catch tomorrow, no sign of the hornbills, but i wasn't complaining....

Everything seemed so peaceful here, and I ordered a cup of Nescafe at the Seafood restaurant, snap some shots, a bit of walking while drooling over the scenic views of Kampong Langsat, forgetting the hornbills completely.....

(view from the Tomyam Seafood Restaurant)

( the Jetty )

In fact the only "noise" I heard was the laughters from the fishermen's 3 kids, yelling at me happily "Take our pics! Take our pics!"

Geographically, Kampong Langsat is just opposite S'pore's Changi Airport across the straits and the Observation Tower could be seen with the naked eyes. Big birds were seen ( surprising close ) surging to the sky every 2-3 mins interval! Quite an amazing sight indeed.

Tiger Shrike

15th Oct 2010

Tiger Shrike (Lanius tigrinus)

Tirjup Harimau * 虎纹伯劳 * チゴモズ * Bách thanh vằn

I made a last min quick dash to Panti this morning for the Tiger Shrike and I was not disappointed, it was at the usual spot at the end of the visitor’s car park. 

It must be hungry as it was constantly hunting for prey in the 30mins I was there . But I missed the shot of it with the giant praying mantis.  In fact every time it catches a prey it would perch far away from me, smashing the prey to death and looking at me cautiously before eating it.

It is good to know that this year the Tiger Shrikes came early and in much bigger number compared to last year. My rough estimate so far is about 20 just along the bunker trail alone. their calls can be heard very often.

( What is this again ? Edible? )

Strange that when I was a kid, I used to work in the farm during school holidays, and mum and dad would ask me to try pinching an unknown fruit and taste the juice with the tip of my tongue, if it is sweet eat it, if bitter, don’t eat. Wish I have the courage to tell the same thing to my kids now.

And this tasty looking little squirrel was just right in front of me when I was about to pack up for lunch and leave.

Ashy Bulbul

Ashy Bulbul (Hemixos flavala)

Merbah Kelabu * 灰短脚鹎 * ハイイロヒヨドリ* Cành cạch xám

I am not sure about their status in Panti but I would assume they are rare because I have only seen them once in close to 100 trips since last June.  Or perhaps they are shy of human activities and don’t come close to the bunker trail.

And these are my only few record shots.

Pics were taken with D300 500mmVR TC1.4 on 17^th Oct 2009

Permas Jaya

Rather an unknown location for birders in the south, but if you are looking to shoot some wild ducks and terns, this is almost a perfect location without having to travel far, besides, the famous nasi-lemak of Senibong is just mins away!

Located at Permas Jaya on route to Plentong, these 4 fenced-up sewage ponds are the perfect feeding ground for both local and some wintering species. I have been checking on this area weekly since 3months ago after sighting about 12 terns. And much to my delights, BC Night Heron Storkbilled Kf, WT KF, Little Ergret, Painted Storks, and Sandpipers were ocassionally seen here too

Little Tern ( sterna albifrons )

Camar Kecil * 白额燕鸥 * コアジサシ * Nhàn nhỏ

( The Terns, now about 50 of them, are constantly hovering, skimming over the ponds and dive in for food at rather close range. )

The best time to shoot is presumably early in the morning before the Sun rises and after 4pm, which is my frequent weekly visits.

The Wandering Ducks are shy though, often the moment you step into the pavement they would flee into the adjacent thick foliage, just stay put and give them some times, and they would appear slowly, cautiously maintain a 20m distance from you.

Wandering Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna arcuata)

斑胸树鸭 * オオリュウキュウガモ

( the monitor lizard, eyeing on the deliciously looking ducks.....)

( taken form the perimeterial concrete pavement, the ducks will always rest at the semi-submersed pipe if you are too close, dist abt 20,)

( The Black-crowned is always seen at the upper pond, Watch out for Stock-billed Kingfisher at the same area too )

Black-crowned Night-heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

Pucung Kuak * 夜鷺 * セグロゴイ * Vạc

( Steve Yap, trying to get a eye-level shot of a giant man-eating croc!)

( the road shown abv, left is to Permas Jaya and right is to Plentong)

( there re 4 ponds, these two lower ponds have more species, compared to other two at the high ground to the left of the low cost housing )

Panti :: 4th 6th Oct 2010

Last Sunday visit to Panti were greeted with 3 bird waves, first was at the main gate, then 2^nd at the Rock Shrine and 3^rd was after the 1^st stream. But the birds were extremely fast, those Nuthatches at the Rock Shrine were basically impossible to track and focus, all 6 of them, hence I ended up shooting the leftover, those that stay behind or rather lazy to fly after the waves, the White-rumped Shama, Chestnut-breasted Malkoha and the Yellow-bellied flowerpecker.

Chestnut-breasted Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus curvirostris)

Cenuk Birah * 栗胸地鹃 * チャムネバンケンモドキ

White-rumped Shama (Copsychus malabaricus)

Murai Rimba * 白腰鹊鸲 * アカハラシキチョウ * Chích chòe lửa

Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker (Prionochilus maculatus)

Sepah Puteri Raja * 黄喉锯齿啄花鸟 * キムネハナドリモドキ

Today’s visit was in hoping to get a better shots of the Tiger Shrikes, they were here two weeks ago and plenty of them. But they are still shy with the new environment, often responded from deep inside the forest. A scene which I recalled similar to last year, migratory species often acted cautiously when first landed in Panti, give them 2 months, you can almost whistle them to oblige you for a portrait shot, hopefully that is the case here!

Rather quiet along the trail until I reached the first stream, a huge birdwave of woodpeckers, Malkohas and Parakeets, Bulbuls and leafbirds! Before i could setup my gear, the birds have already flown into the forest and not a single shot was fired, the grey-cheeked bulbuls were the only leftover this time! Funny I have never seen woodpeckers in wave before, there were 2 chequered-throateds and 2 rufous-backs.

Black-winged Flycatcher-Shrike (Hempius hirundinaceus)

Rembah Sayap Hitam * 黑翅鹟䴗 * ハグロヒタキサンショウクイ

As I was pondering where to go next, another birdwave came, this time my gear was ready, but there were too many small birds among 4-5 leafbirds, all look like white eyes to me against strong backlight. Only one was perching still, the rest were hovering and hopping non-stop, so I only managed to capture this bird, and fortunately, it turns out to be Black-winged Flycather-Shrike, something I have never even seen and heard before! :) A Lifer!

(And thanks to Mr. Wong Tsu Shi and JKC for their help in ID)

As I was packing my gear to leave at the carpark's hut, I saw this monkey with her beautiful child perched on a nearby tree as if pleading for a family shot....how i wish birds are as big and as friendly as monkeys!

( not sure about this species though....)

And what fruit is this? I am always temped to eat this, see closely, they are all in twins, love fruits maybe! And I would probably bring back a few to let my noisy neighbors try first before i eat them!

Sg Balang :: Rosy Starling

Rosy Starling (Sturnus Roseus)

粉红椋鸟 * バライロムクドリ * Sáo hồng

The Rosy Starlings are vagrant species in Malaysia. i spotted a group of probably about 8 -10 about 100' away in the paddy fields of Sg Balang, in Jan 2010. I was handholding my 500 lens for BIF shots of the WBSE then, not knowing they were Rosy, I close in to them and took some shots after the WBSEs have left. I could remember vividly that only 3 were roosting quietly, and the rest were hovering over the trees like Bulbuls.

In fact I have just came to know recently that sighting is very rare here (after reading a post in NPX for its ID) and thought might as well share the imgs here.

Rosy Starling (Sturnus Roseus)

粉红椋鸟 * バライロムクドリ * Sáo hồng

Panti :: Pale Blue Flycatcher 22nd Sept 2010

Pale Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis unicolor)

Sambar Biru Rimba * 纯蓝仙鹟 * ウスアオヒタキ * Đớp ruồi xanh nhạt

I spotted this Pale Blue Flycatcher almost 3 weeks ago near the 1^st stream of Panti bird sanctuary.

Thinking it was a Black-naped Monarch then, I took some shots but never bothered to look at the imgs later after transferring into my HD!

A week ago, a friend from S’pore asked me if I have taken pics of a Pale Blue Flycatcher near the same locs, I immediately rush home from work to look at those imgs again and glad to find out it was indeed a Pale Blu flycatcher, a lifer for me!

Unfortunately on subsequent visit, the bird was nowhere to be found, and I am just lucky to have two useable imgs here to share.