Serpent Eagles in the park.

A beautiful Serpent Eagle with features clearly seen in my closest encounter so far.

 Before the end of the year I woud like to put on record that in 2018 I had some quite close encounters with the Serpent Eagle at the Kambatik Park.  On one occasion (23 Oct'18) I was able to take pictures of it taking off from its perch and then in flight.
I am pleased that the Kambatik Park lives to its name as a wildlife sanctuary by attracting birds of prey.  For one it testify to the presence of wildlife that these birds prey on.  It is my hope that these majestic birds will make it a point to frequent the park in future.

Stork-billed Kingfisher (Pelargopsis capensis) "Pekaka-Emas Biasa" - Malay.

Seen on 13 Dec'18 at Kuching waterfront area (Astana-side)

 Malays call the bird 'Pekaka Mas'.  I was lucky on 13 December,2018.  While enjoying the scenery at the Kuching waterfront (on the Astana side) my attention was caught by a Stork-billed Kingfisher that was intent on catching fish in the river below.  It was perching patiently on the branch of the mangrove tree called "Pedada' in Sarawak.  This is the first time that I come very close to a Stork-billed Kingfisher, approximately 20 meters distance away.  So here's some evidences for the file.

View of 'floating ' mosque with partial view of the leaves and branches of the 'Pedada' tree at right
View from the Astana-side of the Kuching waterfront.

The Large-tailed Nightjar in broad daylight

LS of the Large-tailed Nightjar, seen at Cempedak Hill, Zone G,
The Kambatik Park, Bintulu..

Ssssshhhhh…..now you see it, now you don’t.  The Nightjar is still around and what a surprise – it is settling on two eggs!!

The Large-tailed Nightjar has always been a permanent resident of the park.  Here they hunt for insects and  produce a familiar garden call which sounds like ‘tok,tok,tok’.  The sounds can be heard every day here at dusk and dawn and throughout the night.

The Large-tailed Nightjar (Caprimulgus macrurus ) has a black bill and a body that is very well camouflaged with its preferred environment of open grassland.  It does not build the typical nest and would lay its eggs on bare ground.  The eggs (see inset)  as if by rule are two in numbers and are blotched.

A glimpse of the Pied Triller's eggs.

Pied Triller 

 I am thrilled to see the Pied Triller nesting on the Poui ( Tabebuia rosea) branch at the front garden  I have been on guard to see its behaviour.  It is very protective of its nest and would sit on it for the most part of the day.  The female seemed to be quite confident in the safety of the garden.  Once in a while when I checked the nest from a few meters away on ground,  it will be alerted and would fly to nearby branches within 3 - 5 meters away but would soon be seen hopping back to the nesting branch.  In the morning it would hop to the very end of the branches and leaves to preen and to get more direct rays of the sun.  On a few ocassions  I saw the mate visiting the nest.  Just the other day I decided to discover whether it had eggs in the nest.  To reach to the nest I had the cell phone attached to a long bamboo pole.  With 10 secs timer on, I carefully move the pole through the leaves and let it hoover above the nest.  After editing the video I froze one frame to catch a glimpse of the nest and is shown below.  This is indeed a pleasant surprise and worth sharing.   My hope is that I'll be able to record its chicks soon.

Eggs of the Pied Triller

Sitting pretty on its nest.

Orange-bellied flowerpecker enjoying the Ixora berries

 Yesterday I have been observing the antics of the Orange-bellied Flowerpecker (Dicaeum trigonstigma) when it frequented a bunch of ripe fruits of the Yellow Ixora.  The male bird first strike the skin of the fruit, peeling it off before pecking deeper into the flesh.  On another instance, it had the berry caught between it beak before swallowing it.  At the park here this bird is considered a permanent resident.  It is around the place every day, attracted by many kinds of berries and fruits, mainly the Jackfruit. Though tiny it is nevertheless a very attractive bird for its contrasting colours i.e. orange versus blue.

 Orange-bellied Flowerpecker (Dicaeum trigonstigma)

Kuala Baram Wetlands - Black-winged Stilt

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

Black-winged Stilt feeding

Black-winged Kite in flight

On a short trip to Miri (28.2.18) I went to the Kuala Baram wetlands to find out what the place has to offer.  There were ponds and swampy areas just by the roadside where we parked our car.  The wetlands is situated between the coastal road and the continuous shore line. Towards one end of the road were a few kampungs and on the opposite end were seen destructive activities such as clearing and bull-dozing works and prawn farming ponds.

Since time was limited, I just waited by the roadside or a few meters away from the road shoulder.  I was quite disappointed by the facilities there. There’s tons of work to be done to make the place favourable for birders which is for the authorities to think about and do.

Anyway, there were plenty of Blue-throated Bee-eaters coming as low as the road shoulders hunting for prey. Sounds of kingfishers , Brahminy kites and Wood swallows were loud and clear.  Two birds made my day during the very brief visit, which was about two hours.   Firstly, I managed to come quite close to the Black-winged Kite with a wonderful picture of it in flight.  Secondly, I was able to add a new sighting to this blog – Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) which was a lifer for me.

I guess I will come back again to this place in near future not only to see the birds but also to the destruction of the habitat due to man’s greed and inconsideration.

An unidentified 'eagle'.

 Today - 15 January, 2018 I was very lucky to have spotted this 'eagle' at Kuching somewhere near the Astana Gardens and the Orchid Park.  I saw a pair but the other mate was a bit too far to shoot but I guess that doesn't matter.  Most important I have a record of encountering this beautiful bird.  It was repeatedly making calls to its mate and when it flew closer to it, it perched on a nearby branch close enough for a good shot.  On returning home I checked many books on its identity and couldn't get any resemblance. So I guess this 'eagle' remains unidentified.

An unidentified 'eagle' species?? 

The Common Iora at Taman Orkid, Kuching.

Common Iora (Aegithina tiphia) - Kunyit Kacat (Malay)

 I saw a small family of the Common Iora while photographing orchids at the Taman Orkid or Orchid Park near  Kuching  on the 9th of August.  It was the first time I ever had of coming very close to the bird.  The little chick was preening itself and both of its parents were nearby for company.  They were not so frightened to see me and upon being alerted of my presence did not move far away from the spot.  Instead they move to immediate twigs and branches offering me even better light and location for creative shots.  I share here the shots I managed to capture of these tiny but active birds.

Pied Fantail comes for first visit

Pied Fantail (Samabar Murai Gila) - Rhipidura javanica is seen at the Mango tree branch
Location : Kambatik garden, Kuching.

 All the years we have been staying at Kuching, the garden has never been visited by the Pied Fantail until a few days ago.  And then again, after that singular sighting, the bird came almost on a daily basis to check out the garden.  The presence of the Pied Fantail is most welcomed here because while this bird is a permanent  resident at the park in Bintulu, this is the first time I come across the bird in our Kuching garden  What's more remarkable is the opportunity it gave me to get sharperimages of the bird. With its habit of coming to garden on a daily basis I would therefore consider it a common garden bird of Sarawak, especially in the lowland areas.

A common lowland resident throughout Sarawak.  Feeds on insects and forages in the lower and middle storeys. Active and noisy and regularly fan out its tail.

Black-winged Kite - a second encounter

Black-winged Kite (Elanus caerulus)
Seen perching at power cable along Miri-Bintulu coastal road.

On the 23rd of July'17, I was on my way back to Bintulu after a brief weekend in Miri. I have decided to drive the way back using the Miri-Bintulu coastal road. From the 92 km milestone and for a few kilometers on the road I encountered a few familiar loooking birds perching on the power cables along the two-lane tarsealed road.  All around and along the coastal road there was endless plantation of oil palms.  When I decided to stop temporarily on the road shoulder to have a chance at get closer shots of the birds they seemed to be alerted at my presence with their sharp eyes focussed on me.  In many instances, upon seeing me they took flight only to perched again on the cables.  This action on their part allowed me chances to play it cool on them and nor to scare them away.  In the end they gave me many chances to shoot at them within close range.  Here are the pictures that show how handsome and sharp these Black-winged kites are.  For the record this is my second encounter with these birds.  The first encounter was in Bintulu in 2014 along the coastal stretch of road near ABF housing area. The link is here...>>>https://mybirdingsarawak.blogspot.my/search/label/Kite

A small and handsome kite with white body and triangular black patch on its wings.  When alerted it flew away in graceful flight but will be back again perching on the power cable.

Black-bellied Malkoha

After a few days of sighting a medium-sized black bird flying about in the park that seemed difficult to take a photo of, my luck turned good on the 5th of June.  On that day the 'black bird' somehow appeared in plain sight.  It was among the tall branches of jungle trees at Botanic Island Two area that I had a good look at it.  It was a Black-bellied Malkoha and is the second time that I stumbled on the species.  A remarkable thing happened when the bird attacked a big jungle grasshopper and I was excited when the seizure was captured in camera as shown below.  This is a silent bird and the Botanic Island seemed to be its favourite habitat, being in the lowland primary forest it is. Of course many other malkoha species have been sighted here over the years. The bird's  bill is light green, feet is dull blue-grey and the body an attractive rich-bluish green.  The skin around the eye is a rich crimson colour.  Its tail has white tips.

Black-bellied Malkoha with a big jungle grasshopper at its beak.  Note the white tips at its tail.

Red-throated Barbet

 On the 24th of May'17, I had a most remarkable encounter (and a lifer at that) with a Red-throated Barbet.  Of all the places I could have met the bird, it was at our garden in Kuching.  I was at my study when  I heard an unusual call which sounded like a loud tok, tok, tok, tok in erratic intervals that made me rauh out to the garden with my camera.  I saw it first perching on the Poui branch and afforded me a fair view of it.  Then I waited and luck was on my side when it came perching down to the Eugenia oleina tree branch which was just meters away from where I stood.  Then it was all shoot, shoot and shoot away.  This rare moment comes once in  a life time.  I will not know when will I ever see it again, but this chanced encounter at the Kambatik garden in Kuching is good enough for me to see the beauty of this bird.  Below are some more pictures from the album.

High on the Poui tree branch

Perching on the Eugenia oleina branch.

This sighting makes my day - 24 May,2017.