A plaintive Cuckoo in Bakun

A surprise  encounter dated 2 April'13 with the Plaintive Cuckoo

 It is not often that I go to Bakun.  This is because it would take a stressful 3 hours travel on road from Bintulu to reach the place known for its hydro-electric dam.  The road is tar-sealed but for many stretches the maintenance standard is poor to unsafe, thus the road conditions discourage many people in Bintulu to explore the area.  In one rare occasion I managed to visit the place when my son invited us to stay for a few days and nights at his accomodation provided by the company he was working with at Bakun dam.   On the 2nd of April,2013 while taking a morning walkabout I stumbled upon a Plaintive Cuckoo, a male of the species as shown in picture above.  

The Bakun dam, showing the rush of water into the air from the overflow channel.
2 April'13
Note: The dam reservoir of water which is about the size of Singapore is not seen in the picture.

The Plaintive Cuckoo

Plaintive Cuckoo, photshoot on 19 Feb'15
The Kambatik Park, Bintulu.

It was a new sighting at the Kambatik Park.  For year now I often heard the calls of the Plaintive Cuckoo but failed to catch a glimpse of it.  On the 19th of February'15, a rare opportunity arose when I made my first sighting that confirmed the calls that I hear every morning and evening before sunset came from the Plaintive Cuckoo.  It was seen on the Cempedak perch making its call...check out the full story here...>>>http://kambatikpark.blogspot.com/search/label/Plaintive%20Cuckoo

A Cuckoo bird in hand

 It happened sometime ago (18/11/11) when I was doing some gardening at the Kuching garden.  Suddenly I heard a thud.  It sounded like something just hit the front wall.  I went to check the front porch and to my surprise saw a bird was struggling to fly after after hitting hard the front wall next to the door.  When I picked it up it was still conscious.  After about 30 minutes of handling, I found that it was strong enough to fly free.  I released it after having some good shots it.  Checking on various sources and references I think it is the Plaintive Cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus).  It was my first lifer.

Plaintive Cuckoo - Cacomantis merulinus