Kit's Fledgling BY

[TonyQ]

You are certainly adding a lot of great birds to you list! I really like the Kingfisher and Nightjar sequences - lovely.

[Kitsafari]

Thanks for the comments, @TonyQ.

 

147: Hill Myna, April 22

 

 

The common Hill myna may be of least concern in the IUCN list but in Southeast Asia, the numbers are plummeting. Loss of habitat and severe poaching in Singapore has made the native bird very rare to find. It is the most sought after myna as a caged bird as it is easy to catch (distinctive voice, low nests, large and detectable bird) and can be taught to speak. So just as a precaution, I'm not disclosing the location,but it has a beautiful call and is far more attractive than its smaller cousin the Javan myna. 

[Kitsafari]

148: Golden-backed weaver, Lorong Halus, May 19

 

 

What's an African bird doing in Singapore? and building nests and breeding at that? the caged bird trade did it. Its an introduced bird, and was first recorded in 2011 and has flourished well since then. The Golden-backed weaver is at the moment busily building numerous nests at Lorong Halus. These were the efforts of OH as I was unwell that day and he decided to check out the small park. 

 

[lmSA84]

Beautiful sequence of birds - so sad that you have to hide the location of the Mynas just because of a senseless need

[Galana]

Catching up and too many likes.

Good to see OH can deputise when needed. Hope all OK.

[Kitsafari]

I should have mentioned from the start that this BY is a joint effort. OH is just as excited as I am about the BY! 

 

@Galana I hope you are well too! all good with us.

[Dave Williams]

No doubt  you have both seen all the birds so no matter who takes the shots. Great to know we have encouraged a bonus 2 for 1!

[Peter Connan]

So much nicer to share a passion, or even just an interest, with your other half.

[Kitsafari]

I'll take a break from the birds in Singapore and move to neighbouring Malaysia. 

 

149: Wreathed hornbills, Gunung Raya, Langkawi, May 25

 

Not sure who was feeding who. female on the left and male on the right. 

 

 

 

We took a short break to Langkawi (for OH's birthday break too  ), an island west of Peninsular Malaysia, where top of my list was colugo, and great hornbills. So we were delighted to find not oriental pied hornbills (which were found in other parts of Langkawi) but also wreathed hornbills. the photos are rather rubbish as we found the hornbills after 6pm when most of the light was gone and the skies were cloudy (it rained a couple of hours later). but we were very happy seeing just these two hornbills, a female and male far in the distance. These hornbills are of least concern in the IUCN list altho their numbers are not quantified. The male has a yellow gular pouch with a black bar across while the female has a blue gular pouch. 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2018 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

150: Great Hornbills, Gunung Raya, Langkawi, May 25

 

 

The Great Hornbill is a very large and majestic bird. this is a near threatened species in rapid declines due to quick destruction of forests and poaching. the bulk of this species is found at the foothills of the Himalayas. This bird can live up to 50 years old, an impressive lifespan for a bird. we were very fortunate that a batch of them - some 15-20 - were flying to trees to roost and we could see them fly. somehow in my mind I can hear the low whooshing sounds as they flapped across the skies, even though they were far away. 

Edited June 21, 2018 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

151: Chestnut-breasted Malkoha, Andaman grounds, May 27

 

 

There was a pair of the chestnut-breasted malkoha. In the dense leaves of the tall tree, i had thought the bird was a koel but once I put the camera to my eye and zoomed it, it was too colourful to be a koel. This is a native bird found in SOutheast Asia. It is the only species of malkohas left in Singapore as the black-bellied, raffles' and red-billed malkohas have become extinct. that is sad. this species is part of the cuckoo family but is the only cuckoo family that is not parasitic, that is they build their own nests and nurse their own young. 

[Kitsafari]

152: Red-wattled Lapwing, Kisap, Langkawi, May 26

 

 

the Red-wattled Lapwing is one of the largest Asian lapwings in our region. It is monogamous and highly territorial breeders and found always on the ground.  This one was found close to rice fields and swampy areas, and seemed pretty chilled to our stationary car, although we didn't try to get ouf of the car. 

 

Edited June 21, 2018 by Kitsafari

[xelas]

Is there a month that does not rain in Langkawi ? Beautiful photos, @Kitsafari! I remember a huge statue of an eagle, but not seeing any eagles in the air. Have you saw any?

[Kitsafari]

153: Ruby-cheeked Sunbird, Kisap, Langkawi, May 26

 

 

This ruby-cheeked sunbird made a momentary appearance before quickly vanishing into the mangroves. You can just make out a pale shade of pink on its cheeks but what a brilliant patch of blue on its nape. This species is found in Indian sub-continent to southern China to Southeast Asia, except for the Philippines. It is found mainly in forests or mangroves.

 

[Kitsafari]

1 minute ago, xelas said:

Is there a month that does not rain in Langkawi ? Beautiful photos, @Kitsafari! I remember a huge statue of an eagle, but not seeing any eagles in the air. Have you saw any?

 

Thanks @xelas. It's in the equator so it rains most of the time! but the least rains are in mid-November to Mid-April. Migration is at the early part of the year. when we went, it was the end of the migration so we didn't migratory birds. But we saw a lot of raptors - brahminy kites were everywhere,  and a white-bellied sea eagle was sighted at andaman (where we stayed). we ran out of time to take a boat trip to see the raptors but I'm told it's very easy to see them. I hope to go again for that. 

[xelas]

Thanks for info. We were at Langkawi in August of 1999 ... and it rained buckets every day all day for 5 days in a row ! So many years ago ... we might come back soon !

[Kitsafari]

@xelas oh no!! that's horrid. please come back. I just got back from a southern Thailand trip and it was just incredible. you can always combine the two places. 

[Dave Williams]

Excellent additions and informative write ups. Good stuff! Where did you get to in Thailand?

[Kitsafari]

@Dave Williams thanks for the comments! I was in Ao Phangna, Sri Phangna and Khao Sok National Parks in southern Thailand. long drives but easy to get to from Phuket. 

[Dave Williams]

We stayed on Koh Phra Throng for 10 days, it's a really special place. Almost deserted and a throw back to years gone by. I wrote about it in my blog if you are interested in somewhere a bit different.

[Kitsafari]

2 minutes ago, Dave Williams said:

We stayed on Koh Phra Throng for 10 days, it's a really special place. Almost deserted and a throw back to years gone by. I wrote about it in my blog if you are interested in somewhere a bit different.

 

definitely. can share the link?

 

[Dave Williams]

There's a link to my blog at the bottom of my pages but this takes you to one particular write up and some photos of the beach at sunset.

https://davewilliamsnaturephotography.blogspot.com/2015/03/koh-phra-thong-chill-out.html

I think they might have built another resort since we were there but it will still offer a lot of solitude, if there were more than 6 people on the beach we wondered what was going on!

[Kitsafari]

Thanks for sharing. Very interesting, although the snake part will make me think twice about that place! what a pity that the locals have abandoned the place, but i guess for them, the island contained a lot of bad memories from the tsunami and for them, not worth taking the risks again. 

[xelas]

@Kitsafari I was thinking along the lines of west coast peninsula and Borneo,3 + 1 or  2 + 2 weeks. Only caveat is that we would need to do this in August. I know self-driving was easy already 20 years ago, now it should be even easier?!

[Kitsafari]

oh for sure @xelas. roads have vastly improved in Malaysia, especially in the western side of peninsular Malaysia. just chatting with a birdie guy who's heading to Pahang tomorrow. but it may be a tad (much much more than a tad) rainy in August...