The Large-tailed Nightjar has laid two eggs.

 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.

Come September

The Chestnut -breasted Malkoha pays a visit

It was another thrilling encounter this morning when I stumbled upon the Chestnut-breasted Malkoha ( Phaenicophaeus curvirostris)   I could sense its presence about 20 meters away by its peculiar low call when I was approaching Botanic Island One.  After a while of looking its whereabout and keeping still beneath the tall trees and dense canopy, my eyes were suddenly attracted to a dark moving figure among the leaves and branches.  My patience was rewarded when the Malkoha came out more in the open.  Here are a few shots on this morning encounter.

Chestnut-breasted Malkoha ( Phaenicophaeus curvirostris) 

One up for the park- a juvenile long-tailed Nightjar

Early April the Long-tailed Nightjar was seen frequenting the open ground near the Cempedak Hill and I was hoping that the adult bird will produce an offspring.  Today, after a lapse of a few weeks I decided to catch up with the bird.  To my greatest surprise I saw a young Nightjar chick at the spot where the adult frequented before.  I did not have the chance to see the eggs since I was away in Kuching.  Nevertheless, the presence of the juvenile Nightjar  is one up for the park as a wildlife sanctuary.

The Large-tailed Nightjar in plain sight

3 April'17

3 April'17

6 April'17
Large-tailed Nightjar nesting on open ground, Cempedak Hill, Zone G.

I have been tracking the presence of a Large-tailed Nightjar near the tall Cempedak tree at Zone G.  She is of course a perfect camouflage.  You cannot actually recognise it immediately because its body and feathers resemble the colours of dead leaves, vegetative matter, wood, stones or just earth. Furthermore it does not utter any sound or call.  Whether the bird is going to lay eggs, time will tell.  But I'm on the watchout from now on.

The Dollar in sight

Dollar bird perches on a tall dead tree branch at Licuala Hill, Zone I

 Today I'm extremely lucky to have another shot of the Dollar bird, belonging to the Roller family.  From my experience so far, I have only seen this bird coming to town solo.  Its red beak and bluish body is very attractive.  From far, I couldn't specifically recognise this bird because the shot was taken from about 100 meters.  After zooming in on the image then it's confirmed.  This Dollar bird is known to build nest in a hole of the coconut tree.Apparently on this sighting it did not utter any call or sound.

In the background is the Dollar bird, abut 100 meters away. Note the colourful red flushes of a jungle treelet at the foreground.
View from Botanic Island Two, Zone I, looking north.

Banking on the grass seeds

Chestnut Munia ( Lonchura atricupilla) with characteristic 'black hood'

Heads down to pluck the seeds

 The Pipit Rawa (Malay) is a very common bird in the park but is not usually easy to get a good picture of it.  This is because being  a social bird it travels in a small flock like what I encountered today.  I had to hide behind a wall of bushes to enable me a closer view of the birds.  It was my lucky day as one of the birds was not alert to my presence and thus afforded me a little bit of luxury in getting up- close and personal images of the bird eating the grass seeds.  I have seen its habit of hanging on the grass stalk and while the grass bends the bird would attempt to pluck the grass seeds heads down.   At the inset , the bird has to bend low in order to pluck the grass seeds.  Its stout beak is perfectly structured to assist in crunching the seed before consuming it. The presence of grassland at the park has proven the wisdom of maintaining them to function as food banks for little birds like the munias.

 

A 'black hood' makes this bird very likeable.  The feathers seemed well-groomed.  The chestnut colour throughout the body is attractive against the greenery.
Grassland at Zone F

Re-connecting with nature again

The Tiongs ( Hill Myna birds) at Licuala Hill

Physalis minia - showing more ripe
fruits

 It is so good to be back at the nature park.  It is a place to re-connect with nature after having been away for two weeks in Kuching,  The first thing I checked out in the late afternoon was the Tiong birds.  I have left them for about two weeks and today they assured me of their confidence in the safety of  the park.  I saw a pair moving about the tall branches at one of tallest perches at Licuala Hill.  From the distance I observed that the birds looked somewhat bigger now.  Having encountered them I then proceeded to get back home sooner, consoled by the thought that the nature park has passed a stringent litmus test as a wildlife sanctuary with the continued and uninterrupted presence of the Hill Myna birds.

Licuala palms at Licuala Hill, just below the tall tree where the Tiongs perched this afternoon.

Close-up of the Tiong birds (Hill Myna)

A lovely Orange-bellied Flowerpecker couple

A pair of Orange-bellied Flowerpecker, the male is more colourful than the female.
Location : Zone C

 It was the moment of truth today.  I was hoping the other day (in a previous posting) that the male would bring along its female counterpart to enjoy the Jackfruit.  My wish was answered today, 30 July'16, when both sexes of the species dropped by the  Jackfruit tree, thereby giving me plenty of opportunities to gather stock photographs of the bird in close range. Unlike the bulbuls, the flowerpecker seemed to be less disturbed to see me.  Indeed the sweet fleshy pulp of the fruit was a major attraction attracting not only the flowerpeckers but also bulbul.  They were too focused on eating the fruit that quite oblivious of my presence.   I noticed that after the squirrels bit off the thick fruit skin the birds would come next enjoying the exposed pulp.  There seemed to be a mutually helpful co-existence between the birds and the squirrels,

the birds at play

A rare chance to see both male and female in a single frame, making my day.

No black hood yet

An adult Chestnut Munia with black head (at left) and a junvenile bird at right
Zone F

Juvenile are all over earthy-brown.
The head remain tinged brown'

 I have been watching for a couple of days now at a flock of Chestnut Munia ( Lochura malacca).  What excites me is the presence of young birds that are part of the flock and producing the most happy of sounds.  In Malay the bird is called 'Pipit Rawa' and characteristically utters the 'pit, pit' call.   I have read that the young birds are earthy-brown all over and later change colour to something like the adult plumage, specifically the head still remain a tinged brown.  After the third change of plumage will the bird exhibit the chestnut plumage and the black head.

A young bird perching on the oil palm leaf
Zone F

A pair of Black Hornbill

Black Hornbill - male at top of picture and female, bottom of picture.
Location : Licuala Hill, Zone I

 Hearing the loud brays and grunts originating from Zone I,  made me hurry for my camera.  Within minutes, I  quickly climbed the  Licuala Hill at Zone I,  My focus was on the loud calls and next thing I could see was  a pair of hornbill perching on the tallest dead tree at top of the hill.
I took pictures of the birds from a distance of about 150 meters and the lighting conditions was not ideal but this shot is largely for the record.  This is one of the rare times when the Black Hornbill drops by in a pair.  The male has a white to pale yellow bill whereas the female bill is dark brown to black.  It is interesting to note that the Black Hornbill is a bird of the primary forest of Sarawak or Borneo. It is overall covered in black plumage with the female having a long band of white flurry feathers from head to nape.  In the middle of the band is a thin strip of black (by zooming in the picture).

Favourite perch of the Black Hornbill at Licuala Hill, Zone I.

The Little Blue-eared Barbet

Little Blue-eared Barbet - Megalaima australis duvauclii
Location : Zone C

Little Barbet loving the berries.

This month of June has beeb rather special in that I have encountered three species of barbet within a week duration.   First came the Brown Barbet, followed by the Many-coloured Barbet and today's sighting has been the Little Blue-eared Barbet.  All seemed to be attracted to the ripe fruits of the  Eugenia oleina tree.  From my observation it is a small bird about 10 -12 cm long.  It has a patch of red below the eye, a pale blue chin and throat, black bill and slightly greenish feet.  Even though it is a common barbet in the lowlands of Sarawak or Borneo, today's sighting is a lifer for me.  It came in as a  pair, unlike the Many-coloured Barbet which came singly.  I noticed its mate seemed to appear from nowhere to join company once its partner makes a call.  The sighting of many barbets this June makes me think that probably June is the breeding season of these birds.  

A Many- Coloured Barbet

Red- crowned Barbet or Many-coloured Barbet ( Megalaima rafflesii rafflesii)
Location : Zone C

An artist's palette

I felt very fortunate today for having met one of the most colourful birds that visit this park.  This is my first encounter with the Red-crowned Barbet.  The colours around its face resembles an artist palette.  Striking red crown, blue throat, brilliant yellow at the cheek and a soft pastel green for its underparts and jungle green for its upper parts.  It is a darling when I first saw it, a quiet bird that can remain still for a considerable length of time and did not produce any call.  It is a medium-sized bird and came singly.    Just the other day, it was the duller Brown Barbet that came by and got  me overly excited. Both birds seemed to have a liking of the ripe black berries of the Eugenia oleina. Today's sighting caused me overwhelmed with joy, happiness and amazement at nature's beauty.  Truly the park has attracted many unique Borneo birds which previously I could only see in books.  Today's sighting I hope is a prelude to more surprises and amazement in this humble wildlife sanctuary.

The Many-coloured Barbet taking a rest and remaining still for minutes on the branch of the Eugenia oleina tree.
Zone C

Hello there, I'm here

Blue-throated  Bee-eater making call over the neighbourhood
Cempedak Hill, Zone G

 The early morning air was sweetened by the familiar call of the bee-eater.  I quickly decided to do my rounds checking out the source of the attractive voice.   I finally found a solo Blue-throated Bee-eater at the Cempedak Hill, Zone B.  It has been a while since I have not captured any shots of the bird, thus I began my uphill climb carefully in order not to alert the bird.  I moved in from a northerly direction and decided to take as many pictures as possible for the album. Moving stealthily I managed to get some good shots of it.  Apparently the bird was preening itself on the Cempedak tree's  perch and only when it saw me towards the end of the photo session that it flew away.  Here a few selected  pictures for today.

LS view taken at Cempedak Hill

Seat taken by Black Magpie

It's the turn of the Black Magpie  to occupy the tall tree at Licuala Hill

 Around 7.30 am I could hear the distinct calls of the Black Magpie from  the very far end of the neighborhood.  The Black Magpie gives out three distinctive calls, a hollow whistle followed by an imitative call of the 'Tiong' or Hill Myna and finally a coarse in drawn growl.  At the very tip of the tall dead tree the Black Magpie was seen perching. It has a peculiar habit of bowing and raising its head while perching and when making calls.  This bird has been visiting the park more frequently lately especially in the early morning hours.  I have yet to come close to the bird to get a fairly clear image of it.  According to the literature, the bird is commonly seen in the lowland areas of Borneo.

The Black Magpie joins the list of large birds that frequent the park.  The tall perch is favourite to another visitor to the park, the 'Tiong' bird (Hill Myna)