A colourful day to start the new year

 It's a good way to start the new year.  Early in the morning I was chasing a small flock of bee-eaters that were busy making calls and at the same time hawking for bees.  It is a regular occurrence at the park whenever the swarm of bees are blown here a flock of bee-eaters would begin their chase.  In the midst of the warfare, some of the bee-eaters would take a rest at the perches to batter the bees on the branches for a knock-out effect on their prey.  I took considerable time to watch them  having their morning breakfast in between their beaks. The Blue-throated Bee-eater is a very colourful bird with green wings, blue throat and upper-tail,

Location : Cempedak Hill, Zone G

Breakfast on wings

In between flights the birds takes a breather while battering the bees on the branch to a knock-out before devouring them
Location : Botanic Island Two

Malay : Berek-berek Tadah Hujan
Blue-throated Bee-eater
(Merops viridis)

 At around 7.00 am,  I took an early morning walk in the park before the sun has risen over the horizon.  The greenery and cool morning air was invigorating.  On nearing Botanic Island Two the atmosphere above the canopy sounded noisy with cluttering sounds, somewhat familiar.  It has been a while since swarms of bees get blown to the park.  This morning was another occasion of this much awaited phenomena.  There were hundreds of the Blue-throated Bee-eaters circling and making sallies as they grab the bees with their beaks in mid-air.  The lighting conditions for photography were not so ideal but nevertheless the opportunity of seeing with my own eyes some fierce battle in the air was an amazing experience.  These birds pass by the park everyday in a north-south direction but seldom do pay a pit-stop unless swarms of bees are present like this morning. Well, they had an early breakfast on wings at the park.  Thank you for dropping by and come again soon whens the lights are better.

The bees taking a breather while battering their prey to a knock-out
Location : Zone C

Battering the bees on branches

Hawking for bees

Blue-throated Bee-eater (Berekberek Tadah Hujan - Malay)
Merops vividis
Location : Cempedak Hill, Zone G

 It was  still early in the morning, around 8 am and the cheerful calls of the Blue-throated Bee-eater were distinctively heard in the cool morning atmosphere.  The sole bee-eater had decided to make a pit stop at the Cempedak tree perch.  I climbed the hill to get closer and the climb was well rewarded with images of the bee-eater with a prey  caught between its beak which it hawked in mid air nearby.  Incidences of the bee-eater coming to the park is a daily phenomena.  The park lies in  their north -south flight path (from Bintulu towards Tatau ) which they habitually follow in the morning and in evening return flights. The bee-eater has striking turquoise-blue for its throat and greenish-blue for its breast. It possess green wings.  Its head or crown is a beautiful chestnut colour.

Partial view of the neighbourhood as seen from Cempedak Hill, looking south-west.

Bee-eater  settles on a twig with a bee hawked from mid air
Location : Cempedak Hill
Zone G

Blue-throated Bee-eaters after the bees

Blue-throated Bee-eaters at the Cempedak tree
Location : Cempedak Hill, Zone G

 It was just yesterday that the bulbuls were seen having a field day chasing and catching the bees at Botanic Island Two.  Today early in the morning (8.00 -8.30 am) I went to do a little bit of birding at Cempedak point.  On top of the Cempedak hill stands a few cempedak trees (Artocarpus integer) that provide perches for the Blue-throated Bee-eaters to rest and enjoy their catch.  From the perches the bee-eaters organised many sorties.  They came back to the perches to batter the bees before consuming them. The park is a passageway for the bee-eaters to go southerly every morning to hunt for food and use the same route to return home in a northerly direction  in the late afternoon. The calls of the bee-eaters are everyday music heard at the park.

Many wheats in the air above

 There are two types of birds that fly over the park everyday.  The swiftlets and the bee-eaters.  The park just happen to be in their flight path which they have used for many years now.  The calls of the bee-eaters is easy to identify.  It sounds like ' wheat- wheat-wheat'.  Every time I hear the 'wheat' sounds I would take the opportunity to watch these beautiful birds fly high and then dive for the insects especially the bees.  Often they would perch on nearby dead trees to take a rest or to enjoy their kill after battering them on the branches.  Today I stumble upon one bee-eater that was having a rest on its favourite .....

Blue-throated Bee-eater
Zone C

Photoshoot session with the Blue-throated Bee-eater

 I was fortunate today to be greeted by two Blue-throated Bee-eaters.  It was an up-close and personal session which has been rare lately.  Today the weather was hot and humid and like what the weatherman has predicted on the local tv news will herald the coming of the El Nino phenomena.  Some gusts of wind have brought many swarms of bees to the park which were the target of these bee-eaters.  Here's more pics of its beautiful chestnut mantle, blue throat and greenish blue breast.....

Note the dark brown iris

Blue-throated Bee-eater - Berek-Berek (Malay)
Merops viridis
Family : Meropidae

Blue-throated Bee-eater

They flew by the park every morning and evening. Their calls always excite me and would immediately rush to their favourite perch. Putting them into frame of their surrounding environment is an inspiration. From their perch vantage point, the Blue-throated Bee-eater would survey and dart for bees and quickly return to the perch to batter their prey on the dead tree branch ...

A loving pair of Blue-throated Bee-eater

 The first time I noticed the bee-eater, it was alone.  I managed to capture a few shots of it solo.  Then it started to make some loud calls and into the frame appeared its mate.  It was a romantic moment as they greeted and flirted for a brief but very loud and joyous moment.  Snap, snap, snap goes my camera....
Their appearance made my morning.

Forming the heart sign...

A beautiful pair

A solo Blue-throated Bee-eater waiting for the mate

Bee-eater with blue throat and tail

Blue-tailed or Blue-throated Bee-eater (Merops veridis)

 Sometimes called 'Berek-Berek Tadah Hujan' by the Malays, a pair of this Blue-tailed bee-eater came by to say hello this morning.  They perched on the branches of a dead tree from which they made regular return flights after scooping some bees from the surrounding neighbourhood.  Sometime ago they did come in a big flock chasing after a big swarm of bees. 

Location : Zone C
25 March'14

Birdwatch album - Red-Headed (Ashy) Tailorbird

 They are very tiny but their bright red head makes them easily recognizable.  They are very frequent visitors to the park where they hunt for red ants and other insects like caterpillars. Due to its small size photographing them is not easy because they mesh well in between the leaves and branches of trees.  Typically birds of the forest, they often show up in open places near the edges of forests.

Red-Headed (Ashy) Tailorbird (Orthotomus ruficeps)

Birdwatch album - Bee-eaters (Meropidae)

Birdwatch album - Bee-eaters

 From today I try my best to document all the birds that I photoshooted at the park.  I start this project with the Bee-eaters (Meropidae - Bee-eaters family).  Just a few days ago I had a real fun time photographing them when they were busy hawking at the bees in mid -air and then rested on the tree perch to batter their prey.  The pictures in this album were taken in two separate birdwatching moments.