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) 

Watching the birds go by

A Little Spiderhunter making calls to its mate

Eastern Crimson Sunbird at
Chinese hat plat

 A pair of Little Spiderhunter came to town and seeing them frolicking among the branches of a nearby Jackfruit tree inspired me to gather a few shots of other birds that habitually come to town a few days ago.  The extremely attractive Eastern Crimson Sunbird makes it a point to drop by the Chinese hat plant to check out the nectar.  It has been a daily ritual, if not in the morning it will drop by later in the day.  At unannounced times a swinging couple of the Yellow-bellied Flowerpecker will fill find time in the their busy schedule and may just pop out of the jungle fringe to chase each other in delightful play in the open.  It would be very fortunate if they come in pairs.  Such visits are very important for us to seek confirmation of its female species.  So I thought I was lucky again to get another glimpse of the female Orange-bellied Flowerpecker as shown in the picture below.  The Oriental Magpie-robin is calling the park home, having built its nest in the safety of the dense vegetation in one of Eugenia oleina trees at Zone G. They would seek refuge in the tree once danger in the open appears eminent.  Just watching the birds go by is therapy for the busy mind.

Yellow-bellied Flowerpecker - female of the species

Oriental Magpie-robin

A lifer of a blue flycatcher

Eumyias indigo
Zone F

 What makes my day today is the capture of the blue flycatcher.  It's a lifer for me and for the Kambatik park.  Today is the first time I stumbled upon a blue flycatcher.  I first met it at Zone F and then followed its movement to Zone D about 100 meters away before it disappeared into the surrounding forest.  Is it a  female of the species?  Is it the Indigo Flycatcher ( Eumyias indigo) that is a native to the island of Borneo and therefore Bintulu?  The literature mentions that the Indigo Flycatcher is a resident of the highlands and less frequently seen below 3000 ft above sea level, that is in the lowland dipterocarp hill forest where the park is situated.  At first sight I saw it jumping and hopping on the leaves-covered ground for insects and was not particularly scared of my presence.  Whats striking about the upperside of the bird was the deep blue colour of its crown right down to its back.  In most descriptions the throat and breast is blue but in this specimen it is white.  Does this mean that it is a female of the species?  I have yet to determine this and it is my fervent hope that it will drop by again at the park soon with a mate. to confirm my observation.  Hopefully that day is near.

Indigo Flycatcher ( Eumyias indigo)
Zone D

A female Blue-eared Kingfisher

Blue-eared Kingfisher - female of the species
Location : Zone F

The Blue-eared Kingfisher looking attentively at the stream below for small fishes
Location : Zone F

I saw it perching first on the Ong Lumok branch then it flew a short distance away, resting on a Pong-Pong tree branch.  It was the Blue-eared Kingfisher and a female for one.   The resemblance of this bird to the Common Kingfisher is close, but the Blue-eared is much more richly coloured.  The female's  feet is orange or scarlet and the upper mandible bill is black and lower is red.  The brownish band at the side of the neck is peculiarly present in the female of the species.  In the male counterpart,  the band is blue.  The ear coverts of the female is brown, while the male is blue.  This Blue-eared is seen more often at the park because it is more of a forest bird.  On many occasions I have seen it perching on this Lumok tree branch for a bird's eye view of the small fishes below.  On at least one occasion it was seen diving and successfully grabbing a small fish as prized prey.

 

Having a brief rest at the Pong-Pong branch
Location : Zone F

The bird is black, the bird is white

The bird is black, the bird is white,
It is here, day and night,

It's a wonderful sight.
Location : Zone C

A pair of Little Green Pigeon building nest

A pair of Little Green Pigeon seen perching on a nearby tree close to its nest, which is seen below.

The nest is seen from below. the tree.  At the centre of the mass of leaves is hidden the nest of the Little Green Pigeon.
Location : Kruak wetlands.
Zone B

A pair of Little Green Pigeon perching on a branch.

I was not able to see any thing inside the nest of the Little Green Pigeon. The nest was way above my head.  I just discovered that a pair of the Little Green Pigeon has started to build a nest amidst the branches and leaves of a small tree near the Kruak wetlands at Zone B.  It was when walking below the tree that I heard the loud flutter of wings.  Surprised, I look upwards  and saw a nest formed by a collection of twigs.  It was obviously the pigeon's nest.  Thy have rushed out of their nest upon discovering my presence.  The pictures above show them perching on a tree nearby.

The running bird

White-breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus)
Location : Kruak Wetlands - between Zone B&C

It is often seen at the park especially at the Kruak Wetlands.  It has a habit of running fast and furious at the sight of anything that comes close to it.  Only in extreme cases of near-death encounters it would spread its wings to fly.  So I call it the running bird.  It forages near small streams, areas of grassland and ponds.  This rather shy and panic-striken bird finds home at the park where food and shelter are a plenty.  Besides its fast moves, this bird is attractive for its contrasting white and dark grey body, feet and legs in orange and beautiful cinnamon colour to its underparts especially from lower belly to under-tail section.  The Malay word "Kruak' refers to the distinguishing 'wak-wak' sounds it utters.  Why wait? Run, run  and hunt for insects and small fishes!!

Early morning visitors to the park

Punai Daun (Malay) - Little Green Pigeon
Male in full colours, female is at the back with greenish body
Location : Cempedak Hill, Zone G

Blue-throated Bee-eater perching on old Rambutan tree
Zone C

Philippine or Asian Glossy Starling - this is a juvenile or immature bird
Location : Cempedak Hill, Zone G.

Note: All images taken on morning of 4 March'15

Black birds are back

Philippine Glossy Starling - Aplonis panayensis
Adults are a glossy black'  Juvenile ones are whitish (seen at bottom right)
Location : Zone C, perching on Balem tree

Juvenile has whitish body, streaked back
and bright  red iris.

 The black birds are back.  For the last two days they have been flocking to the park.  There are many fruiting tall jungle trees at the moment that attract them for their fruits.  You can hear their noisy calls in the air because being social starlings they congregate in large numbers.  Often these black birds are called 'Philippine Glossy Starling' though it seems fashionable to call them Asian Glossy Starling now because interest in birding and photography from Bengal to Vietnam and south to Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia have recorded that they are residents to these many countries. 

A juvenile with something to swallow...

A foraging flock of sparrows

A small group of 'ciak'  resting on the Pong-Pong tree branch

  A few months ago, I could only notice a pair or two of the Eurasian Tree Sparrow visiting the park.  But recently I come to the realisation that they are now making a daily presence in large numbers.  This bode well for the park.  'Pipit' is a Malay word that is applied to a large number of birds species like the Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava) called locally as Pipit Kuning, Richard's Pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae) called locally as Pipit Tanah. Then they are the Pipit Uban, pipit rawa, Pipit Perang and Pipit Pinang.  The Eurasian Tree Sparrow is very much alike the pipits but locally are referred to as 'Ciak'. Thus the Euarian Tree Sparrow is called in Malay as ' Ciak Urasia'. 

 The Tree Sparrow is typically a town or urban bird that  have greatly adapted themselves to human habitation because they obtain food easily from the places men congregate like coffee shops, libraries, parks and residential houses and flats. They are social birds that fly in big numbers.  They tend to be easily domesticated and tame birds.   Today I saw a flock of about 20-30 birds.  They rested on nearby trees and oil palm fronds before darting towards ground to scavenge insects, ants and grass seeds on ground zero.

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Ciaks foraging on open ground for all types of insects, ants and grass seeds.
Location : Zone C

Feeding on ground

View of the park - with lots of open space and stream

 These are birds that can be seen regularly feeding on the ground at the park.  In this list are the following feathered friends:-
1) The Oriental Magpie-robin
2)  Common Snipe
3)  Spotted-necked Dove
4)  Eurasian Tree Sparrow
5)  White-breasted Waterhen
Whether in rain or shine they often show up, early or sometimes late to have their daily meal or just a little snack.  They hunt for  insects, worms, and a myriad of other food items can can be discovered on the grounds of the park.

Young Oriental Magpie-robin learning a lesson or two on feeding on ground in the rain..

Common Snipe

Spotted-necked Dove

White-breasted waterhen

White-breasted waterhen

View of the park at Provinsi Carpentaria, lookking west.

But-But Kecil

 Somewhere in the middle of the picture above is  a But- But which in Malay refers to the Coucal bird.  Here there are two main varieties the Greater and Lesser Coucal.  However , in this post are the pictures of the Lesser Coucal.  What is striking about this bird is the chestnut coloured wings.  It has bill, legs and feet in black.  They are not easily seen but when they are around they like to hunt for lizards, insects and other small mammals.

Early birds

Time is only we have at hand. So between 7 - 8 in the morning, I would normally walk the park when the air is cool and light is soft. Uphill, downhill, cross stream, wade swamp and hide behind cover of trees, leaves or bushes. It's a daily passion that would cover about 2-3 km of footprints. Here's some of our feathered friends I met checking out early at the park.....a black hornbill, a common snipe, nightjar, a little green pigeon and the pied fantail.

The brown-throated Sunbird shows up again

Brown-throated Sunbird (Anthreptes malacensis) - "Kelicap Mayang Kelapa" - Malay

 The Brown-throated Sunbird is rarely seen at the park but when it is around it's such a delight to see.  It's unique feature is the deep metallic blue upper parts.  The throat is brown and the breast together with the rest of its under parts are bright yellow.   The iris is reddish brown and its legs and feet greenish yellow.  The picture shown here is that of the male of the species.