Langkawi Birdwatching Tour: Burnice and Hans Pitta Quest

Welcoming back Burnice Starkey of svbrahminy blogger to Langkawi after one-month of her adventure holiday in Nepal!  ooo... I am so jealous! I love the mountains and countryside of Nepal.

Burnice was in such joy when she saw her first pitta in Nepal which was the Indian Pitta, on her birthday! Congrats, Burnice! Her adventure story is here on this link.

Questing for more pittas, Burnice and Hans are back in Langkawi and have seek my guiding service for the second round. On that early morning, we headed off to the North West of Langkawi to the mangrove habitat. From here, we are hoping for any presence of the Mangrove Pitta Pitta megarhyncha or the Ruddy Kingfisher Halcyon coromanda. It was a rather quiet morning to start with while we were walking on that road leading to the local jetty. We caught a glimpse of a pair of Orange-Breasted Green Pigeons flew above us. I noticed a pair of sunbirds were zipping back and forth across the road into the mangrove. And I thought to myself, those may be the Copper-Throated Sunbirds.

After ten minutes standing by the jetty, we found ourselves staring at the batch of Baler shells Melo Melo attached to the fisherman's net casually put aside on the gabion. No sound of any pitta nor the kingfisher except for the Common Mynas. Must be the chirping sound of a sunbird that made Burnice turned to the direction of a tree belonging to a Rhizophra genus. Burnice murmured something which I cannot recall. But I do remember spotting something else that she didn't see it perched slightly below the sunbird. Taa-daa...

Brownie... on the tree top!

Even though the Brown-winged Kingfisher is not on Burnice's wishlist for that morning as she has seen that bird before, it was a nice treat for Hans who hasn't seen it. Just when this kingfisher is not a wanted list, it was posing itself for a long time! It flew and perched on the cable next to the road for some time before flying over to another tree which was even closer to us!

Just as we were feasting our eyes on this Brown-Winged Kingfisher, guess who finally revealed itself to us?

A male Copper-Throated Sunbird with his sparkling colours!

Hans and Burnice feasting their eyes on the sunbird!

This Copper-Throated Sunbird distracted us and when we wanted to see that Kingfisher again, it left that perch. As we were walking back towards the car, a Ruddy Kingfisher was heard from afar. The call got louder as we were walking towards the end of the road. Unfortunately, it was reluctant to show itself after waiting for fifteen minutes.

What great appetizers for the morning and we decided to proceed to our main course. Moving on to the remarkable rainforest located in the North West of Langkawi, this is one of the habitats for the Blue-Winged Pitta Pitta moluccensis. We did a few stops along the main road with our ears switched on for any slightest call of this pitta. 

I spotted a pair of pigeons which were relatively larger than the regular Green-Pigeons and Burnice had a glimpse of them flying away. From my binoculars, the details that I have picked up were pale grey throat all the way to its belly and the green wings likely fit to be the Green Imperial Pigeon Ducula aenea. And again, where is your camera, Wendy!?? AAaaaRrrrrrrrrGgggHHHhhhh! Oh well, I have seen it and it will be a tick on my list!

About half an hour strolling on that road, I picked up a faint call from a far distance in the forest. Is here! The call came closer as we walked further down the road and we finally arrived at that point where we were one step away from Burnice's quest. It didn't give us that quest easily as it was constantly flying above us, zipping back and forth. It did show itself very briefly and hid into the scrub before Burnice had a really good look at it. We felt we were teased by this fella. 

What was Burnice doing??? LOL!!

I cannot recall how long we spend on that section of the main road. However, I can clearly remember we were crossing the road countless times. While Hans seemed a bit birded out, Burnice was still very much determined to have a good look at it. 

Burnice is not giving up while Hans seems like taking a break

Until it was calling in the scrubby bit near the road, we decided to squeeze through the scrub to find it. Perching at the mid level of a tree, we found ourselves looking at its bum! 

Different location, different tree, different individual of the same species. A Blue-Winged Pitta for Burnice who wanted to see this #pitta on our recent #birdwatching tour. We did chase for it and thankfully it cooperated. #langkawi #wcpitta

A post shared by Wendy Nature Guide (@langkawi.natureguide) on Jun 12, 2017 at 10:16pm PDT

Burnice happy to see her pitta! #langkawi

A post shared by Wendy Nature Guide (@langkawi.natureguide) on Jun 12, 2017 at 10:20pm PDT

And phew! I was happy that Burnice's quest for a pitta on that morning was quenched. Their main course ended with a male Ruby-Cheeked Sunbird Chalcoparia singalensis as the dessert.

The feathered friends Burnice and Hans have seen were:
1. Orange-Breasted Green Pigeon   
2. Common Myna
3. Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo     
4. Little Heron
5. Collared Kingfisher                  
6. Brown-Winged Kingfisher 
7. Copper-Throated Sunbird
8. House Swallow
9. Ashy Drongo
10. Brahminy Kite
11. Asian Fairy Bluebird
12. Dollarbird
13. Blue-Winged Pitta
14. Dark-Necked Tailorbird
15. Ruby-Cheeked Sunbird
16. Orange-Bellied Flowerpecker

Congrats, Burnice and Hans! and thank you to our feathered friends on that morning.

And thank you for the review, Burnice. Link to the review here.

Langkawi Birdwatching Tour: Come please!

We need your cooperation Blue-Winged Pitta! Please come for Burnice Starkey... please...

Burnice and Hans from Australia are back in Langkawi for more birdwatching actions and mozzies!
This is Burnice's blog post on her previous visit