A Mysterious Dainty Charadrius Plover of Langkawi

Langkawi generally lacks big mixed flock of migratory waders even though we have some coastal mudflats, reeds and mangroves. It has a very low variety of wader species and not a great place to study varieties of migratory waders. Having said that, the island occasionally does have a couple of individual waders that are either rare or vagrant. My wader highlight on the previous bird migration was the Red-Necked Stint and as far as I know, this stint has not been previously recorded for Langkawi. It was a delight to find a rare among the common ones.

On the third week of February 2019, I noticed a solo dainty wader walking up and down along tide line of a sandy beach at the Four Seasons Langkawi, Tanjung Rhu at midday. That was not my first time noticing this sort of lone plover along this beach. I have seen one a couple of times on different migratory seasons years ago. At that time, it was either I did not have my binoculars or my camera with me and that bird didn't give me a chance for a decent record shot. Until that day. 

These images have been sitting in my SD card of my Panasonic bridge camera for months until I recall this dainty plover now as I am currently updating the bird list of Langkawi.

After some cropping and editing of these two record shots, my first impression was a Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus. A comparison with my field guide has raised some doubts. The noticeable differences were:
1) The bill of this dainty plover is slightly longer and heavier

2) Broader white lore and brow than the Kentish plover (I have yet to see a Kentish plover)

3) Lighter or paler legs colour

And so it is not a Kentish. Or it is a Malaysian Plover Charadrius peronii? 

My image did have some resemblance to a Malaysian Plover but I am still doubtful especially on the colouration on the upperparts. And so I needed some help. I turned to Choy Wai Mun for help. Wai Mun is a passionate Penang birder/bird photographer/guide and also the E-bird reviewer for our Northern states of Peninsular Malaysia. And so, it is a White-faced or Swinhoe's Plover Charadrius alexandrinus dealbatus, a subspecies of Kentish Plover. My lifer! Yeah!

Wai Mun also pointed out that a Malaysian Plover has "scales" on the upperpart or variegated upperpart. That was my initial doubt. Thank you for this, Wai Mun.    

  

White-Faced or Swinhoe's Plover Charadrius alexandrinus dealbatus. Note the legs colour, size of the bill and broad lore as compared to a Kentish plover

Based on the old records, Kentish Plover was recorded at an unknown location with the mudflats and sandy shores on unknown date. (Gregory-Smith 1995; Medway and Wells 1976). While Malaysian Plover nesting was recorded on 19 March 1995 on an unknown location here. An adult male was collected on 23 April 1911 (Robinson and Chasen 1936). At that time when Yeap's journal was published, the status of our Malaysian Plover was reported as Rare and Threaten. For the past decades, there isn't any report on the sighting of Malaysian Plover on Langkawi. Could this species has extinct due to development on our beaches or the increased of predators such as feral animals like dogs, cats or even crows? Malaysian Plovers are considered as rare resident and their eggs are laid on the ground.

Armed with the species identification of this plover, I went on to dig further because this subspecies of Kentish Plover is not found on my field guide that I am currently using. The search based on the species keyword has led me to this blog on Swinhoe's Plovers in Beijing and subsequently to an article which is more than a decade ago by David Bakewell and Peter Kennerly on Surfbird's Malaysia's Mystery Plover

Initially, I was ecstatic about this plover being another new record for Langkawi but when I stumbled on Thaibirding.com which posted an article on Rediscovery of a long-lost Charadrius plover from South-East Asia, obtained from Forktail journal of  Oriental Bird Club (OBC), my excitement was diminished instantly. Surprisingly, there were samples taken as far back as in 1899. Holy! That was after the period of our Legendary Mahsuri and the last Siam invasion. 

Here are two screen shots from the article:

Specimens of Swinhoe's (White-Faced) Plover collected from Langkawi

Specimens collected in months 1899 and 1963 which is the migratory season for Langkawi

My mysterious dainty lone plover on the beach has finally been identified and I have entered into our E-bird for Langkawi's record keeping. We had Kentish Plovers in Langkawi's E-bird submissions from foreign birdwatchers previously. Could those be the dealbatus species? For future E-bird submission, it is best to attach a record shot so we know exactly which type of Kentish Plover. At input, you can click on the "Change Species" tab to obtain the Kentish Plover (White-Faced) Charadrius alexandrinus dealbatus.

Even though this species isn't a new record for Langkawi, it is a still lifer for me. I look forward to seeing this species here again and the next time with the Kentish Plover together one day.

A White-Faced Plover foraging. Notice the broad brow and supercillium giving him a "white face" look. The black band on the forehead denotes a male in breeding

References:
1. Gregory-Smith, R. 1995. Birds of Perlis and Kedah, Including Langkawi. An Annotated Checklist. Sarawak: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. 
2.Yeap C.A (2005), Report on Birds of Langkawi Archipelago. Malayan Nature Journal 2005, 57(1),107
3.  Robson, C. (2011), A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia,New Holland
4.  Bakewell, D. N. and Kennerley, P.R (2007) Malaysisa's mystery plover, http://www.surfbirds.com/Features/plovers1108/malayplovers.html
5. http://www.thaibirding.com/ornithology/lostplover.htm
6. (2012) https://birdingbeijing.com/2012/08/07/swinhoes-white-faced-plovers/

Langkawi Birdwatching: Friday Gloom

22nd September 2017 early morning and half of the islanders are still in bed. It was drizzly, windy and cloudy. Nice :) I was up early trying my luck on any rare shore birds coming in. 

Starting from Teluk Ewa, Langkawi, only two Pacific Reef Egrets were seen feeding on the sandy beach and there no other birds around. 

Pacific Reef Egret Egretta sacra dark morph, our resident wader

When I looked across towards the Dangli Island, there were about thirty fishing boats lining up behind Dangli to take shelter from the bad sea condition out there. 

At Dangli Island

The sea did look calm from where I was standing. The backdrop is Tarutao Island, Thailand.

The drizzle turned heavier and I decided to take shelter in my car and had my packed nasi lemak for breakfast. Meanwhile, these two elderly couple caught my eyes. While is windy and cold out there, there were in the water putting out the fishing net. Nice to see their hard work did not go to waste.  

They were beating the water to chase the small fishes into the netting area.

After being a "paparazi" for awhile, I moved on and made a detour to check out the mangrove area. I parked my car and just less than 10 meters away, guess who was waiting quietly. It didn't seem to be bothered as I gently place my umbrella on the ground.

Brown-Winged Kingfisher, our resident kingfisher and star bird of Langkawi

Pelargopsis amauroptera allowed me to get closer

And then the drizzle got heavier

It was beginning to look slightly grumpy now as the rain started to get heavier.

From drizzle to rain and pouring harder.

...it can't take it anymore and it decided to look for shelter

Armed with my little umbrella, I walked around the area and suddenly a tiny fella flew in front on me and disappeared into the trees. I knew what it was! A Common Kingfisher. Alas! A migrant for the gloomy morning! Yay!

I walked around the area for awhile before returning to that spot when this Common Kingfisher came out for a short perch.

A 16-18cm female Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis, our migrant kingfisher perched on the stilt root of a Rhizophora genus

Moving on from there towards Pantai Kok. No shore birds except for some tourists at half past eleven.

I continued my aimless journey and went into Telaga Harbour Park. A wagtail like zipped past my car! And it is not the regular Grey Wagtail. I chased it around from the scrubby bit to the car park area.

An uncommon Forest Wagtail Dendronanthus indicus trying to run away from me.

Constantly moving in and out of the vegetation...aii!

Our migrant wagtail stopped for awhile to wag its tail. It must stop with its bum towards me! And my camera setting was not right. Overexposed...AAAaaaRRRggggGGHHHHH!

From Pantai Kok area to the nearby paddy fields. Only our migrant Pond herons were around. Apart from that, absolutely boring rice field on that day.

No migrant shore birds! At least I went home with a Common Kingfisher and a Forest Wagtail. Ta!

Langkawi Bird Watching: Birds With Long Red Skinny Legs and My Lifer

This was about two weeks ago and it was a rainy week like this week. Bek, Rishad and Mark had me for four days to do casual birdwatching and some sight-seeing. Due to the rainy weather, we drove around Langkawi a lot and observed our feathered friends being soaked in the rain while we watched them...sigh...what a life..

The rain is indeed good for the rice paddy fields as the water is much needed in most areas for ploughing and replanting. As well as the wet paddy fields bring in the birds activities. I do think that Mother Nature has her ways in setting the season that favours the waders or water birds as they arrive here during their migration period. As these waders were on their migration route from the Northern hemisphere to the South, they would be able to find abundance of food in the wet fields.

As we were driving on a narrow stretch of road through a patch of rice paddy field, I was telling Mark to keep a lookout for Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus. Black-winged Stilt was spotted in the month of October and November last year. And I missed it! And this year, I was wishing to see a Black-winged Stilt.

My gut feeling somehow told me to make a stop in the middle of the road. The rain has stopped and I told everyone to come down from the car to take some landscape photos. Mark and I were scanning around when he suddenly said calmly, "There is the Black-winged Stilt". That got me really excited. Without even looking at it with my binoculars, I dashed to the car and grabbed my camera...and the excitement got me carried away...my apologies, my bad :P 

Taa..daa...The photos of Black-winged Stilt at a far distance, not only one but two:

One of the Black-winged Stilt feeding. This individual was far away.

The other one was flying back and forth. This one here displaying the pair of black wings.

On flight and with loud "keek" and "kee'it"

I love their long, skinny red legs :)

Another lifer for me in Langkawi before 2016 ends! Thanks, Mark!

Black-winged Stilts breed from Central Asia to South and continental South-East Asia. The northern breeders migrate to South, probably like these two here. They feed in open inland marshes, rice fields, coastal and estuarine mudflats. Their diet mainly consist of aquatic insects but also take on molluscs and crustaceans. Like many shore birds, they don't swim for food. They feed by pecking for food items while wading on shallow water. 

The scientific name Himantopus, from specific name Charadrius himantopus Linnaenus, 1758, Black-winged Stilt. himantopus in Latin refers to wading bird now generally identified with the Black-winged Stilt. 

I am unsure if there is any record of this sighting before year 2015 for Langkawi. Whether there is or not, it is great that they are back for this year. In 2015, that individual which was spotted didn't stay long. It was not seen since mid-November 2015 until now.

Not too far from the Black-winged Stilts, I spotted another migrant wader has returned. The Grey-headed Lapwing Vanellus cinereus seems to be back here regularly now. There were two together.

Grey-headed Lapwing...Welcome back!

A snipe, another migrant was spotted next to the Grey-headed Lapwing.

And the rest of the photos of birds on the rice paddy field are here: 

Four individuals of Common Redshank Tringa totanus seen feeding together! Another species of wader with skinny red legs but shorter than the Black-winged Stilt.

Record shot of an uncommon migrant raptor, Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus which was far away.  

Our common resident wader, a Red-Wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus

Overall for that day, Awesome!

References:

1. Jobling, J.A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names: From Aalge to Zusli. A & C Black p. 192

2. Bhushan, B., Sonobe, K. and Usui, S. (1993). A Field guide to the waterbirds of Asia. Tokyo: Kodansha International. p. 116, 124, 138

3. http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Himantopus-himantopus, [Accessed 31 October 2016]

Contact Wendy for guiding services on birds of Langkawi.

Langkawi Bird Watching: Waders Check

The start of the migratory season will be a good time to check for migrant waders. Waders are birds or any other animals that wade in any part of the sea, lake or river that is close to the shore. In relation to  birds, they are also known as shorebirds.

Birds of langkawi langkawi birds birdwatching langkawi

I headed out to my favourite coastline for waders on a gloomy morning with the rough sea condition. Thankfully for the strong wind that helped blew those rain clouds away. 

This is normal for Langkawi during the South-West monsoon

On my way to the coastline, I was greeted by this common migrant who has successfully made its journey to Langkawi. Welcome back, Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus.

The tide was coming in when I arrived at the coastline. There were about four grey-coloured egrets catching their breakfast under the grey sky. 

Pacific Reef-Egret Egretta sacra (Dark morph)

Pacific Reef-Egret having it nape feathers being blown by the "natural hair dryer"

Teaser: Name these two birds

This individual had a small fish. Better than nothing!

I was amused watching this same individual having a choke after gobbling the small fish 

For half an hour I was observing and photographing the egrets and then suddenly, a small bird caught my eye. Well...hello there..Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis, our migrant kingfisher!

More migrant waders showed up after the Common Kingfisher.

This was very unexpected. My first sighting in Langkawi and record shot of a Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus on flight at a far distance. 

A Little Tern Sternula albifrons was spotted among the rocks taking shelter from the wind. It was attempting to fly out towards the sea but it was fighting against the wind. The wind was too strong for it. After awhile it found a resting spot before continuing the flight.

A Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva moulting to non-breeding

A flock of Lesser Sand Plovers Charadrius mongolus. Can you count them?

Lesser Sand Plover

When most of these waders have moved on to another location, it was time for me to head back. When I reached further inland, I noticed a tern flew past me. It was probably taking a shelter from the strong wind. It was fast and I could only managed a record shot of this tern.

This migrant possibly is a young Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida

I am still learning more about waders and this group of birds is always a challenge to identify. With some help from MNS Waders support group, we managed to zoom in to Whiskered Tern. If anyone think is another species of tern, please let me know. And if this is really a Whiskered Tern, then it will be my lifer! Woohoo! Special thanks to Andy Lee and Liung for responding to my questions. 

A young White-Bellied Sea Eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster was also observed fighting with the wind. This is our resident raptor.