Langkawi Bird Watching Tour: What A Quail!

MY LANGKAWI YESTERDAY: One of my guests said that miracles do happen. "Well err...maybe this one?", I told them.

A female Barred Buttonquail Turnix suscitator was spotted wandering back and forth. She was observed sitting on a patch of sand or dried grass and as if she was sand bathing. She was far, very skittish, small and plump. On top of that, my camera lens is only 400mm and without image stabiliser equates to just a blur and record shot. This species of quail is supposedly common in South East Asia but it is definitely very rare resident bird in Langkawi. I was so so lucky to see her!!

MY LANGKAWI TODAY: The Mozzies Strike Back

LANGKAWI TODAY: They were totally unbearable! As if they didn't have enough of me on the 19th May. They somehow have developed some sort of mechanism to withstand the copious amount of repellent. There were at least thirty of them continuously followed me. These blood thirsty creatures were so unbearable that I have to turn back even before reaching my destination on that trail. I surrender to them. The remaining amount of Citronella balm I have was used up and it was futile. I went home with at least twenty bites. They won! 

Truly mosquitoes season now! Suit up everyone!

My Langkawi Today: Woody Woodpecker Morning

LANGKAWI TODAY: Another birding day today on my no-tour day on a rainy day. The place today? Kubang Badak mangroves.

I have a few occasions of seeing a Ruddy Kingfisher in this area and the previous time was a sighting of  two individuals. On that day, I spotted one individual perched right at the top of a tree and another one flew across the road. As I was guiding, my camera was inside my pack and by the time I reached for my camera, the Ruddy dived into the bush. Sigh...

And so I do not have a good photo of Ruddy until now.

Another gloomy morning today and I do like days like this to be honest even though it is not a preferred day for photography. When I arrived, a bulldozer was there doing some road works. Then I thought that there is no way the Ruddy will show up this morning. And so, I decided not to hope for Ruddy and will take whatever comes.

I walked around for five minutes and tit..tit...tit..., the call echoed from above and followed by two woodpeckers flew above me.

They perched not too far away which enabled me to follow them. The presence of the woodpeckers startled a Little Heron and the heron flew out to another nearby tree. Why not? My first shutter clicking for the morning.

Little or Striated Heron Butorides striata

The pair of Greater Flameback Chrysocolaptes lucidus were moving up and down, pecking on a tree belonging to a Rhizophora genus. They did well, at least for me. I got close enough to have a few shots.  

Anybody wish to guess which is the female and the male?

Both woodpeckers were on the same tree at the same time and the original images were taken separately. In order to make a fun comparison of the gender, this image was edited. I simply love to play around with digital images with a photo editor. Not a lucky shot, I am afraid.

Within the one and a half hour I was there, a pair of Copper-throated sunbird Leptocoma calcostetha was sighted.

My Langkawi Today: Braving the Mozzies

LANGKAWI TODAY: While tour assignments and bookings have been really slow for me this month, this sloth inside me is emerging again. At the same time, there is a desire to explore. Thankfully the rain is starting to return to our once "overly dried" island. Usually when the rain returns after a period of dry season, it will be mosquitoes season regardless if you are in the forest or in the urban area!

A peep into one of the unmarked forest trail on Gunung Raya this morning with the hope of seeing a Banded Kingfisher. The weather this morning started with some light rain and grey sky looming over the hill. I was hoping that the clouds will pass and so I decided to carry on. 

The mozzies were already buzzing in my ears even before I reach the start of the forest trail. I quickly applied my Citronella balm on the exposed areas. The start of the main trail was quiet. Could it be the rain is coming? I wonder. The first bird calling was a Tickell's Blue Flycatcher and it was hiding. Not too long after, I whistled a call of the Banded Kingfisher to check its presence. Less than 10 seconds later, a Banded Kingfisher returned my call from the dense of the forest. That brings me to the unmarked trail and more mozzies are following me!

This colourful flower. Ulvaria spp. caught my eyes as I was walking on the main trail. This would be my first time seeing this bizarre flower and credit to our Dr Abdul Ghani, the herb man of Langkawi who has helped me with this identification.

I was delighted to hear more songs of the forest birds as I ventured further into the forest and yet it is a challenge to spot them.

The call of the Banded Kingfisher disappeared. 

I spotted a bird in the undergrowth and managed to get a record shot of it. It was the Abbot's Babbler. After disappearing itself, it started calling. A Puff-throated Babbler called next and then followed by the Greater Racquet-Tailed Drongo. There were some movement within the canopy trees and a Dusky Leaf Monkey was spotted. It didn't seem too bothered with my presence.

Me and a Dusky Leaf Monkey or Spectacled Langur were spying on each other

I arrived at a dried river bed and a Blue-Winged Pitta started to call.

MY LANGKAWI TODAY: Exotic Feathered Creatures

LANGKAWI YESTERDAY: On a Langkawi bird watching tour with Mrs Pirjo Laakso from Norway. Her quest was to see a Mangrove Pitta and the Brown-Winged Kingfisher.

In the quest for that elusive pitta, it is so nice to see a Stripe-Throated Bulbul Pycnonotus finlaysoni free in the wild than seeing them in those pathetic cages. Mrs Laakso is a good spotter with very keen eyes, saw a pair of this bulbul while I was getting my car to pick her up. These bulbuls were observed to be feeding on a fruiting strangling fig tree growing next to a mangroves habitat. Thank you, Mrs Laakso!

Striped-Throated Bulbuls are one of the favourite caged birds which often poached as song birds. They are now considered as rare in Langkawi.

Next... record shots of a Mangrove Pitta Pitta megarhyncha

A Mangrove Pitta perched high up on a tree in a scrub habitat next to the mangroves and calling for a long time. We were swarmed by mosquitoes and bitten through our pants while in the humid forest trail.

MY LANGKAWI TODAY: My Job

LANGKAWI TODAY: This is one of the reasons why my job as a nature guide can be interesting and fun. Whether it is rain or shine, one has to get down and get dirty when caught in a tricky situation!

MY LANGKAWI TODAY: Jerdon's Baza

LANGKAWI TODAY: Jerdon's Baza Aviceda jerdoni revisitation and I was so lucky to encounter this spectacular migrant raptor. Jerdon's Baza is not commonly seen. This individual here was spotted soaring above the rainforest of Gunung Raya, Langkawi. It descended quickly and disappeared when two Crested Serpent Eagles Spilornis cheela were presence. Crested Serpent Eagles are resident to Langkawi.

I have recorded sightings of Jerdon's Baza in 2014 and early 2015. It is also nice to see it again. However, I am not sure if it is the same individual.

This is my opportunity to give a big shout out to our raptor sifus, Lim Aun Tiah and Lim Kim Chye for their help in confirming raptors identification. There are still a lot to learn from these two sifus.