Narcissus Flycatcher

Though I wish this individual was sighted in Langkawi but it wasn't.

It took me a total of three hours waiting and sitting in the ferry, seven hours of solo driving, one hour twenty minutes of waiting in the occasional drizzle and only less than five minutes with her! No time to sit down for lunch and just enough time for me to drive back up towards north to catch the last ferry to Langkawi. 

Female Narcissus Flycatcher Ficedula narcissina revealing her olive rump. Only managed record shots and heavily cropped image.

Despite having to arrive late at the site, which was at 1pm, I am indeed thankful that she finally showed up at the last moment that I must leave and before the rain came down. Seeing her was like seeing my date! LOL! I felt a slight adrenaline rush and my hand gripping on my DSLR body was slightly shaking.😌😂

Narcissus Flycatcher Ficedula narcissina is vagrant to Peninsular Malaysia and a winter visitor to Borneo and Philippine. It is native to Sakhalin, Japan and Korea.

Not colourful and she looks like one of those LBJ. Still cute!

OMG! Twitching is addictive! Really? Is not cheap for sure! I was teased for being a twitcher. Am I? Nahh...I don't consider myself a real twitcher otherwise I would have seen this bird much earlier. I did have the urge to see this flycatcher tho and at the same time, I wanted to do something exciting before the high season kicks in. 

A few friends to thank for leading me to this vagrant flycatcher - Liung, Ang, Wilbur and Chiang who helped me arranged the rented car. 

Run Swamphen Run!

Hey Swamphen! Why are you in such a big hurry??!

Swamphen says, "It is the long school holidays now! I am running into my hideout."

Our local school holiday for the final term started yesterday and will be end on the first week of January 2018. Langkawi will be busy and jam packed especially at the touristy sites like the cable car, Kilim jetty, Pantai Cenang and Pulau Dayang Bunting. The road to the Kuah Ferry Terminal will be congested or heavy traffic jam. Plan your itinerary well to avoid the crowd. I will definitely avoid going to the ferry terminal.

How to go about on tours especially Langkawi nature tours without having to be stressed out dealing with the crowd? If you are clueless and not the type of doing D-I-Y tours, how about booking your private tour with a local guide that can enhance your travel experience here on Langkawi? Also, if you are not travelling with kids, it is best to avoid December...unless you have booked your flights. If you haven't book your accommodation yet, it will be very wise to do it now. Just like this Swamphen here. Early bird gets a hideout!

This Grey-Headed Swamphen is finally contented and happy in it's hideout

This is our shy and skittish resident bird of langkawi, Grey-Headed Swamphen Porphyrio poliocephalus, which can be found in our marshes and paddy fields. 

Wendy can be contacted for private nature tours such as Langkawi birdwatching, kayak mangrove, rainforest walk or any customised nature tours. Click here for contact details.

My Serpent Lifer - Xenochrophis trianguligerus

If it wasn't for my silly boy who glorified himself by smearing his cheek with the stinky mud left behind by the wild boar, I wouldn't have taken him to the nearest stream to clean him up. As I was tying the leash to a tree, I spotted this little colourful serpent resting in between a rock and a tree root beside the stream. Yay!

Without wasting any seconds, I quickly grabbed my camera out of my dry bag. 

It just had lunch

And thankfully on that day, I decided to carry my macro lens and so I managed to get some closeup shots.

Dorsal view of its head

The patterns

The scales

I only had about ten minutes with this fella until it decided to slither into the stream and swam across to the opposite side. Back at home, I flipped through my book on reptiles and finally concluded that this snake is a Red-sided Keelback Watersnake Xenochrophis trianguligerus. 

It is also known as Triangle Keelback which occurs around small streams, ponds and swamps in primary forest, the edges of wet fields and villages. This species of Keelback feeds on frogs, tadpoles and frogspawn. It is a common snake and yet my first time seeing such beautiful keelback. According to IUCN Red List, this species is not under threat and it is thriving! 

About a meter above this snake, an amphibian was sitting on the larger rock. The only resource I have on amphibian is the world wide web. I posted this photo on social media of a herp group.  Thank you to Vince Adam, Neoh Hor Kee, Parinya and Mohd Abdul Muin who have responded.This is a juvenile River Toad or Asian Giant Toad Phrynoidis aspera. 

References:
Das, Indraneil. "A Field Guide to the Reptiles of South-East Asia"; New Hollands, 2010, pp. 158.

IUCN. The IUCN Red List of Threaten Species, 18 Oct 2017, http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/192034/0

Ahmad (Ph.d),Norhayati, Amphibians and Reptiles of Peninsular Malaysia, 19 Oct 2017,  http://www.amphibia.my/page.php?pageid=s_foundk&s_id=9&search1=Phrynoidis%20asper&species=Phrynoidis%20asper&submit=Search!