The Earth Is Happy

Day 36 of our Movement Control Order (MCO) and coincides with our Earth Day. Happy Earth Day 2020 earthlings and should I say, the Earth is Happy! As we all are aware by now of the current global changes and the huge impacts due to the Covid-19 pandemic. And so Mother Earth is definitely the happiest soul. The Earth Day is celebrated annually to remind us on the protection of our environment and this year is the 50th anniversary.

Exactly a year ago, I was spending couple of hours watching a newly fledged Great Hornbill and this year, we all have missed this as well as not able to say farewell to our migratory birds.

A newly fledged Great Hornbill on 22nd April 2019

It feels completely weird this year on this day. Eventhough I didn't get to spend time with nature, at least I got to hear two Blue-Winged Pittas calling at each other. Their SOS for love and breeding season has began!

And so what's up with me? In compliance with our government's order, I stayed home to stay safe and this is the best way to help our fantastic frontliners out there fighting with Covid-19. There were couple of short birding moments from my porch. Apart from the daily morning alarm calls and evening calls of the Asian Koels, there was a day when I heard a Banded Kingfisher calling from the scrub across the main road. That was my first time ever to hear a Banded Kingfisher in my residential area. Perhaps, this kingfisher has been there all this while but I was not at home to note its presence. 

 

A male Asian Koel feeding on the Jamaican Cherry (Muntingia calabura) tree that I planted years ago

One Collared Kingfisher visited for awhile. The rests were the usual Common Mynas, Asian Glossy Starlings, Yellow-Vented Bulbuls, Olive-Backed Sunbirds and Rock Pigeons.

Collared Kingfisher

For the first time in 33 years, Langkawi has shut down. From the busy beaches to the busy hilltop of Gunung Matchinchang where the Sky Cab is, all are given their well deserved rests from the madness of mass tourism. I am very happy to know that nature is given this best moment to rejoice while at the same time, I am indeed very eager to head out into the forest again. All tourism related sectors are badly affected by this pandemic, particularly the tourists guides. When the MCO is lifted, restaurants, cafes, hotels, motels, duty free retail shops, car rentals, boat services and other transportation services will be able to pick up some business back from the domestic travels. While the tour guides that are mostly or highly dependent on foreign market will have to wait a lot longer because we are aware of the situation in the Europe and United States. If we are fortunate, things may start to pick up perhaps as early as in December 2020. As a tour guide myself, we are thankful that the government did not leave us behind in their Covid-19 Ecomomic Stimulus Package. All licensed tour guides and taxi drivers were informed that we will be receiving a once-off payment of RM600 each.  I would also like to say a big thank you to my regular guest, Jane Miller who insisted in paying me when our tour was cancelled due to MCO. Jane and Keith managed to rush back to the UK safely. Appreciate your concern, Jane.

Thank you Jane Miller

I was fortunate to have a busy December 2019 and January 2020 which led me to think about having a good break. However, this is not the kind of break that I have asked for. As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for. As if I have preset my mind that I now have lots of time (to waste) before the next tour booking comes along, my first two weeks of MCO was me being a one huge slacker. Slacker in what I usually do or what I should be doing ie admin stuffs but I wasn't a slacker in learning and experimenting new things. You can say that this may be some sort of mental distraction, I have discovered more baking experience and experiments by learning from websites and YouTube videos. Most of my friends have expected me to gain some weights during this MCO with the amount baking that I have done. I am afraid I have to disappoint them that I have lost 3 kgs by now, without exercising. My fingers were on my phone A LOT! The more I tapped on social media stuffs, the more I attended free webinars. Hey, this is what webinars are for these days. My personal social media has been flooded with food photos like anyone else...until I am getting bored with food shots. Being a baker in probation, I have actually learned something out of it. Here are some of my successful products (the failed ones will not be posted here):

Baking breads teaches us patience, resilience and persistence. You want a good product, you must be patient. Time is an essence in baking. This is something I have learned after a few bread failures but nothing went to waste.

While in the mean time of waiting for things to be back to normal, I still have lots to do.This is a time for me to unlearn and relearn on subjects that I have lost touch. A time for me to sort out tonnes of my unsorted and unorganized photos that are waiting to be published or stored in their right location. Loads and loads of admin work to be cleared. Each day can easily slip away and is not difficult for me as an introvert to stay put at home.

Enough of my ramblings here. I would like to wish everyone good health. If any of my previous guest is reading my post here, it would be delightful to hear from you so I know that you are well at home. Do drop me a note on my Facebook page here or drop me an email wendynatureguide@gmail.com.

This is how I will look like after the MCO...My homegrown bean sprouts

 After many weeks of not being out there kayaking and birdwatching, I am missing my tanned legs. This photo of me was taken on Gunung Raya at night balancing on the water pipe 9 years ago! It was a windy night and my wind breaker was flapping in the wind. My fit physique back then...

😂

Stay safe and stay home to all my blog readers.

For this Earth Day 2020, I chose this image taken on Gunung Raya as my theme as a simple reminder that the key to sustainable living is to protect our natural habitat.

Happy Earth Day 2020

That Bird I Spotted And Didn't Capture

The car I was driving came to an immediate halt when something caught the side of my eye. After reversing a bit to check, I knew what it was and said calmly to Sue and Robert inside the car, "Banded Kingfisher". Sue got excited very quickly as she turned towards the door.

"Everyone stay inside the car!" I whispered loudly when Sue had her fingers on the door latch waiting to jump out. And then Sue got her...click click click

And where's your camera, Wendy? In the damn boot! What?

AAAAaaaaaRRRRRrrrrrrrrrGGGGGgggHHHhhhHHHH!!!!!!

This Banded Kingfisher female was perched under huge leaves with low light condition. Sue's first few shots were dark and showed no details at all. When I moved the vehicle a meter forward, this bird has a nice green background. Beautifully captured, Sue! A meter forward made a whole lot of difference in the lighting and background. 

Thank you for sharing this awesome capture to our audience here.

I am still drooling until now 😋😋 and still beating myself up for having my camera inside the boot! Oh well...Sod's Law!

A birdwatching tour recently in March with returning guests Sue Dall and Robert. Their second time with me before their farewell to Langkawi. They had a wonderful bird sightings on that day with closeup of Great Hornbill and witnessing close to a hundred of Asian Openbills in the air. Even the birds came to greet farewell. 

Seeking Goodies After A Night Shower

The night of 10th February 2020 was one of my most enjoyable evening in this time of dry season on Langkawi. It finally rained after more than one month of dry spell and I can't recall when was the last rain. The most enjoyable moment of this rain was it lasted for more than 2 hours of gentle rain and breeze. Just nice to bring the heat down. When I checked our Malaysia's Meteorological website, almost the entire state of Kedah was blanket with rain.

This has brought some temporary relief as our national news reported last month that the dams in Kedah were having very low water level. The water supply in Langkawi is heavily dependent on these dams. The news link here.

When the temperature has dropped, I felt more energised and I decided to head out the next morning to check on our birds' activities. Will they be feeling as energised as me as well or wet and sluggish? With a few options of birding sites to choose from, I picked one of my favourite spot which is Gunung Raya.

The peak of Gunung Raya was socked in by thick clouds at 8:30am. Unusually cloudy day for a dry season but I like it. The first stop was not too far away from the foothill and as I got off the car, there were couple of birds chirping away. The colourful male Orange Bellied Flowerpecker was the first to be seen and being such a tiny bird, his loud tsi-si-si call gave his exact location away. The other call nearby was an unrevealing Tailorbird species. The crisp morning air surrounding the forest smelled so fresh as I walked on the wet tar road. The familiar preet sound came along with this ever shy blue bird and so I had to freeze as much as I could. And yet, it gave me some poses for "Kodak" moment before a lorry came along and stopped to greet. Hello to Mr Road Maintenance driver and bye bye to my Blue-Whistling Thrush. This species of thrush is our Langkawi's resident and has been quite frequently seen along the drain next to the road due to the dry season. Certain parts of the drain have flowing water from the small streams and spring water coming down from the hill side.

Blue-Whistling Thrush Myophonus caeruleus engenei  calling

I continued my journey up the hill only to be distracted by the call of a migratory warbler which is extremely difficult to spot. The high pitch call of either a Sakhalin Leaf Warbler or Pale-Legged Warbler seemed so close yet so far. The bird remained hidden and it kept quiet as I got closer to the scrub.  Seconds later, a big roar echoed and it was a Great Hornbill heard from the other side of the hill. As I continued to look for that warbler, a familiar tour van from my competitor's side came along wanting to check out what I was looking at. When there was nothing else to see, I smiled at that guide and gave him a thumbs up. I am not sure if that guide understood me but I guess the driver got the hint. The warbler would have taken off by now and as I walked back to my car, a Great Hornbill flew past me and went to the direction where the first call of the Great Hornbill was heard. Then it was followed by another Great Hornbill and then another and the next one. It was a flock flying in one by one. The total count was about 20 of them. Not every individual head towards the same direction all at once. Some perched on the higher trees for awhile and a couple of them stopped by a fruiting tree to snack.

A Great Hornbill Buceros bicornis winged over me

On the slope of the hill, a high pitch ti-ti-ti-ti-ti was heard followed by a soft knocking sound. Aha! A Flamebacked Woodpecker but which one? Note the split malar.

A female Greater Flameback Chrysocolaptes lucidus going about her business while ignoring me peeping through the gaps of the dense foliage.

A huge Sterculia tree with opened, dried up dark brown fruit capsules had a couple of Great Hornbill hopping about.

The same tree was blooming with dark red capsules back in 22nd January 2020 but it was not ready for the hornbills to feast on them. This how the tree looks like below in a broader view during a hot sunny morning with clear blue sky. I didn't manage to photograph the red capsules.

This Sterculia may be a urens species?

The same tree in the gloomy cloudy morning of 11th February 2020.

This time I manage to capture the opened capsules

While I was videoing this Great Hornbill feeding, a noisy motorbike with a couple of tourists came along and stopped by the roadside. The noise from the motorbike was so loud and annoying that I had to signal them to turn off the engine so we all can observe the bird in peace. They left after observing the hornbill by pushing their motorbike down the slope without turning on the engine. Good thinking!

 

 

There was one moment that I didn't had a chance to document it. The hornbill leapt off from a branch only to grab the seed under the fruit capsule and then free fall before flapping his wings to ascend. Even though Hornbills come to feed on a Sterculia tree, however, I don't see it as their favourite one. A strangling fig tree is still their number one favourite.

The raptors seem to be invisible on that cloudy morning. The lower temperature as compared to the usual days and more than 90% clouds cover has made it difficult to spot for a raptor and possibly not enough thermal for them to soar. 

I do appreciate days like this sometimes.

Enjoying my homemade Banana Chocolate Bread for my brunch

There was something moving on the ground and has caught my eyes as I was walking up the steep slope. Colourful and bright in its own way if they are not as shy. These forest doves sometimes can be seen foraging at the side of the road but they are so skittish that they take off at 20 meters away. This pair of Asian Emerald Dove seem to be oblivious to my presence. Can I thank the low light condition on this cloudy morning which made these doves unaware of me standing about 10-15 meters away?

A male Asian Emerald Dove Chalcophaps indica foraging among the leaf litters. 

Beautiful male and shy Asian Emerald Dove

I didn't get very far after the second hour of birding. It started to drizzle and I had to head down to town for some errands. A raptor flew in! That was what I spotted as I turned around to head back. Unfortunately the raptor was far away on the higher hill and I was unable to capture any record shots but it has heavy barrings on the undersides. It took off from the faraway tree. What was it? AAAAAaaaaaaaaRRRRRRrrrrrrrGGGGGGGGgggggggHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhh!

Oh well...

As if it has heard me from the far distance, it returned and better still, there was another one flying close by to each other. They got slightly closer to me than the previous position.

A pair of the same species of raptor soaring together.

A heavily cropped image of a Jerdon's Baza Aviceda jerdoni, note it's thick dark terminal tail band and the paddle-shaped wings.

There were a lot of these swiftlets and I have not notice any of our resident Pacific Swallows.

One of the hundreds of Germain's Swiftlets Aerodramus germani can be easily seen at the lower level of Gunung Raya.

I didn't reach the third kilometer marker when the time flew past so quickly. The competitor van with their clients descended and drove past me while I was having my breakfast. It was only one hour ago when I last saw them. At least they have seen the big flock of Great Hornbills.

This was the temperature shown below at the end of my two hours of solo birdwatching session and below this image is the link to my birds sighting recorded on E-Bird that day.

Sharing my birds sighting on eBird link here.