The New Jet Fighters of Langkawi - Asian Openbills

Langkawi welcomes a new species member in her list of feathered friends back in 9th November 2019 which is the Asian Openbills Anastomus oscitans. My first sighting of a huge flock flying above us was back in late October 2015 when I was with my birding friends at Khao Dinsor Chumphon, Thailand for raptor watch.

Asian Openbills when they fly in big flock and thermalling. Dont't they look like jet fighters to you?

I was awed but didn't get to see the whole bird until I was in Perlis in April 2019 with Jane Miller. These gigantic stork is considered a migrant for Peninsular Malaysia but they have stayed longer.

Asian Openbill in Perlis

When I first saw the E-Bird submission of this species for Langkawi, I couldn't believe it. Upon my request, Esteban Martinez followed up with a record shot of seven individuals perched on a tree and therefore, it is confirmed. Congratulations to Esteban, a foreign visitor, for sighting this new record for Langkawi. What a lucky find for being at the right place at the right time! That tempted me to look for these birds too! As I had a second session of  birdwatching tour with Ruth and Simon Smith on the next day, 10th November 2019, it didn't take much effort for me to convince them to search for these birds too! And so we followed the location marked by Esteban, which was close to Langkawi International airport. On a very hot afternoon, we found ourselves walking on a path in between the airport and a scrubby field. After 30 minutes we turned around. No Asian Openbill but we managed to see two Black Drongos which are migrants too. And of course, birds fly! I wanted another chance. Again, it didn't take much effort for me to convince Ruth and Simon to give ourselves another try. We drove around and ended up on this village road close to the airport. Simon was driving and I was scanning. And then some huge birds perched on on a tree caught my eyes. SSSssssssssTTTTtttttOOOOOoooPPPPPPPP! We rushed out of the car with our equipment and click, click, click. There were eight of them!

Photo courtesy from Ruth Smith

I can't describe my feelings on how we were constantly out there looking for any new species and it takes one tourist to find a rare or new species. To console me, Simon Smith told me it is Sod's Law. There I learned a new term.

Can you spot the smile on my face? :) Photo credit by Ruth Smith

Posted on my Instagram on 1oth December 2019

In Malay, this bird is known as Upih Paruh Sepit from the awkward looking closed bill with a small slit pincer shape which is adapted to cut open  the operculum of snails. The distribution of Asian Openbills covers Indian subcontinent, Central Thailand, Cambodia and Cochinchina (Vietnam), however, it is vagrant to Malay Peninsula at that time it was recorded.

The first official sighting was an adult in a harvested sugar plantation in Chuping, Perlis on 1st and 2nd March 2008. Thanks to Dave Bakewell and Terence Ang for the first record info. I was informed that they can still be seen in Perlis even when it is off the migratory season. Have they decided to stay on due to the right condition that has been provided for them in our Peninsular Malaysia? Singapore has also recorded thousands of Asian Openbills in December 2019. According to Dr Yong Ding Li, an ornithologist at BirdLife International, the drought and the dry weather in countries like Thailand could have reduced the number of snails. You can read the news link here.

These huge storks are indeed a sight to behold especially when hundreds of them thermal in the sky and looking for suitable perches. They are particularly more active flying around in the hot afternoon and late afternoon due to the rising thermals.

This is how they look like close up in flight.

Can you see the opening when the bill is closed?

When I was with Dr Ken Ng and family on their birdwatching tour, we saw a bigger flock in the second week of January 2020.

Are you able to count them?

As at my blog post now, they are still here in Langkawi. I bet they are very happy to conquer the skies with much lesser air traffic, planes flying in and out of Langkawi due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Birds migratory check with Mandy and we saw Asian Openbills on 18th May 2020 with Gunung MatChincang as a backdrop

On 18th May 2020, we headed out to check on any remaining migratory birds. The Oriental Pratincoles, Blue-Tailed Beeeaters were around and surprisingly, Whiskered Terns in breeding plumage. We counted at least 70 individuals of Asian Openbills and will they continue to stay on this island for good?

Here's a video compiled during our separate days of observations:

(If you are unable to view the video on the phone, you can click on this link)

References:

1. Jeyarajasingam, A. (2012). A Field Guide to The Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. New York, NY: Oxford University Press

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.