July 2013

I was just cleaning up some of last month's pictures. And rather than putting them at risk to end up in one of the dusty corners of my computer I might as well share them!

These first pics are from a small recce with Kolbjorn into the more remote parts of the lower Belait peat swamp. After the eye-opening field surveys conducted by Wetlands International I am really keen to get some good pics of both hook-billed bulbul and grey-breasted babbler (please see Dave's excellent blog for a good description of the surveys at http://digdeep1962.wordpress.com). Still plenty of room for improvement, but the pics of the hook-billed bulbul are getting better.

Hook-billed bulbul (Setornis criniger).

Hook-billed bulbul (Setornis criniger).

This grey-chested jungle flycatcher also showed quite nicely, though the lighting conditions were definitely not ideal for handheld shooting.

Grey-chested jungle flycatcher (Rhinomyias umbratilis).

The next pictures are from a small night drive along KB road. As usual a couple of Buffy fish-owls were on show.

Buffy fish-owl (Ketupa ketupa)

This Malay civet, also known as Tangalung, was walking ahead of my car for a while. I failed to persuade the animal to look my way when I took a few snapshots from the vehicle.

Malay civet (Viverra tangalunga). 

Finally some pictures of little terns that I accidentally stumbled upon close to the coast. This colony of around 80 birds had chosen a rather opportunistic cleared area as breeding site, but it seems to work out very well.

Little terns (Sternula albifrons).

I don't normally see many terns around Seria outside the migrating season, so this flock of little terns forms a nice change!

Little terns (Sternula albifrons).

Little terns (Sternula albifrons).

 Folkert, 31/07/2013.

KB road, yet again.

A little feedback from the past week, starting with a morning trip to KB road this weekend. The morning was relatively productive, I even saw another black-and-white bulbul, but I have very little to show for. I did however manage to get some shots of the ruby-cheeked sunbird, which I consider to be my best so far. Here is the male:

Male Ruby-cheeked sunbird (Chalcoparia singalensis).

And again, now showing the origin of its name.

Male Ruby-cheeked sunbird (Chalcoparia singalensis).

At first I thought this pair was feeding, but soon realized that they were returning to the same branch because they were laying the foundation of their new home. Here is the female, carrying some nesting material.

Female Ruby-cheeked sunbird (Chalcoparia singalensis).

The only other bird picture I find worth showing is of this buff-rumped woodpecker that I found foraging in the trees. This small woodpecker is one of the more common woodpeckers seen. 

Buff-rumped woodpecker (Meiglyptes tristis).

When I drove home, I noticed a large group of silver leaf monkeys and watched them for a while from my car. The massive jumps they made from one tree to the next is really impressive. Here is one animal taking off.

Silver Langur (Trachypithecus cristatus).

Silver Langur (Trachypithecus cristatus).

Silver Langur (Trachypithecus cristatus).

Silver Langur (Trachypithecus cristatus).

The siliver langur, or silver(ed) leaf monkey is listed as near threatened by IUCN. Luckily they're still reasonably often encountered in Brunei. There is even one group in Panaga, which is very unique situation (see also an earlier post, my garden birds ii, August 2012).

As some of you may have discerned from previous posts, we also attempt to explore the fauna around Panaga during the evening hours. Last Thursday Kolbjorn, together with his two kids Hannah and Jonas, and myself went out for an evening drive on KB road.

This was the first time I drove down KB road during an evening shower. The low-hanging fog, that accompanies the rain while it evaporates on the still hot tarmac of the road, creates a very eerie atmosphere. With the amount of rain we quickly abandoned the idea of spotlighting and focused our attention mainly on the area in front of us that was illuminated by the car's headlights. And we soon found that we weren't the only ones: when I put on the breaks to avoid running over a little frog we were astonished to see a Buffy fish owl swooping down to pick it up, just two meters in front of us. What a sight! 

It quickly became apparent that the wet road becomes a preferred hunting ground for the Buffy fish-owls. We counted no less than 7 different birds - without the aid of any spotlighting! With their hunting accuracy any frog that crosses the road puts its life in serious danger.

Buffy fish-owl (Ketupa ketupu) in the rain.

On the way back it even got better when we spotted this Wagler's pit viper. This is one of the more common Bornean snakes. Adults get to about a meter in length, this youngster was only around 30 centimeters and still had stunning bright green colors. It is a true nocturnal species; they are very docile and sluggish during the day, often found motionless for hours on the same branch. Even though bites are rare, care should always be taken with these snakes, Wagler's pitviper is poisonous and its venom really packs a punch!

Juvenile Wagler's pitviper (Tropidolaemus wagleri).

Juvenile Wagler's pitviper (Tropidolaemus wagleri).

The snake pictures were taken without flash and I am very pleased with the results; all the credit goes to Hannah though, without her perfect support holding the torch we would have nothing to show for. Thanks Hannah!

Folkert, 19/05/2013.