Badas, Sungai Seria and some migrants

On Friday, October 19th, I spend a morning with Merijn in the field. Merijn was over from KL to align the planning for a possible future bio-diversity study in the south of Brunei. Merijn, a fellow countrymen and a keen birder, had asked me to accompany him to some of my favorite sites.

We started the morning at Badas, and highlights included a substantial flock of cinnamon-headed green pigeons, a blue-rumped parrot disappearing into a tree-hole, a grey-headed fish-eagle and a couple of hard-to-see shrikes (that we settled on to be tiger-shrikes). As usual there were plenty of dollarbirds and long-tailed parakeets about.

Male Long-tailed parakeet (Psittacula longicauda)

Male Long-tailed parakeet (Psittacula longicauda)

As it was low tide I also wanted to spend some time at the Sungai Seria estuary. The estuary underwent some big, manmade changes last year with the aim to make the water management more efficient in preventing small floods during the wet season. As a side affect the estuary now seems far less attractive to migrant waders and the exposed tidal flat during low tide has substantially decreased. the number of waders we saw was limited and a little disappointing.

We still saw some nice birds though. There were were a couple of common kingfishers (Alcedo atthis) on the lookout for fish. Every year a few of these kingfishers can be found around the estuary. This is however the only locality where I have seen this species thus far. I did get some good pictures of the female.

Common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis).

Common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis).

One of Merijn's co-workers had found a dead von Schrenk's bittern earlier in the week in Lumut. No rare bittern's around today, but we did see several little heron's and this yellow bittern flew straight into our view. This is by far the most common bittern in the greater Seria area.

Yellow bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis)

Another regular winter visitor to Sungai Seria is the Chinese egret (Egretta eulophotes) and as luck would have it one flew over and landed nearby as we were about to leave. This species is listed as vulnerable by IUCN and the total global population is estimated to be less than 3500. Every year still one or two of these egrets call the Seria estuary their winter home. I can only hope this will continue in the coming years. The bird today did a good job in keeping it's distance, so no close-ups.

Chinese egret (Egretta eulophotes)

The past two weeks some very good observations have been made in Brunei. Unfortunately I didn't see most of them! The special ones:

• Brown-backed flowerpecker (Dicaeum everetti), October 13, Panaga. Kolbjorn saw this species in his garden. This species of flowerpecker is very rarely recorded and might only be patchily distributed in Borneo. This is a great find and a very nice addition to the Panaga species list. For some good pictures of this species check Con Foley's website: confoley.com/brown-backed-flowerpecker

• Grey-headed lapwing (Vanellus cinereus), October 16, Wasan ricefields. Bird seen in flight by Merijn. This is a very scarce winter vagrant. The PNHS sighting list has only one other recording in Brunei, which dates back to 1995. Merijn also saw a pair of Common sand martin's (Riparia riparia), another scarce winter visitor, during this visit.

• Chestnut-cheeked starling (Sturnus philippensis). October 11 and October 13, Panaga. Seen by Kolbjorn in his garden. An uncommon winter visitor, though not as rare as the previous two species. A little envious of this one, as I was trying hard the last two winters to add this species to my list. Good thing is that this sighting does present me with a glimmer of hope for the next couple of weeks!

I did manage to add one new species to my Bruneian list as well:

• Crested myna (Acridotheres cristatellus). Two birds in the car park at the Bandar airport on October 20.

Also am fairly certain I saw a Common kestrel flying over the Seria grasslands. As I only got brief naked-eyed views from the car I am a little hesitant claiming this one, even though it's hard to imagine it being any other bird.

Folkert, 21/10/2012

The regulars of KB road

A good birdwatching area close to our house is the Kuala Balai road. This road runs for roughly 16 km to the ghost town of Kuala Balai. The village/kampong used to be the center of the KB district and was an important trading place. The place is now completely deserted, most people having left to the coastal towns to pursue more lucrative jobs sourced by the oil and gas industry. Attempts to breath new life into the village as an eco-tourism attraction have thus far not been successful.

Map of the West Brunei, KB district.

The google map above shows the Kuala Balai road and surrounding areas. The road to kampong Kuala Balai offers some great birding and it is the spot that I frequent most on early morning and late afternoon birding trips. A good starting point for birdwatching along Kuala Balai can be found in an excellent document that Jeremy Moore put together: birdwatching and bird records in brunei.

I will first share some of my favorite regulars of Kuala Balai. The first one is the stork-billed kingfisher (Pelargopsis capensis). This magnificent kingfisher is seen, and heard (!), on most visits. It is the biggest kingfisher in Brunei and the one most commonly found along the second part of the Kuala Balai road. There is no mistaking this bird and the ditches next to the road (and the road itself) seem to be a favorite hunting-ground.

Stork-billed kingfisher (Pelargopsis capensis)

The second species, the black-and-yellow broadbill, is a lot smaller then the previous bird. The call of this broadbill species is arguably the most distinct of all Borneo's resident birds and they can be heard on most occasions. Despite their bright plumage they can be surprisingly hard to spot! The bird pictured is the same one pictured in the blog heading. It was very obliging one Sunday morning and allowed me to take some very nice pictures.

Male black-and-yellow broadbill (Eurylamus ochromalus)

Another bird with great presence is the greater racquet-tailed drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus). This species is also hard to miss. They're loud and bold birds; at Kuala Balai I've seen a drongo bullying a pair of Raffles malkoha's and I once saw a drongo chasing off a brahminy kite. Note that the distinctive racquets are not always present.

Greater racquet-tailed drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus)

The fourth and final species I'll share today is also a very common resident: the little spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra). Most of the time they can only been seen whizzing by, calling as they do so. If you do see a flowering ginger- or wild banana tree, it's worth while to wait a while as you'll stand a good chance of seeing the little spiderhunter drop by for a little snack.

Little spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra)

All pictures were taken at the Kuala Balai road. In a future posting I will share some more on the species diversity of Kuala Balai road.

Folkert, 03/08/2012