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.

My garden birds II

Just been away for a week back home. The trip was excellent and got to meet up with a good number of friends and family members that I hadn't seen for a while. I came back on Monday and the jet lag seems a little harder to get over this time; luckily this blog provides me with something useful to do in the early morning hours.

I came home yesterday to find over 30 hornbills in the trees next to our house - far more than the usual numbers observed. The group was a mixed group of both adults and juveniles. I tried to capture a bird in flight for a change but failed to get a really good picture. The attempt below is just missing a little sharpness and I didn't get the entire bird in my frame. The bird is a female and may still be an adolescent bird. It shows the diagnostic tail pattern, with black inner feathers (though interestingly, there is also a bit of black on some of the outer feathers).

Oriental pied hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris)

There were some other regular visitors about yesterday as well: a family group of silver-leaf monkeys  (or silver langurs). This family is often seen in our neighborhood. Compared to the long-tailed macaques these silver langurs are really well behaved and still skittish when humans approach. The picture below is a youngster - but it's not only the youngsters that sport the semi-mohawk.

Silver langur (Trachypithecus cristatus)

Just before I left for Holland I also tried my luck again at getting some more pictures of the sunbirds that are feeding on the drain-pipe from the air-conditioning; see the previous post. Within minutes a female brown-throated sunbird (Anthreptes malacensis) flew in. As soon as she left the male crimson sunbird turned up and stayed for quite some time, allowing me to get plenty of close-ups.

Female brown-throated sunbird (Anthreptes malacensis)

Male crimson sunbird (Aethopyga siparaja)

Male crimson sunbird (Aethopyga siparaja)

Male crimson sunbird (Aethopyga siparaja)

The last pictures I will share today are from another common garden customer, the pied fantail (Rhipidura javanica). This species is not uncommon around the Panaga gardens and along the coastal shrubs. The birds are usually very active, honoring their name by fanning their tails almost constantly.

Pied fantail (Rhipidura javanica) in the garden.

This species is also commonly seen along the Kuala Balai road. There, I once saw a very agitated bird and it was only when looking closer that I noticed the center of the bird's attention: a Wagler's pitviper (Tropidolaemus wagleri). This picture was taken nearly two years ago; the snake can be seen resting on the branch.

Pied fantail & Wagler's pitviper.

Folkert, 30/08/2012