A rainy morning at Labi road

A short post from a very wet morning at Labi road 9 days ago. These rainy overcast days can be quite good for bird watching, but are typically not the best for non-flash photography. Most of the pics taken failed my keeper tests; below some pictures that did not, even if only just!

An adult and juvenile rufous piculet provided some entertainment in the wet and dark undergrowth alongside the road. Did I already mention that circumstances were not ideal for photography without flash? The below pic is the only one I kept from a series of around 20...

A juvenile Rufous piculet (Sasia abnormis)

A group of distant red-leaf monkeys were noisily making their way through the canopy. This individual stopped briefly to check me out, but very quickly moved on when it realized I was trying to slowly get closer.

Red-leaf monkey (Presbytis rubicunda)

During one of the dry spells I noticed a small flowerpecker flying into a tree nearby and was very pleased to confirm it as another scarlet-breasted flowerpecker. The third one this year and all three birds at different locations.

A bum-view of a scarlet-breasted flowerpecker

I did get some better views this time, but no opportunities for a clean shot. Below is the best picture that I managed. How frustrating is that little branch! It is interesting that this area at the lower end of Labi road appears to still have considerable species influx from the very close by peat swamp forests.

Scarlet-breasted flowerpecker (Prionochilus thoracicus)

Finally my "pishing" had the opposite effect and the bird flew off. This juvenile plain sunbird proved a little more obliging for a few clean shots.

Plain sunbird (Anthreptes simplex)

A pair of distant grey-capped woodpeckers provided some good views. Below is the female.

Grey-capped woodpecker (Dendrocopus canicapillus)

The buff orange wash on the breast and belly, one of the features that distinguishes it clearly from the superficially similar brown-capped woodpecker, shows really well in this picture.

The first migrants are also slowly coming in; a short drive around the Seria area this weekend came up with plenty of sandpipers, 2 different plovers, long-toed stints and a single redshank. Hope to share some more on this later.

Folkert, 20/08/2013.

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.

KB road, again

As some of you may have picked up from previous posts, the Kuala Balai road can almost be considered as my local birding patch. A broad variety of birds, and some great mammals and reptiles have been recorded in the past along this road. Unfortunately the local bird catchers realize this too and every weekend a couple of people can be seen pulling up their cages to the treetops.

Still, the birding along this road is usually rewarding. I have lost count of the number of times I visited this road over the past 3 years, but even now I pick up new species.

Last week the weather was not too great and frankly the birding and photography was a little disappointing. Most exciting was to hear a few ruddy kingfishers and I also had brief views of one bird flying past. 

Luckily there are always some yellow-bellied prinias around to keep me entertained.

Yellow-bellied prinia (Prinia flaviventris).

This species was definitely not discovered in Brunei; most birds here only have a very faint yellow wash to the belly that gives them their name. I think the subspecies in Borneo is called p. f. latrunculus.

The male van Hasselt's sunbird can often be seen calling from an exposed branch in the top of the trees. This is a very small sunbird with some stunning colors. It was a little too early and foggy to get a proper picture of the bird below.

Van Hasselt's sunbird (Leptocoma brasiliana)

A little later I again heard the ruddy kingfishers, there were at least 3 birds calling. But again, no views...
The black-and-yellow broadbills, on the contrary, were not very shy today and a female and male were providing good views. My guess is that during the breeding period, or really just before, they seem more oblivious to their surroundings and only have eye for each other. The black breast-band shows that this is the male.

Male black-and-yellow broadbill (Eurylamus ochromalus).

There were a good number of hornbills heard and seen flying across the road. Of the four species seen this morning I only managed a quick snapshot of this female Rhinoceros hornbill.

Rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros).

A small family group of rufous woodpeckers was foraging next to the road as well. This is probably my best shot of this species so far and I was quite pleased - but it even got better!

Rufous woodpecker (Micropternus brachyurus).

When I was driving further I heard a scarlet-rumped trogon (Harpactes duvaucelii) calling next to the road and soon located this fine specimen.

Male scarlet-rumped trogon (Harpactes duvaucelii).

The scarlet-rumped trogon is one of the more common lowland trogons. I really find this a very pretty species and was very happy with the images I took home today. Even more so as I never had such clear, close and prolonged views along KB road before! And maybe, just maybe, that ruddy kingfisher will show itself like this one day...

Folkert, 03/04/2013.

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

My garden birds I

The gardens in Panaga form a good habitat for a substantial number of birds and our garden is no exception. Besides a good variety of garden birds some exceptional encounters have been been made from the leisurely surroundings of our balcony and garden. Today I'll share a first short selection of our garden visitors.

One of the more colorful birds in our backyard is surely the eastern crimson sunbird (Aethopyga siparaja).  This sunbird makes good use of the flowers and insects in our garden. When we by accident noticed that both male and female appreciate the drain from our air-conditioning a makeshift hide was quickly set up for a close-up picture. It took less than an hour of patience for the below capture. This was only the first try and I will definitely have another attempt soon.

Male crimson sunbird (Aethopyga siparaja)

Besides the crimson sunbird, also the brown-throated and olive-backed sunbirds are regular visitors to the flowers and bushes in our garden. And I've once been lucky to see a copper-throated sunbird, a species that I only very rarely see on more adventurous journeys elsewhere.

A couple of months back a pair of olive-backed sunbirds tried to raise the next generation of sunbirds below our staircase. Unfortunately the nest was raided and the chicks never made it past their first few days. The below picture shows a female olive-backed sunbird posing in the late afternoon sun, one of my personal favorites.

Female olive-backed sunbird (Nectarinia jugularis)

One of the most visible garden birds in Panaga must be the oriental magpie-robin. These very active birds can be seen anytime of the day. They are very vocal and Panaga would not be the same without their tuneful songs and chatter. The fence around our garden is a preferred spot for the magpie-robins to share their early morning compositions.

Female oriental magpie robin (Copsychus saularis)

Our garden has also had some more unexpected visitors. Quite recently, a male jambu fruit dove (Ptilinopus jambu) was lying lifeless on our driveway after evidently having flown into the kitchen window. This is a scarce bird of the forest that I really would not expect in Panaga. My wife didn't fail to notice the almost ironic location of the bird's demise when she mockingly questioned the number of persons in Panaga that would be able to identify this bird on a mere glance. I guess the bird's encounter with our window is testament to the fact that Panaga is not it's usual habitat.

Male jambu fruit dove (Ptilinopus jambu), a quick smartphone capture.

Another unusual visitor that I share here is the pied imperial pigeon (Ducula bicolor). I noticed this bird one late afternoon high up in one of our trees. This pigeon is associated with offshore islands and not typically found in mainland Borneo. This bird was seen one late afternoon next to a couple of green imperial pigeons, which are quite common. As there are no obvious small islands close to Panaga I can only speculate to what it's normal roosting ground would be: I suspect this individual to be a local wanderer from Pelong rocks of the Bandar coast.

Pied imperial pigeon (Ducula bicolor)

Pied imperial pigeon (Ducula bicolor)

I'll finish this post with a Panaga specialty: the oriental pied hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris). Panaga is unique in the fact that this residential area is home to a group of roughly 80 hornbills. Late in the afternoon the birds usually be found close to our house, when they pick the large casuarina's for their nightly roost.

Male oriental pied hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris)

Folkert, 13/08/2012