Time 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Air temperature 26.8 ° Centigrade.
Cloud covered sky.
Participants :Steve, Sara, Nazeri, Musa, Seng, Carol, Nina and David.
It started off with Crested Serpent Eagle just past Curtin and later a mad rush for an Eastern Marsh Harrier and what could be a Northern Marsh Harrier or juvvy of the former. The two harriers were spotted just before ASEAN Bridge. Black-winged Kite and Brahminy Kite were two other raptors were sighted along the Kuala Baram road to Kpg Masjid.
Discussing the finer points of raptor id ... sometimes the illustration in the fieldguides can be quite different from the real thing. Some fieldguides are also not comprehensive enough (they can't, fieldguides are meant to be concise anf portable for use in the field) to bare all variations, ages of a species. Get your pencil and paper out ... start making fieldnotes!!!
The three Oriental Darter perched up of bare branches a distance away, enjoying the impending sunset perhaps. There was also an Osprey perched on a nearby tree. Last weekend during AWC, we ticked a Grey-headed Fish Eagle over the same area.
Birders checking out the Cinnamon Bitter, Oriental Reed Warbler, Striated Grassbird, White-browed Crake and of course the Wandering Whistling Duck ... all in one tiny little spot.
Wandering Whistling Duck enjoying quite moments at a well secluded water body in Kuala Baram Peatswamps.
Raptors:
Crested Serpent Eagle,
Eastern Marsh Harrier,
Northern Marsh Harrier (judge is still out on this one),
White-bellied Sea Eagle,
Black-winged Kite,
Brahminy Kite,
Osprey.
We ran out of time so wasnt able to checkout the other site with a nesting White-bellied Sea Eagle. The Peregrine Falcon we picked out last Saturday during AWC didn't make an appearance this time around. The Changeable-Hawk Eagle that was hanging around the area usually was also noticeably missing.
Other birds:
Striated Grassbird,
Oriental Darter,
Oriental Reed Warbler,
Wandering Whistling Duck,
Cinnamon Bittern,
Common Snipe,
Pied Thriller,
Collared Kingfisher,
Tricolored Munia,
Pink-necked Pigeon,
White-breasted Woodswallow,
Dollarbird,
Common Greenshank,
Kentish Plover,
Pacific Golden Plover,
White-breasted Waterhen,
White-browed Crake,
Little Egret,
Cattle Egret,
Intermediate Egret,
Spotted Dove,
Yellow-vented Bulbul,
Zebra Dove.
Lights dissappearing, bugs starting to come out, birders still intent on birding.
A fitting end to a short dash about the bush, sunset in Kuala Baram Peatswamp ... followed by nasi lalapan at a nearby kedai kopi.
Nazeri Abghani and Musa Musbah, Jan 2010.
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