BIRDING DURING EID FITRI

Well, Raya or Aidil Fitri celebration is more or less done and over with after more than two weeks of holiday. For this celebration i went up North to Kangar, the capital of Perlis to celebrate with my in-laws. On the third day we all went to Langkawi for a day trip, and then a day at sea fishing on the fourth day. The fifth day was free and easy roaming the countryside looking for birds. Perlis has a lot of padi fields, limestone hills, sugarcane plantation, rubber estates, canals, rivers and lakes which create habitats for many species of bird. As a matter of fact throughout my journey up North through the states of Perak, Penang and Kedah, my eyes never stopped searching for birds along the highway. Unfortunately, when i did see one it was always too late to shoot while moving at 110km per hour!

Anyway, i managed to capture some as shown below:

Black-shouldered Kite

This Black-Shouldered Kite photo was taken about a 100 meters from the back of my in-laws house in Kangar. It had created a nest on the top of a very tall dead palm tree on the edge of a padi field.

This Dusky Mania is quite common when there are padi fields around as they love the ripe padi and grass seeds as their food. They would flock in small groups and create nests out of dry grass.

As Perlis and Kedah have plenty of wet areas like padi fields, canal, lakes and rivers, the White Throated Kingfisher will be found in abundance. You will see them on trees or telephone lines along the padi fields, canal or roads searching for food. This one was taken along the highway in kodiang after it successfully caught its lunch.

These Egrets are beautiful to observe as they waded the padi fields looking for fish. They would hunt in small groups but you can see them flying in large formation in the evening along the highway in Kedah and Perlis. There are also the grey color species which i am not sure exactly their names. I will make sure i get the shots next time.

This little fella of which name i do not know liked to mingle with the Egrets in the padi fields. The locals do not know their name so i take it might be a migrant species from Thailand or further.(Update: I just found out that this little fella name is Red-wattled Lapwing, a migrant from most probably India or Southern Asia subcontinent. March to August is usually the mating month.)

This Black-winged Stilt are usually found in small numbers wading the padi fields looking for small fish. Sometimes they are seen together with Egrets in the padi fields.

This White Throated Fantail was shot near the Timah Tasoh lake on the roadside. They would flock in small groups looking for food.

Another shot of the White Throated Fantail. They were quite camera friendly i would say.

This Changeable Hawk-Eagle Dark Morph was shot along the highway in Chuping near the sugarcane plantation. It seemed to make a small hill near the highway its home. There were at least five or six of them in the hill.

A shot of the bird as it landed on the tree branch.

My trip to Langkawi on the third day of Aidil Fitri produced this shot as this White-belied Sea Eagle was circling the town of Kuah looking for a prey. It was quit high up in the sky when this shot was taken.

Langkawi's icon is this Brahminy Kite. You can see its statue when you landed at the jetty. I took this shot at Awana Porto Malai as it was circling looking for fish. The shot is not so good because of the great distance but it is good enough for a record shot.

This little friend of mine is called Little Tern which followed me wherever i went while sea fishing. I do not mind one or two terns flying over but a big group hungry for our baits would be a nuisance!

On the seventh day of Aidil Fitri we went to Penang for a couple of days at the beach. I have searched for this Black-naped Oriole for so long, and guest where i found it? - at the back of my Paradise Hotel in Batu Ferringhi!

This Olive back Black-throated Sunbird was shot during my visit to Bukit Bendera,Penang. I have taken a lot of Sunbird photos in the Fraser's Hill but not this species.

After Penang i went to spend a few days in Kuantan, checked into the Swiss Garden and Spa Hotel in Berserah hoping that i would encountered a few interesting species especially the eagles. I did manage to find one eagle hovering over the beach at the back of the hotel, however i could not tell of which species as the image was quite poor.

I am looking forward to going for another Eid celebration cum birding trip again in October this year possibly up North again. This time i will bring along a friend who loves birds as much as i do albeit in a different way, he likes to keep birds as pets while i like to capture their beauty in the wild. Well, see you again next time, happy birding.