BIRDING IN PERLIS 2015 - MUSEUM KOTA KAYANG

I like to visit this place not because of the exhibits in the Museum Kota Kayang but because of the surrounding hill which is a home for many raptors. There is a paddy field on the west side of the museum which is about ten acres in size which provides the raptors a good hunting ground for snakes and rodents. On the other side of the hill a bigger paddy field area is located on both sides of the riverbank. Not far away is the Kuala Perlis town and the muddy shoreline which provide another option for the raptors to find food.

One of the small hills on the side of the riverbank

Mangrove-lined river

I have been to this place a few times and i have spotted a few raptor species like the Brahminy Kites, White-bellied Sea Eagles, Black-shouldered Kites and Black Kites, i think. They like to make their nests in the tree canopy high up on the hill which give them a vantage point to spot their prey down in the paddy fields. They would fly in circle over the paddy fields, river, mangrove areas and the shoreline to look for prey.

During this visit i only spotted two species, the Black-shouldered Kite and Black Kite. They were circling in the air near the riverbank around noon.

Black Kite (need help in verification)

Black-shouldered Kite

There are a few other species hanging out along the riverbanks such as Striated Barbets, White Collared Kingfisher and Pacific Swallows.

Striated Barbet

Pacific Swallow

I also spotted Stork-billed Kingfisher flying across the river but i was too slow to capture it. You can give this place a try and if you cannot find any birds well at least you can go visit the museum and learn something about the history of Perlis.

Thanks for reading, and happy birding.

BIRDING IN PERLIS 2015 - KUALA PERLIS

Kuala Perlis is a seaside town famous for seafood and as one of the nearest towns to take the ferry to go to the island of Langkawi. It is also famous for its Belacan (shrimp paste) used as one of the main ingredients in Malay dishes, produced by the folks in the villages located along the beachfront. The beach is not much to talk about as by nature it is muddy, not the type you would want to spent hours sun bathing or swimming.

But the beach attracts different kind of tourists - shorebirds. On many occasions  during my fishing trips i saw many species like Terns, Seagulls, Sandpipers, Plovers, Egrets, Little Herons, and Kingfishers on the beach and mangrove trees.

This time i drove with my youngest daughter Soraya during noon through the main road along the beach to see what species showed up during this time of the year. It was low tide and the muddy beach was pretty much exposed. My drive covered the distance from Kuala Perlis town to Kampung Sungai Berembang and back.

A floating mosque and a restaurant of Kuala Perlis town can be seen from quite a distance away

A muddy flat exposed during low tide, Langkawi Island in the background

One of the small islands about a kilometer away at sea

As it was noon and the weather was quite hot, not many species showed up saved for Egrets and Little Herons

Little Heron

Juvenile Little Heron

Little Heron in flight

Braking and landing

I was kind of disappointed that i did not get to photograph other species on that day but hey who can figure out those birds, their movements and migration etc, can you? I hope to be more successful the next time i visit Kuala Perlis, if not i will just have to treat myself with fresh seafood dinner in one of those restaurants facing the sea so i do not feel so bad.

Thanks for reading and till next time happy birding.

BIRDING IN PERLIS 2015 - CHUPING SUGARCANE PLANTATION

I have not been to the sugarcane plantation area in Chuping for quite sometime now. The last time i went there was a few years ago when i managed to photograph a couple of Changeable Hawks nesting on a small hill by the roadside.

However, the scene has changed now, the sugarcane plant is gone. It is just acres and acres of grassland as far as your eyes can see. It looks like a praire or a scene in Nebraska. Maybe the owner does not know what to do with the land right now. To plant sugarcane or to plant rubber trees, or to plant more profitable species??

I almost forgot how to get there as it has been quite a while, there also some new roads leading to the area. Coming from Tasik Melati direction toward Taman Angsana, and straight until i saw a factory that processes sugar into alcohol, turned left at the junction toward RPA Chuping, a few kampungs and eventually led me to the road that runs along the plantation toward Padang Besar. Along the way you will pass a PPP(anti-smuggling unit) checkpoint which confirms that you are on the right direction. A guard took a look at my daughter Tasha and me, saw our big camera and long lens, smiled and let us pass.

Please bear in mind that Chuping is a huge area, you could easily find some productive spots along the way to the sugarcane plantation estate. You propably need a few days to really explore the place, i only had two hours. So my main search area was along the main road in front of the plantation leading to Padang Besar - it is called drive and search with camera ready.

It was drizzling on the way there, so we drove slowly while scanning the side of the road for any birds. We pulled over the hill where i saw the Changeable Hawks on the previous trip, but saw nothing, no birds, no nests, maybe they have moved. As a matter of fact we did not see much along the road except a big Purple Heron flying overhead. We made a U-turn but it was gone. I could not figure out the lack of birds in such a huge open area. Could it be because the disappearing of the sugarcane plant? With the plant gone other lifers like big insects, rodents etc will go too. That means less food for certain birds, owls, hawks, kites etc. Certain birds require some hideouts, trees to protect them from raptors, with just grassland they will feel exposed and will move to other areas. Owls and raptors love open grassland because they can scan for rodents and snakes with their sharp eyes and acute hearing for hundreds of meters from their perching points.

We did see something moving in the air and hovering like waiting to pounce on something on the ground. It turned out to be a Black-winged Kite hovering at a height of eight to ten storeys over the field trying to snatch its prey. I pulled over immediately, grab my camera and took a few burst shots before it flew away. It was an awesome sight because i had never seen other raptors that could hover like that before. Below are a series of shots showing the kite hovering to strike its prey:

circling in the air to look for preys

spotted a prey and zooming in

hovering over its prey

beautiful...like a ballet

After that the sky started to turn dark which was a cue for us to split, end the session and come back some other day maybe spending more than two hours.

The area is so huge, and if i had spent more time and explored the inside of the plantation (if they permit me) i am sure i would find more species. Looks like i have to return to this place soon.

Thanks for reading and happy birding.