The founding of Penang Island in the late 18th Century by Sir Francis Light marked the beginning of 171 years of British rule in Malaya.

Province Wellesley on the mainland, named after Lord Wellesley, has always been made to feel and treated somewhat like a step-sister to the island state.

Geographically, it is something like Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Except that in Province Wellesley, there aren’t any nine hills to boast of any good Feng Shui - Chinese art of divine intervention to stimulate an economic boom initiated by a race nicknamed, ‘the Yellow Peril’ by British colonists.

Nor were there any Californian gold deposits that saw Chinese junks sailed to port to name the province, ‘San Francisco of the East’ also known as Kum Sun or Gold Hill in the Cantonese dialect.

Neither has Province Wellesley the amour and romantic provincial ambience of Provence in Northern Italy. There, sows are bred to sniff out musky truffles in Mediterranean woodlands. Valued like gold, truffles are shredded paper-thin and sparingly sprinkled over homemade, delicious pastas and spaghettis for the ‘oomph’ and much enjoyed by Italian families on special occasions.

The opposite holds true for Province Wellesley. While it held such a romantic, countryside name, it was renamed, Seberang Perai after the 1970’s.

My government then was in a passionate mood to erase all things colonial and opted for a local flavour. Pathetically, it sounds bad like a mouthful of verbal diarrhoea or a victim down with salmonella poisoning in latrine agony. Anyway, it is a phrase of a place I am not too proud to coo too sweetly.

The original topographic area of the province was mainly low lying, agricultural and forested land, with a couple of low, inland hills with patches scrub and wetlands. Naturally, it was left last to be developed in the tropical heat of a mosquito infested region.

Fortunately, remoteness and late development gave longer tenure to bird habitats. It also allowed me a window period to checklist bird areas and put on historical record - prior to mid-2007, images of migratory and water birds seen at Bandar Perda wetlands area, Bukit Mertajam (above: top, migratory egrets; bottom, Chinese Pond Heron; right: near right Purple Heron; far right, Little Egret).

There were uncommon sightings of Greater Painted-snipes (Rostratula benghalensis), Red-necked Phalaropes (Phalaropus lobatus), Oriental Practincoles (Glareola maldivarum) and Brown-winged Kingfisher (Halcyon amauroptera), a family of Barred Buttonquails (Turnix suscitator) and Japanese Sparrowhawks (Accipiter gularis) to add to various species of bee-eaters, bitterns, kingfishers, munias, herons, wagtails, raptors and a resident Barn Owl (Tyto alba), bringing a total of more than a hundred species of birds at the peak of migratory season.

Crepuscular birds - active feeding birds at dawn and dust had to be the signature species of Bandar Perda. Bird images shown here are the result of many predawn, solo visits and setting up of mobile mini hides at various birding sites (left: top left, Watercock; top right, Ruddy-breasted Crake; bottom left, Baillon’s Crake; bottom right, pair of Slaty-breasted Rail).

There were numerous occasions of a peaceful sit down of a take-away breakfast and hot tea-flask to observe Slaty-breasted Rails (Gallirallus striatus) hunt for their breakfast. They threw their heads back and stabbed their long beaks into damp paddy fields in search of embedded crustaceans. With hammer action, hardened shells of crustaceans, gripped by their bills, were smashed open against hardened rock surfaces (below top, Slaty-breasted Rail).

Crepuscular birds were observed to roost in one field and breakfast stroll to the other. It provided a small window and précised time of opportunity to observe them as they crossed bunds or tracks in between fields (right bottom).

Being extremely skittish, these birds skirted the edge of paddy fields during feeding times and were rarely seen in mid-fields. As such, any slightest disturbance or predatory threat would give them the opportunity to run for cover.

In extreme cases, Watercocks (Gallicrex cinerea) were able to sense my presence a paddy field length or football field away. They posed to be most challenging of all water birds in digiscopy. The plumages of juveniles, females and non-breeding males were so well camouflaged in fallowed fields. My presence spooked them to flight before I realised they were there!

How did they know?

The sound of ploughing tractors roared in neighbouring paddy fields, churning out clumps of mud-encrusted larvae and worms to awaiting Eurasian Tree Sparrows (Passer montanus), House Crows (Corvus splendens), Common Mynas (Acridotheres tristis) and various species of egrets for fresh pickings.

Occasionally, water birds such as this protected species of juvenile Slaty-breasted Rail (Gallirallus striatus) became destined for the cooking pot (left).

In spite of having to trudge in muddy terrain and having my boots sucked into mud and looking lost without owner’s foot, my passion for birds did not deter my fascination of observing feeding habits and behaviour of these water birds.

But… it is not me to be sitting and getting baked under the tropical sun for hours for birds to show up.

The stench of rubbish dumpsites and nuisance of mosquitoes swamping around and thirsting for new blood were no deterrent. I made peace pacts with hungry mosquitoes by the use of natural repellents and adorned the ghotra - a male Arabian headscarf which doubled up as a sunshade and dyed forest green.

However, any die-hard, large mosquitoes ‘dressed’ in black and white stripes attempting kamikaze stunts are something else to be reckoned with. They are potential carriers of Haemorrhagic Fever or Dengue Fever.

One has a choice. Smack those to death, take confession later or…. do a runner!

The only regret I have, had I been a birder much earlier to recee the birding site well, I could have chalked up a few more species of birds on my checklist. Unfortunately, my knowledge of birds then was inadequate to conclude a positive identification.

However, all is not lost. Just about in time, together with my visual partner, DG Scope, we take pleasure to share and air the final curtain show of the water bird series of Bandar Perda wetlands to readers of this blog (below: top left, Cinnamon Bittern; top right, White-browed Crake; bottom left, Purple Swamphen; bottom right, White-breasted Waterhen).

Alas! Development arrived.

With it, came cranes, bulldozers, trucks, and machineries for road works etc. changing the landscape, replacing agricultural lands with state of the art showpieces and grandiose buildings, some with eccentric architectural styles of mis-matched European designs with a concoction of Greco-Roman facades (below).

Development of a young nation like Malaysia, catering to the ever increasing demand in population growth, commerce and industry and prosperity takes priority above anything else.

It came with a heavy price tag.

One of the very expensive, destructive and irreversible price to pay is permanent and environmental habitat loss of wild animals, avian and flora life. Uncontrolled deforestation, human ignorance and greed, lackadaisical attitude, miscalculation, lack of prudence and foresight are other contributing factors.

Does it have to be done this way only?

A young nation in the stages of development is like a young child learning to walk tall, have a few falls and bleed a little. What is to be expected of a toddler with a pacifier learning to discover him/herself?

What did a developing nation know about good governance, harmonious partnerships in sustainable development and stringent, environmental conservation practices in their early days?

The sad thing when dealing with bird-habitat environment is, consideration to conserve is often left last in terms of economic priority. It is preferred and more convenient to brush such issues under the carpet as there are no long term revenues in sight for the short sighted.

If current developed nations were given another chance to rebuild from scratch, would they plan the same as they did before? Instead of ending up breathing in concrete jungles, could they still be seen enjoying wild life nature by circumventing development projects around vital, conservative life lines?

Currently, bird watchers living in concrete jungles and yearning to view exotic species have to pay top dollars to breathe clean air in green lung areas. They have to leave home thousands of miles away to become tourists and fly in iron birds to walk in tropical rain forests reserves.

Isn’t it uncanny that developing nations are making haste to chop down their trees at super speed to create an artificial environment; copying developed nations and catering to a greedy, misconstrued concept and ugly word call, ‘ECOTOURISM’?

Or, the madness of isolated cases where humans have become so pampered in calling government agencies to summon and axe a tree just because fallen leaves were added chore for a housemaid?

Let’s listen to the finale chorus of three House Crows (Corvus splendens) named, GO, GOING GONE crooning to LONGFELLOW, the Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea) (top left))

GO, GOING, GONE seen perched on a bare tree,
Say GO and GONE, ‘Where have all the trees gone?’
GOING answered to GO and GONE perched on a bare tree,
‘They have all gone, to build concrete trees 200 feet long.’
So too, GO, GOING, GONE will gonna be going gone.

A last peep… as the final curtain descends on Bandar Perda wetlands (above right: top and bottom).

AVIAN WRITER DAISY O’NEILL, PENANG, MALAYSIA
(All bird images shown were taken by digiscopy techniques. No flash photography used. The use of electronic devices to entice birds into the open- not practiced).

A number of Spotted Wood Owl’s (Strix seloputo) pellets were collected on the evening of 12th August 2007 under the roost of a juvenile (left). These pellets were 4-5 cm x 3-4 cm, light brownish and white, the former representing mostly the fur of the owl’s victim and the latter various types of bones (below top and bottom). The pellets had a distinct odour, an indication that decomposition had set in.

As most birders know, raptors and owls cast pellets of indigestible food parts, mainly fur, feathers, teeth, claws and bones. Many other birds like shrikes, herons, kingfishers and bee-eaters, similarly cast pellets of insect exoskeletons and bones of fishes and amphibians,

In the case of owls, the small animals they eat are swallowed whole. These end up in the gizzard where the digestive fluids act on the soft tissues. The hard, undigested materials, often more or less intact, are regurgitated as a compact pellet, looking wet and slimy as the exterior is covered with a liquid that acts as a lubricant

Owl pellets vary in size and shape, depending of the species of owl and the animals they eat. Normally, a pellet forms a few hours after a meal. It then travels from the gizzard into a space above known as the proventriculus. This pellet has to be ejected before the owl can swallow new food. Apparently, different species have their own schedules of pellet casting i.e. so many hours after a meal.

Before an owl ejects a pellet, it acts as if it is coughing or retching.

The image below (scale in mm) displays the different bones that were found in a number of pellets collected below the roost of the juvenile Spotted Wood Owl. They were sorted out only after they were baked at 150 degrees celsius for 50 minutes wrapped in a piece of aluminium foil. Why? Owl pellets are known to contain bacteria and viruses that can cause various diseases. As such, they should be handled with extreme care.

The skull and jawbones with teeth intact can be identified if their dental formulae are worked out. But we need an experienced mammalogist to do this. For the moment it is enough to know that the owl’s food includes different vertebrates.

Input and images by YC except owl by Johnny Wee.

Reference:
Long, Kim (1998). Owls: A wildlife handbook. Boulder: Johnson Books.

An earlier post of a sleeping Common Tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius) that looked like a tiny ball of feathers has spawned another report on sleeping birds by Eddie Lee. This time we have a few images of the tailorbird in dreamland as well as those of the Olive-backed Sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis):

“I first noticed that the Olive-backed Sunbirds spent the night perching on tree branches a while ago, but didn’t pay much attention to them.

“Then on 28th May 2006 I saw a lone male Olive-backed perching on a tree branch under cover of darkness, presumably spending the night till daybreak. This time I was armed with a camera and took some shots of it at arm’s length distance (left). Incidentally the flash which illuminated the branches did not seem to disturb the bird at all. It continued with its seemingly deep sleep. The bird was seen on a few more occasions after this encounter and subsequently failed to return.

“On 25th March 2007 I caught sight of a pair of Common Tailorbird doing the same on a different type of plant. Managed to shoot some pictures. Again on 5th April, but only a single tailorbird returned to roost. The bird was once again photographed on 22nd July.

“All the pictures were taken between 8-9 pm (top and right). As I only visit the place during Sunday nights, I can only presume that the same bird returned to the same plant every night until recently when it was no longer to be seen.”

Most birders take it for granted that diurnal birds sleep at night. And that nocturnal birds do so during the day. We do look for sleeping nocturnal birds, especially owls but how many birdser look for sleeping diurnal birds at night? We are familiar with masses of roosting birds but individual birds? With this post we know that birds take different postures sleeping. Unlike the tailorbird, the sunbird does not tug its head under its wing. Both sleep while perched on a branch. I am sure there are birds that sleep on the ground.

It is hoped that photographer who are fascinated with birds will keep a look out for sleeping birds and share their images.

Input and images by Eddy Lee.

It was 4 pm on 28th July 2007, just after a heavy downpour when Ng Bee Choo came across a single Red-legged Crake (Rallina fasciata) taking a bath in a shallow puddle along the road leading to the Singapore Botanic Gardens’ Visitor Centre. She managed to capture a few shots with her camera, as shown on the left.

The Red-legged Crake is an uncommon resident and a winter visitor to Singapore. It is a secretive bird and usually not easily seen. Interestingly, it was first recorded on 3 Jun 1898 in the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Since the first sighting, it had been seen in various forested as well as non-forested locations on the main island. The bird is usually associated with ditches, streams, understorey of forests and dense scrub. It does breed locally, first reported in January 1985 in Hume Heights, possibly earlier in 1944. Chicks are reportedly seen in March, May and August.

Migrants arrive from October to April.

“On 26th June 2007, walking along the bund among the mangrove vegetation, I came across two sunbirds flitting among the bushes excitedly. On further observations it was noticed that they were Copper-throated Sunbirds (Leptocoma calcostetha), a male (left top) and a female (left bottom). The female would be perched on a branch while the male would approach her with wings fluttering furiously. Then he would perch right besides her before flying off again.

“However, on this day, I did not realise that there was a nest around the place and walked off looking for subjects to take pictures of.

“The next day I decided to go back to the same place to make further observations. I found the two birds still behaving in a similar fashion. This time I found the nest hanging from a vine and very well camouflaged. Looking into the nest I saw that it was empty, no eggs. I stood around quietly and saw that the female would look into the nest and fly off, then returned and went into the nest - I guess to try it for size. The male would hang around close by observing her every movements.

“On 2nd July I found the female bird inside the nest (right top). She stayed there for a long time before leaving to feed. I peeped into the nest and saw that there were still no eggs. During this period I found the male absent. Only the female was attending to the nest. Can it be because they are nectar feeders, they would find it very hard to feed each other? I may be wrong on this.

“Two days later (4th July) I returned and when the female left the nest, saw two purplish brown eggs (right bottom).

“The 6th July was a very sad day as I found the nest to be missing of the eggs (below). They could have been predated by a snake as the nest had remained in very good condition. Also, as it was hanging from a vine, anything large and heavy would have torn the nest from the vine. According to a knowledgeable birder, he says that nesting success rate is only about 30 percent. I found incidences like this also happening to Yellow-Vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier) nests in our garden - overnight, the eggs would disappear into thin air.

“The nest is pear shaped, with an awning over the entrance to protect the female from falling rain? How is it that the male sunbirds would be able to think of this feature?”

Observations and all images by K C Tsang
26th June to 20th July 2007
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NOTE: According to Cheke et al. (2001), the nest is a pear-shaped bag with an oval entrance in the top half with an eave. It is made of fine grass, fibre, kapok and hairs, all loosely woven together. There is no ‘beard’ hanging loosely below the nest as in Olive-backed Sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis) (1, 2).

Reference:
Cheke, R. A., Mann, C. F. & Allen, R. (2001). Sunbirds: A guide to the sunbirds, flowerpeckers, spiderhunters and sugarbirds of the world. New Haven & London: Yale University Press.