For the past many months the blog has been posting one observation after another by Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS, so much so that he is uncomfortable with hogging the limelight. Only when assured that his many observations need to be shared that he feels comfortable with his many postings. After all, observations not recorded and shared, cannot be taken as contributing to the advancement of our ornithological knowledge.

Amar, as he prefers to be addressed, resides in Ipoh, in the Malaysian state of Perak. His birding playground is the wild growth area of Keledang-Sayong, Tambun interior and Ulu Kinta Reserve around his hometown. He usually wanders around these areas alone during weekends, not simply looking at birds, but studying their habits at the same time. He carries a camera to document his observations, refusing to use flash in his photography as he strongly believes that this will cause his subjects distress. Currently he is also armed with a recorder, to record calls and songs. His weekend ‘spiritual’ outings prepare him for a hectic and demanding week ahead at the Ipoh General Hospital where he is Consultant Community Pediatrician and Head of the Pediatric Department.

I made contact with Amar in May 2009 when he enquired as to how he could contribute to the blog. And soon he sent in his first contribution, on the Raffles Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus chlorophaeus). Since then his contributions have not stopped coming. And to date he has more than 100 contributions to his name, with 77 already posted and the rest on the waiting list.

Most birdwatchers return from trips with lists of species seen. Not Amar. He returns from each trip with one or more accounts of his encounters with his feathered friends… and always accompanied with images. He studies his birds regardless of whether they are rarities or ‘trash birds’ – a term birdwatchers use to refer to the common everyday species. I am always amazed at his uncanny ability to see through the plumage and bring back interesting bahavioural accounts.

Now what makes Amar tick? Apparently G. C. Madoc’s classic “An introduction to Malayan birds”. Written when the author was a prisoner-of-war at Singapore’s Changi prison during the Japanese occupation, the book has left a lasting impression on Amar. A birdwatcher for 35 years, Amar has successfully jettison the ‘listing’ habit that many birdwatchers are unable to shrug off. He admits to being a ‘twitcher’ once, although he prefers the label ‘ticker’ i.e. one who ticks off a checklist of birds as soon as a new species is sighted. But after ticking off his first 200 species within a rather short time, he found twitching very unfulfilling. So he moved off to getting to know more about his subjects.

Amar is a regular contributor to the database of the Oriental Bird Club, the Oriental Bird Images, since February 2006. So far, he has lodged more than a thousand images in this database.

Amar lives with wife Datin Dr Swee-Im Lim in Ipoh where they have a home with a small garden overgrown with mature trees and shrubs. He goes out of his way to encourage tropical mistletoes [1, 2, 3, 4 & 5] to grow on his plants, as these semi-parasitic plants attract sunbirds, flowerpeckes and more. So far, his garden has been visited by about 48 species of birds, of which 35 are frequent visitors.

“A Friendship with Birds: A Guide to the Identification and Appreciation of Common Birds in the Garden and Cities of Peninsular Malaysia” was published by Amar last year (right). It is aimed at newcomers to the birding scene. The book was reviewed in Malaysia’s New Straits Times and can be viewed HERE.
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Image of Dato’ Dr Amar Singh HSS and Datin Dr Swee-Im Lim (top) courtesy of Amar.

Reference:
Madoc, G. C. (1956). An introduction to Malayan birds. Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur. (revised ed.) 234 pp.

Following the trip report posted earlier, we give you the list of birds sighted by the team consisting of KC Tsang, Amy Tsang and Willie Kwek.

Appendix A: Birds Sighted (Note: Bird names with an asterisk indicate those that were more unusual for us).

25-27 & 30-31May 09: Sepilok Forest Edge Resort - garden/ lotus lake area
1. *Ruby Cheeked Sunbird (male & female)
2. Chestnut Munia (many on grass and nesting in small trees)
3. Tree Sparrows (as many as Ch Munias – has long tail)
4. Emerald Dove (1)
5. Crimson Sunbird (Saw 2 times, male & female)
6. Olive-Backed Sunbird (a few)
7. Yellow-Vented Bulbuls (several/2 juveniles sitting alongside)
8. Magpie Robin (several – adult and youngster)
9. Pied Fantail Flycatcher (one nest spotted)
10. Glossy Tree Starlings (several)
11. White-Bellied Sea Eagle 12. Brahminy Kite
13. Raffles Malkoha (male & female)
14. *Rufous-fronted Babbler (a few)
15. Plaintive Cuckoo (sighted & photographed; heard only on 30/5) (right)
16. Banded Bay Cuckoo (heard only?)
17. White-Collared Kingfisher
18. *Green Iora (2 outside ‘Agnes Keith’ chalet)
19. *Black and Red Broadbill (1 adult & one nest spotted)
20. Long-Tail Parakeet (several)
21. Pacific Swallow (several)
22. White-Breasted Waterhen (several in & abt Lotus pond)
23. Pink-Necked Pigeon (a few)
24. Jungle Crow (a few)
25. Rufous -Tailed Tailorbird
26. Large-Tailed Nightjar
27. Chestnut-Breasted Malkoha

26 May 09: Rainforest Discovery Centre
1. Pink-Necked Pigeon (a few)
2. Green Iora
3. Olive-Winged Bulbul
4. Yellow-Vented Bulbul
5. Bat Hawk (1 around the Hornbill Tower area )
6. *Scarlet-Rumped Trogon (along Kingfisher trail)
7. *Monarch Blue Flycatcher (along Kingfisher trail)
8. Little Spiderhunter (along Kingfisher trail)
9. Brahminy Kite
10. Hairy-Backed Bulbul (a few along Kingfisher trail)
11. Raffles Malkoha
12. Rufous-Tailed Tailor Bird
13. Magpie Robin
14. Pied Fantail Flycatcher (a few, one nesting by lake)
15. Changeable Hawk Eagle
16. White-Collared Kingfisher

27 May 09: Forest Edge Resort jungle trail
1. *Fluffy-Backed Tit-Babbler (a few)
2. *Black-Throated Babbler (Adult & Juvenile)
3. Little Spiderhunter
4. Pied Fantail Flycatcher
5. White-Breasted Waterhen
6. Plaintive Cuckoo (female & juvenile)
7. Greater Green Leafbird
8. Lesser Green Leafbird (male & female)
9. Rufous-Tailed Tailor Bird
10. Chestnut Munia
11. Tree Sparrow
12. White-Bellied Sea Eagle
13. Brahminy Kite
14. Olive-Winged Bulbul
15. White-Collared Kingfisher
16. Wreathed Hornbill (heard only)
17. Brown Hawk Owl (heard only)
18. Diard’s Trogon (heard only)
19. Ruby-Cheeked Sunbird (female only)
20. Yellow-Vented Bulbul
21. Magpie Robin
22. Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo (1 only)
23. Raffles Malkoha

Other interesting sightings
KC collected a lovely Argus Pheasant feather while on the jungle trail (left). Willie and Amy witnessed 2 leeches on a leaf entwining each other, which turned out to be the foreplay before the act of copulation and sperm transfer. Willie managed to photograph the foreplay activity of the leeches. Attached below for easy reference is an interesting piece about leeches taken from the Internet:

Leeches are hermaphrodites, meaning they are organisms that have both female and male reproductive organs (ovaries and testes respectively). They reproduce by reciprocal fertilization and sperm transfer occurs during copulation.The leech exercising the role of the male will grow a sperm sack near the end of their tail, and the leech playing the female will bite it off, thus reproducing. Similarly to the earthworms, leeches also use a clitellum to hold their eggs and secrete the cocoon.

During reproduction leeches utilize hyperdermic injection of their sperm. They use a spermatophore which is a structure containing the sperm. Once next to another leech, the two will line up with their
anterior side opposite the others posterior. The leech then shoots the spermatophore into the clitellur region of the opposing leech where its sperm will make its way to the female reproductive parts.

28 May 09: Kinabatangan Jungle Camp
We had a river boat cruise in the afternoon from 3.30-6.30pm and a night cruise from 8.30-10.30pm. Weather permitting, boat cruises in the day and night are the norm for stays at the camp.

PM cruise: For nearly all of the time, we explored the narrow inlet close by to our camp. Birdingwise, it was quite fruitful even though we could see the oil palm estate for some parts of the way.

1. Crested Serpent Eagle ( one seen sitting on wire pole at camp, and the other sighted on river boat cruise)
2. White-Crowned Sharma (a few sighted at camp site)
3. Chestnut-Winged Babbler
4. Pacific Swallow
5. Storm Stork #
6. White-Bellied Sea-Eagle
7. Brahminy Kite
8. Chestnut Munia
9. Black & Red Broadbill
10. Chestnut Breasted Malkoha
11. Blue-Eared Kingfisher
12. Brown Hawk Owl (heard only)
13. Malaysian Blue Flycatcher (female only)
14. Dollar Bird
15. Oriental Darter (several) (above)
16. Green Imperial Pigeon (several)
17. Lesser Fish-Eagle
18. Grey-Headed Fish-Eagle
19. Egret (small, median, large – frequently sighted on river banks)
20. Little Green Pigeon (several)
21. Stork-Billed Kingfisher
22. Blue-Crowned Hanging Parrot
23. Plaintive Cuckoo
24. Pied Hornbill
25. Wrinkled Hornbill (right)
26. Black Hornbill (Male & Juvenile) (above right)
27. Rhinocerous Hornbill
28. Blue-Throated Bee-Eater
29. Purple Heron (a few)
30. Black-Crowned Night Heron
31. Hill Mynah

# We first sighted 2 Storm Storks on a tree close by the main road which we traveled upon in our land journey to Kg Bilit.

Other sightings:
1 Black Squirrel with chestnut belly spotted at camp area before we
set off for the cruise.
2 A band of female Proboscis monkeys in a tree with young amongst
them.
3 One black/yellow banded Mangrove Snake spotted sleeping on a tree during our cruise.

Night cruise
Observations: All the birds were sleeping – some more soundly than others except for the owls. Our guide, Rusmil, went close enough to stroke one sleeping Blue-Eared Kingfisher which had its head tucked into its body. It seemed to be in a deep stupor, and whilst it lifted its head up after the stroking, it did not wake up and continued sleeping with its head facing upwards!
1. Blue-Eared Kingfisher (right)
2. Black & Red Broadbill (saw 3 birds snuggled together – our proximity disturbed them and they flew away; subsequently we saw another 3 more but these continued to sleep on happily)
3. Pied Fantail Flycatcher (fantail was closed in a straight and stiffened manner whilst the bird was sleeping)
4. Buffy Fish Owl (saw 2 and these were hunting; one was photographed with a half eaten rat in its talons)

Other sightings
Two estuarine crocodiles were sighted – one was a juvenile and the other was medium size.

29 May 09: Kinabatangan Jungle Camp, AM cruise:
Explored narrow inlet close by to our camp for the most part. 1 Lesser Fish Eagle
2 Wallace’s Hawk Eagle
3 Crested Serpent Eagle
4 Crested Goshawk
5 Changeable Hawk Eagle (heard only)
6 Oriental Darter (several)
7 Storm Storks (counted 7 for the morning) #
8 Asian Paradise Flycatcher (1 female)
9 Blue-Eared Kingfisher
10 Ruddy Kingfisher (heard only)
11 Stork-Billed Kingfisher
12 White-Chested Babblers (a few) (above right)
13 Monarch Blue Flycatcher (1)
14 Egret (small, median, large)
15 Hooded Pitta (heard) 16 White-Crowned Hornbill (heard only)
17 Pied Hornbill (several)
18 Wrinkled Hornbill (saw 2 of them)
19 Black Hornbill (several)
20 Common Cormorant (?)
21 Pacific Swallow
22 Green Imperial Pigeon
23 White Crowned Sharma (right)
24 Jungle Crow
25 Drongo Cuckoo
26 Black & Crimson Oriole
27 Black & Red Broadbill (heard only)
28 Dollar Bird (several)
29 Purple Heron

Animals sighted
1 40 Pygmy Elephants
2 1 large Gibbon
3 1 Bearded Pig (seemed quite light coloured)
4 1 Creamy Giant Squirrel

PM Cruise
We went to the Ox Bow lake area for the most part. Seemed to be less fruitful, birdingwise.
1 Bat Hawk (2 on tree with large nest )
2 Pied Hornbill ( several)
3 Rhinocerous Hornbill (1 only)
4 Black Hornbill
5 Wrinkled Hornbill
6 White-Fronted Falconet
7 Egret (small, median, large)
8 Chestnut Breasted Malkoha
9 Stork-Billed Kingfisher
10 Green Imperial Pigeon
11 Oriental Darter
12 Brahminy Kite
13 Dollar Bird
14 Woodpecker (very small – Grey-CappedWoodpecker?)
15 Woodpecker (larger size – could not identify as too far away)
16 Wallace’s Hawk Eagle
17 Pied Imperial Pigeon
18 Purple Heron

Animals sighted
1 Orang Utan (1 large male up in a big tree)
2 Proboscis Monkey (1 large male with his harem which included 6-7 females, plus 6 youngsters)
3 Pig-Tailed Macque (1 large one only – also on a tree)
4 Long-Tailed Macques (several)
5 Crocodile (1 only)

30 May 09: Kinabatangan Jungle Camp, AM Cruise
This final cruise for the trip was led by Robert Chong, who tried hard to show us the Ground Cuckoo through mimicking its call, but it was to no avail. The bird simply refused to show itself to us! We spent most of the time on a small tributary not far from Sukau Lodge, though earlier on we had also visited the inlet close to our camp. 1 Common Iora
2 White-Crowned Sharma
3 Oriental Darter
4 Lesser Fish Eagle
5 Pied Hornbill
6 Greater Coucal
7 Black Hornbill
8 Blue-Eared Kingfisher
9 Stork-Billed Kingfisher
10 Mangrove Blue Flycatcher
11 Malaysian Blue Flycatcher (heard only) (right)
12 White-Chested Babbler (heard only)
13 Black-Capped Babbler
14 Crested Fireback Pheasant
15 Scarlet-Rumped Trogon
16 Black & Yellow Broadbill
17 Black & Red Broadbill
18 Drongo Cuckoo
19 Bat Hawk (in flight – looks like bat man!)
20 Crested Serpent Eagle
21 Chestnut-Breasted Malkoha
22 Egret (small, median, large)
23 Striated Heron (one only)
24 Dark-Necked Tailor Bird
25 Blue-Eared Barbet (heard only)
26 Wood Swallow
27 Pacific Swallow
28 Chestnut Munia
29 Glossy Tree Starling
30 Spotted Dove
31 Jungle Crow
32 Grey-Cheeked Bulbul
33 Red-Eyed Bulbul
34 Striped Tit Babbler (heard only)
35 Hooded Pitta
36 Banded Bay Cuckoo
37 Dollar Bird
38 Purple Heron
39 Pied Fantail Flycatcher
40 Storm Stork (many seen on cruise on tree/in flight. We also had a close sighting of one small-sized solitary storm stork at our camp site. The camp cook fed the storm stork with some meat. The large Monitor lizards also came to look for food at the same time, and tried to steal from the Storm Stork’s share.)

Animals sighted
1 Wild Boar
2 Bearded Pig? (Very pink in colour though)
3 Black Squirrel
4 Proboscis Monkey
5 Long-Tailed Macque
6 Monitor Lizard

Insect Encounters - Butterflies, Moths, Dragonfly
1 Hawk Moth – Marumba Juvenus
2 Butterfly - Forest White (Udaiana cynis) Not uncommon pieridie at forest edge.
3 Butterfly – Clipper (Parthenos Sylvia)
4 Dragonfly – Gynacantha dohmi. Info from Luan Keng – “Until last year, this species was known to occur in Borneo, Java, Sumatra and the Phillippines only. Last year, they started recording it in Singapore, and found it was quite widespread in Singapore.”
5 We saw a few stick insects flying in the jungle when we were birding.

Period: Mon 25 May to Sun 31 May 2009 (7 days)
Travel route: Singapore - Kota Kinabalu via SilkAir (2.5 hrs), transit at KK to Sandakan via MAS (1hr); same for return route.
Participants: KC Tsang, Amy Tsang and Willie Kwek (above left: left to right).
Areas visited: 1. Sepilok (25-27 May): (a) stayed at Sepilok Forest Edge Resort and explored one forest trail behind the hotel; (b) visited Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC) located about 10 mins away by car from the Forest Edge Resort. 2. Kinabatangan Jungle Camp (28-30 May) (above right): Located close to Kampong Bilit and set only a short way in from the edge of Kinabatangan River. We were driven in a 4-wheel drive from Sepilok Forest Edge Resort to Kg Bilit (2 hrs +); then transferred to an open boat for a 15-mins ride to the Kinabatangan Jungle Camp run by Robert Chong (below left).

Summary
This was a very enjoyable and relaxing holiday as the itinerary was as we chose it to be, and there was no pressure of time to complete our birding activities! The night cruise was excellent as we caught the wonderful sight of a Blue-Eared Kingfisher and three Black & Red Broadbills fast asleep on tree branches, and watched the dark night sky filled with many wondrous stars. They were truly “diamonds in the sky” framing the heavens. We felt very privileged to have partaken of Mother Nature’s wonders!

Our failure to sight the Bristlehead at the Rainforest Discovery Centre on 26/5 was a great disappointment to us as our Malaysian birder friends had done so barely a month ago! We suspected that the noise occurring at a construction site close to the Bristlehead Tower (above right) had caused the flight of nearly all birds, including the Bristlehead, as the forest canopy was unusually quiet throughout the time we were there. We found the Kingfisher Trail at RDC to be more fruitful as this was away from the construction noise, and we managed to spot the beautiful Scarlet-Rumped Trogon along the stream there. Another avid birdwatcher spent 3 days at RDC but to no avail for a Bristlehead sighting. Thus, we decided that we needed to head down quickly to the Kinabatangan River to do our birdwatching.

Though KC had his heavy 500mm long lens with him cum tripod (above left), and Willie had his 400mm lens sans tripod, it was still feasible to undertake some bird photography from the open air boats offered by the Kinabatangan Jungle Camp (above right). As there were only 4 of us in the boat – KC, Willie, Amy and boatman cum guide, Rusmil - we could keep the boat still enough for some decent photography! Highlights of the trip included the sightings of :

- Bat Hawk (no close-ups but a couple of sightings);
- Grey-Headed Fish Eagle ( good, closeup view );
- Wallace’s Hawk Eagle (a large majestic bird with its crest – first for all of us);
- White-fronted Falconet (first for all of us);
- Oriental Darter or commonly dubbed the ‘snakehead’ with one sighting of it sunning its wings;
- Storm Stork (the best sight is their graceful circling in the skies);
- Mangrove Blue Flycatcher (lifer for Amy who had wished to see this beautiful bird for a very2 long time);
- Malaysian Blue Flycatcher in its azure blue glory;
- Monarch Blue Flycatcher – another delicate-looking flycatcher;
- the smart-looking Hooded Pitta whose head was completely black unlike Hooded Pittas found elsewhere;
- the incredibly gorgeous Black & Red Broadbill and Black & Yellow Broadbill with their luminous bills – God’s designer birds;
- all 4 types of hornbills viz Pied, Black, Rhinocerous, Wrinkled, reminders of the Old World;
- Babblers viz White-Chested, Rufous-Fronted, Black Capped, Chestnut Winged, Fluffy-Backed Tit, Black-Throated, all with their intriguing calls;
- the lovely, melodious-calling White-Crowned Sharma and dignified-looking Green Imperial Pigeons in small flocks:
- the petite, zippy Blue-Eared Kingfisher fishing from river banks (seems common in Kinabatangan River!)

Covering Sepilok and Kinabatangan River, we saw in total about 200+ birds, and counted about 60 species from our records. The most common birds seen were the Chestnut Munias and Tree Sparrows as they occurred both in the garden and fringe jungle areas. The Chestnut Munias were also spotted nesting in many trees at the Forest Edge Resort. On the boat cruises, one would easily encounter Egrets, Oriental Darters, Storm Storks, Brahminy Kites, White-Bellied Sea Eagles, Blue-Eared Kingfishers, Stork-Billed Kingfishers, Pacific Swallows, Lesser Fish Eagles, Dollar Birds, Pied and Black Hornbills.

We missed seeing the Ground Cuckoo though we had made many attempts to call it out. Robert Chong’s wonderful rendition of the Ground Cuckoo’s call will be etched in our minds forever! C-U-C-K-O-O-O…2/3/4/5/6x! This and the Bristlehead will be a good reason for us to return to Sabah and Kinabatangan sooner than we plan!

As for the animals spotted during the trip, most of them were seen at the Kinabatangan River. On nearly all the riverboat cruises, we saw the Proboscis Monkeys with their incredible noses and paunches, Long-Tailed Macques, estuarine crocodiles and black squirrels. We did not chance upon on any civet cat or smooth otters though we saw a large male orang utan up in a tree. However, we had a close, and most amazing, encounter with a herd of nearly 40 Pygmy elephants. We came across them feeding on a fairly large grassy patch alongside the small tributary not far from Sukau Lodge (above). The herd included adults and young. The elephants felt the heat and some placed grass on their heads, whilst others decided to ‘cool off’ in the river. They were fully aware of our presence but did not seem perturbed in the least. As the river banks comprised of soft mud, the elephants presented a hilarious sight as they made their way into the river. When their front legs slowly sank into the mud, it was a ‘bottoms and hind legs’ up for the elephants! There were also very loud, trumpeting sounds by some members of the herd after they had crossed the river and pushed their way noisily into the jungle. This was both thrilling and slightly frightening as one wondered if the elephants were going to rampage and charge at us in our flimsy boats!

It was a most wonderful week being in close proximity with the birds, animals, butterflies /moths …they soothed our eyes and soul, made us feel fully alive and well connected with our Maker!

Expenditure per head() Updated on 9 June 09
1. Return airfare: S$540 (Sin-KK-Sandakan)
2. Jungle Camp: S$365
(3 days/2 nights trip covering all meals, boat cruises and return land transport to and from Sepilok/ Forest Edge Resort)
3. Accomodation & food (4 nights) at Forest Edge Resort, plus return transport to RDC and airport, ride to Sandakan town: S$248 + S$62 = S$310
Total: S$1215 approx

Other costs incurred: Afternoon tour for 3 persons to Tea House and Agnes Keith’s House in Sandakan and to Ocean King Seafood restaurant outside town for dinner.
Transport: RM $80 (taxi cost includes tour cum return trip to Forest Edge Resort)
Dinner: RM $80
Tea with scones: RM $39
Total: RM $199 or $40 approx (S’pore) per head.

“To be able to see, not merely look, is the foundation of discovery” -Chris Johns

KC Tsang would like to be known as a bird photographer first, a birdwatcher second. He bird-watch with a 300 mm lens. He does not carry a pair of binoculars, his camera lens serves the purpose well, especially now that he has upgraded to a 500mm lens. His style of birdwatching does not endear him to some birdwatchers, especially those purists who believe that without a pair of binoculars, a person is not a “real” birdwatcher.

KC rightly points out that a few progressive birdwatchers are now lugging a camera when out in the field. One such birder has actually joined up with NaturePixels.org, a photographic forum, to interact with bird photographers, although he is too embarrass to share with BESG. These few birdwatchers have actually realised that images are becoming more and more important in birdwatching. Images provide hard evidence of what you claim to have seen. If an identification has been wrongly made, images can help right the wrong.

One of his favourite haunts is the Bidadari Cemetery. His many sightings here attracted birdwatchers and photographers alike to the area, turning the cemetery area into another birdwatching playground.

In May 2006, KC claimed that he sighted the Asian Emerald Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx maculates). This was accepted by the Records Committee (RC) of the Nature Society (Singapore)’s Bird Group after a wait of more than two years. And this was with photographic evidence. Our bird specialist R Subaraj listed this cuckoo in his private checklist as far back as 1998. Unfortunately he had no images to support his claim and so the RC did not believe him.

His latest coup was on a dead Common Flameback (Dinopium javanense) dangling from a branch of a tree. There was an exciting follow-up when a pair of Common Flamebacks arrived the next day to feed on the maggots in the carcass. Such unusual accounts attracted much world-wide attention.

With his trusty camera, KC has made many contributions since 2006. Many were on behavioural aspects, like feeding behaviour of Dollarbird (Eurystomus orientalis), Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos), Common Kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris), Brown Wood Owl (Strix leptogrammica), Long-tailed Sibia (Heterophasia picaoides) and Orange-bellied Flowerpecker (Dicaeum trigonestigma), to name a few.

His documented the courtship behaviour of Chestnut-winged Babbler (Stachyris erythroptera), Olive-backed Sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis) and Common Iora (Aegithina tiphia)… nesting observations of Striped Tit Babbler (Macronous gularis), Oriental White-eye (Zosterops palpebrosus), Black-naped Monarch (Hypothymis azurea) and Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus)… foods menu of Common Tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius) nestlings… feather maintenance of Chestnut-bellied Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus sumatranus) and the roosting behaviour of Glossy Swiftlet (Collocalia esculenta).

In interspecific relationship, he reported on a raptor catching a Pink-necked Green Pigeon (Treron vernans), mobbing of a Changeable Hawk Eagle (Spizaetus cirrhatus) by a pair of Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradisus), birds mobbing snakes and Hill Mynas (Gracula religiosa) raiding a nest for the eggs.

KC sees details most birdwatchers fail to notice, like why more juvenile Tiger Shrike (Lanius tigrinus) arrive than adults, Brown Hawk Owl’s (Ninox scutulata) unusual growth beneath the eye, the scalloped toes of the Common Coot (Fulica atra), the filthy nest of the Peaceful Dove (Geopelia striata) and the distress of the Buffy Fish Owl (Ketupa ketupu).

With his constant probing at birds with his camera, KC was only once confronted by an angry subject, a White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster). But he escaped unscathed as he was then armed with his trusty long lens. A photographer-cum-birder with an eye for details, he is one of few who is able to see, and not merely look…

Check out KC’s papers on the changing face of birdwatching HERE and the role of the camera in birdwatching in Singapore HERE.

Image of KC in his favourite playground, Bidadari Cemetery, by Lena Chow.

Co-hosted by Singapore’s National Parks Board and Thailand’s Hornbill Research Foundation, the 5th International Hornbill Conference ran from 22nd to 25th March 2009.

The conference brought together such hornbill luminaries like Alan and Meg Kemp, Pilai Poonswad, Margaret F Kinnaird, Timothy G. O’Brien and a host of hornbill researchers from around the world.

More than 50 papers and posters were presented in addition to three keynote papers. The subjects include the status and distribution of hornbills, their ranging behaviour, research techniques, conservation aspects, threats to their existence and feeding as well as breeding behaviour. In addition, the team from the Singapore Hornbill Project, led by Marc Cremades, presented their findings after more than two years of meticulous research on the local Oriental Pied Hornbills (Anthracoceros albirostris) in the offshore island of Pulau Uban and the Jurong BirdPark. In particular, their presentation on the high-tech nesting box, where monitoring can be made 24 hours a day, got the total attention of participants.

This conference covers the research undertaken on hornbills from around Asia and Africa since the last conference five years ago.

The Bird Ecology Study Group is proud to be associated with this international hornbill conference.

Image by Jac Lau.