Where art thou, winged ones?

It does look like only resident birds are active nowadays in the taman.  The migrant birds are gone, probably terrified by the fire crackers that shatter the taman almost nightly. 
I just managed to spot these Brown Shrikes a day ago.

Then I was pleasantly surprised to see these flocks of Purple-backed Starlings making their stop-over the next morning.  Here's hoping that I'll be able to get closer images next time.

Then I was also thrilled to sight a couple of Ashy Minivets, considered common migrants that could have come from China, Korea, Japan or Taiwan islands.

16/2018

The Goshawk and the squirrel

Just when I thought the taman is relatively quiet because nightly release of fire crackers, celebrating the forthcoming festival, in the adjacent vicinity must have frightened off the taman birds (and I think it did because all migrants seen before are no longer sighted except for the brown shrikes), I came across this dramatic encounter, between the taman residents.
This female Crested Goshawk seemed unusually agitated and I knew there was a Plaintain Squirrel close by because of the squirrel's continuous clicking calls.  Immediately I thought that the squirrel was in danger.

The Goshawk flew from branch to branch to seek out the squirrel.

And there was the vulnerable squirrel, I thought.

And then the Goshawk tried to pounce on the squirrel.

But this thick parasitic growth was safe hideout for the squirrel.  And the squirrel continued to call out, which I thought was in fear.

But I was proved wrong!  It looked like the squirrel was actually taunting the Goshawk!
Hoping that the squirrel would make an appearance, which it did before it scampered off to hide again!

Then it looked like the Goshawk had given up and decided to take a breather.
So the bigger and fittest need not mean the more powerful.  Going after the squirrel was hardly easy, and survival is indeed tough even for a raptor like the Goshawk.

And then the smaller creature made another daring move, coming down again to taunt the Goshawk!

Tease and scamper, tease and scamper, until the Goshawk couldn't take it any more as it tried once again to spring for the squirrel.  Unfortunately both disappeared further up the tree as the Goshawk flew upwards at it, one last attempt I guess, and away, with the squirrel re-appearing and scurrying up as if after the Goshawk!

A rare Flycatcher sighting

It was a silhouette of a slim bird that caught my attention and I thought it could be different from what I had seen so far, and boy, was I right.  If only I had known this one would be a rare sighting.

I waited and waited while it flew about in the inner undergrowth after insects.  And finally when it emerged, it was a birder's nightmare when I could not focus properly and to make matters worse, a couple of workers on electrical repairs to lamp posts just metres away, made for loss opportunity to say the least.  So, it's only record shots.  Fortunately these were enough to affirm that this bird is indeed a Japanese Paradise Flycatcher, rarely sighted in this area.
The darker back feathers differentiate it from the Amur Paradise Flycatcher.

And the inverted-U brownish shade on the upper breast and white belly confirmed its identity, a female one.

A terribly wasted opportunity for an ideal shot which I know would haunt me for days.  It flew so low that I had to squat to shoot, and this meant seconds lost for an excellent opportunity.

Hornbill's 'gimmick'

Squeals of delight will always greet the Oriental Pied Hornbill when it's sighted.  However, this star bird of the taman can be considered to be naughty from time to time, as on this occasion when I caught her trying to raid the Crested Goshawk nest (as I did before when she went for the Lineated Barbet's, ref post of 9 May 2018)

When it looked like a failed attempt, she tarried awhile by the nest before flying off.

A couple of hours later as I was leaving the taman, she was found by this palm tree, displaying quite unusual behaviour.  Picking a palm fruit, it looked like she was trying to lure another to it.  One would think that there was another hornbill around.

When none approached, it simply swallowed the fruit.

And then she started all over again, picking another fruit, showing it off as if hoping another would come along.
Up and down, left to right and back, finally she gave up and flew off with the fruit.

Challenge of Kites

Being away for more than a week, I walked into a relatively quiet taman, except for a few distant familiar bird calls.  Then I turned up to see a couple of raptors circling above, to be precise, encircling each other, which looked suspiciously like a juvenile and adult Brahminy Kite, and was spot on.  Unfortunately by the time I zoomed in, the birds had flown even higher up. 

Watching awhile then only did I realise that the adult was trying to chase off the younger one, which it eventually did, after a couple of close challenges or encounters.

Minutes later, the adult flew down to preen, mission accomplished, territorial rights remained!