Dollarbirds vs Mynas

 I've missed seeing the Dollarbird (Eurystomus orientalis) in the taman so was thrilled when I sighted it, a pair at the bukit.

These Dollarbirds are commonly seen perched high on bare branches and this was precisely where I came across this pair in the early afternoon.

I waited patiently for their aerial acrobatic displays or sorties which they are famously known for and half an hour went by, and this pair was simply contented to just perch apart and then I was entertained to one preening.

I was so absorbed that I almost missed the little Black-thighed Falconet raptor that had quietly flown in, providing a pretty comparison in size to the Dollarbird.

Again, trying to find an ideal position to shoot these two against backlighting, I missed the other Dollarbird that had merely flew to the next branch for more preening.

I was hoping for a flexing of wings to spot the coin-shaped spots close to the tips of its wings for which this bird is named, spots that are supposedly resemble the American silver dollar coin, but no luck!

And then it proceeded to call its mate over.

A more adventurous partner that went on to check out part of the branch.

And then there was some rapid movements for which I failed to follow until I sighted another.

The Common Hill Myna had arrived, territorial, as it went on to exert its noisy presence.

And of course, that was the last of the Dollarbirds as they flew off.

It was calling and calling for almost five minutes until finally there was a response from an adjacent tree.

And so the rest of the afternoon was taken over by these raucous Mynas that were still practically squealing away as I walked off.

As I was passing by

 It was certainly a hot mid-noon day as this White-breasted Waterhen, so always very shy, quietly splashed at the pond, until it sensed that it was not alone.

And not to worry, you were not indecent!

Barbet ventures out

 The irony of the Lineated Barbet is that it will announce its presence with its loud distinct call when it's in the area but will immediately disappear to camouflage when it senses that it has been sighted, its brilliant green the perfect cover for among the leaves.

I recall how many attempted to capture its images at the water hole but failed because of its rapid disappearance when they rushed for it.  Even though I was alone on this occasion I still have to use this layer of a tree to quickly have a go at it until I felt it's safe to approach nearer as it was preoccupied then with its drinking and cleaning.

And this female Common Flameback Woodpecker had to come a visiting, and a common strategy of a woodpecker when it looked like it wanted to put one off its track, to backslide slowly down to its target destination.

Unfortunately it was in for a shock!

Beauty in the eye of the beholder - a stunner of a bird although rather stocky looking.

And it's back to more sloshing and splashing.

Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder!

Finally sighting of a nightjar

Whilst the nesting crimson-winged woodpeckers were the main attraction, there have been plenty of side shows to entertain those awaiting between the woodpeckers' feedings.

There were miscellaneous avian sightings at the popular water trough of mainly resident birds, and more interestingly transient appearances by raptors, namely three Oriental Honey Buzzards and a sub-adult Grey-headed Fish-Eagle, of which I sorely missed.

The last interesting encounter was the sighting of a Large-tailed Nightjar ( Caprimulgus macrurus) - nighjars being not really a surprise find as this and the savannah nightjar had been heard in the surrounding area of the taman.

It is generally not easy to spot this nightjar simply because of its camouflage as it prefers to lie among dead leaves scattered on the ground.  However on this occasion it was spooked off a branch and it flew from branch to branch, finally to the highest where it was seen to snooze off.

The nightjar is active at night as it's attracted to insects that are in turn attracted to the lights, perhaps why it has frequented the taman recently installed with rows of bright lights.

Hopefully the next sighting would be the other nightjar.

Encounters with juvy woodpeckers, Part V

It's reassuring to come across two of the juvenile Crimson-winged Woodpeckers out far and at the opposite side of the taman to where their cavity nest was located.  However I managed to spot only one being adventurous and already out hunting for food.  The other was heard calling and I could sense its movements as it called from different trees unfortunately was unable to sight it, as eventually I had to move away fearful for the pack of wild dogs, being the other not so pleasant residents of the taman, decided to take shelter in this part of the taman.

Walking on in the direction of the third call, I attempted to track the other juvenile but it kept to the upper canopy.  And finally the male parent flew in trees away and I was able eventually to identify another flying after it as the juvenile. 

It then looked like the parent was trying to get the juvenile to move about as it proceeded to play the characteristic hide-and-seek game with the juvenile (to my dismal as I tried desperately against backlighting to track it).

To my surprise it looked like feeding was still by regurgitating, and there were three feeds although I was unable to make out the nature of the food.

And then the parent was off leaving the juvenile alone again whereby it finally retreated up to the upper canopy and was there still calling out when I left.

Perhaps this was the one that first fledged as it was to these trees, and it looked like it had remained here, among the same familiar trees, for the last two days.