A long-awaited dove

 A flash of white underparts ensured that I stopped in my track, zoomed in, and lo and behold, the last bird I expected to see, a Jambu Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus jambu).  I've longed to see this one ever since I heard about its sighting in the bukit more than a year ago and yet when it appeared it still came as a surprise, unexpected mainly because of the time and tree it was in.

The Jambu Fruit Dove is of Near Threatened status in the IUCN Red List and it's always pure delight to come across this bird regardless of whether it's the more gorgeous looking male or less striking female. It normally moves about quietly in mid or higher canopy, then sits out its time ever so silently till it's ready to fly away which makes it a challenge to spot this bird.

Nevertheless I couldn't be more thrilled to spot this female sub-adult here especially least expected since there was no fruiting tree around to attract its presence and foraging.  

A few seconds spent to preen enabled more photo opportunities.

The dove is so well blended into the foliage that when it moved, I almost lost it and in particular when I changed position too for better angles.

It was with reluctance that I finally left it as it tried to snooze but looked like it was alert to being watched.

Enough!  It has given me its time and for that what else but gratitude.

A new hot spot

 This was definitely the hot spot for the locals and the migrants in recent weeks.

Whether adult or juvy, the Black-naped Oriole is a frequent forager here.

One of the most beautiful migrants transited for a couple of days.

And the female came too, many days later.

A place for all, even one of the smallest, the Arctic Warbler.

And of course the star bird, the Asian Emerald Cuckoo was there too, much earlier and gone too soon.

And last but not least, even this one made a last visit to the taman, and I only managed to capture this one image but enough to know who came by!

As I was passing by

 Wanted a pose, and ....

... all I got was this ....

Thanks all the same!

Hey Myna, big is not necessarily good

 What's scrap to one is capital to another, if it can be handled befittingly (pun intended)!

The Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis) must be glad to come across such a big piece of throwaway as it must surely mean less materials needed so less trips to cosy up its nest.

Even as I rooted for it to succeed in stuffing its find into the hole nest, I was as curious to watch how it would manage to to get it all in.

Unfortunately that was all as far as it could go because the plastic was quickly blown away in the afternoon breeze.

Hmmm ... 'carve the peg by looking at the hole'?(Korean saying)

The babbler-challenge

 When this fella comes along one has to be trigger-free to 'pin' it down as it moves at the speed of lightning.  However when a flock flew right in it definitely caused one to grapple with focus as they sped, hopped and sought all over.  The mere bonus was they were mainly at and below eye-level.

The Pin-striped Tit-Babblers (Mixornis gularis) normally forage in the undergrowth and if one is lucky, is joined by a mixed-species flock where one can encounter a gem like the paradise flycatchers.  And one is easily alerted to their presence because they are highly vocal when they arrive, and rarely singularly.

Lighting is undoubtedly a challenge as they love to forage in dim areas like beneath leaves and between twigs.

Ideally one would like to track a single bird but quick inevitable moves have to be made when one or two popped up in the open.

This one even had time to try a courtship dance and calls but unfortunately I couldn't locate the one courted and it was all over in seconds, I guess due to lack of response from the targeted?

Koel face-off

 I have seen the male 'perch-off' and I thought only the males do so, and naturally over a female.

But females?  

I could hear a male Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus) calling incessantly in the distance and then shriekings, incessantly too close by.  Thinking that the two were merely communicating, I was not too quick to hurry over to check it out until the cries persisted louder and sharper.  There were two females in a duel!

They were pretty high up which accounted for why they were not the least concerned when I moved about trying to get the best angles against a mess of branches and twigs and hostile lighting.

And obviously only one could win, and unfortunately eventually I lost the loser to the even denser upper canopy, and the park regained a little peace when this one also retreated upward.

The daurians have landed!

 They came unexpectedly as they have not been seen for a while as if they could sense the expansive Ficus benjamina heavy with ripening fruits, and it was easily a flock of fiftyish.

The Daurian Starlings (Agropsar sturninus) are easily one of my favourite migrant birds to watch out for by virtue of their beauty in numbers and flight patterns except that their numbers sighted here seemed to have dwindled over the years.

And they were simply spoilt for choice, and I couldn't stop clicking despite standing at the same spot under the blazing sun as they kept coming although when feeding these birds hardly come together.  And at the slightest approach of a walker, they automatically came together and fled.

22/2022

Unfortunately not all were ripe for the picking yet so perhaps this abundance could keep these birds here for a while.

And then it's rest and preen in between feeds and intermittent flights.

And a pair that looks like a male on the left and a female that's more brownish even on the underpart, the best way to determine is of course by looking at the upperpart where the male is more glossy and deeply patterned and coloured.