Common, also uncommon

 It started off with a wonderful feeling that I've finally got a better shot of the mugimaki flycatcher (or so I thought then) for this migrant season, and so I continued my search for other dawdler migrant visitors.

Migrant 24/2022

After a good encounter with the dark-sided and green-backed flycatchers, and a gorgeous male green leafbird, I descended the hill feeling extremely pleased and grateful.

As soon as I said hello and goodbye to a group of boisterous school kids on their first outing to the hill, I was stopped in my track again, by what I thought was the mugimaki flycatcher again with its gorgeous orange throat and breast until I glimpsed the rich yellow supercilium and rump, unusual I thought.  And the mystery turned into elation as I managed to identify it as a  Narcissus Flycatcher!

I was simply thrilled when it decided to release a melodious whistle.

In the MNS Conservation Publication No 22, A Checklist of the Birds of Malaysia 2020 Edition, the following is on record:

In short, the Narcissus Flycatcher has not been seen in Peninsular Malaysia from 1960 to 2000, but from 2001 to 2020 was sighted in Perak.

What a record for Bukit Kiara, as we are working hard to get this hill recognised as a significant bird area and an essential stopover and refuelling station for migrant birds.  This bird will add to the more than 80 species of migrant birds that have over the years either found a temporary home here during their winter away from their breeding ground, or have transited here for a few days.

The Narcissus Flycatcher (Ficedula narcissina) is a small bird of Least Concern status in the IUCN List as it's considered to have a very large range.  The male is more striking with its black upper-part and rich orange supercilium, throat and breast compared to the female bearing shades of brown all over.

"This bird is native to east Asia, from Sakhalin to the north, through Japan across through Korea, mainland China, and Taiwan, wintering in southeast Asia, including the Phillipines and Borneo.  It is highly migratory, and has been found as a vgrant from Australia in the south to Alaska in the north."

P.S.On a personal note, it's strange that such a mega sighting, which signifies a mega record for Bukit Kiara, for Peninsula Malaysia, should create an equally mega dilemma for me, ie, a mega pressure whether to share or not to share this sighting, the pressure emitting from both external as well as internal sources.

One would think that such a momentous occasion should be celebrated on a mega scale by sharing, but there was also tremendous pressure not to share simply to keep it away from ill-behaved bird photographers who normally exploit such sighting, however, there was also the feeling that it was equally unfair to deprive deserving birders/birdwatchers of this rare sighting.  In the end I decided to err on the side of sharing and hope for the best, that my act of sharing was simply with the pure intent of celebrating a rare sighting.