Last trip I felt that I hadn’t given Kuala Gula the time and attention is deserved, so when Tim suggested a day out yesterday, I was quick to come up with the idea of Kuala Gula again.
Kuala Gula is famous nationwide for its wealth of waterbirds, though in fact, in the last 10 years, the numbers using the site have declined enormously. I was more interested in discovering if the small and sporadically-present population of Rosy Starlings was once again in residence.
More myna checking! A Jungle Myna in flight.
I wasn’t sure what to make of this bird. It looked like an adult Javan, but had no crest and a paler central belly. Juvenile Javans have bluish eyes when very young, and older immatures don’t have such yellow eyes as this bird. Very odd!
The bund is a great place to observe woodpeckers, and particularly, Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker.
We were more interested though in the soft chacking calls of a secretive Dusky Warbler on the landward side. As is typical of this species, it proved to be a challenge to actually see, and these two pics are the best I could get.
Dusky Warbler is a scarce winter visitor to coastal mangroves in Peninsular Malaysia. I have heard about 10 or so birds over the years, but I think this was only the third time I’ve seen one!
This singing Pallas’s Grasshoppper-warbler was scarcely any easier to see! At least this picture shows the reason for its other name – Rusty-rumped Warbler. Unlike Dusky, these are extremely common in northern Peninsular Malaysia in the right habitat – paddyfields, marshes and Acrosticheum fern-dominated wetlands.
A wait-and-see at a promising-looking opening to a drainage ditch eventually produced this shy Ruddy-breasted Crake.
Despite the burning red eye, it blended right in with the dark background. It was one of six rallids we saw in the day – not a bad haul!
A brief Chestnut-winged Cuckoo eluded our attempts to photograph it – how does one see those birds perched?!
This Greater Coucal was scant consolation!
Birds in the sky were a little more obliging. Kuala Gula is famous for its Lesser Adjutants, and several duly obliged.
This Crested Serpent-eagle was interesting in that it was in a plumage I don’t see often. It had completed its first body moult but retained all juvenile flight and tail feathers, so was in first ‘winter’ or formative plumage – quite a smart-looking bird in flight!
Less impressive when perched.
Looking up, I spotted an accipiter which I assumed, on bare eye views, would be a Crested Goshawk. However, as soon as I got my bins on it, it was obvious that it was something FAR better!
Fat body, short, broad wings, no ‘neck’ and a long, full tail. White throat with practically no mesial stripe, dark-looking eye, white thighs and vent, pale outer tail feathers – oh you lovely beast! It had to be a male Shikra!
When we got a glimpse of the side of the head, the silvery grey cheeks and dark eye were apparent.
It had obviously eaten recently.
Even though the broad, bulging wings made it look like a large accipter, when it flapped between glides, it suddenly looked much smaller, owing to the fact that its flaps were extremely rapid and deep.
It quickly moved away, and I took some more distant shots for future reference. The broad wings with a pronounced secondary bulge,long, slightly wedge-shaped tail and very short head projection gave the bird a distinctive shape.
Until last autumn, this species was virtually unknown in the country, with scarcely any reliable sightings in the last 20 -30 years. However, this bird brings the total for the ‘season’ to at least 4 separate sightings. It was my first, after a ‘possible’ at Bedong last November, and one I was really happy to set eyes on!
After Kuala Gula, we made our way back toward Penang via the coast. The paddyfields at Tanjung Piandang were dust-dry, and we watched a flock of Red-rumped Swallows hawking over a fire which was burning up the grass along the coastal bund.
We called in at Pulau Burung, where there were many Lesser Whistling-ducks, including some with young ducklings. This Common Sandpiper posed at the roadside.
As did a Wood Sandpiper.
It even let me take a passport photo (complete with blue background!).
Our last stop of the day was Juru, where we flushed several “Swintail” Snipes from the lapwing field in the early evening.
My last pic of the day was of a black cat on the prowl. A nice end to a good day!
Dig deep 
Congratulations! Didn’t know that Shikra is so rare in Malaysia. I assumed that it would also be pretty common there because quite many of them migrate through Khao Dinsor every autumn.
Thanks Ayuwat. No doubt its scarcity is partly due to it being overlooked, but I don’t think we get many.
The Shrika is certainly one handsome raptor. Well done, Dave. You have to beg and bribe to get a CW Cuckoo perch long enough for you to shoot!
Mun
Congrats on the Shikra, Dave. You seem to be having a very fruitful migrant season! Excellent pics as always.
Some really interesting birds there and very good images!
You’re right about the Shikra – probably overlooked in Malaysia. I have read from a source somewhere that it may be more common in the east coast, but I really can’t recall the source.