Batang Tiga, Batu Gajah, Sungei Balang 05Jan13

From JS

If someone had told me a few years back that I would have a chance to see three species of Aquila at once in Southeast Asia, honestly, I would think it is impossible. Then, seeing the commoner of the three, the Greater Spotted Eagle, was itself a challenge. Little did I know that in less than a decade, the awareness on migratory raptors has grown by leap and bound, so much so that today, we have a chance to visit a padi field in Malacca and see all three species of Aquilas in less than 5 minutes. In fact, 5 minutes is an overstated estimate. Identifying a juvenile Imperial Eagle on a pile of wood/sticks, a juvenile Steppe Eagle perched on a bare branch of a tall tree and a hunting Greater Spotted Eagle should certainly take a shorter amount of time. Even before our breakfast has reached our stomachs, we have reasons to go for another round. Some minutes of our lives!

Left: Juvenile Steppe Eagle. Right: Juvenile Imperial Eagle

Juvenile Greater Spotted Eagle

Having spent the morning photographing the Aquilas and admiring our lifers, we decided to spend the afternoon scouring the padi fields of Batu Gajah and Sungei Balang for more lifers. Alas, we had no success. Instead, we had a surprise find of seeing zero raptor at the former site and zero Aquila at the latter site. If timing of visit did not play a part in leading us to this find, we may very well be looking at alarmingly low number of Aquilas in the Peninsula and unusually high density of Aquila species at suitable sites. Unlike Batu Gajah and Sungei Balang, Batang Tiga had dry, recently harvested padi fields, teeming with non-swimming rodents. In short, our lesson for the day is "wet padi, no rats, no raptor".

Here's the summary of the raptors seen:

Batang Tiga:
1) Eastern Marsh Harrier (2, including 1 juvenile and 1 adult male.)
2) Pied Harrier (2, including 2 females.)
3) Greater Spotted Eagle (>2, including 2 immatures.)
4) Steppe Eagle (1, including 1 juvenile.)
5) Imperial Eagle (1, including 1 juvenile.)
6) Brahminy Kite (2)
7) Black-Winged Kite (>5)
8) Changeable Hawk Eagle (1 pale morph)
Other noteworthy sightings: Black-Browed Warbler (2), Oriental Reed Warbler (1), White-Rumped Munia

S.Balang:
1) Black Kite (1)
2) Black-Winged Kite (2)
3) White-Bellied Sea Eagle (1)
4) Black Baza (1)
Other noteworthy sightings: Common Greenshank (2), Long-Toed Stint (>15), Wood Sandpiper(sss), Lesser Adjutant (>7), Common Snipe (>4), Little Ringed Plover (>10)

Batu Gajah:
1) Brahminy Kite
Other noteworthy sightings: Lesser Adjutant (3), Long-Toed Stint (>8), Wood Sandpiper(sss), Little Ringed Plover (>20, including 1 orange-legged individual.)

From KH

Full list:

Batang Tiga:
1) Yellow Bittern (3)
2) Pond Heron sp. (>5)
3) Cattle Egret (>20)
4) Purple Heron (>5)
5) Great Egret (>20)
6) Intermediate Egret (>20)
7) Little Egret (>20)
8) Eastern Marsh Harrier (2, including 1 juvenile and 1 adult male.)
9) Pied Harrier (2, including 2 females.)
10) Greater Spotted Eagle (>2, including 2 immatures.)
11) Steppe Eagle (1, including 1 juvenile.)
12) Imperial Eagle (1, including 1 juvenile.)
13) Brahminy Kite (2)
14) Black-Winged Kite (>5)
15) Changeable Hawk Eagle (1 pale morph)
16) Red-wattled Lapwing (2)
17) Wood Sandpiper (2)
18) Common Sandpiper (>3)
19) Rock Pigeon (2)
20) Red Collared Dove (>5)
21) Spotted Dove (>5)
22) Zebra Dove (>5)
23) Swiftlet spp.
24) White-throated Kingfisher (>2)
25) Blue-tailed Bee-eater (>10)
26) Black Drongo (2)
27) House Crow (>10)
28) Barn Swallow (>30)
29) Pacific Swallow (>5)
30) Red-rumped Swallow (5)
31) Zitting Cisticola (>5)
32) Yellow-vented Bulbul (>5)
33) Black-Browed Warbler (2)
34) Oriental Reed Warbler (1)
35) White-Rumped Munia (>30)
36) Scaly-breasted Munia (>30)
37) White-headed Munia (>10)

Batu Gajah:
1) Lesser Whistling Duck (>10 in a flock)
2) Lesser Adjutant (3)
3) Egret spp. (>20)
4) Brahminy Kite
5) White-breasted Waterhen (4)
6) Watercock (1)
7) Common Moorhen (1)
8) Purple Swamphen (3)
9) Pacific Golden Plover (>5)
10 Little Ringed Plover (>20)
11) Wood Sandpiper(>20)
12) Common Sandpiper (>2)
13) Long-Toed Stint (>8)
14) Spotted Dove (>5)
15) Zebra Dove (>5)
16) Raffles's Malkoha (1 pair)
17) White-throated Kingfisher (>2)
18) Brown Shrike (3)
19) Black Drongo (1)
20) Yellow-vented Bulbul (2)
21) Olive-backed Sunbird (1 heard)

S. Balang:
1) Lesser Adjutant (>7)
2) Yellow Bittern (>5)
3) Cinnamon Bittern (>3)
4) Striated Heron (2)
5) Pond Heron sp. (>5)
6) Cattle Egret (>20)
7) Purple Heron (>5)
8) Great Egret (>20)
9) Intermediate Egret (>20)
10) Little Egret (>20)
11) Black Kite (1)
12) Black-Winged Kite (2)
13) White-Bellied Sea Eagle (1)
14) Black Baza (1)
15) Red-wattled Lapwing (>5)
16) Pacific Golden Plover (>20)
17) Little Ringed Plover (>10)
18) Common Snipe (>4)
19) Common Greenshank (2)
20) Wood Sandpiper(>20)
21) Common Sandpiper (>2)
22) Long-Toed Stint (>15)
20) Red Collared Dove (>5)
21) Spotted Dove (>5)
22) Zebra Dove (>5)
23) White-throated Kingfisher (>2)
23) Common Kingfisher (1)
24) Brown Shrike (1)
25) Black Drongo (3)
26) Zitting Cisticola (>2)