Johor 23Jul16

From JS

After nearly a month-long break from our weekly birding in Malaysia, it is nice to return together to find the increasingly rare lifers. Among the four of us, only Kok Hui and I still have unfinished business. I am still needing a perch view of the White-fronted Scops-owl and Malaysian Blue-flycatcher, while Kok Hui is missing the latter and the elusive Crestless Fireback. Considering how many years we have spent birding in the forest of Johor, it is remarkable that there is always that few species which will prove to be our nemesis...

Starting the morning at pre-dawn, we were welcomed by the sight of a near-full moon. That was nice but the nightbirds were not in the mood to be seen. Apart from calling frogmouths and brown hawk owls, we did not hear my much-wanted White-fronted Scops-owl. However, it was worth noting that the Large Frogmouths were still in the vicinity of where we last found them, so let's hope the pair will make the spot their home for the years to come.

After owling, we did some roadside birding, stopping for any birds - except bulbuls. In reality, we never fail to stop for the bulbuls. Usually my dad would call out a rare bird only for us to find out that we had just stopped for a bulbul. This time, it was me who was guilty of it - I stopped the car for a Black-and-white Bulbul. Well, it was not some ordinary bird, considering it was our first sighting of the species at this site. Unfortunately, we could not photograph it. Instead, we got a Buff-Vented Bulbul...

Today was going to be different because I was the one who called bulbul while my dad called Rufous-collared Kingfisher. Spotting it from the car, my dad's sharp spotting resulted in us enjoying nice eye-level views of a beautiful male Rufous-collared Kingfisher. Great!

With the fog clearing and sky getting brighter, we went to look for the Large Wren-babblers. These skulkers are usually hard to find and even harder to photograph. This time, we did not find any. Moving on to the Malaysian Blue-flycatcher spot, we fared no better because only I had a glimpse of the flycatcher flying away. Still no perch view for me.

For the rest of the morning, it was just plain, slow birding where we covered the distance in search for any sign of movement. Noteworthy species recorded were Orange-backed Woodpecker and Grey-cheeked Bulbul. Unfortunately, no lifers for us on this trip. Nevertheless, it felt great to be birding together again after a month-long hiatus.

1. Great Argus (h)
2. Crested Serpent Eagle (1)
3. Changeable Hawk Eagle (1)
4. Rufous Woodpecker (1)
5. Buff-Rumped Woodpecker (2)
6. Orange-Backed Woodpecker (1)
7. White-Bellied Woodpecker (1)
8. Great Slaty Woodpecker (2)
9. Swiftlet spp.
10. Whiskered Treeswift (1)
11. Brown-Backed Needletail (1)
12. Emerald Dove (1)
13. Red-Bearded Bee-Eater (h)
14. Chestnut-Bellied Malkoha (1)
15. Chestnut-Breasted Malkoha (1)
16. Rufous-Collared Kingfisher (1)
17. Large Frogmouth (h)
18. Blyth’s Frogmouth (h)
19. Brown Hawk Owl (h)
20. Malaysian-Eared Nightjar (h)
21. Little Green Pigeon (h)
22. Green Imperial Pigeon (h)
23. Blue-Crowned Hanging-Parrot (>8, including a family of four.)
24. Banded Broadbill (h)
25. Black-and-Yellow Broadbill (h)
26. Green Iora (>5)
27. Hill Myna (h)
28. Scarlet Minivet (1)
29. Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo (1)
30. Spotted Fantail (2, pairing observed.)
31. Velvet-Fronted Nuthatch (>1)
32. Bar-Winged Flycatcher-Shrike (1)
33. Malaysian Blue Flycatcher (1)
34. Magpie Robin (1)
35. White-Rumped Shama (1)
36. Blue-Winged Leafbird (1)
37. Lesser Green Leafbird (1)
38. Dark-Throated Oriole (1)
39. White-Bellied Yuhina (>1)
40. Cream-Vented Bulbul (>7)
41. Red-Eyed Bulbul (>3)
42. Black-and-White Bulbul (1)
43. Buff-Vented Bulbul (1)
44. Grey-Cheeked Bulbul (2, pairing observed.)
45. Grey-Bellied Bulbul (2)
46. Black-Headed Bulbul (2)
47. Hairy-Backed Bulbul (>7)
48. Chestnut-Winged Babbler (3, including a family of three.)
49. Moustached Babbler (1)
50. White-Chested Babbler (1)
51. Rufous-Crowned Babbler (>5, including a family of three.)
52. Sooty-Capped Babbler (1)
53. Short-Tailed Babbler (h)
54. Black-Capped Babbler (h)
55. Rufous-Fronted Babbler (h)
56. Fluffy-Backed Tit-Babbler (1)
57. Striped Wren-Babbler (h)
58. Chestnut-Backed Scimitar-Babbler (h)
59. Brown Fulvetta (>3)
60. Dark-Necked Tailorbird (1, including 1 seen collecting nesting material.)
61. Rufous-Tailed Tailorbird (>1)
62. Yellow-Breasted Flowerpecker (1)
63. Crimson-Breasted Flowerpecker (2)
64. Orange-Bellied Flowerpecker (1)