2010-01-21
Christmas and New Year December 2010, JW Marriott Resort and Spa, Phuket
A 10-day Christmas break was exactly what we needed after the year that 2009 was. We couldnt have chosen a better country to relax, chill and re-charge and it was with heavy hearts when left to return to Kuwait after New Year. All we can say, is that we will be back. Also heartening was the fact that this is one of the first destinations where I have stepped off the plane and seen an indigenous bird first and not some introduced exotic which is always the case. Images by Mike Pope
A new country creates a buzz for any birder, as most birds seen would be lifers and Phuket was no exception. As I have done on other family holidays, I was up before breakfast every morning to walk the hotel grounds which is a mix of exotic/introduced and indigenous habitat, secure our loungers at the pool and then rouse the family for the sumptious buffet breakfasts. Our room was right next to a small lake with water lillies and good habitat and was good for a number of normally secretive birds. The most common was Chinese Pond Heron, but the challenge I had was getting up early meant low light and challenging photographic conditions, so I had to expirement with flash on a few occassions - with mixed results, this one was particulary successful.
The amount of white in the wings is always surprsing when these herons take flight
I managed to catch this one in the soft afternoon light and we can use it to compare to Squacco and Indian Pond Heron which occur in Kuwait
On my second morning I flushed a Cinammon Bittern that was a little too far for the reach of the flash, but no question on the identification
An added bonus was also finding Yellow Bittern at the same lake
I was really fortunate on one morning when I caught both Cinammon and Yellow Bittern in the same thicket, with the Cinammon trying to devour a rather large fish with a bemused Yellow Bittern looking on
White breasted Waterhens were seen feeding across the Lilly pads
When the Waterhens and Pond Herons took flight, it was normally because of a cruising Brahminy Kite - this taken with flash in the pre-dawn light
Normally more skulking (at this hotel anyway), this Oriental Magpie Robin stopped on the bridge before disappearing into the thickets on the side of the lake
The most common birds around the pool area, as expected are introduced species, like this Zebra Dove
The bigger Spotted Dove
Not to forget the Common Myna which you seem to find everywhere
Eurasian Tree Sparrows were numerous around the breakfast buffet each morning, boldly stealing food with the Mynas
After dinner one night, my son found this frog near the pool which we still have to identify
Walking through the quieter parts of the garden and the casarina trees along the beach produced other species, the Black naped Oriole's call every morning started becoming quite familiar
Toward the end of our stay, large numbers of Black Drongos were seen in the casarina trees, this one illuminated with flash in the backlit high trees
Common Tailorbirds were not easy to get onto where they were heard calling from the undergrowth
On one occassion I came across a first winter Brown Shrike. I now have a reference image to check for this species occuring as a vagrant in Kuwait
Hawking around the top of the tall casarina trees were Asian Palm Swifts
with the odd Barn Swallow
Interspersed with Pacific Swallows
Yellow vented Bulbul was the only bulbul seen in and around the hotel, a good looking Bulbul
Venturing out of the hotel and finding some more natural bush gave species not seen in the hotel, Large billed Crows were seen patrolling over on of th entrance roads
Little Cormorants were normally seen early morning on their way from their roosting site
A Black Baza was seen on 2 mornings from the same spot at the same time
I saw a Dusky Crag Martin only on one occassion, hawking over the hotel entrance
Indian or if split Burmese(?) Roller was seen most mornings
Dollarbirds used the overhead power lines to hunt from
The Olive backed Sunbird was not at all obliging
The larger Brown throated Sunbird was a little more obliging, this is male
and the drabber female
I had a large influx of Paddyfield Pipits on my last day out
On my day trip to Phang Nga I saw Scarlet backed Flowerpecker, but was not able to photograph it - at the hotel I was more fortunate
Showing why it is so named
One of the many new butterflies also seen, this is a Chocolate Pansy
I arranged a day's guided birding through Dave Williams of Paddle Asia (paddler@paddleasia.com) who specializes in Birding Tours in Phuket. I had a 5:30 pickup with my excellent guides for the day - Games Phetsri and Ian Dugdale. Ian is a special guest who accompanies Games on most guided tours. We headed out in the dark to our first location of the day - Ton Pariwat Wildlife Sanctuary for some really good forest and canopy birding as the sun peeped over the mountains. After too much time in the deserts, I had forgotten the challenges of canopy birding as well as the associated neck and eye strain of canopy birding. This didnt deter my enthusiasm as we picked up one new bird after another, often with just fleeting and tantilising glimpses.The other challenge in the low light conditions was photographing with flash, I persevered with mixed results. So, the following images is to give a flavour of what can be found on a guided day out. One of the first birds seen up in the canopy was a Grey breasted Spiderhunter, it reminded me of a sunbird on steroids
As the sun started hitting the tops of the canopy, the forest slowly wakened and birds slowly became active, many enjoying the warmth of a new day before feeding. A few Bar-winged Flycatcher Shrikes were seen
A poor image of the brilliant looking Blue winged Leafbird
The fantastic colour of a Verditer Flycatcher
and the wonderful looking Black crested Bulbul
In the mid-stratum, birds also started appearing - but these were way more difficult to get onto for any length of time. This Common Tailorbird caught with flash foraging for breakfast
The Buff-vented Bulbul is quite a skulker
As was the Hairy-backed Bulbul
A large bird moving quickly through the undergrowth turned out to be a Chestnut-breasted Malkoha. Again I marvelled at the colours of this forest dweller
A dimunitive Blue-throated Flycatcher was seen gleening through the canopy
Followed shortly by a Mugimaki Flycatcher which created a lot of excitement from Ian
The brightly coloured male Orange-breasted Flowerpecker was caught by flash, busy gathering food for its young
A Spectacled Bulbul was briefly seen
Scanning the treetops we found the amazing and cool looking Whiskered Treeswift
Flying overhead we also had the larger Grey-rumped Treeswift
Also causing some excitement a Fork-tailed (Pacific) Swift
The only raptors seen soaring high overhead were Oriental Honey Buzzard
And Crested Serpent Eagle
Sadly we had time constraints to ensure we got to the other locations, before leaving saw this Forest Crested Lizarad in the leaf litter, the expression on its face reminding me of some animated character from a Disney movie
We tried another location on route to lunch and not too many new birds added. At lunch next to the water, watched a few fish patrol below us and saw a Striated Heron
After an enjoyable local lunch, we stopped in the Mangroves near Phang Nga town, it was too early for Mangrove Pitta - but we did pick up Arctic Warbler, another taken with flash
Some movement alerted me to the odd Gliding Lizard that literally jumps and glides from one tree to another
The mangroves hosted a few interesting butterflies, this is a Clipper
and a Spotted Black Crow
On the way back to our van, we found 3 White-rumped Munias feeding on seeds on the roadside verge
Ian stopped at one of the main intersections in Phang Nga town where there is a breeding population of Black Nest Swiftlets - not easy to photograph from the busy sidewalk and overhead telephone lines
We then had a long drive to Thai Muang which used to be golf course and is no longer used as one, resulting in the re-growth of natural vegetation. This is also a superb site and holds a lot of promise if we had no pressure of time. It was best to walk the old fairways and explore the water holes. First bird up was Black Drongo
We flushed a flock of Lesser Whistling Ducks
Germain's Swift is the common swift in Phuket
At one of the waterholes we flushed Yellow and Cinammon Bittern and this Watercock getting away
At another, a few Paddyfield Pipits and Pacific Golden Plovers
and a pair of River Lapwings that departed as soon as they saw us - but a satisfying sighting, not so with the photograph. Perhaps the new 7D would have handled this picture very differently
After the departure of the Lapwings a small Plaintive Cuckoo landed nearby
On the fringes of the course, we picked up a flock of Myna's and Rosy Starlings, the Starlings a good sighting for Phuket
More elusive were the Chestnut-streaked Starlings high up in a casarina tree
By now, the sun had started to touch the horizon and we were fortunate to have a flock of Orange breasted Green Pigeons fly in to roost for the night.
As we were about to leave, I saw two birds fly in and land behind a mound, I suspected Grey headed Lapwing and crept up behind the mound and managed this image before they fly further away in the fading light. A great bird to end what was a fantastic day out with Games and Ian
During our stay on Phuket, we arranged an excursion to James Bond Island in Phang Nga Bay which is North East of Phuket. Not many birds at all seen on this day trip. We had Pacific Swallows on the pier of the harbour before we departed
After James Bond, we explored some islands on canoe's through caves in the limestone walls. On one of the inner lagoons our paddler pointed out a pair of Hornbills which turned out to be Oriental Pied.
In the same lagoon, the primarily arboreal Crab eating Macaques watched us with curiosity as we did them
On the last day of 2009, we arranged a days snorkelling excursion to the spectacular Similan Islands where the water is as blue as swimming pools in the South African summer. Again, not many birds seen on the 2-hour speedboat ride to the islands. I did get Pacific Reef Egret and White bellied Sea Eagle. We stopped at Island # 4 for lunch and saw huge numbers of roosting Flying Foxes in the canopy above us
However, the avian highlight of Island # 4 is the rastafarian looking Nicobar Pigeon. Unfortunatley at luch time they are all roosting after having finished their foraging in the early morning. The large number of people also kept them in the trees. After some intensive searching in the short window of time that I had, I eventually located a lone roosting Nicobar Pigeon - not an ideal view, but I was elated
Our last snorkel provided another highlight when we had the privelege of swimming with a Turtle, what a magnificent creature and my son Jaden was so excited even though he was in 15m of water. Whilst everybody dozed off on the 2-hour trip back to the hotel, I took up a personal challenge in trying to photograph a Flying Fish while standing at the back of the speedboat with three 200HP V6 Yamaha's flat out across the Andaman Sea. I am personally thrilled with the result of what was a difficult and challenging personal photographic assignment
2009-08-15
Weekend getaway to Salalah in Oman - July 2009
My family had migrated south for the summer and we had an unexpected holiday in July, so I found a cheap air ticket, rented a 4 x 4 and packed my camera, birding gear and headed to Salalah in the southern part of Oman. It was not the best time of year because it was still too early in the khareef (monsoon) season, but that did not deter me. Images by Mike Pope
I arrived at the Arabian Sea Villas after sunset in mist and drizzle, a welcome relief from the heat of Kuwait. I split my trip into 2 parts - Friday exploring the desert north of the Dhofar mountains and the Saturday the eastern coastal sites. It was an early start in the dark, rain and mist and as a result very slow going. First stop was Wadi Rabkut where it was really windy (from the khareef being pushed over the Dhofar mountains) but clear. I found one of the target birds, Stone Partridge but could not get close enough to photograph. This image gives an idea of the habitat
From here I continued north to Al Balid Farm, a pivot field project with irrigated crops that provide food and water for birds. After asking permission I could drive freely around the farm. The first birds I encountered were scattered flocks of Crowned Sandgrouse - a male and female together.
A small mixed group.
A male in liftoff.
Black crowned Finch Larks were all over the farm - males, females and juveniles.
I found a small flock of 8 Turtle Doves feeding in one of the pivot fields.
As I got closer to this Blue throated Agama - he changed from a bland pale and displayed his blue throat.
Next stop was Qatbit, but by this time it was really hot - almost every bush providing shade around the hotel had 5 or 6 Brown necked Ravens sittng under them trying to escape the heat. The only other bird seen here was a Hoopoe Lark
After filling up, it was time to try and get to the oasis at Muntasar - but solo this proved difficult. It is signposted from the main Muscat road, but after driving into the desert for 15km the tracks faded and I decided to call it a day.
I was now 300km north of Salalah and it was a long drive back in a headwind. I stopped at the little village Thumrayt for a flock of 15+ Fan tailed Ravens and had the locals come and investigate what I was doing as I drove around trying to get a decent photograph - this was the best I could do in the wind and poor light.
Here you can see the fog of the khareef being pushed over the Dhofar mountains on the trip back to Salalah - it was very slow going back down the mountain in the rain with a few accidents seen.
Saturday it was time to explore the east and I had another early start. First stop was East Khawr, but not much seen here. Ayn Hamran was next and I struggled with humidity and fogged up lenses on camera and binny's. Ayn Hamran was a special site at the base of the Dhofar mountains and had many familiar african species.
An early arrival here is essential and as a result I had the whole place to myself. I felt at home with the many familiar calls from the african species which can be found at this site. At the base of the mountains I found a few flocks of Arabian Partridge - a smart looking bird
Ruppells Weavers were seen vying for females attention around their nest sites.
I got onto Bruces Green Pigeon, but a fogged up lens prevented me getting what would have been a great image. Later I was able to photograph one of the many and active Grey headed Kingfishers - so good to see birds with colour.
Tritrams Grackles were numerous.
The White breasted White-eyes took a little more work to find.
Singing Bush Larks were everywhere, but mostly seen calling on their aerial display. I did find a few singing from perches and feeding.
Many of these frogs were seen in the puddles of water from the rain, on the road.
In the flat rocky areas on the way out of Ayn Hamran African Rock Buntings were seen - this is a female.
I could have spent a few more hours at this site, but had limited time - next stop was Taqar on the coast, where the mist was still rolling in over the sea. I found a large mixed flock of gulls and terns - predominantly made up of Sooty Gulls
and a handful of Swift Terns.
A lone Caspian/Steppe Gull amongst the Sooty's and Swift Terns.
I drove along the reedbeds in the hope of finding Yellow Bittern, no luck - but I did find a few Indian Pond Herons.
Kentish Plovers with young were seen along the road.
I drove to Wadi Darbat, but as I ascended the mountain the mist descended and we were down to 5m visibility which meant I couldnt get to Tawi Atayr (the limestone sinkhole and home of isolated population of Yemen Serin) nor Wadi Hanna (home of Baobab trees and Golden winged Grosbeak). Whilst contemplating where to go next, this Blackstart landed in the gloom next to my car.
The only option was Khawr Rawri on the coast. I stopped first to scan the cliffs the plunge into sea for Red tailed Tropicbird - not today.
No mist at sea level later in the day did allow birding. Khawr Rawri has a lot of archeological interest with its 4th century BC pre-Islamic settlement called Sumhuran
I would love to see some of these signs in Kuwait as part of a drive to protect the few critical sites that harbour resident and migratory birds.
Down at the Khawr, some Common Terns were seen roosting on the bank.
Spoonbills feeding along the fringes.
A poor shot of a Lesser Whistling Duck.
A female Shining Sunbird sheltering from the wind.
A few Common Kestrels were seen on the way out of the reserve.
Driving back past Taqar I found a soaring Honey Buzzard.
All too soon I had to head back to the airport - even though there was still much to explore and many species not yet seen - it certainly means a return trip toward the tail end of the khareef season. At the airport I saw a male Shining Sunbird
and a few Yellow vented Bulbuls.
2009-07-07
Evason Ma'In Hot Springs and Spa, Jordan - March 2009
My family and I had a 3-day break to Ma'In in Jordan staying at the newly opened Evason Ma'In Hotel, situated 260m below sea level. This was a weekend to revitalise the soul, with time spent in the Spa and a day at the Dead Sea and I can say emphatically that it worked. Images by Mike Pope
As with any visit to a new location and country the urge to get out birding more than you should is difficult to control. I was up before breakfast most mornings to stroll around the hotel gardens and hot springs which pour out of the surrounding sandstone mountains. It is an excting time, as most birds seen could be new, the diversity around the hotel was limited but I enjoyed it nevertheless. African Rock Martins hawking over the hotel rooftop was a familiar species.
I was quite surprised to find a breeding pair of Blackbirds
Yellow vented Bulbuls were pretty common in the gardens
I was lucky to catch a large flock of migrating Cranes as they passed overhead - not a great image, but a good tick for me.
A walk down to the Spa produced a single Blackstart
Palestine Sunbirds were attracted to flowering plants in the gardens, this is the drabber female
and the unmistakeable male
The view of the Spa further down the sandstone valley from our window to give an idea of the tranquility of this hotel
Exploring my neighbourhood, Midrand - South Africa -
Categories: South Africa -
mike pope
@ 08:45:33 pm
Midrand, Gauteng - South Africa - December 2008
After a relaxing 10-days in Mauritius we headed back to South Africa for Christmas with family and friends. At the same time it was really enjoyable to get re-acquainted with some birds not seen in Kuwait and enjoy the dawn chorus from my bed every morning. Images by Mike Pope
We stayed with my father-in-law in Midrand which funnily enough is situated midway between Johannesburg and Pretoria. The usual suspects were seen most days in and around the garden, the male Masked Weaver was in breeding plumage
The Cape Robin is a great bird, but can be a skulker in and around undergrowth
Olive Thrushes tend to whizz about between houses, not stopping for very long
Speckled Pigeons roost on the roofs of houses overnight
Crested Barbets are synonomous with the bush and suburbia and their call is unmistakeable
It is quite strange to see a bird as big as the Hadeda Ibis strolling around the garden probing for food and they make a hell of a noise when disturbed
Another noisy bird that has colonised gardens is the Grey Loerie, made 'famous' in the movie "The Gods must be Crazy"
Overhead I saw Greater striped Swallow with material to complete its nest building
I saw Little Swift early most mornings as they stretched their wings after roosting for the night before dispersing into the thermals for the day
I have been stung by one of these wasps and I can tell you they pack a punch
I took a morning to visit two bird sanctuaries in the Midrand area - the first being Beaulieu Bird Sanctuary situated in the heart of Beaulieu suburb where Sacred Ibis was the predominant species
Grey Heron also used the big eucalyptus to roost and build their nests
As did Black headed Herons
Wattled Plovers are normally present on the mud bank of the dam and they didnt disappoint today
Crowned Plovers were seen on the manicured lawns at the entrance of the reserve
Heading out of the reserve an Ovambo Sparrowhawk dashed between the trees
I headed to Glen Austen Bird Sanctuary which is a perenial pan situated on the edge of Glen Austen suburb but with open grasslands on two boundaries. On the way I picked up Fiscal Flycatcher on the telephone line
African Pipit was seen singing from the top of a fence
The pan had some water and I found White faced Duck
And Yellow bill Duck
One of the reasons for coming to this site was to find Yellow crowned Bishop, I found a large flock feeding on the grass seedheads, this is a female
and the much more brightly coloured male, this bird resembles a giant bumble bee as it zits around trying to attract a females attention
Red eyed Doves were seen on the telephone lines
and overhead
Followed by a Turtle Dove, for comparison
That brought a nostalgic end to my mornings birding, on the way home I found Red Bishops in reedbed also doing their best to attract any females attention
I knew it was worth stopping at an open grassland just before home for Southern Black Korhaan. I could hear them calling, but finding them on foot was another challenge as they are very cryptic on the ground and only flush if they have to
Last bird of the morning outing was an obliging Fan tailed Cisticola
2009-04-26
A few pictures from England by AJDH -
Categories: I managed to get out once to Pennington Flash during my short trip home and here are the pictures.
Love on the rocks. These two grebes were at it right outside of the hide.
Angelic lapwing.
No trip to Pennington Flash would be complete without a shot of a bullfinch.
Adrian
2009-03-25
Le Victoria Hotel north of Port Louis, Mauritius - December 2008
My family and I decided to spend 10-days on the tropical island of Mauritius before heading back to South Africa for Christmas. Le Victoria is a great family hotel situated on the western side of the island midway between Port Louis and Grand Bay. Certainly not a hard core birding holiday and most of my birding time was spent photographing the exotics within the manicured and artificial hotel gardens, which would only attract exotics. Images by Mike Pope
As is expected House Crows, House Sparrows and Common Mynas are the first birds encountered on the journey from the aiport to the hotel. At the hotel, the Mynas were quite prevalent
Zebra Doves can be heard and seen all throughout the day
Madagascar Fody males really do stand out in all the greenery
The females are a little more cryptic
Red whiskered Bulbuls are synonomous with Mauritius
Madagascar Turtle Doves are a little more secretive and skulking and take a bit time to discover their habits, usually found foraging early in the morning
Scaly breasted Munia's were breeding in the hotel gardens
As do Common Waxbills
One of the more easily found of the 8 Mauritian Endemics is the Mauritius Grey White-eye which I saw almost every day in small flocks gleening their way through the vegetation. This is one of the only, if not the only White-eye that doesnt have a white orbital ring
A walk outside of the hotel manicured gardens gave me birds that I didnt find inside the hotel, this male Village Weaver was at the start of his nest building
Under the watchful eye of this female Village Weaver
Spotted Doves were seen sitting on the telephone lines along the road to the hotel
Yellow fronted Canary was only seen on a few occassions
Very few birds were seen along the shoreline, my guess is that the food that used to be available on exposed rocks is long gone. I saw Green backed Herons only once on this vacation
Along with a single Whimbrel
My son was fascinated with this large Orb type spider which could be seen from our balcony. Every day we would check what it caught in the night
For my son's birthday, we did the catamaran trip to Gabriel Island, which passed Coin de Meur on the way where our first sea birds seen were the magnificent Red tailed Tropicbirds aginst the backdrop of the Coin de Meur cliff face
As we approached Gabriel Island Brown Noddy's made an appearance
Along with Sooty Terns
The stars of the show at Gabriel Island were undoubtedly the also magnificent White tailed Tropicbirds
On the way back to Grand Bay at the end of the day, the weather deterioated a little but in the fading light I did see what I believe to be Wedge tailed Shearwaters. Do let me know if this is not the case
I did arrange a morning tour to Ile aux Aigrettes which is in the SE side of the island in Mahebourg Bay. This is a nature conservation site where with sustained effort, endangered endemic species of Mauritius are preserved as the island is restored to its original state. I can highly recommend a visit to this island to any conservation minded tourist, where your financial contribution will be put to great use. Do make sure you book in advance for the guided tour.
If you have time combine this visit with la vallee de ferney where you should have a good chance of finding the Mauritius Kestrel.
Once on Ile aux Aigrettes the tour will show you the extinct species and the Dodo is the most well known and then with the guide you follow a trail around the island. The first endemic we encountered is Mauritis Fody, distinctly different from the very common Madagascar Fody on the main island
Whislt savouring the Fody, a small group of the very rare Mauritius Olive White-eye made a brief appearance, with its long decurved bill and exaggerated orbital ring it is a stunning little bird
One of the more well known endemics is Mauritius Pink Pigeon and there are a few pairs resident on this protected island, another magnificent bird saved from the brink of extinction
Of course this island is not only for protected endemic species, so you will also find Madagascar Turtle Doves
Ornate Day Gecko's are found here and on the main island and are beautifully coloured
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