USM 100925

As the migration started, i'm stuck in the office with lots of things to be done. I manage to squeeze a weekend to check for the early migrants in USM while joining the Friends of Tasik Harapan Programme organized by the Uni. My intention is to look at how serious and to have a first impression of what's going to happen to this programme. And i'm quite dissapointed.....anyway its good to see somebody still concern about the lakes in USM. I hope they will succeed in future. The grill door of the store where the mudballs are is locked and the participant has to reach the mudballs located inside from outside.

While looking at the programme participants busy throwing mudballs, i heard calls of the Arctic Warbler. I manage to locate the bird and it was quite low,

Arctic Warbler calling,

After the mudball throwing event, no other activity is held. I'm surprised! Mudball throwing in this will furthermore add to this nutrient rich lake. This will promote a rapid growth of the water hyacinth which is only maintain once a month....Sad! I hope they know what they are doing....some of other suggestion that i have is that they repair the lake bank which is badly eroded. This should be done first i think...

Well, after a while i decided to go for birding around the campus. Here are some of other birds seen,

Another migrant, Brown shrike

A male Asian Koel,

 female,

The ever confusing swiftlet. I think this is Germain's,

The tame eurasian tree sparrow,

A subadult Magpie Robin. Notice that it still has brownish wing and throat.

A female pigeon. I think it's a Pink Necked as the base of the bill has no reddish patch and the subterminal of the tail is black. Correct me if i'm wrong...

A nice surprise at the end....a Dark Necked Tailorbird. Notice the yelowish vent in second photo. This is the most reliable feature to differentiate this species from the Common Tailorbird. This should be the first record from me in the campus.

What a nice record to wrap the day. More birding need to be done this season as i need to get those doubtful record of some migrants to be validated and photographed.....