MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
Wednesday 28th August – Penang and the ferry
A very early start in the basic but gigantic rooms of Krystal Suites close to Penang Airport produced some of the expected urban birds – House Crow, Common Myna, Glossy Swiftet, Asian Glossy Starling and a Black-naped Oriole being chased out of its tree by a House Crow. An adult Black-crowned Night Heron, a Brahminy Kite and Pacific Swallows by the jetty added to the list before we boarded the ferry to Langkawi.
At least 100 Bridled Terns were the dominant seabirds, supported by a couple of flyover Greater Crested Terns and as we entered the shallower waters around the islands a single Black-naped Tern appeared. Two more pairs of Pacific Swallows graced the jetty and what I think was a Striated Heron took off across the bay as our luggage arrived on the pier with an optics-juddering thump.
Langkawi
The drive across the island produced the fist Little and Cattle Egrets and more Common Mynahs, plus a couple of dark-winged waterbirds that dropped into the paddy and a pair of Tree Sparrows at the petrol station. The hotel, whose grounds are adorned by splendid large trees showed its value by giving up some 28 Oriental Pied Hornbills and, big surprise, a Great Hornbill as well as a Reef Egret, a few squirrels and a small family party of Dusky Leaf Monkeys, which were whiling away the afternoon in the closest tree to our room
The Cable Car area promise more than it delivered, but I did get what appears to be a new bird for Langkawi – Yellow-vented Bulbul in the Oriental Village. There was a bit more quality in the shape of a couple each of Dollarbird and Hill Mynah at the base station, plus two Striped Tit Babblers, a probable Ochraceous Bulbul and some House Swifts at the top cable car station.
The ride back to the hotel was enlivened by drive-by views of a dozen Red-Wattled Lapwing on the reclaimed land close to Perdana Quay.
Cheers
Mike
A very early start in the basic but gigantic rooms of Krystal Suites close to Penang Airport produced some of the expected urban birds – House Crow, Common Myna, Glossy Swiftet, Asian Glossy Starling and a Black-naped Oriole being chased out of its tree by a House Crow. An adult Black-crowned Night Heron, a Brahminy Kite and Pacific Swallows by the jetty added to the list before we boarded the ferry to Langkawi.
At least 100 Bridled Terns were the dominant seabirds, supported by a couple of flyover Greater Crested Terns and as we entered the shallower waters around the islands a single Black-naped Tern appeared. Two more pairs of Pacific Swallows graced the jetty and what I think was a Striated Heron took off across the bay as our luggage arrived on the pier with an optics-juddering thump.
Langkawi
The drive across the island produced the fist Little and Cattle Egrets and more Common Mynahs, plus a couple of dark-winged waterbirds that dropped into the paddy and a pair of Tree Sparrows at the petrol station. The hotel, whose grounds are adorned by splendid large trees showed its value by giving up some 28 Oriental Pied Hornbills and, big surprise, a Great Hornbill as well as a Reef Egret, a few squirrels and a small family party of Dusky Leaf Monkeys, which were whiling away the afternoon in the closest tree to our room
The Cable Car area promise more than it delivered, but I did get what appears to be a new bird for Langkawi – Yellow-vented Bulbul in the Oriental Village. There was a bit more quality in the shape of a couple each of Dollarbird and Hill Mynah at the base station, plus two Striped Tit Babblers, a probable Ochraceous Bulbul and some House Swifts at the top cable car station.
The ride back to the hotel was enlivened by drive-by views of a dozen Red-Wattled Lapwing on the reclaimed land close to Perdana Quay.
Cheers
Mike