Pulau Tioman Birding

I got to Tioman Island by ferry yesterday afternoon. It took an hour and a half. I went for a walk along the foreshore and up a little track but saw very little except Common Mynas – in plague proportions. Maybe it has colonised the settled edges and driven off other birds. I saw them chase off some munias from a tree today.

Pacific Swallow (Hirundo tahitica)

Here are some reasonable diagnostic shots of Pacific Swallows. This is the adult from the side.

Pacific Swallow

And from the front. Note that the Pacific Swallow does not have a blue band around the neck, which the Barn Swallow does. Robson calls these House Swallows.

3620 Pacific Swallow

And a baby. Note the white along the edge of the beak, which denotes a fledgling.

Pachliopta aristolochiae (Common Rose)

ID thanks to Ma’ruf. There are some incredible butterflies over here. It is probably better for butterflies than birds, but man, trying to get photos of butterflies is difficult. I gives my respect to any hard kore butterfly photographers. There were also a few Pink-necked Green-pigeon but not many.

Oriental Magpie-robin (Copsychus scularis)

And I have been seeing a pair of these birds wherever I go now in Malaysia. Their call is very distinctive and they stand out well.

Water Monitor

This Water Monitor stuck his head out of the rocks at the water front so I took his photo.

The Big Common Hill-Myna!

Ballina has got the Big Prawn and Tioman has got the Big Common Hill-myna. What does your town have that is BIG?

Juvenile Scaly-breasted Munia (Lonchura punctulatus)

I thought I had found another Munia species but it just turned out to be a mob of juvenile Scaly-breasted Munia. I was thinking White-rumped Munia (Lonchura striata), White-Bellied Munia (Lonchura leucogastra), but no it was just your common old everyday Juvenile Scaly-breasted Munia (Lonchura punctulatus).

Dark-necked Tailorbird (Orthotomus atrogularis)

But I did get lucky on the way to the dump. A Dark-necked Tailorbird jumped in front of me and posed for me for minutes. It was fantastic. I had been getting glimpses of these in Mersing and not quite getting one in focus. The dump also had a Purple Heron which flew away and all I got was an out of focus shot. Not impressed.

black giant squirrel (Ratufa bicolor)

On the way back from the dump, I spotted this squirrel. It is bigger than the usual Plantain Squirrels and has this ochre patches along the arms. It is the black giant squirrel (or Malayan giant squirrel) (Ratufa bicolor). Mencawa is the malay name for it.

female Olive-backed Sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis)

The female Olive-backed Sunbird has a downcurved bill, its underside is all yellow and lots of white on the tail.