Melaka Birding.
390 photos I took this morning. I got up at 9am. I have never slept in that long for ages. I do not have a window in my room so I have no idea what the sun is doing. I must set the alarm clock tomorrow morning. The day started off really badly. I could not find the beach. There were building and construction sites in the way wherever I turned.
House Crow (Corvus splendens)
I had previosly missed out on the grey collar on the House Crow. Today I noticed it probably because there were so many and they were so close all morning. There are thousands and thousands around Melaka. There are a few sub-species which are paler with more contrasting collars. Not sure if these are one of those but will have a read up and look at the photos later.
Little Heron (Butorides striata)
The Little Heron (Butorides striata) is similar to the Black-crowned Night-heron but has a black streak under the eye and black nape-plumes. The eyes are yellow.
juvenile Little Heron
The one below is a bit of a punk.
Little Heron
I finally found the mud-flats along with the Little Heron above. This juvenile was sitting on the fence above some water treatment works and flew into the trees. Before this I had gone to the Forbidden Garden of the palace of the Malay Sultanate of Melaka and took some photos of Black-naped Oriole, Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier), Oriental Magpie-Robin (Copsychus scularis) and Asian Glossy Starling. But we have seen heaps of them so far.
Fiddler Crab
Fiddler Crab – there are 100 species of genus Uca so I won’t try to ID this. Its a Fiddler Crab, all right? I did also see a Collared Kingfisher and a few Great Egret (Ardea alba).
Malacca Mudskipper (Periophthalmus malaccensis)
These weird things were flopping around in the mud-flats. I assumed that they were mud-skippers because that sounds like what they may be. This one had his sails up.
Malacca Mudskipper (Periophthalmus malaccensis)
This gives a better look at these weird creatures. I saw a bunch of them up a drain later on. They were sort of trying to swim and hop along out of the water. Truth is stranger than fiction.
female Purple or Olive-backed Sunbird ??
This is either a female Purple or Olive-backed Sunbird. I cannot tell. Olives have been seen in melaka but the Purples have a lighter belly.
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
Not the best of photos but it is a record shot at least. First time I have photographed this one.
Marsh Sandpiper (Tringa stagnatilis) Redshank (Tringa totanus)
Edit: The above bird is a Redshank (Tringa totanus), thanks for the ID from Khaleb Yorden. All in all, a long day and three new birds I had never seen before. Plus I noticed some important details about House Crows. Its been a mega edit trying to wade through more than 300 photos but the light is at the end of the tunnel. I think I will have to have dinner before long, though.
Birds commonly seen at Melaka
Black-crowned Night-heron
Eurasian Curlew
Curlew Sandpiper
Red-necked Stint
Lesser Sand Plover
Little Egret
Cattle Egret
Common Sandpiper
Common Redshank
Great Egret
Greater Sand Plover
Grey Heron
Marsh Sandpiper
