Chestnut Munia. Flies in swarms if the numbers are large. Often also seen in groups of 4 to 5. Dusky Munia normally either single birds or in pairs. Once in Kpg Masjid we saw groups of 10s darkly colored munias flying around all over the place. Dusky? or Chestnut? Which is more likely.
Oriental Pratincole, beautiful in flight. Very deliberate circling flight path.
Little Tern, much like ballet performers in the sky. They twist, they turn, they hover and skydive most effortlessly.
Wandering Whistling Duck. Ducks are generally larger, shortish feet tucked in neatly under the tails.
Wandering Whistling Ducks taking off. Likely to see single, two or three ducks flying away. Likely as well to see sixty ducks flying past in Miri, cause it's confirmed that we do have them in those numbers.
One of the egrets ... can't tell which one though. The larger species (Great Egret, Intermediate Egret) maybe seen in large numbers (not in Miri so far!) but most likely only during return to roost or flying to roost. They are not present in large numbers in Miri.
Chinese Egret, could also be a white morph of a Pacific Reef Egret. In Miri the black morph Pacific Reef is more common, flying low close to the water. The number of Chinese Egret in Miri does not exceed eight at the moment and scattered between Kuala Baram, Lutong and Miri Marina. If seen in large numbers most likely are Little Egrets (black legs, yellow feet) or Cattle Egrets.
Pacific Reef Egret, grey morph.
Purple Heron. Largest group seen so far was five. Most often seen flying single or double. It's long legs sticking out, greying general coloration and it's looming large in the skies.
Purple Heron. This individual was seen flying about a patch of wetlands near the coast, sharing it with Changeable Hawk Eagle and Oriental Darter and the other white egrets.
Oriental Darter. Highest number seen in Miri so far is six. Most often seen single individual.
Oriental Darter seen being chased after by a pair of White-breasted Woodswallow.
The point of this is :
You should get excited if you see sixty birds in flight, it's a beautiful sight indeed. The single mindedness cohesion of a swarm of Chestnut Munia always reminds me of small anchovies on the shores of Pulau Kapas I saw many years ago.
If you can identify the birds, it's great, more the better to increase your enjoyment of the moment, especially so if it's one of your favorite birds or those you don't really get to see everyday. If you can't id them, that's OK too. However, identifying them doesn't necessarily comes with absolute certainty unless you've seen them many times before and able to recognise them with half-eye closed. It's hard enough to id them when they are sitting still, looming large in front of you at 70x magnification. You are definitely forgiven if you cannot id them with total conviction when they are in flight.
A quick and dirty reality checks if one day you're blessed to see 100 birds in flight anywhere in Miri:
a) they are not likely Oriental Darters ... we don't have the numbers here.
b) if they are white, they are most likely egrets and NOT darters. Possibilities are either Little or Cattle Egret. They are not likely Chinese Egret ... we don't the numbers for these here either.
c) or maybe ducks, look out for the legs ... are they extended well beyond the tail feathers?
d) if small, could they be Munias???
e) darkish but large ... could they be Purple Heron, honestly we haven't seen those in large numbers either.
Perhaps you shouldn't even bother trying to id them if you can't, why not not just enjoy the sight in front of you. These days, it's not too often you see large numbers of wild birds in Miri.
I myself will not likely forget my first sight of a single Storm's Stork in flight from Loagan Bunut, nor the sixty or so Wandering Whistling Ducks near Kuala Baram or even the hundreds of Chestnut Munias in the same locality. I am still excited everytime I see an Oriental Darter perched miles aways on a lone bare branch in the middle of a peatswamp.
Seeing these birds where they are is already a big enough deal in my mind. Seeing them in flight is definitely that sweet extra cream on top. Most hardly notice these beautiful creatures, in flight or sitting still on bare branches. Just one of those things we all take for granted on a daily basis.
