I had brought along the big lens anticipating a couple of days shooting images of birds at Gunung Alab Resort near The Crocker Range National Park. Little did I realised that it's a fair distance away from Kudat, our chosen base this time around. It would have taken us 6hrs for the Kudat-KK-Kudat leg, perhaps another 6hrs or more for the KK-Gunung Alab-KK leg; which would definitely entailed an overnite stay at the resort. That idea was quickly abandoned after a brief feedback session with the children.
So the big lens sat in our hotel room securely locked up in a suitcase the whole time we were in Kudat. Instead, armed with only the 11-16mm and 400mm, we explored Kudat. We saw much in terms of casuarina lined beaches, white sands and secluded idyllic coves with little or virtually no human presence. However, in terms of bird-life, we saw only the usual suspects.
We had a nice encounter with a Black-shouldered Kite at Simpang Mengayau. The little raptor was surfing the sea breeze hunting for a meal. We managed to shoot it at eye-level. There were several other kites seen at Sikuati, and a few of the other beaches. We saw Crested Serpent Eagle, Changeable Hawk Eagle near Parapat soaring above the highway; and a couple of White-bellied Sea Eagle as we were approcahing Limau-limauan on one of our excursions.
In general, Asian Glossy Starlings dominated the town area together with Yellow-vented Bulbuls. At the waterfront, we saw Brahminy Kites, Little Egret, Great Egret, Little Heron, Pacific Reef Egret, Black-naped Tern and possibly a Great Crested Tern (need to check).
While at Pantai Bak-bak we stumbled upon a whole colony of nesting starlings as well as several Collared Kingfisher. Many of the beach gazebos were left under utilised, some completely abandoned, these became perfect nesting sites for the starlings. There was also a small birdwave consisting of Common Iora with sub-adult, Dark-necked Tailorbird, Brown-throated Sunbird and Olive-backed Sunbird the time we were there.
One site that would've been nice to explore was the Waterworks station along Jalan Lau San on the way to Tg Simpang Mengayau. It's along an uphill road fringed by a forest reserve. It was unfortunately a restricted area, we should've taken the time to enter the compound and ask for permission to birdwatch there.
We did however stumbled on a more disturbing place for birds. We made a pit-stop at Top Victory Zoo near Parapat to check out what's in store, what we saw was rather disturbing!
So the big lens sat in our hotel room securely locked up in a suitcase the whole time we were in Kudat. Instead, armed with only the 11-16mm and 400mm, we explored Kudat. We saw much in terms of casuarina lined beaches, white sands and secluded idyllic coves with little or virtually no human presence. However, in terms of bird-life, we saw only the usual suspects.
We had a nice encounter with a Black-shouldered Kite at Simpang Mengayau. The little raptor was surfing the sea breeze hunting for a meal. We managed to shoot it at eye-level. There were several other kites seen at Sikuati, and a few of the other beaches. We saw Crested Serpent Eagle, Changeable Hawk Eagle near Parapat soaring above the highway; and a couple of White-bellied Sea Eagle as we were approcahing Limau-limauan on one of our excursions.
In general, Asian Glossy Starlings dominated the town area together with Yellow-vented Bulbuls. At the waterfront, we saw Brahminy Kites, Little Egret, Great Egret, Little Heron, Pacific Reef Egret, Black-naped Tern and possibly a Great Crested Tern (need to check).
While at Pantai Bak-bak we stumbled upon a whole colony of nesting starlings as well as several Collared Kingfisher. Many of the beach gazebos were left under utilised, some completely abandoned, these became perfect nesting sites for the starlings. There was also a small birdwave consisting of Common Iora with sub-adult, Dark-necked Tailorbird, Brown-throated Sunbird and Olive-backed Sunbird the time we were there.
One site that would've been nice to explore was the Waterworks station along Jalan Lau San on the way to Tg Simpang Mengayau. It's along an uphill road fringed by a forest reserve. It was unfortunately a restricted area, we should've taken the time to enter the compound and ask for permission to birdwatch there.
We did however stumbled on a more disturbing place for birds. We made a pit-stop at Top Victory Zoo near Parapat to check out what's in store, what we saw was rather disturbing!
( ... to be continued in the next entry ... Birds in Kudat II)
Terns at Kudat Banggi ferrypoint hunting for bait-fish amongst the fishing boat. A Brahminy Kite was also spotted near the same area.
Black-shouldered Kite cruising at Tg Simpang Mengayau.
Iora looking for breakfast at Pantai Bak-Bak.
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