KINGFISHERS OF MALAYSIA

 Kingfishers are a group of small and medium size birds. They are brilliantly colored. Food are mainly fish but insect, small vertebrae and reptiles are also relished.
While some are fish eaters, most subsist on small vertebrae.

A)  WHITE THROATED KINGFISHERS. (Halcyon smyrnensis)
       A medium , brightly coloured bird. It mainly feed on fish, insects and small reptiles. When breeding it will burrow into earth banks. Its call is a loud quack, quack quack sound.

Waterfalls.

A)   Sungai Dal Waterfalls, Kuala Kangsar, Perak.

This is the first of the few falls along the Sungai Dal.

 Sungai Dal is a tributary of the Kangsar River. It is located in the Gunung Bubu Forest Reserve near Kampung Dalam Dal. Accessibility is easy as there is a small paved road leading up the hill. To access some of the water falls, you need to clamber over some steep rocks which are very slippery.

Another small one.

 A pair of good gripping shoes is a must. We find the plastic rubber shoes (Nicknamed Adidas Kampung) worn by hawkers and rubber tappers most suitable. They dry easily and have good grip on the rocks.

The pool here is only good for dipping.

You have to climb down to the river and wade along the bank to get to the first fall. From there it is a matter of clambering over slippery rocks to reach the other tiers. All

Another small one.

together there are four tiers along the river. Water is crystal clear and at the upper most, you can find some concrete structures to show that it was a dam purportedly built during the British time. In fact this dam was supposed to have supplied drinking water to Kuala Kangsar town during those days.

This is a sliding fall.

The very top.

I was told this is a natural hole made by the gushing water. I suspected it to be man-made. There is a small tunnel below where the water flow to a lower outlet quite far below.

MUD-SKIPPERS

The mud-skippers are amphibious fishes that are found widely at tropical and sub-tropical mangrove mudflats. They are very active during low tides and move around with their strong pectoral fins. Maintaining a moist skin is important to allow cutaneous air breathing. Meaning the ability to breathe through its skin, the lining of its mouth (the mucosa) and its throat (the pharynx). Enlarged gill chambers also allow the fish to retain air for breathing.
Home to the mud-skippers are burrows dug into the soft mud flat. It is here that they hide from predators, lay eggs and to thermoregulate themselves. Even at high tide, they can hide in the burrows as the air trapped inside allow them to breathe without coming to the water surface.
Mud-skippers are carnivorous and feed on small preys. They can be very territorial and males are often seen confronting each others over their territories.
In Japan and Taiwan, the mudskippers are highly priced as delicacies.
There are a number of species of mudskippers foun in Malaysia.


A). BLUE SPOTTED MUD-SKIPPERS(Boleophthalmus boddarti):

A blue spotted mud-skipper hanging out of its burrow.

The blue spotted mud-skippers are quite widely distributed in Malaysia. They are rather territorial and fights and confrontations are very common among individuals. During confrontations, the male's colorful dorsal fin is raised. It will do the same while courting to show off its attributes to the female. If the female is interested, she will follow the male back to its burrow.

One of the frequent confrontations.

The mud-skippers have a habit of blowing water out of its gills and mouths. Maybe to cleanse the mucous membranes so as to breathe easier.

No they are not singing a duet but confronting each others.

B) GOLD SPOTTED MUD-SKIPPERS (Periophthalmus chrysospilos):

A gold spotted mud-skipper.

 The gold spotted mud-skippers like to group together in large numbers of about 20 individuals. They keep in front of the advancing tide. The male dorsal fins are lined with red at the outer frindges. Instead of having blue spots they have golden spots on their bodies.
Behaviours are about the same as the other mud-skippers.

Two male golden spot mud-skippers confronting each others.

Holding on so as not to be washed off the rock.

Getting away from the crashing waves.

C). GIANT MUD-SKIPPER (Periophthalmodon schlosseri).
 

A giant mud-skipper in the water.

It is the largest mud-skipper in Malaysia. It has a elongated dark stripe running along the whole length of its body. During high tide they could be seen clinging on to mangrove tree roots. Often seen digging a small pool filled with water where they normally build a burrow for breeding too. The soft mud are suck into it huge mouth and then deposited at the edge of the pool. to fortify it.

Here it can be seen to blow bubbles through it gills while swimming.

A giant mud-skipper with outstretched dorsal fin.

ORIENTAL PIED-HORNBILL

 

A male Oriental pied-hornbill sitting on a large rain tree near some housing estate.

   The Oriental pied-hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) is a rather common hornbill in Malaysia. It can be easily seen around jungle fringes near urban dwellings.

Food consisting of figs, fruits, small reptiles and birds are their main diets. Here a male regurgitated a fig and gently holds it in its bill.

   They like large trees where they build nest in holes in the tree branches. The male will bring mud cakes to the female who will then seal herself inside to lay her eggs and incubate them. Food in the form of figs, fruits, small insects, reptiles and small birds are brought back by the male to feed its mate.

A male hornbill gently feed its mate as she incubates her eggs in her sealed nest.

   I have seen these hornbills built their nests in the bird houses built for owls around the rice fields.

A few fruits that are part of the hornbill diet.

Here a pair of hornbills has colonised an owl shelter for their nests.

GREY-HEADED SWAMPHEN (Porphyrio poliocephalus).

They like to stretch their wings once in a while.

 
   Grey-headed swamphen: Mainly found around large ponds or marshy areas. It usually is found in one or two feeding on weed covered ponds or the banks. Its nest is a pile of weeds built on floating weeds like the water hyacinth. When alarmed it will hide itself in the weeds.
   It mainly feed on plant and vegetation with small insects, leeches, snails and other small animals.

MAEKLONG RAILWAY MARKET

THE MAEKLONG RAILWAY MARKET (Thailand)

The Maeklong Railway Market is also nicknamed Umbrella Pull down Market. The unique feature about his market is, it is centered around the railway track. Selling fresh seafood and vegetables, the vendors here are very alert to the arrival of the train. Each day a train will pass this place eight times. With the coming of the train, a signal will sound and an announcement will be make about the impending train arrival. Suddenly this canvas covered market will find the awnings being pulled back and the products on sale being pulled to safer place. Immediately after the train pass, the canopies are back on and business will be as usual.

A must see on your tour to Bangkok.

A young vendor selling some fresh clams.

Small eels for sale.

Plenty of cooked salted fish here too.

Scaled and cleaned fish.

A vendor pushing his cart along the track.

A flurry of activities following the announcement of the incoming train.

The canopies are being pulled back. Trays of products are also taken out of the way.

Here it comes. Right on time. A lady vendor was screaming at me in Thai (which I cannot understand). I think she wants me to get out of the way of the train.

The train passed just centimeters away from me. I was pulled back by the same lady that was screaming at me, I think. I am grateful to her for her concern.

Everyone is emerging from their safe spots. The canopies are also being put bck to their normal places.

RAPTORS - Common Barn-owl (Tyto alba).

Common Barn-owl (Tyto alba). It is the most widely distributed owl in the world. Because of its diet of small rodents it is widely used as the biological agent to control the rat population in padi fields and oil palm plantations. It is not uncommon to see small owl houses perched on top of high poles among the padi fields and plantations.