Bird Watching in the Chikus, Bidor, 12th & 13th October 2002 by Im

Hundreds of Oriental Pratincoles in Bidor! This is what we heard from the Perak birders. So on 12 October, our group comprising Wong Ming Sun, Linda, their daughter Soon Ying, Siow, Kim Seng and Im went to check this out. We arrived around 8.30am and saw the usual birds like Common Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Richard's Pipit, Great Egret, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Peaceful Dove, Spotted Dove, Little Heron, Purple Heron, Pacific and Barn Swallows, White-throated Kingfisher, Pacific Golden Plover, Red-wattled Lapwing, Purple Swamphen, etc.
Then we spotted a Grey-headed Lapwing. Kim Seng quickly took some pictures of this shy bird. A lifer for me! We moved further in to look at the ponds. The birds spotted here include the Little Grebe, Common Greenshank, Black-winged Stilt, Chinese Pond Heron, White-browed Crake etc.
We had lunch at Tapah before checking in at the Tapah Rest House. After a short rest we were ready to go back to Bidor again. However at the Rest House carpark we saw the Coppersmith Barbet and Gold-whiskered Barbet and we spent some time looking at these beautiful birds. Back at Bidor, we were looking at a Brahminy Kite when Soon Ying pointed out a huge flock of birds (around 150) flying very high. At that height the birds looked black. Out came the bird books as we tried to identify them. We argued among ourselves but could not positively identify them. By this time it was getting dark and it was back to Tapah for dinner.
The other guests at the Rest House were still sleeping when we left for Bidor early next morning. I spotted this tiny bird in the field and asked Kim Seng to check it out with the scope. Linda identified it as the Little Ringed Plover. Another lifer for me. While Meng Sang and Kim Seng were photographing the waders, the ladies went into the trails to look for jungle birds. Birds seen include the Stork-billed Kingfisher, Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker and Brown-throated Sunbird.
We went to the ponds again. On one of the embankments we saw our first Oriental Pratincole standing besides 2 Pacific Golden Plovers. We thought it was lost or stranded until we saw another 2 Pratincoles nearby. Then we saw a flock of birds flying low overhead. This time we could see the colour and shape well. They are Oriental Pratincoles! About 60 of them! Later we saw another 50-60 Pratincoles in a field and were watching them when they took flight. Going by their flight pattern we have no doubts that what we saw last evening were also Pratincoles.
It has been a very satisfying trip.
A list of the birds seen is given below.

Chikus, Bidor bird list
Great Egret..... (Casmerodius albus)
Cattle Egret..... (Bubulcus ibis)
Purple Heron..... (Ardea purpurea)
White-throated Kingfisher..... (Halcyon smyrnensis)
Yellow Wagtail..... (Motacilla flava)
Richard's Pipit..... (Anthus novaeseelandiae)
Purple Swamphen..... (Porphyrio porphyrio)
Common Sandpiper..... (Actitis hypoleucos)
Pacific Swallow..... (Hirundo tahitica)
Peaceful Dove..... (Geopelia striata)
Pacific Golden Plover..... (Pluvialis fulva)
Cinnamon Bittern..... (Ixobrychus cinnamomeus)
Wood Sandpiper.....(Tringa glareola)
Common Greenshank..... (Tringa nebularia)
Grey-headed Lapwing..... (Vanellus cinereus)
Barn Swallow..... (Hirundo rustica)
Little Egret..... (Egretta garzetta)
Black-bellied Malkoha..... (Phaenicophaeus diardii)
Little Grebe..... (Tachybaptus ruficollis)
Red-wattled Lapwing..... (Vanellus indicus)
Large-billed Crow..... (Corvus macrorhynchos)
Black-winged Stilt..... (Himantopus himantopus)
Brown Shrike..... (Lanius cristatus)
Yellow-vented Bulbul..... (Pycnonotus goaivier)
Greater Coucal..... (Centropus sinensis)
Chinese Pond Heron..... (Ardeola bacchus)
White-browed Crake..... (Porzana cinerea)
Little Tern..... (Sterna albifrons)
Yellow Bittern..... (Ixobrychus sinensis)
Oriental Magpie Robin..... (Copsychus saularis)
Pink-necked Pigeon..... (Treron vernans)
Brahminy Kite..... (Haliastur Indus)
White-bellied Sea-Eagle..... (Haliaeetus leucogaster)
Blue-tailed Bee-eater..... (Merops philippinus)
White-breasted Waterhen..... (Amaurornis phoenicurus)
Koel..... (Eudynamys scolopacea)
Green-billed Malkoha..... (Phaenicophaeus tristis)
Common Iora..... (Aegithina tiphia)
Ashy Tailorbird..... (Orthotomus sepium)
Artic Warbler..... (Phylloscopus borealis)
Little Ringed Plover..... (Charadrius dubius)
Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker..... (Dicaeum cruentatum)
Olive-winged Bulbul..... (Pycnonotus plumosus)
Stork-billed Kingfisher..... (Halcyon capensis)
Brown-throated Sunbird..... (Anthreptes malaccensis)
Spotted Dove..... (Streptopelia chinensis)
Oriental Pratincole..... (Glareola maldivarum)
Javan Myna..... (Acricotheres javanicus)
Crested Honey Buzzard..... (Pernis ptilorhynchus)
Common Moorhen..... (Gallinula chloropus)
Pintail Snipe..... (Gallinago Stenura)
Scaly-breasted Munia..... (Lonchura punctulata)
Lesser Whistling-Duck..... (Dendrocygna javanica)
Little Heron..... (Butorides striatus)
Marsh Sandpiper..... (Tringa stagnatilis
Common Myna..... (Acridotheres tristis)
Yellow-bellied Prinia..... (Prinia flaviventris)
Chestnut-headed Bee-eater..... (Merops leschenaulti)
Black-naped Oriole..... (Oriolus chinensis)

Tapah Rest House, Tapah
Coppersmith Barbet..... (Megalaima haemacephala)
Gold-whiskered Barbet..... (Megalaima chrysopogon)
Eurasian Tree-Sparrow..... (Passer montanus)
Glossy Starling..... (Aplonis panayensis)
Plain Sunbird..... (Anthreptes simplex)

After Bidor Toll
Black Hornbill..... (Anthracoceros malayanus)
OrientialS Pied Hornbill..... (Anthracoceros albirostris)
Peregrine Falcon..... (Falco peregrimus)
Crested Serpent-Eagle..... (Spilornis cheela)

Bird list compiled by Wong Soon Ying and written by Foong Im Gune . Photographs by Wong Kim Seng Posted by Wong Kim Seng 28 October 2002