Can't Think Of A Creative Title (East Asia #4)

Black Drooooooooooooooooooooongos get first prize for Most Dramatic Bird Name. Despite the glamorous title, Black Drongos are rather stodgy, common birds that munch on mosquitos and sit by the roadside, which is disappointingly un-splendid. 

Here's a dramatic photo of one. "NO!!! I dropped my insect!"

Just when you thought birds couldn't get more un-glamorous. Eurasian Tree-sparrow here. EUTS think it's funny to go CHIRPITY CHIRPITY CHIRPITY CHIRP AT 3 IN THE MORNING.

Plain Prinia, the only prinia out of the three in Taiwan that is impossible to miss seeing, unless you're blind, or worse, a non-birder. And it's impossible to photograph, too. It took me a full five minutes to procure this crappy photo. 

As if Nutmeg Mannikins and Pin-tailed Whydahs weren't enough, Japanese White-eyes have been introduced and established in Orange County now. Soon we'll have the whole goddarn Eurasia of birds in Southern California. 

Rest assured, this photo was taken in Taiwan where Japanese White-eyes are native and thriving. 

Red Turtle-dove. Remember the one that was standing in the space-gravity vortex? It got sucked in and teleported on the tree branch you see in this photo. It will now attempt to brainwash you with the Magic of Purple Dove. 

This adorable Brown Shrike grabbed an insect carcass from its thorny larder lair, tore and ripped it from head to limb, and regurgitated (or was that just its call?) chunks of it to its fuzzy chicks in a nearby death bush.

Chirp, chirp.

-chiccadee

A Piece of Taiwan (East Asia Trip Report August #1)

The bird to the left of you is majestically called a Gray Treepie, or a Slate Foilage Pastry as I affectionately dubbed it.


Many of you know about my trip to East Asia. Many of also, no doubt, do not anticipate the trip report and have probably forgotten about it seconds after I mentioned it.

To make a short story long, I tried writing a trip report complete with humour, excellent bird photography and detailed information, but it took about seven hours to write the first day and it soon occurred to me that in the time I was taking to write the trip report I could have seen three yearbirds and maybe a Western Screech-Owl.



This is first in what will be a long and lengthy series of EA posts. Enjoy! 

Don't let the amusing name of the Himalayan Black Bulbul fool you.  Black Bulbuls are one of those deceptively evil birds that fool innocent birders into believing greater and rarer birds are at hand. Then when you actually put your binos up the bird and find out it's another freaking BBB, they squeak at you in a sinister way and say "Haha sucker! No Red-billed Choughs for you!"

Oriental Turtle-doves are clueless and innocent birds. Everyone adores them except for seeds and insects. Just looking into the face of a ORTD will clear all your birdfail sins for the month. 

A Red Turtle-dove. The only thing notable about this particularly one is that it seems to be standing very precariously in a  dangerous Space-Time vortex and could be sucked in any moment. Who knew RTDs were such daredevils (Seriously, what is with that wall? )?

Black-winged Stilts were scattered throughout rice paddies in Southern Taiwan. How its knees do not suddenly and rapidly cave in is a mystery to me. 

Green Sandpipers are delightful birds, but not when they're seen in a heavily cropped picture at full zoom and ISO8000.  

A beautiful hot, humid, sweaty, mosquito-ridden suburban Taiwan Park.

If you look hard enough, you can find a Kentish Plover in this picture, something an ABA-er would go cuckoo over back at home despite its very drab plover-ness. Ten bucks to whoever can find it in under five minutes.

Striated Swallows are likable birds. They take long resting periods, which means you can actually procure decent views of them without binos. Not exactly a prime photo but I like the background boards on this one. They're very board-y. 

-chic

CLICK HERE FOR EAST ASIA #2