Tufted Duck and White-faced Plover?

5-6th December 2024

Upon receiving the bird alert via Sabah Bird Alert page regarding the arrival of Tufted Duck, Alizah, a good friend of mine from Brunei decided to flew last minute despite the severed weather! When we got on the site at Tempasuk Plain, Kota Belud, the ducks were resting on the first plot of the rice field in the rain. 

Tufted Duck considered a rare migrants from North Asia for Sabah with inconsistent sightings over the years including Northern Pintail and Cotton Pygmy-Goose. After Tempasuk Plain, visited Kuala Abai and Lok Kawi Beach for the shorebirds

Bird list at eBird:

• Tempasuk https://ebird.org/checklist/S204504265
• Kuala Abai https://ebird.org/checklist/S204582235
• Penampang https://ebird.org/checklist/S204582513
• Lok Kawi Beach https://ebird.org/checklist/S204584166

Testing the new Swarovski Optik AX Visio

Tufted Duck identified by the AX Visio

Looking at her lifer through the Swarovski Optik ATC56 scope

Got the Large-tailed Nightjar too!

Identified by the AX Visio

Morning from Tempasuk Plains, Kota Belud

At Kuala Abai

Watching the Sandpipers, Plovers and Egrets with the Swarovski Optik BTX95 scope

Penampang rice fields

Cath joined the fun and looking at the might be vagrant White-faced Plover at Lok Kawi Beach

Could this be the White-faced Plover?

Good birding!

Tufted Duck Behavior

Observing the Tufted Duck while getting the best shots is pretty interesting. Below is some of the example both by male and female after feeding.

Digiscoped with Nikon Fieldscope EDG85 via Nikon FSA-L2 DSLR Photo Adapter on Nikon D300s

Time to cool down from the heat of the day

I like when they stretched their wings !

Then feeding time again :)

Happy birding !

Ducks Of North Borneo

10th December 2010

Sighted by Ck Leong last week, only today I managed to get some pictures of these vagrant after my trip with the gang at Klias Peatswamp Forest Reserve (posting soon). There were 2 males and 1 female of Tufted Duck, 5 Northern Shoveler and only 1 Garganey together with the resident Common Moorhen, White-breasted Waterhen and Wandering Whistling Duck.

Apparently, the number of visiting Ducks from North Asia is smaller in Sabah, Borneo. There were new record of Northern Pintail last year by Ck Leong, and several other old records of Cotton Pygmy Goose, Mallard and Common Teal by Karim Madoya at Penampang paddy field.

With the increasing of birding and bird photography by the locals, it is possible now to get updated records of wintering Ducks, Waders and other species from September until April during the winter migration plus with the opening of abandoned paddy fields on the West Coast of Sabah with the funding by state government, there is a hope to see more wintering birds in the future.

Digiscoped with Nikon Fieldscope EDG85 via Nikon FSA-L2 DSLR Photo Adapter on Nikon D300s

Lagoon where the Ducks is

Northern Shoveler

Garganey

Pretty looking Tufted Duck

Wandering Whistling Duck

Happy birding folks !

walaaaaa my tufted duck :p

25th march 2008

hahaha another luck yesterday at tuaran district while i was busy taking pictures of the javan pond heron and wandering whistling ducks, found single female tufted duck which is half asleep and it was pretty dark around 1815 hrs. and my camera ran out of battery so left early this morning and arrived at the site around 0600 hrs.

scanned with my scope but couldn't see the tufted duck, but saw stork-billed, collared and common kingfisher, intermediate egret, purple heron and yellow bittern with the wandering whistling duck busy preening and bathing on the water.

then out of nowhere, saw 1 duck being chased by another duck and by looking through my scope, hehehe got it now and captured few shots and videos available at youtube

this duck breeds at north palaeartic and winters at south east asia. more pics at www.orientalbirdimages.org

female tufted duck and has yellow iris

white vent and pointed upward of its tail


where is the male ?

images digiscoped with nikon fieldscope ED82, srb-griturn adapter and fujifilm f31d