SHEARWATER 3/4- Wedged-tailed Shearwater (lifer 601/688 Pelagic 3/30) September 2026

Wedge-tailed shearwaters feed pelagically  on fish, squid and crustaceans. Their diet is 66% fish, of which the most commonly taken is goatfish. The species was thought to mostly take food from surface feeding, but observations of feeding wedge-tails suggested that contact-dipping, where birds flying close to the surface snatch prey from the water was the most commonly used hunting technique. However, a 2001 study which deployed maximum depth recorders found that 83% of wedge-tails dived during foraging trips with a mean maximum depth of 14 m (46 ft) and that they could achieve a depth of 66 m.

This is my third Shearwater of Malaysia .....other than the Short-tailed whicha Pacific ocean bird but still frequently sighted in northern west coast seas of peninsula Malaysia. If you see that the legs are longer than its tail it most likely the bird. In future there may be even a Sooty been blown to our seas.

They are open sea dwellers and are sea  duck (web footed). In Malacca straits, they are visitors in July - November. We were fortunate to see many small feeding groups of a few to 10 birds. You can see them along the way to Pulau Perak a distance of 180 odd km. Feeding amongst terns. 

They are medium size pelagic of upto 1.5 feet /46cm. Overall its dark brown body in entirety.  There is pale morph which looks like Streaked but the beak is still black unlike the pale beak of the Streaked. Of course the wedged-tail shape when maneuvering & shearing the surface of waves; feet are red and when flying its tail is wedged as per se.

They breeds in Indian and Pacific Islands and many records in the coast of Australia Islands. They are monogamous for good unless failed nesting may split the pair.... 

A pair of Streaked Shearwater feeding amongst the many Wedged-tail

Tail is wedged

 

SHEARWATER 1/4 - Streaked Shearwater (2026 Lifer 599/688) September 2026

 This species is pelagic, but is also found in inshore waters. It occurs in the Pacific ocean, nesting in Japan and the Korean peninsula , predominantly on their offshore island. After breeding, the streaked shearwater migrate south, feeding in the seas off northern New Guinea, the Arafura Sea, and the South China Sea. I am not sure whether they fly over to Strait of Malacca at the narrowest section of Thailand peninsula to Andaman seas then down south. 

The Streaked ( left) is larger than the Wedge-tailed

This shearwater has broad wings with a brown upper side and white underwings. The head and neck are flecked white to almost complete white. The face and underparts are all white. The bill is grey to pink with a dark tip while the feet are pinkish-grey.

Streaked shearwaters have a body length (from tip of bill to end of tail feathers) of 45 to 52 centimetres (18 to 20 in) and a wingspan between 103 and 113 centimetres (41 and 44 in).

The streaked shearwater feeds mainly on fish and squids. It follows fishing boats, attracted to anchovy crawls off Japan and has been known to be taken as by-catch in nets or drowned when ingesting the bait on long-line fishing lines.

The streaked shearwater nests in burrows. It prefers forested hills. This bird is abundant and widespread; however, some mortality occurs through becoming entangled in fishing nets, and from some predation by cats and rats. In addition, it is harvested by some traditional endemic human cultures.

A pair in paler grey head and caudal bottom is white compared to the Wedge-tailed

The rarity of Streaked encountered was 1:50 compared to the sighted Wedge-tailed during our trip. We also sighted a new sighting of a Tropical Shearwater  in Strait of Malacca.

A threesome

SHEARWATER (2/4) - Tropical Shearwater (Pelagic Lifer 600/688) September 2026

Photo courtesy of AT

Photo courtesy of LowKH

This Tropical Shearwater is the first record sighting in the waters of peninsula Malaysia  about 130km off the coast of Kedah towards  Tekun Perak @ Pulau Perak. It was first sighted by our spotter XianLim saying aloud a Short-tailed which was then reconfirmed a probable Tropical shearwater. With its guidance every one of us manage to shoot the rarity vagrant which had  wandered off from the Indian Ocean to northern straits of Malacca. 

Our boatman was just fantastic as it chases down the bird for a good 5 minutes without missing a beat at 35-40 knots. The boat was bumping up and down as we try to shoot it on the move,. Side by side with the bird gliding over the waves; we hope it will settle down in the water. As it tired out we saw it landed off about 300m away as we move nearer for some better shots. It is easier to shoot it when it start to fly off. Surely it did and we got sharper pictures for that moment. Everyone  were happy to record this lifer!.

Photo courtesy of XL

 

Streaked as compared

Streaked shearwater feeding amongst big fishes chasing up the anchovies

My setting was damn out 1/8000 on my fuji XT5+XF150-400mm ISO2000 Still poor short. Time to change to Sony 

My take,,,,..thought I did not get it! Yahooooo my 600th lifer and a rarity

TERN - Bridled Tern (Sept 2026 Pelagic Lifer 598/600)

This tropical tern has gray back, black cap, and white forehead. Non-breeding and immatures have a messy dark nape. Most similar to Sooty Tern but paler gray above with more extensive white tail edges, paler undersides of flight feathers, as well as longer and more slender eyebrow. Also compare with the paler Gray-backed Tern. Bridled Tern is found in warm tropical waters worldwide. It breeds on islands, usually concealed by a large rock or bush. Otherwise, usually stays far offshore, often seen perching on floating wood or debris. Rarely seen near land except when blown off course by a hurricane.
 

Bridled Terns are uncommon resident bird of Malaysia. Uncommon because it reside more at high seas than coastal beaches. They are medium sized tern of a footer 34cm. Breeding in April-August and commonly at Redang and Seribuat archipelagos (Tokong Burung-Tioman) .

NODDY - Brown Noddy (Lifer 597/688) September 2026

There is a colony of this bird in Pulau Perak. I would count as about 50-60 pairs. They like the other resident there the Brown Booby like the rocky surface of the island There are already record nesting and breeding there. So the long 5-7 hours boat ride to Tekun Perak is sort of  worth it. 

The brown noddy is 38–45 cm (15–18 in) in length with a wingspan of 75–86 cm (30–34 in). The plumage is a dark chocolate-brown with a pale-grey or white crown and forehead. It has a narrow incomplete white eye-ring. The tail is long and wedge-shaped, and the feet and legs are dark.

The brown noddy is a colonial bird, usually nesting on cliffs, trees, or bushes. It occasionally lays its eggs on the bare ground. The nest itself is usually a platform, made of sticks and twigs.

In their nuptial displays, the female and male bow and nod to each other. Courtship feeding and flights accompany this, in addition to the transfer of a small, freshly caught fish from the male to the female. This bird lays a clutch of one pink cream egg with lilac and chestnut maculation. The egg usually measures around 52 by 35 millimetres (2.0 by 1.4 in). This egg is incubated by both sexes for 33 to 36 days, with each parent incubating for one or two days while their mate is feeding at sea. After the chick hatches, it grows quickly; usually reaching the weight of the parents in three weeks. When it fledges, about six to seven weeks after hatching, it can sometimes weigh more than the parents, although this weight is lost quickly once it starts to fly. At this point, the fledgling is starting to rely on its parents less and less as it learns how to provide for itself.

The brown noddy forages by swooping over the water and dipping down to catch small squid, other molluscs, aquatic insects and fish (such as sardine, anchovies, etc.). It will also feed on fruit, mostly the Screw pine fruit. (Wiki)

Pelagic Birding - Pulau Perak Kedah September 2026

This my inaugural pelagic birding excursion in the month of September 2026. This I hope I will be abled to chalk up my photographed lifers to 600s ....  Yahoo! Pulau Perak here we come. The trip was organised by Lili and XianLim and my gang of 4 signed up immediately. Sadly one of my team member have family issue in the last days and cannot make it. The seat was taken immediately by fellow member.

Photo extract from fellow Blogspot blogger@ JL CyberCapt

Perak Island (Malay: Pulau Perak, Jawi ڤولاو ڤيراق) is a small rocky island which constitutes the western most of Peninsula Malaysia. Its diameter is around 200 meters. The island is a sandstone rock that rises from the Strait of Melaka. It has a steep cliff with a height of more than 100m. This is now the new reference viewing hill point for Islamic Calendar calculation, replacing Tanjung Chinchin in Langkawi. The rock outcrop is protected as an army radar station. Unmanned apparently but remotely monitored from Langkawi. 

Perak Island is part of the Malaysian state of Kedah, administered under Yan district. It is expected to be designated as a marine protected sanctuary. The island is 158 km northwest of Penang, the nearest metropolitan area. From the Jetty Nosh, Sg Petani to Pulau Perak may take 5-8 hours depending on your speedboat detour looking for birds. Apparently it is also good diving & fishing spot.

Now the target  lifer list are many as listed here:-

1.Species of migrant Storm-petrel (Swinhoe's & Wilson's) A pair of this tiny pelagic were sighted by Xianlim & confirmed by WaiLoon but no photo record.

2.Species of  migrant Shearwater (Wedge-tailed, Streaked,Short-tailed, Tropical Sighted Sept 2026 )

3. Brown Booby (resident)

4. Red-footed Booby (vagrant migrant sighted Sept 2026)

5. Terns & Gulls (Bridled lifer)

6. Frigatebirds

Nosh cater to overnight group excursion for a fees of about RM 3000-8000.00 for overnight depending size of boat and  how you bargain or return customer rate. Our  boat seats 10 pax maximum More than that is too crowded. We booked the 50 feet long Battuta boat which is quite new and properly maintained. The boat is fast 35-40knots per hour; powered by twin   250hp Yamaha rotor. For high sea birding it is better to have a bigger size boat. If not it will too rocky to shoot the flying birds.

Everyone is smiling gayfully as everyone got at least a lifer 

Seawaves condition in September-October should be calmer unless thunderstorm  is forecast then we will be in choppy water. Sometime it is good to hunt for Storm-petrels along the edge of the storm.

Our birding modus operandi on the high sea was to approach fishing boats which can  attracts many birds especially terns but alas no gulls. These pelagics hunt for fishes on the surface of the sea unlike the shearwater noody and booby which dive into the water to chase fishes. We are grateful to have 2 good spotter WaiL and XianL to  seach of birds in the vast waters as we move eastward to Pulau Perak. 

Pulau Perak is not in the birding map but of recent news. We hope that more birders will do more  pelagic birding  here to record new vagrants and rare visitors like the Red-footed, Sooty tern and first record of Tropical Shearwater.

Wader - Broad-billed Sandpiper (Lifer 596/688) September 2026

 To chalk more lifers I am spending more effort to go "wadering" in the early migratory period of September 2026 but the birds are still  not aplenty but in hundreds which is good enough still.

I was very sure to have this bird in photo but checking thru my wader list I must  have  left out this lifer posting. My buddy ML also manage to shoot it on the mudflat of Morib southern side of Klang whilst I got in Kapar-Jeram side.

Broad-billed sandpipers are small waders, 16–18 cm long, slightly smaller than the dunlin which reaches 22cm or taller curlew sandpiper 23cm see picture background bird, but larger than the little stint; it has a long, straighter bill with the tip distinctly kinked down, and shorter legs than dunlin. See my picture above you can compare the size of the broad-billed against the curlew sandpiper.

The breeding adult has dark brown upperparts patterned with narrow, pale feather fringes, and white underparts with blackish markings on the breast. It has a pale crown stripe, and a distinctive double (split) supercilium. The bill is slightly broader than in most other Calidris species, with a tip kinked beak. The two subspecies differ in the summer plumage feather fringing, narrow and white in C. f. falcinellus, brighter and rufous-toned in C. f. sibirica. (wiki)

The winter plumage is much paler and greyer above and white below, like a winter dunlin, but retains the distinct head pattern. Juveniles have backs similar to a young dunlin or little stint with pale "tramlines" down the mantle, but the white flanks and belly and brown-streaked breast are distinctive.

The contact call is a dry, whistling dree-it, dree-it and a clicking dik dik, similar to the little stint.

Sighting by ML in Morib September 2026