“The rain had stopped by the time we reached this well know bird watching site with our good friend. Buntal is well known as a site to watch migrant waders. The village has restaurants on wooden stilts built over the mud flats were you can watch waders while having a good seafood lunch. I am not used to such ‘comfort’ bird watching.
“Birds were still foraging due to the long rain and we saw lots of waders. This Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus variegatus) was busy foraging on the mud flats. Images above show the Whimbrel in flight (left) and landing (right). Some N. phaeopus variegates have white on rump and back.
One of the known feeding styles is probing deep into the mud with long beak to look for worms and crustaceans (see Morten Strange, Photographic guide to Birds of Malaysia & Singapore, 2000) (below left). The Whimbrel is shown with a Terek Sandpiper (Xenus cinereus) for comparison (above right).
Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Buntal Bay Village, Sarawak, Malaysia
Habitat: Fishing village on the coast with mud flats
Date: 13th March 2011
