In The Grass

Of course, not only the White-breasted Waterhens that were photographed, I also brought back photos of few other species home with me on the same visit as well. In a small grassy area close to the place where the waterhens were found, a large flock of Baya Weavers (Ploceus philippinus angelorum) mixing with Scaly-breasted Munias (Lonchura punctulata topela) was also feeding on grass seeds. The former is the less common one and I've always failed to get any decent shot. The weavers are very wary and normally don't let me get close to them. I later spotted 3 old nests located around the large giant mimosa (Mimosa pigra L.) bushes on the other side. There were several female and juvenile birds checking out these nests, so I hid myself among the bush and waited and finally I could grab a few shots of them while coming to the nests.

Juvenile Baya Weaver (Ploceus philippinus angelorum)

Normally they would be avoiding camera like this...

There were lots of other birds in the giant mimoca bush as well, including Streak-eared and Sooty-headed Bulbuls, a pair of Grey-breasted and Plain Prinias, a single Lesser Whistling Duck which was circling around all the time, several Cinnamon and Yellow Bitterns, and another White-breasted Waterhen family, which I also came across a very young chick running on the road. The chick was still fully covered with black down. It quickly ran into the bush where it was later accompanied by its parent.

Streak-eared Bulbul (Pycnonotus blanfordi conradi)

White-breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus) chick

As I was about to leave, I spotted a male Yellow-bellied Prinia (Prinia flaviventris delacouri) singing its heart from the top of the grass. It is definitely another colourful common bird that I can never get bored of looking at. I even took a few shaky handheld videos of it, and after processing through a video editing program, they've become quite acceptable. There was also a young juvenile bird hiding in the same bush as well. I guess it's the fledgling of this handsome male bird. The Yellow-bellied Prinia is a very territorial bird, so I quickly grabbed as many shots as I could and left the area to reduce the stress of the bird.

Male Yellow-bellied Prinia (Prinia flaviventris delacouri)

Below is a video of the bird singing. Feel free to select HD 1080p!