Square-Tailed Drongo-Cuckoo In Bidadari

I went back to Bidadari to hope to find the elusive Malaysian Hawk Cuckoo, after seeing it so many times in the social media and I did not really spot it last time I was there.

But I managed to observe a Square-Tailed Drongo-Cuckoo (a mouthful, and I only know the name after consulting an expert) perching on a tree and skilfully catching worms from the grass patch below. It caught about 5 worms during the 30-odd minutes I as observing it, and most of the worms were fat and juicy. I did not even know they were there! Not observable to the human eye I suppose.

So this post will be mostly of this bird. It was pretty "cooperative". I inched myself towards it cautiously, fearing that it would fly away, but it did not! I managed to get a good distance and some good shots of it.

The Cuckoo with one of its catch.

I was actually mesmerised by its beauty. It was not an entirely black bird, and somehow it looks elegant and graceful to me. Maybe it was quiet, that's why. 

It has some green and blue tint on its features. 

The Square-tail Drongo-Cuckoo. 

Other pictures taken because I thought they looked nice.

I always find and amuse myself with Changeable Lizard that are in weird positions. Here's one.

High up on one of the supposedly dead tree I saw this bee perching like this. 

While walking, I noticed something big flew near me. It was an insect and I thought it was a moth or sort. On close inspection (very close, these guys are good at camouflaging), it was this mantis.

All in all, it was a good trip and I enjoyed myself thoroughly, although I still do not have the luck to see the Malaysian Hawk Cuckoo.

Sidenote, probably a moment of folly. I saw many other birds like the Collared Kingfisher and Brown Shrikes but I could not find them on my memory card, even though I saw them on my camera preview. Oh well.

~Huat