Sunday, October 6, 2013

Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher in PJ State

Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher (Ceyx Erithacus) spotted on tar road behind my parked car when I was in PJ State area. I had stopped for lunch that Saturday around 11.30am and had packed lunches for my sister and brother-in-law. Was on my way to their place at Bukit Jalil.


Kingfisher looked dazed and was very still on the tar road so I thought it was injured. I held it gently in my hand and wrapped it with my handkerchief.

Called vet, Dr. Arumugam who had clinic at Bandar Kinrara, Puchong. On the way to his clinic when the kingfisher flew out of handkerchief a few times. Examined it closely a few times to check if wing or feet were injured. It had one of its eyes closed for a while so I thought it may be suffering from an eye injury. But after around 30 minutes of observation which luckily I could do inside my car that was parked at my sister's place, the kingfisher kept wriggling out of my hand and flew all over my car, perching on seat, headrest, rear window and seemed to be eager to fly out.

So I drove to the International Medical College, Bukit Jalil and along a residential road which ended facing green areas of the Golf course.  

Held it gently in my hand for a while to see if it was injured.......
Observed it when it sat on my car doormat above.....
and on the car seat....
wrapped it in my hanky when I was driving.....
kingfisher waking up inside my car when I parked at my sister's place...
Couldn't resist taking more pics of it as it hopped around on my dashboard....
A very contemplative-looking kingfisher next to my Maneko cats.....
It opened its eyes and started wriggling out of my hand so decided to observe it a few more minutes...
Perching at the side of my car window as shown in pics above and below:-
Kingfisher in deep thoughts below:-
On my passenger seat:-
It hopped on my lap for a few minutes......



I held the kingfisher in my hand for last time and released it towards the Golf course. It flew towards the Asoka trees, with pond/stream nearby, as shown in pic below:-

According to "Kingfishers of the World", Knowles & Nitchen, 1995 edition, the Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher belongs to the Alcedinidae family of Kingfishers and this sub-family currently consists of 22 very small to medium-sized kingfishers found in rainforests or close to waterside environments. To find this 14cm beautiful kingfisher in PJ State, standing motionless on the tarred road behind my parked car was really the last place on earth I'd expect to see it. This Living Jewel of a bird that was in car for that precious 30 minutes made my Saturday noontime an unforgettable experience.










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