Dark-Necked Tailorbird: Up Close & Personal

22nd May 2011, Kemensah, Selangor

What can I say about this guy……. he’s a happy chap. He was calling and calling and calling……

The Quickest Way To Her Heart Is Through Her Stomach: Blue-Eared Kingfishers

22nd May 2011, Kemensah, Selangor

These birds have been receiving a lot of attention lately. At last I found a bit of time to actually sit down and  observe their behavior in their natural habitat. This is what I saw…. A young female resting  on her favourite perch…a bamboo overhanging a pond. The male came with a small fish  and  started moving closer and closer towards the female.   He gestured with his head indicating that he was offering  the fish to her. She took the fish .  The shutter speed  ( 1/125s) was not fast enough to freeze the movement of the heads at the moment when the fish was passed to the female. Gulp. The male was probably  thinking ‘Ok,  was that fish enough to get her undivided attention?’.   Both birds started diving into the pond below to clean themselves. The male flew off after igniting the booster rocket! The young female left but she  came back  later with a sizeable fish between her bill and… she had the whole fish for herself !

Little Spiderhunter

2nd May 2011, Kemensah, Selangor

A confiding Spiderhunter making her round of the banana trees, getting her supply of fresh juicy nectar.

Female Bamboo Woodpecker

2nd May 2011, Kemensah, Selangor

A female Bamboo Woodpecker boring a hole in a young macaranga tree.( see the male). This particular area has yielded a few reasonable shots of this shy  woodpeckers.

Male Brown-Throated Sunbird

2nd May 2011, Kemensah, Selangor

It’s been some time since this species receive it’s due attention from me. He was there on the branch… just begging to have his pictures taken.

Black & Red Broadbills

2nd May 2011, Kemensah, Selangor

The pair  of  resident Black & Red Broadbills were very active now that it is breeding season. No, it is not a new subspecies endemic to Kemensah! She’s had just caught an insect with long feelers.

Bronze Drongo

7th May 2011, Old Pump House Road, Gohtong Jaya, Pahang

Scientific name: (Dicrurus aeneus) It may look like a bronze statuette of a bird but I can assure you that this is the real deal. There is no clear distinction between the sexes in this species so I’m not sure if  it’s a male or a female. She was sunning herself in the morning light and the side lighting accentuated her beautiful bronze like  feathers around her throat and breast.

Hill Blue-Flycatcher

7th May 2011, Old Pump House Road, Gohtong Jaya, Pahang

Scientific name: (Cyornis banyumas) They were calling loud and clear. Managed to locate the pair after a brief scan of the area. My previous sighting of this species was at Awana on a foggy morning so these are my improvement shots. The male   The female

Blue Nuthatch

7th May 2011, Old Pump House Road, Gohtong Jaya, Pahang

Blue Nuthatches were out in numbers, moving up and down the tree branches. Most of the time you would see them  with their heads towards the ground.

Pygmy Wren-Babbler

7th May 2011, Old Pump House Road, Gohtong Jaya, Pahang

Scientific name: Pnoepyga pusilla It was semi-darkness;  that’s how I would describe the condition I was shooting in. This tiny bird loves this dimly lit  and moist environment. When she finally emerged  I could only see a dark object ( the bird) moving around in the dark. Most of the time I wasn’t sure what the camera  was focusing on, it was a case of  fire & hope that at the end of the session there would be something ‘useable’ on the card. After an hour long wait, these are the results. Out of 40 odd photos, only  4 are worth posting. The exposures have been adjusted substantially  so that the bird would  actually be visible! This is a pale morph adult, she measures between 7.5-9.5cm. Exif data: ISO 1600, f/4, 1/40s ( no flash)   Focus was  a real issue since I found out later that the camera was selecting anything  that was brighter than the bird. I got lucky with the first two photos when the focus was spot on.

Adult Male Tiger Shrike

30th April 2011, Gunung Ulu Kali, Genting Highlands, Pahang

Most Tiger Shrikes that we see here are the first-winter birds and there’s always some excitement out  in the field when an adult is sighted.

White-Browed Shrike-Babblers

30th April 2011, Gunung Ulu Kali, Genting Highlands, Pahang

I have seen these birds on many occasions but  never an opportunity for  any photographs. The male has darker plumage, more pronounced eyebrows and more colourful than the female.       Not a very good shot of the female bird.

Rufous-Winged Fulvetta: Again

30th April 2011, Gunung Ulu Kali, Genting Highlands, Pahang

I only managed one shot of this bird during my previous visit to Ulu Kali. This time she was more sympathetic and allowed me to have a few more  improvement shots.     The colours look paler in the last photo, I  wonder if it’s a different bird.

Parenthood : Mountain Bulbul

30th April 2011, Gunung Ulu Kali, Genting Highlands, Pahang

An adult Mountain Bulbul feeding a juvenile. Birds are created to be  responsible  towards their young…. sadly we can’t say the same about us human.

24 Carat: Golden Babbler

30th April 2011, Gunung Ulu Kali, Genting Highlands, Pahang

The birds may not be that rare but to me these are precious! The reason being, they are so difficult to  obtain, like gold dust……. well almost ! Hyperactive these birds would give you a tough time before they surrender their images

Streaked Wren-Babbler: Can never get enough

23rd April 2011, Gunung Ulu Kali, Genting Highlands, Pahang

I just love Wren-Babblers, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of shooting  this little bird. They look like some prehistoric bird with the scaly feathers on their back.. Most of the time you would only see them when they  suddenly jump out from the bushes/ ferns . This time I managed to capture them before they start hopping on the ground like kangaroos.   As usual, picking moths which had fallen to the ground.