Green Magpie

12th March 2011, Fraser’s Hill, Pahang

Improvement shots of the elusive Green Magpie taken at the Telekom  loop around 5.00pm.

Long-Tailed Broadbill

12th March 2011, Fraser’s Hill, Pahang

Record shots in poor lighting. She was moving all over, banging the bug in her beak. ( ISO 2000   f 5.6  1/160s)

Successful Breeding: Crested Goshawk

6th March 2011, Taman Melawati, Selangor

I  was aware of the presence of a pair of Crested Goshawk in Taman Melawati   about a year ago (back in February 2010). Sometimes you would bump into them catching mice near  Taman Melawati Secondary School. I was  curious to  find out more about the pair when I was told by my son Ilyas that he had seen  4 hawks in the trees in front of his school.  Hopped on my  little scooter   for a two-minute cruise to the school . Upon parking the bike I scanned the area and immediately spotted one adult Goshawk  preening herself in the early morning sunshine. Satisfied with the shots I had taken I went to a fruiting fig tree behind the school where Ilyas said he saw a few  what could be Oriental-Pied Hornbills. It was a no show and on my way out of the school compound  ( in front of the guard house)  I looked upwards towards a tree right in the middle of the road divider and saw a large nest; it was hardly 20 ft off the ground. I was told by Pakcik Man, the school guard that there were two young birds which had flown  away from the nest about two weeks earlier and the nest now looked inactive.   Without any high expectation I went back  there at about 5.30pm and to my surprise there they were, a young Goshawk on the nest and an  adult bird (partially hidden behind the tree branch). The fledgling was feeding on something that the adult had brought  to the nest, I assume that the fledgling  was still too young to hunt.   Image quality ( 2 pics above and below) is not very good, tried using a 1.4xTC on the D7000 + 300mm f/4.  I find that the quality of the   cropped images ‘without the TC setup’  is much better. The young bird flew from the nest to a nearby tree, I could see that she still has a lot to learn about flight in general. It was more like gliding from tree to tree than actually flying.

Aaaaargh Missed!

5th March 2011, Bukit Tinggi, Pahang.

Usually what gets posted are the  images of  a frozen moment in time  which one feels is worth sharing. Have you ever wondered about the ‘moments of magic’ that you missed while shooting that couldn’t get posted simply  because the images are only in your head and not on your  disk?  The Aaaar..ghs, the Oh Nos,  the flicking of a finger, these are the common reactions of the missed moments. And in more severe cases, the pulling out of one’s hair,  banging one’s head against a hard object like a tree trunk or a boulder that you’re using as a hide, sound familiar?; or  hyperventilating and looking in the bag for a  sphygmomanometer ! Of course luck has a lot to do with the final outcome but it’s a constant reminder that you never ever  let your guard down when you’re out there or you could be doing one  or all of those things mentioned. This is an example of one such  moment, caught by my brother Mohd Rosman Hassan while WE were shooting TOGETHER at Bukit Tinggi. ( Photos used with permission). Silver Breasted Broadbills     And I came home with this beautiful piece of stick!  And in case you’re wondering…..I DIDN’T DO ANY OF THOSE THINGS….. I’M COOOOL .

Not Legless Creatures: Grey-Throated Babblers

5th March 2011, Bukit Tinggi, Pahang.

The Babblers in the previous series of shots  were  ‘ without legs’ so this time  I made sure they were visible. Not an easy task considering these babblers weren’t exactly  in a cooperative mood.

Dark-Sided Flycatcher

5th March 2011, Bukit Tinggi, Pahang.

One always get into a debate whenever  you see this bird. It’s always difficult to positively ID a Dark-Sided Flycatcher in the field. To  me it’s always difficult to ID them ‘anywhere’! They closely resemble the more common Asian Brown flycatchers that we’ve developed some sort of phobia against uttering the word ‘dark sided’ even when we think it is one. This little fella, well I ‘think’  it‘s a  Dark Sided flycatcher, but  I might be wrong here.

Blue & White Flycatcher

5th March 2011, Bukit Tinggi, Pahang.

Scientific name: Cyanoptila cyanomelana A new arrival in Bukit Tinggi, a beautiful  first-winter male Blue & White Flycatcher. They are scarce and  uncommon passage migrant to this region. It seemed that she preferred the green metal trusses  to perch while waiting for the moths that she was after,  getting a chance to shoot her on a natural perch was few and far  between.