A Malaysian Birder: December 2011

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J1 Field Test Part 3 - Up in Genting Highlands

Posted by wengchun Saturday, December 31, 2011 Labels: 300mm, flycatcher, hornbill, laughingthrush, minla, nikon j1, sibia

Not been to Ulu Kali for 2 months now, but yesterday morning trip was sort of the best chance I had to test the Nikon J1 and FT1 adapter. Sigh, there aren't many birds that came out for us, only a few species but they came too close to where me and my birding friends.

Calls were heard from species like Golden-throated Barbet, Common Green Magpie, Snowy-browed Flycatcher, Pygmy Wren-babbler, Lesser Shortwing, and much more. However, we only sighted a Common Buzzard, Mugimaki Flycatcher, Spectacled Laughingthrush, Malayan Laughingthrush, Wreath Hornbill, Mountain Leaf Warbler, Yellow-browed Warbler, Javan Cuckooshrike, Long-tailed Sibia, Barred-throated Minla and Large Niltava.

J1 Field Test Part 2

Posted by wengchun Friday, December 30, 2011 Labels: 300mm, black-thighed falconet, dove, FT1 adapter, nikon j1, oriole, woodpecker

Ever since I got the Nikon J1, I have not use a third party lens for field testing. Therefore I decided to give it a go today. Equipped with a Tamron 180mm f3.5 + FT1 adapter + Nikon J1, I went out looking for butterfly. Instead, I got a few birds. I'm an opportunist so, why not shoot the birds with the setup? Though the AF doesn't work, I can still focus on the subject manually.

Next, after office hour, I stopped at my "not-so-new-anymore" birding ground for the usually birds like Black-thighed Falconet and Common Flameback.

A Quiet Morning in KL

Posted by wengchun Monday, December 26, 2011 Labels: 300mm, bee-eater, dove, kingfisher, magpie robin, nikon j1

After a long absence from this park, I decided to make a brief stop this morning with my new Nikon J1 mounted with a FT1 adapter and Nikon 300mm f4. Surprisingly, not many birds were sighted this morning and many were far away although trees are still fruiting. The fig tree that attracts the Coppersmith Barbet is still fruiting vigorously. sigh...

Then, a few commoners like Oriental Magpie Robin, White-throated Kingfisher, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, and Zebra Dove came close for some test shots. Here there are...

Found my Missing Digiscoping Adapter!

Posted by wengchun Monday, December 19, 2011 Labels: bangi, digiscoping, egret, sparrow, stork

I finally found the misplaced digiscoping adapter. It was hidden under the car seat all this while. Today, when passing by a small pond, there were 41 Painted Storks so I decided to stop for a digiscoping session. Darn...I forgot that I was wearing a striking colored shirt!!! So, these big guys doesn't allow me to shoot - they flew off as I tried to get close to them. But the Eurasian Tree Sparrow perched for a few seconds and here are a few resized, slightly cropped and USM image.

Apart from the 41 storks and a few ET sparrow, there were also 4 Little Egret, 5 Cattle Egret, dozens of Javan and Common Myna, House Crow, 2 Pipit, 6 Peaceful Dove and 1 Brown Shrike.

Asian Brown Flycatcher and Gerygone

Posted by wengchun Friday, December 9, 2011 Labels: 300mm, flycatcher, gerygone

During this period of time, one will never miss the sighting of Asian Brown Flycatcher. Highly adaptable and found in almost all habitat of various elevation. Here is one sighted in Cyberjaya yesterday afternoon with the only gerygone species in Peninsular Malaysia, Golden-bellied Gerygone.

Bird Magnet: Macaranga gigantea

Posted by wengchun Labels: 300mm, bulbul, myna, starling, sunbird, triller, white-eye

The Mahang tree (Macaranga gigantea) is really a good magnet and proved to be a good spot to shoot bird at least for the 2 hours (2-4pm) when i was there. This tree in the garden is situated not too far from my home.

Park my car next to the tree and waited. One species after another. A flock of purple-backed starling started the fruit feast, then they flew away after a flock of myna came over. Then, the starling came back again. During the quiet period, a few yellow-vented bulbuls and a lone pied triller took their turns to taste the fruits. That's not over yet, the starling came back again. Next, came the Oriental White-eye. A few Olive-backed Sunbird and Scarlet-backed Sunbird were in the vicinity and perched on a rubber tree behind. Did not see them joining the 'banquet' though. 4 Ashy Minivet were there too but only perched on the bare branches and flew away a few minutes later.

Purple-backed Starling

Javan Myna

Pied Triller

Oriental White-eye

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About Me

Hi! I love watching birds, taking photographs (and video), and guiding people through nature. Welcome to my blog, A Malaysian Birder. I'll be sharing all the great birds I see and the photos I take right here on this blog. I got into bird watching when I was in university studying parks and recreation management. I used to work in parks and gardens, teaching people about the environment and organizing birding walks. Whenever I go out to look for birds, I always bring my binoculars and spotting scope to help me see them up close. Sometimes, I even bring a microphone to record their calls. It's always an adventure out in the field!

Bird Watching Tours

There are quite a number of birding groups from Australia, United States and United Kingdom that come over to Malaysia annually visiting the traditional key sites that include Kuala Selangor, Fraser's Hill and Taman Negara. There is not doubt that the 3 sites are the preferred birding sites in Peninsular Malaysia. So if you are coming over for birding and intend to hire a guide, you can send me an email at nature2pixel@gmail.com and go over to posting section to view photos and summary of trip reports with testimonials from past clients.

Besides following the traditional route, I also customized trip according to clients needs, preference and interests. So there are some local patches that I can introduce to all bird watchers, digiscopers and photographers.

Here are a few of my favorite birding spots around Kuala Lumpur.

• Kuala Selangor - the habitats include mangrove forest. Good for woodpecker and kingfisher. Some amount of walking is required on flat terrain.

• Fraser's Hill - one of the traditional key sites for birding in Peninsular Malaysia and still the best place to visit. Elevation between 900 - 1200m above sea level. The species found here are different from the city of Kuala Lumpur. Targets may include Trogon, Woodpecker, Partridge, Laughingthrush, Leafbird, Spiderhunter and Sunbird.

• Hulu Langat - one of the most visited birding spot due to its proximity from the city centre. Walking is required but on easy terrain in this lowland forest. Sometimes need to wait at fruiting trees. Generally a good spot for Broadbill, Kingfisher, and Babbler.

• Bukit Tinggi - An alternative spot if you do not want to spend too long hours travelling to Fraser's Hill. It's about 900m to 1,000m above sea level and you get a combination of lowland and highland species at this elevation. Walking is required but just a short distance. Traditional known for Broadbill, Hornbill, Partridge and Pheasant.

• Gombak-Ampang - Generally recommended for photographers targeting Blue-eared Kingfisher and at times during fruiting season, it attracts many species of Bulbul and Barbet. Located in urban area.

• Putrajaya - If you are staying in any hotel in Putrajaya, it's a good place to look for herons, egrets, bittern and storks.

A Malaysian Birder

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J1 Field Test Part 3 - Up in Genting Highlands