I met Madam Choo many years ago, back to the days when I was still working in Putrajaya Wetland. She was (still is) a very enthusiastic birdwatcher. She contacted me to arrange for a short trip to Shah Alam after my posting on Facebook. After checking the schedule, she picked today as her first day coming out for birding with me. I picked her up very early in the morning and drove to Shah Alam. We were surprised to see many cars at the parking lots and I suspected there is an event going on, and true enough, another cross country run. We need to find the target birds as soon as possible before the runners cross our path. Our first bird....not a Pitta, but 2 Black Hornbill and a large flock of Purple-backed Starling (Daurian Starling). We continued our walk.....
Blue-winged Pitta shot through the spotting scope with iPhone
I guessed we were pretty lucky that the Blue-winged Pitta and Hooded Pitta came pretty fast. Even a Siberian Blue Robin showed up for a short while. Plenty of spiderhunters around but mainly Grey-breasted and Little. No sighting of Spectacled Spiderhunter today. As we continue our birding, we heard and saw Banded Broadbill. Seen well through the spotting scope. Then, there were Rufous Woodpecker, Raffles's Malkoha, Little Green Pigeon, Thick-billed Pigeon, Pink-necked Pigeon, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Olive-winged Bulbul, Stripe-throated Bulbul, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Blue-throated Bee-eater but the Plaintive Cuckoo was not cooperative enough. Other notable species for this half-day birding were Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker and Large Woodshrike.
Hooded Pitta (shot with Kowa Spotting Scope & iPhone)
Raffles's Malkoha (Kowa Spotting Scope & iPhone)
