This morning, we headed into the forest. No one was around. It was really nice to have the whole place for ourselves. Our target was Orange-backed Woodpecker which we managed to add that into the list. We also needed the Maroon Woodpecker (which I encountered few days ago), Bamboo Woodpecker, and Green Broadbill. Dipped on those. Well, we shall be getting it sooner or later.

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Just doing my usual birding session but this time I met up with a local bird photographer in Hulu Langat. I started the day much earlier looking for nocturnal species but all that got were calls of Sunda Scops Owl and Large-tailed Nightjar.

Along the famous short stretch of road in the forest, we had encounters with various species including Orange-backed Woodpecker, Maroon Woodpecker, Bamboo Woodpecker, and few others. 

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Today, I went out to Kuala Selangor with Andreas for half-a-day but eventually we spent longer time in the mangrove. The morning drive was not too bad, generally not many cars on the road especially during the fasting month. But since the travel restriction is still enforced, many people have no other places to visit and I noticed more people in the park compared to all my visits in the past 10-20 years. 

Anyway, upon arrival at the park, we were greeted by a troop of Long-tailed Macaque at the front gate and car park. We took our gears out from the car and walked slowly into the trail. A few big trees fell and that allows more sunlight penetration to the forest floor. I was hoping to show Andreas the other species of primate - Selangor Silvered Langur. No sign of it yet but we saw more Long-tailed Macaque. We continued walking and stop whenever we spotted something nearby. Inside the mangrove section, I think we saw more birds and Andreas found other subjects to photograph. After spending 2 hours in here, we made our way back towards the car park and finally we saw a small group of Selangor Silvered Langur but we could not get good photo. There will be another time in the future.

Some of the highlights are shown in the video below. This include Laced Woodpecker, Grey Heron, Crested Serpent Eagle, Greater Flameback, and Chestnut-bellied Malkoha.

 

Strange enough for today. There are not many mosquitoes along the path through the secondary vegetation. I wonder....

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An early drive to the coastal mudflat for a wader watching session. It's been a long time since I go out for waders. I just want a change in environment, so I took the chance to see how the place has changed. Nothing much. It's still the same look all around, unlike in the inland forest which are mostly cleared for housing and other purpose. 

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Travel is still restricted. We can't cross over to Pahang, Negeri Sembilan or Perak. But we still managed to get improved shots of Rufous-collared Kingfisher but most importantly we got our target species today.

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It's been more than 1 year since lockdown due to Covid-19. I need to return to the forest as often as possible to check the condition of the birding sites. I'm glad that the crowd favorite Rufous-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher is back after a long absence. The other highlights for today is a Rufous-collared Kingfisher, Checker-throated Woodpecker and Orange-backed Woodpecker. 

I stayed in the forest from early morning until the weather turns bad. Took a short break with Nescafe, bread and instant noodle. 

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Still confined within Selangor and KL, we try to locate the Black-and-Red Broadbill in the morning and we were rewarded with good views and ample opportunities for photography. We quickly leave the site as soon as we know the crowd is coming into the area. We stopped at the Blue-winged Pitta spot before mid-day break. We end the day with great view of a Brown Boobook.

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Today, it's another 'hunting' trip but instead of woodpeckers, we had put the broadbill as the targets. Since we already had Black-and-Yellow, Black-and-Red, Banded, Silver-breasted, and Dusky, we just need a Green but Bip wanted to improve on his Black-and-Red Broadbill. Dipped on the Green. We found a pair of Black-and-Red but we couldn't get the ideal shots. Soon after, we drove and arrived near KL for Blue-winged Pitta. There was a Grey-capped Woodpecker but it was moving too fast and most of the time very obscure.

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We went back again to hunt for Laced Woodpecker and this time we had better views, better photos and there were male and female! Brilliant!

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Once in a while, I do meet some of the local bird photographers in the field for some uncommon species. Here we were looking for Oriental / Himalayan Cuckoo. Unfortunately until today, we still unable to positively identify this bird since no one has ever record or hear it calling.

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Laced Woodpecker and several other targets were lined up for today's trip which I called it a Woodpecker Trip.

From a brief discussion with Bip, I got an idea what he wanted and I know exactly where to go and how to find the targets. We spent half a day in the coastal mangrove before we retreat to KL.

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It's good to be back up in the hill station. I brought my guest to Fraser's Hill for an overnight birding trip.

We make use of all the time available for birding, so we made several stops along the way. Weather was not the best but still we enjoy every single birds we encountered for the whole trip. 

Some of the birds that we managed to find were Silver-breasted Broadbill, Malaysian Partridge, Malayan Laughingthrush, Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush, Rufous-browed Flycatcher, Large Niltava, Pygmy Cupwing, Bay Woodpecker, Brown Wood Owl, Grey Nightjar, and many more.

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Birding in the forest can be rewarding. Sometimes you get lots of birds while sometimes you get less birds but quality birds, birds that you have wanted to get for a long time. For me, I just want to go out and enjoy birding regardless the numbers are high or low. Most important at the end of the day, I see happy faces among the birders that I go out with. Today is not an exception.

Green Broadbill - Captured from Video (Panasonic Lumix G7 + Panasonic 100-300mm II)

Green Broadbill - Captured from Video (Panasonic Lumix G7 + Panasonic 100-300mm II)

In the morning, while waiting for the birders to arrive, I had good views of Rufous-collared Kingfisher, Little Spiderhunter, Rufous-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher, Grey-throated Babbler, Rufous-tailed Tailorbird, Pin Striped Tit-babbler, and Silver-breasted Broadbill. After meeting up with the birders, nailed a Buff-necked Woodpecker and Grey-breasted Spiderhunter, we drove further into the forest to look for the elusive Blue-banded Kingfisher but we dipped on this one. We tried for Silver-breasted Broadbill too, and unfortunately unable to reconnect with this species. We had a good view of an obliging male Dark-throated Oriole. There was a Chestnut-naped Forktail however, it didn't provide us any chance to getting a photo. Need to return for another trip. Shortly after mid-day, (well, we even skipped lunch), we heard Green Broadbill calling. Fantastic! It perched high up in the tree canopy. Then, I realized there were actually 2 birds! Both male. Eventually both of them, came down low. Very low. Point blank! Back to the stream, we spent some time waiting and scanning, still no sign of the kingfisher. Finally, we went to look for Silver-breasted Broadbill again at 2 spots. Dipped! 

Ok. Called it a day at almost 4pm.    

 

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Sometimes, you noticed some birds are named after a person. But who are they? Are you curious? Let's go through a few:

Charles Hose (1863-1929) English civil servant in Sarawak 1884-1907, naturalist, ethnologist (Calyptomena, syn. Cyornis rufigastra, syn. Dicaeum cruentatum nigrimentum, subsp. Hydrornis caeruleus, Oriolus).  The species or subspecies is as hosei or hosii. 

John Whitehead (1860-1899) British explorer, collector in Borneo 1885-1888, the Philippines 1893-1896, and Hainan 1899 (Aerodramus, Calyptomena, syn. Dicaeum haematostictum, subsp. Dicrurus leucophaeus (ex Buchanga palawanensis Whitehead, 1890), Harpactes, syn. Leptocoma sperata henkei, subsp. Lophura nycthemera, syn. Nisaetus nipalensis, syn. Pachycephala grisola plateni, subsp. Prioniturus discurus, Sitta, syn. Strix seloputo wiepkeni, syn. Trichastoma bicolor, subsp. Turdus poliocephalus, subsp. Turnix sylvaticus, Urocissa, Urosphena, subsp. Zosterops montanus, Zosterornis). The species or subspecies is written as whiteheadi.

Christina Brown Countess of Dalhousie (1786-1839) Scottish plant- and fern-collector, wife of George Ramsay 9th Earl of Dalhousie, Commander in Chief, East Indies (syn. Aegolius acadicus, Psarisomus). The species is written as dalhousiae or dalhousiana or dalhousiei. Look for the latin name of Long-tailed Broadbill.

Lionel Walter 2nd Baron Rothschild of Tring (1868-1937) English ornithologist (syn. Amazona barbadensis, subsp. Arachnothera longirostra, Astrapia, Bangsia, subsp. Bostrychia olivacea, subsp. Buteo buteo, syn. Camaroptera superciliaris, syn. Casuarius unappendiculatus, subsp. Charmosyna pulchella, syn. Cochoa viridis, Crithagra, Cypseloides, syn. Daphoenositta chrysoptera striata, syn. Diomedea exulans, syn. Diphyllodes magnificus, syn. Eos bornea, subsp. Fregata magnificens, subsp. Geospiza scandens, subsp. Geotrygon saphirina, syn. Granatina ianthinogaster, syn. Gygis alba candida, Heliangelus x Eriocnemis, syn. Hemitriccus zosterops, subsp. Heteromyias armiti, syn. Irediparra gallinacea, Leucopsar, syn. Micropsitta pusio, subsp. Muscicapa sibirica, subsp. Nucifraga caryocatactes, ‡syn. Pachyornis elephantopus, syn. Phaethon rubricauda, syn. Phalacrocorax onslowi, subsp. Phasianus colchicus, syn. Pitta sordida, subsp. Pomatorhinus superciliaris, subsp. Psilopogon lagrandieri, syn. Rhea americana albescens, syn. Rhea americana intermedia, syn. Sericulus chrysocephalus, subsp. Serilophus lunatus, syn. Stipiturus malachurus westernensis, syn. Sylvia melanocephala momus, syn. Tanysiptera nympha, subsp. Zosterops minor) (see rothschildii). The species is written as rothschildi. Look for the latin name of Silver-breasted Broadbill. 

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