AVIAN Sighting - Speckled Piculet (Female)

This only my  second encounter of this tiny  woodpecker in Genting Highland. This time is a female. It was following a birdwave of minivets ,golden babblers and other species which I did not bothered to identify as I was engrossed in shooting this  rare sighting.

 The female Speckled have a olived green forehead whilst the Male has a rufous to reddish one. you can see the Male in my other posting in "Piculet"


It was unfortunate for me that the bird was high in the canopy about 25ft. As the bird wave was travelling on along the hill slope and not the ravine.


For its size at about 4" its do not go for big trunk to peck for grubs but  twig size of less than an inche thick. I am very curious to  know its uncanny skill where to find grub in the branch....... until you see it pluck the larvae out you be amazed.

PRINIA 3/4 - Grey-breasted Prinia

My young sifu says it is likely the rufescent but I will still stick  to my id as the grey-breasted prinia. It is not recorded as a Malaysian bird in Robson's but Endemic Guide listed it as one.

The yellow color of beak tell you it is a juvenile or subadult.  I have compared to some pictures from "oriental bird club" images which kind of favor the latter. I hope to go and get better shot of an adult bird  to be conclusive.

The Rufescent Prinia usually have whitish uniform breast till the belly. At times its has buff  tinge to its body side.

 It also have distinct supercillum (eye-brow) which is not seen here.

Its mantle is not olive enough for a sub-adult Rufescent

Rufescent's tail has also pale whitish tip which is not seen here.

The contrast of the whitish throat and a grey banded breast  which is prominent in the photos points me to my conclusion.

I will leave it to the other expert says Thanks for viewing

The bird was shot in high elevation of 1000m in Bukit Tinggi Pahang

GROUND BIRD 9/16 - Ferruginous Partridge

The beautiful Ferruginous Partridge is back in the old hunt. Many of us birder (& birding starters) who missed out this rarity last year will be pleased to know that the bird is back. The bird is timid & skittish for the several days I was there. It would scuttered back into the undergrowth by the loud shutter clicks and worse  multiple flashing been used. We hope fellow birders do not use flash or play its call too often (Once in 30-45min). For the 3 days encounter with the bird it may comes out only once or not at all. If  it is not intimidated by us it may come out 3-4 times.

A hide will be preferred against camo netting as if its see any sudden movement behind ; it will get scared and it eventually will not show up for the entire morning later. Smoking is another deterrant  and we should refrain from smoking during the wait. Hide must be placed about 35-40 feet away and anything closer it will not frequent the open. Mind you the bird is always there and spying on us so it is best to stay quiet in your hide most of the time. The peak time for its appearance is from 7.15-8.45am. If it do decide to come out later than that will be a bonus!

So far fellow birders have been very cooperative in keeping the place clean by removing their own rubbish from the site. Keep it up guys. Good Luck and Happy Shooting.

And yes guys try to be early and set up before 6.30-7.00 am and not come later  and disrupt the peak hour shooting session (See above).  Go early to Colmar Resort reception to buy your bird pass at RM13 pax before the guard allows you to go up the hill. Staying in can go up free though.

The Ferruginous Partridge (Caloperdix oculeus) is a species of bird in the Phasianidae family. It belongs to the monotypical genus Caloperdix. It is found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests upto 950m . It is threatened by habitat loss. The only place I  know in peninsula Malaysia that it can be seen is  in Bukit Tinggi and it is rarity to see.

The male and female looks alike except the male has a overgrown spur or sometimes 2 spurs. The female have none or  single short one.

All photos were shot using ole faithful Fujifilm X-E2 and the EISA 2016-17 “Best Compact System Zoom Lens; the  XF100-400mm OIS. I was shooting at low speed of 1/30-60 f5.6 ISO3200 for most of the  photos here. Again for birds in the open and BIF the Fuji set up is just dandy so much so this lens is a keeper . With the latest X-T2 coming I am drooling exciting .................... SL Foo what say you.

All photos are @mikebirder copyright

AVIAN VIDEO 16/100 - Mating Dance of a Mountain Peocock Pheasant

This photo is the copyright @ lohminglee  with his permission. No download is allowed without the blogger permission

In August  2016 we have the opportunity to witness a beautiful display of this magnificent resident in Bukit Tinggi. There are  two adult male wooing a female. Like any other  peocock the male will fans its beautiful tail which somewhat dazzle the female. It will also bring the biggest grub in this case the biggest corn meal and place in front of it and if the female like it it will accept the offer. It will boogie its tails left & right whenever the female is close by (picture below). This ritual was happening for the past weeks  Eventually the following weekend we were there the dance had stopped. We think  the successful male got the female companion/partner and the other male was seen coming out alone.

While I was shooting the video MingLee managed to shoot the "award winning" photo as above. Please do not breach the copyright of the photographer. ENJOY!

I just got the backside for crying out loud!!!!!