Avian Photo Gear - Canon EF 800mm f5.6 L & Canon EF 400mm DO L lens For Sale

Okay guys posting 2 different pre-owned super telephoto lens for SALE !!!!!

The first one  is the EF400mm f4 DO Price is going for only RM9,000 net. PM me for details.

The second one is the mighty EF 800mm f5.6 L lens which the owner is asking for RM22,000 only. PM me  your interest or offer - mikebirding@gmail.com and i will revert it to my friend.

Avian Sighting in September 2017 - Juvenile Chestnut-naped Forktail

mikebirder@copyright0917

The fledgling is growing &  maturing handsomely. It was less intimidated and came out to the road kerb to feed. Its parents remain at the back scene. It was an easy shoot at Sg Congkak so do go this next few weeks. Surprisely I was the only bugger there on 3rd weekend September though. Later about 10.00 am  Phillip a  budding birder and Khairil the national mountaineer join me at the port as the bird return every half an hour or so until we left  coming to noon. Khairil was hooked aka racun by me to go into bird photography since he do a lot of nature hiking on a full time basis and thus he will have plenty of opportunity to find rare birds and be a bird guide too.

We talk about his mountain exploits and have a bundle of stories in mountain climbing. In fact he have conquered all the peaks in Malaysia!. I suggested that he publish a book on his experience, exploits and conquest of all the mountain of Malaysia. Any one that can help him please whatsapps him   017 6887969

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Showing of its forktail  above; it is a male juvenile with its whitish throated and black-back. Once mature its throat will turn black but its scaly breast remains.  A female rufous chested flycatcher was the cameo at the port but it was a hit and fly situation. It will perch under the undergrowth of the nearby tree there and come out  when the forktail is not around. If the latter remains too long it would attack the young forktail as if its the master of the port.

Most of the shots were taken at 1/30s or 1/60s ISO auto mode max to 3200. The noise level is still bearable even in heavy crop. Shooting at about 30-40ft away.

As you notice my photos of recent  are somewhat better in resolution and contrasty compared to  my previous Canon 7D so I have  no regrets moving to Fuji X-T2. I am still hoping for a superzoom 400-600mm f4 from Fuji......................

mikebirder@copyright0917

Avian Sighting in September 2017 - Rufous-browed Flycatcher

 The Rufous-browed Flycatcher is  now  a regular appearant  at the   Pygmy Wren-babbler port further down from its regular site at  Hermant's side. With good lighting in the open I managed some improved shots. In fact my best so far shooting at a distance of  25 ft away in the open!

mikebirder@copyright0917

Avian Bird Site 4a/10 - Frasers Hill Richmond Road Port

It was about 2.00pm after my chinese fried rice lunch at the esplanade. Price gone up to RM8.50 a plate with chinese sausage and egg. Surprise to see James ( and  his bird tour group he was leading ) having their lunch in the same restaurant. 

 I decided to pop by the ole hunt at Richmond before returning to KL  

Upon arriving at the port a foursome  of  Chestnut-crowned Laughing thrushes were already waiting together with the Magpie Robins. As I scatter some corn feed and plays the call of the partridge within a minute or so the patriarch bird ascended from the ravine to my surprise.  The other 4 birds follow suit one by one with caution.

So there was myself  alone shooting in the open at a distance of 30-35ft across the road where they have place several concrete drain for seating at your convenient . Photo above saw one of them  squat down ready to  spring back to the ravine when it was  spooked by some movement or sound.

My shooting was cut short when it started drizzling as I bid farewell to them. I was hoping  to  shoot the Emerald Dove at close quarters which do drop by in the early morning and late evening. Until next time........

Avian Sighting September 2017 - Juvenile Black & Crimson Oriole

Saw this Juvenile  BC Oriole chasing its Father  asking for food. It perch for a moment under thick foliage for me to snap some record shots. The speckled buff breast indicate its an immature bird. 

The shot taken in the early morning halfway up the Gap Bukit Fraser Pahang.

This time the Fuji X-T2 at the right setting; nailed the shot but the distance across the ravine at 50 feet struggled for details or higher reso. The foreground foliage  was not  a hindrance to the Fuji focussing.

Avian Sighting in September 2017 - Close encounter of the Grey-bellied Bulbul

This a fine specimen that I encounter in BT in perfect feathers. This is my best shot of the Grey-bellied from my many earlier encounters. Though backlighted the Fuji X-T2 struggle a bit not because of its capability but I forgot to switch to "single' S focusing and not the "Continuous" C mode which have hindered many poor shot for the past weeks. In C mode there is no AF confirmation beep and the focusing hunt in the low light condition bird shoot.

Thank Alan YL for the pointer. I was worried something went utterly wrong with my camera that it has to be sent back to Fuji.

Avian Sighting in September 2017 - Rufous-collared Kingfisher

A "sitting duck" shoot here in Lancang of this beautiful bird in the wee morning last month. You can shoot from behind the "permanent"  hide screen there  at low speed 1/8s at low ISO as the bird perch quite motionless in long period. The Banded Kingfisher was also calling nearby but that bugger seldom appear at the port.

As for me never bother to look into that. I shoot in auto mode.I am a  Lazy bird photog I guess.

Avian Sighting in September 2017 - Golden-bellied Gerygone

I was at Dr Z  hunt in Grik in search of the elusive Great Iora.  It was in vain yet again So I hope a third time lucky when I am back in Ipoh next month or so.

Instead saw this Gerygone which I have last sighted long long time ago i think more than  5-6 years.

Frogmouth 3/5 (Lifer 480) - Gould's Frogmouth

This is a mega lifer for me in the year 2017 which bring my tally to 480. As usual  the news came late to me. Then it was a mad early morning rush to the port with some guidance of an ole acquaintance   The bird was very responsive even in the late morning as other birders were calling it out. Once it is spotted it remains at its perch for umpteen hours for all fellow birders taking the best position to shoot it. Though the hive of moving about of bird photogs below the bird was not perturb unless somebody move too near it to get full frame shot.

I was shooting without my tripod setup but with the help of a fellow birding shoulder to stabilise my shoot at 1/30s ISO3200. The Fuji X-T2 manage to churn out good resolution photos though not as tack sharp as I wanted in the low light condition.

The Goulds is my third Frogmouth and the next target  is the Blyth's  which can be sighted as near as FRIM, Rimba Rekreasi Lentang and Bukit Frasers from KL.

Thanks Rob

Heard there was a recent incident  in  first weekend of September 2017 - a fellow bird photog wanting to flush the bird out by shaking the tree trunk  just because it was roosting too high and in the shadow. Really sad that people are so selfish and unethical. I know you travel so far and may not get another opportunity to shoot it another time  but that is birding my friend .............. be considerate to the bird and fellow birders. Worst case the bird may leave the hunt and so deprieve others to see this beautiful bird.

Avian Sighting in the month of August 2017 - Mountain Peocock Pheasant flaunting

The patriach Male was its usual self  flaunting  its beautiful peocock  tail. Playful. It has competition now as there is another younger  male bird which it would chase the latter away when the ladies are around......

The birds here are now so tame but vigilant to us bird photogs. You can shoot in the open if there is just threesome  of you there.  The young ones are even more callous and they can come closed to 15 ft of you as you shoot behind the screen.

Get out  of my sight......

Nice moves "belakang mari"

Bulbul 25/26 (Lifer no 479) - Sooty-headed bulbul

You will not see this bird much in Malaysia as it is a released bird or escapee.  It would be common to see in Indonesia and Thailand. It has been introduced to Singapore too. I hope like the red-whiskered bulbul it will populate a colony here and we can call it our own. Hei Malaysia is made up  of migrants anyway who later become Malaysians!!!

There are two subspecies one is yellow vented and the other is red vented Both can be found in Thailand. The last known  sighting was in 2015 at Bukit Tinggi too. That time there was a pair So it may be one of the same bird.

Avian Photo Gear - Therm-App camera Review Part I

Today - 08 August 2017 I decided to order this thermal camera made by Opgal Optronics Israel after waited for an offer which eventually happened. I needed a  good  night vision  camera  for finding norturnal and roosting birds in the wee morning or dusk.  I am not so lucky to see  owls,  nightjars even frogmouth as well as camouflage ground birds in the day so hopefully with this thermal camera I can add some more lifers.

I opted for the full gear at an offer price of US Dollar  $1,070.00. The basis camera and hand grip is $999.  I thought the protective carrier case is important and to buy separately it cost much more.

Apparently you can also use it during the day especially in low light condition deep in jungle trails shaded by trees and foliage. Many a times we can hear the bird calling nearby but cannot spot the bird where actually it is standing right infront of you in the shade.

There other brands like Flir and Seek but the resolution and sensitivity is poor . Therm-App by far have the highest resolution  coming in at 384x288 pixels ie half  HD compared to the other brand latest models in 2017. The nearest competitor is the Seek CompactPro has 340x240 pixel resolution at half the price.

For more info go to https://therm-app.com/product/professional-performance-package/ . 

The basic lens is the  19mm which is equivalent to  our human vision ie 55mm wide. I reckon it would be easier to locate a bird as it is proportionate to what you see live. You can opt to bundle purchase the wider angle 6.8mm or the tele 35mm which is not necessary cos  the 19mm is suffice as recommended by Opgal for birding. The night vision camera is to be connected to Android phone. IOS version coming soon. Bigger phone screen will be better and the battery much be huge  as  the camera will draw power from your smartphone.  I used the Samsung A9 pro 6 inches  Amoled display with 5000mAh power capacity. You can take picture and video after downloading and using  their Therm-App Apps from Play Store.

Delivery was by FedEx and it took about 14 days for it to arrive at my doorstep. There was a import gst  tax charged for the item - a good sum of RM315! In all I fork out almost RM5,000.00 for this tiny camera and its gadgets. So worth investing or not ...... we will see in my part II review as I will test it in the field.