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MikeBirder - Malaysian Birds

Hi

Welcome to my Malaysian Birding Blog. I migrated to blogspot.com as my blog at multiply.com closed shop in 2012. I wish to showcase all Malaysian birds that I have photographed whether here or overseas. My countdown of lifers started in 2005. Coming to Oct 2022 my countdown of lifers photograph has reached
559/688 species of birds of Malaysia in photos.

My shooting gear was a EF400mm f4 DO lens and Canon 7D body which to me is the ideal setup for mobility and bird chasing at that time. Eventhen the weight over my shoulder is more that 5.5 kg. As of June 2016 I have also acquired a Fuji XF 100-400mm OIS lens to complement my travelling cum birding trip overseas. My Fuji X-T2 went kaput recently and I upgraded to the X-T5 in 2023 ; the weight over my shoulder is much lighter now by 30%. In December 2018 I acquired the Nikon Coolpix P1000 as supplementary camera for distance shooting of 3000mm.
Fuji have finally made available their new XF 200-600mm lens which I yet to decide to spend another RM10,000. As for Fuji body I will stop with X-T5 36megapixel ..........

I am a weekend birder. Do feel free to drop me a line at mikebirding@gmail.com and I see whether you can tag along in my outings. My usual day trip is just an hour ride away to Hulu Langat, Lancang, Kemensah, Krau, Awana, Hulu Kali, Gombak Ole Road, Fraser's Hill , Bukit Tinggi and KSNP & Coastal Sg Janggut Jeram side of the coast . Overnite trip to Merapoh & Cameron, Air Hitam and further north to Kuala Sidim is a seldom affair but for lifer we travel. Panti in Johor is another good birding site that I yet to go. Then there are the Borneo birds of Sabah and Sarawak of Malaysia which I seriously much go to chalk up more lifers. This I did in 2018 to Sepilok Sandakan and Kinabalu Park. Next Danum and LahatDatu.......

WARNING Birding is an addiction once you started its hard to stop. The wifey and children are now birding widow and orphan.

ALL PHOTOS IN THIS BLOG ARE COPYRIGHT OF MIKEBIRDER. KINDLY SEEK PERMISSION FROM THE OWNER IF YOU want to use them for commercial purposes.

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Thursday 28 December 2017

TREEPIE - Bornean Treepie (Borneo Endemic Lifer 486)


This is my first Treepie  that I have encounter. The other one to see is the Racquet-tailed Treepie in Perlis Chuping side near to Thai Border. It is often seen in small flock accompanying other birds like the Bornean Green Magpie 


It is fairly common in most mountain ranges in the northern and central parts of Borneo. It mainly occurs between 300 and 2,800 metres above sea-level, being most common in valleys and foothills at the lower end of that range. It inhabits forest, forest edge, bambo thickets and scrubland and is sometimes seen in cultivated areas. It forages in the tree canopy, alone or in small groups, searching for small fruit, seeds and large insects such as beetles and cockroaches. It can become tame, visiting villages to feed on scraps.


Little is known about its breeding habits. The nest is shallow, built of fine twigs and placed in a low tree. The eggs are greenish-white with brown markings concentrated in a ring at the wider end.


Adult has blackish-brown forehead, lores and cheek, crown to nape and rest of upperparts silvery grey, wings black with white wing patch at base of primaries. Long uppertail feathers grey with broad black terminal band. Neck and rest of underparts fawn brown. Black under-tail feathers are of progressive length and are much shorter than uppertail feathers. Iris reddish brown; bill, legs and feet black.

The Bornean treepie is a noisy bird with a variety of loud, explosive calls including a bell-like whistle and various grunting and chattering calls. It is able to mimic the calls of other birds.

Wednesday 27 December 2017

THRUSH - Bornean Whistling Thrush (Borneo Endemic 485)






This is the first bird I saw in Kinabalu Park PowerStation post in the wee morning. The resident bird stayed for sometime hunting for moths and insects on the road and fringe. As usual it would not let me come near to it. I could only get these shots from afar and in dimmed lighting.

Nevertheless I am still happy for this lifer.


T


MUNIA - Dusky Munia (Borneo Endemic Lifer 484)




This is an endemic bird of Borneo. My sighting  was a pair of Dusky Munia not like the  other species which are gregarious and flock together in numbers. I would chalk it as a lifer. The bird was shoot in Ranau Sabah behind a hill cropped of a housing estate.

In the month of December it was a bit wet and cold. I was just birding from the back patio of ...my inlaw house. There was also a pair of Black-headed Munia
  

Tuesday 26 December 2017

DRONGO (7/9) - Bornean Grey Drongo (Borneo Lifer 483)

In the month December 2017 my family went to Sabah to visit my sis-inlaw in Ranau about 30 km after Kinabalu Park passing Kundasang. In one of outing to Mahau Waterfall near Tambunan we saw many pairs of Ashy Drongo perch on the electrical lines along the road.

This is a subspecie (Leugenis) Ashy Drongo of Borneo ad south Peninsula. I would consider it a lifer which have distinct features namely paler color  and white eyed patch in comparison to the coastal swamp land of Selangor or Perak (Mouboti)











They are found active in the morning in the open sailing for flying  insects. There were many pairs along the road to  Mahau Forest Reserve.  Later passing back thru the same road in the late morning they were not sighted anymore.  Perhaps they have move to the shadier of the jungle fringes to avoid the heat or the insects have gone hibernating.