Followers Do tag here to follow my latest posting

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.

Translate

Search for Malaysian Bird Photos

Tuesday 14 May 2019

Avian Field Report - Bukit Tinggi May 2019

In the second week of May, the ficus tree is again fruiting and starting to ripen. Maybe 10-20 %. Already the frugivorous are gathering here. There were 6-7 species of Barbets to shoot at the venue in the same day. In the coming weekends in May do expect birders to congregate to get a piece of the action.


The common ones are the Sooty and Blue-eared Barbets. The juvenile Sooty has pinkish  beak compared to the adult one. The adult Blue-eared Barbets was collecting 2-3 fruits to feed its brood There were at least 3-5 birds. Occasionally the fledgling in pale uniform coat some times dropped by to ka-poh and look see.

The juvenile Blue-eared.

The third Barbet is the largest of its species Golden-whiskered Barbet (or rather yellow) is dominating. There was a pair of them.  As it is the start of the fruiting period; every barbet comes in to feed at one go. So the shooting can be frantic and any bird is seen in open we just shoot first. The pair were feeding more in the foliages and the only open perched shoot was this one at the canopy.


Next the less common one is the Yellow-crowned Barbet. There was a family of 2-3 with their brood which swoops in to feed in quick moments.

 I think the picture below is a juvenile  Blue-throated Barbet as the throat is still green.

Blue-throated has pale legs 





Barbet no 6 is the Red-throated. It has no brood. I think I only saw one bird but I cannot be sure as the birds come in and out in succession. No clear shot this time.........



Besides Barbets, the bulbuls which are  also frugivorous and you can see several species including my favorite Scaly-breasted and Black-crested were around. The common ones here are the Red-eyed, Striped-throated, Ashy and the Ochraceous.



 



There were at least half a dozen of Ashy
The Ochraceous was plucking to feed its mate or fledgling in the opposite tall trees.



The feeding action shooting of the birds required a shooting speed of 1/125 to 200 is  and ISO must be kept low at 800 to avoid soft images. For my, Fuji set up I was shooting at 1/60s. The lighting was quite good ie overcast except in the later part of the morning the dark rain clouds arrived.

Green Broadbill
 This is first time Joe and I sighted this female or a juvenile Green Broadbill joining the fruit-fest congregation. As you notice the broadbill also feed on the fruits. It came out only twice in the morning It stayed discreetly in the dark area away from the other birds. A Silver-breasted Broadbill did appear but no clear view.



The other first for me is this juvenile Thick-billed Green Pigeon. It did not approach the ficus tree but stayed across it. It was about 60-70 feet away from our port.


 The regular Yellow-vented Green Pigeon only visited a few times during the morning. There is at least a pair but they were a bit skittish. Joe got some open shots compared with mine. Well, that's bird life......



The other cameo  are as below...........
Fire-breasted Fp (female)


Gey-breasted Spiderhunter
White-rumped Munia

Male & Female Greater Leafbird
AF bluebird female. Male missed the opportunity.

The Fuji focussed on the foreground leaves thus the warbler image is blurred out.  Really cannot id it Could be the Dusky ? ....sign

3 comments:

  1. Great photos dear friend. Thank you so much for your hospitality.

    ReplyDelete