Avian Sighting December 2021 - Coucals

I manage to see the Common Lesser and Greater Coucal at the same stretch of a canal in the Padi Field of Chui Chak. Well you will be shooting from a close distance of 25-30 ft. Those who are having 600mm tele-lens will be having potrait shots lol.

In central Peninsula we cannot get the Short-toed Coucal It can be seen in the southern part ie Panti Johor.

Lesser Coucal

 

Greater Coucal

Reed Warbler 3/4 - Manchurian Reed Warbler (Lifer 548/688)

Manchurian Reed Warbler

 A lifer  in Chui Chak Langkap Perak to end 2021 bird year.

This is a medium size Warbler (upto 14.5cm) compared to the larger local Oriental coming in at 20cm long. It is a shy bird, and poorly understood; this Reed Warbler breeds in the remote marshlands of northeastern China and Russia and winters in drier, grassier habitats in Southeast Asia. I manage to see the Rusty-rumped Warbler, Oriental RW and the Black-browed at the same  stretch of wild hedge. What a crowd.

Warm brown overall with a clean-cut whitish brow and throat; brow extends well behind the eye. Manchurian’s brow broadens behind the eye instead. 

Oriental Reed Warbler is much larger, with a weaker head pattern. Rambling jumbled song consists of high-pitched warbling notes and sharp clicks and rattles; The Manchurian has a more pleasant-sounding than that of Oriental Reed Warbler.

Black-browed Reed Warbler

Oriental Reed Warbler

 

Rusty-rumped Warbler;I was hoping it was the Lanceolated

Bulbul 1/26 Ochraceous Bulbul - Lost posting / listing

 

Avian Report Bukit Tinggi October 2021 - Birding to restart with lifting of MCO for interstate travel in Peninsula Malaysia 11 October 2021

 My Fuji XT-2 was returned from YL without any repair. The nearest Fuji Service Centre is now based in Singapore and it cost a bomb just to repair my camera  flash mount of about RM1000. So I say forget it and please return it as I can live with it without flash. It still function but in bright background open field birding; my picture exposure can go hairwire with burnout pictures I do not really know why. 

You better think twice if you want to invest in Fuji gear as there is no local service centre in KL anymore. Maybe I will be moving to Olympus since I was given a OM-D1 Mk3  as a parting gift. But still waiting for an used 300mm f4 lens. 

Anyway  got back my camera in time for a half day recce to Bukit Tinggi  Pahang just to restart birding  again. I am now retired and I can bird during the weekdays without the tourist crowd. With less crowd in Bukit Tinggi there were many birds to see. 

The highlight of trip is the close encounter of a family of Dusky Broadbills.  I was shooting handheld at 1/60s and did  not expect any sharp photos.

On the way up I met Wendy and her Penang-kia friend Nancy and Alex who were  shooting this Treeswift at close range of 30-40 ft. Rarely you can shoot them so close. There are plenty of them along the road side.

The female  Orange-breasted Trogon pay us a visit but the female was too shy to come close as we were rather rowdy down at the trail. 

At the Ayam port I was hoping to see some migrants but no thrush, robin, flycatcher or any rarity in the month of second half of October. The resident peacock pheasant, white-rumped sharma,  a skirtish rufous-browed flycatcher & Ochraceous bulbul were all we saw there. Surprisingly they are very shy the whole morning coming out only once or twice.

Avian Gear Review April 2021 - Viltrox Mount Adapter EF-FX2 M2 - Rating 2.5/5 stars

 My fuji XT-2 apparently YL have to send down to Singapore for service. Malaysia no longer have the facility. WTF. Since I cannot wait any longer I bought myself an adapter/converter to use my old faithful EF400mm F4 DO lens on my new Olympus OMD-1 MarkIII. As I cannot justify the crazy price of the Metabones (RM2,500), I opt for the second-best the Viltrox M2 at a price of RM500. 

The focus distance is reduced by a multiple of 0.71 when my lens is mounted so my EF400mm becomes 380mm and enhances to F2.8. So if I need a better distance I have to invest in a teleconverter 1.4 

The Pied Fantail shot at 25-30ft was rather soft and need some post sharpening and enhancement. Even then no clear feathers to see.

So far in the real world bird photography using the Viltrox adapter, my general review of the combination of my above set up is a 2.5/5  stars rating.  I did not expect so poor resolution from the combination. Contrast was not there. Colors was just lame.  Focusing speed was not tact fast enough with plenty of hunting when shooting in low light condition.

Even stepping down to F8 or F9 I still cannot get much resolution out of my OMD-1 mark III. ISO was kept low of Asa800. So my rating is a poor rating for the moment until I do further test with other lenses. 

Meanwhile WK Liew have more success with his EF 500mmf4 on his Fuji X-T4 using a Fringer adapter. Maybe it is Olympus smaller sensor or my DO lens is not sharp enuf ...... I got to try out his lens to make sure I am wrong.

As a comparison my XF100-400 with my XE2 body (16mp sensor) fair even much better as shown below in term of feather details. Jpeg without post processing. 

Fuji XF100-400mm with XE-2 body.

Latest - Apparently the Viltrox is only compatible for certain Ef lenses  and my EF 400mm DO L lens is not one of them. My fault for not bringing along my lens to test but used another lens from YL.  So it is very important to do testing with the actual lens you want to use. I hope Viltrox can come out with the update of the firmware asap if not my $$$ is burned. 

Avian Nesting April 2021 - White-breasted Woodswallow

I was surprise to see a nest being constructed on the metal bracing of a electrical post in the open rather than in a tree. It will collect fibrous husk from the nearby coconut tree besides roots and twigs to make its nest.

Photos taken with Olympus OMD1 mark iii using a EF 400mm DO lens and Viltrox adapter. Shooting in good morning lighting but even stepping down to f7.1/8 I still cannot get much better resolution. I definately have to abandon the idea of the setup and return to a Canon body.

 

Avian Photo Gear - Rumor has it Fuji XF 150-600mm lens is coming

 Well fuji has announced that other Lens makers like Tamron and Sigma can now get propriety license to make lenses for Fuji. How soon I don't know but I think soon. I hope Sigma & Tamron would allow those existing owners to bring in their lens in Canon or Nikon mount for conversion to Fuji EF mount.

Rumors have it that Fuji is finally coming out with a new Bigmama. This is good news for birders. if it is priced right and affordable below RM12,000 or less. I will definitely get one if so. I will be waiting for it in 2022! To be lightweight it has to be in f5.6-6.3 similar to Sigma  unit. I hope Sigma & Tamron would allows those exisitng owners to bring in their lens in Canon or Nikon mount  for conversion to Fuji EF mount.

Waterbird - Pond Heron 3/3 - Indian Pond Heron (Lifer 547)

Satisfying moment in the month of April 2021 as I finally close the chapter on Pond-heron of peninsula Malaysia as the final bird is now in hand. Thank Sian.

The birds are there to see whether in Muar Johor,  Melaka or Sekinchan Selangor its a matter of the going out to look for it. The month of April many pond herons will molt to their  breeding plummage. When they are breeding their legs will turn bright red. Some are late in changing their feathers colors like the one pictured below. I am almost sure it is an Indian pond heron too

Indian Pond Heron are visitors from India subcontinent Sri Lanka and Burma side. Adults in breeding plumage have a dark reddish-brown back that contrasts with a yellowish head, neck, and breast. In non-breeding plumage, they are virtually indistinguishable from non-breeding Chinese Pond-Heron or Javan for that matter. In-flight, adults appear surprisingly white due to their strikingly white wings, underparts, and tail. Although typically solitary, large numbers often gather where food is plentiful. 

These photos were shot with my Nikon P1000 at 3000mm focal distance at a range of 250 ft away in the middle of the padi field. Pictures are rather soft with plenty of sharpening required. During the padi planting season you can  only drive along the track and scan the water canals and walk bunds for the birds. Best to shoot from your car.

Their diet comprises mainly of frogs fish crustaceans and insects depending on the season. During my encounter it was on a dry bund  and has the uncanny sense to pluck out grubs from the grassy muddy ground. This happen in the morning. By 10 am it disappeared into the padi field.

Pelagic 8/30 TERN - Little Tern ( Lifer 546) April 2021

Terns often roost or stay inland or near coastal lines of marshland and manmade waterscapes like an abandoned fish ponds and tin mining ponds. 

It was a single bird together with a lonely Whiskered. I guess many of them have started to fly home.   The features of a dark eye mask; yellow beak with a black tip and its orange legs spells it has now changed to its breeding plumage with a white forehead. It's considered small at 25cm long but actually the Whiskered's size.

Reed Warbler 2/3 April 2021 - Black-browed Reed Warbler (lifer 545)

Shot in 1/800s still cannot freeze the bird in BIF

This one of the migrant Reed Warblers you can see in peninsula  Malaysia. For the past 10 years I have tried looking for it umpteen times in Malim Nawar and Langkap but in vain. Only this year I was lucky  to tick this lifer thanks to Sarav's tip off of its location. The bird is around still in the month of April to my surprise. 

The resident Oriental Reed Warbler

The resident Reed Warbler is the Oriental Reed Warbler. Photo above.

Black-browed is the common visitor

This fellow is quite friendly here as it fly in and out from the undergrowth shrubs and at the pond cattails reeds. Whenever its big cousin is there it will not come out. This is because the Oriental is bigger and stoutly body built - about 20cm as compared to the Black-browed coming in at less than 15cm or 6 inches. 

The Black-browed have a rather uniform black crown stripe & prominent white supercilium whilst its eye stripe is inconspicuously pale. Its beak is short and sharp.

The other migrant Reed Warbler you can see in Malaysia is the Manchurian which looks very similar to the Black Browed but with longer beak and more stout in size.

Meanwhile the Javan PH and Rusty-rumped Warbler have left the port for home I guess . Bon Voyage see you next year.....

Most of the time it will sulk behind the undergrowth like this. you must be ready for a shot when it come out in the open 

These photos were taken with a Olympus OMD-1 mark III & EF400mm DO f4 telephoto lens. I was shooting from a distance of 30-40 ft ISO200 1/800s f4-5.6 in clear sunning condition. As you can see I did not manage good resolution but rather flat details on the micro43 sensor. Nevertheless the photos are just good enough for ID and blogging. 

Minivet 4/4 - Scarlet Minivet (lifer 545)

 

I was checking on my minivet series for reference and found that my Scarlet posting had gone missing even from my archive of lifers. So after consultation with LeeFung of regular sighting of a family of post-nesting minivets in Taman TAR I was quick to go last weekend. The last I sighted the bird was in Sg Perdik and Sg Congkak Hulu Langat.  

The worn out male in its striking red and black coat. Its rump has a bald patch.

Scarlet Minivets are usually seen in lowland forest fringe and are familiar with human presence. They look similar to the Fiery which are more highland birds circa 500m (nearest to see is Awana). The Scarlet is the largest minivet you can find in Malaysia coming at 21cm /8 inches ie they have a longer tails.  Its red wing patch is clearly isolated ie its tertial and primary that what the book says but I don't see the difference le. 

Juvenile Female with its scaly grey crown

Thank you again the ambassadress of TAR for the guidance and Joe for the company to get some new collection of this bird so much nearer from my residence some more. In Borneo side you can get the rare Rosy and the other vagrant Swinhoe's minivet aka Brown-rumped.

These photos were shot with my EF 400mm f4  L DO lens mounted to my new Olympus OMD-1 Mark III with Viltrox adapter M2. Sorry to say the setup did not yield many useable photos. Of the 500 odd pictures taken; only less than 15 photos can be used. All the pictures need much post-sharpening even full-frame shots. Any capture of passerine birds high up in the canopy say50-60 feet aways were soft without details. Maybe the setup needs tuning Vitrox please help!!!!.

CRAKE 4/7 - March 2021 Baillon's Crake (Lifer 544)

Awesome find near Banting about 1.5 hours from Kuala Lumpur city centre. This year the Baillon's Crake was also sighted in Sg Rambai Melaka, Sg Balang  Johor and Tanjung Karang Selangor. I was adamant to get this lifer so I went on a weekday  to avoid the crowding just in case. Thanks to my good buddy Tokki for the heads up.

Upon passing the floodgate of the Kelanang fishing estuary I shot a lonely Common Sandpiper on the road side. 

I slowly drive along Jalan Jeti hopeful to see some rare birds along the wide canal under low tide. A beauty of a matured Chinese Pond-heron was sighted but it was skittish and flew away when I stopped  to shot it. Sign.....

Reaching my rendezvous at about 8.30am, Rosalind  arrived on the dot and Saravanan was already waiting for the target bird. 

You are suppose to shoot from your car and walking out to shoot is a no no here unless you use a hide or prepare a camo screen. And if you naïve enough to come out from your car you may be scorned & scolded by fellow birders.  

Baillon's is a tiniest of crakes you can see during the migratory period in Malaysia; coming in at 16–18 cm (6.3–7.1 in) in length. It is even shorter than a Common Myna or Bulbul. Baillon's Crake has a short sharp tapering bill, yellow or green without a red base. Adults have mainly brown upperparts with some white markings, and a blue-grey face and underparts. The rear flanks are barred black and white. They have green legs with long toes, and a short tail which is barred underneath. Somewhat it like to cock its tail when moving around.

Also know as the Marsh Crake

I noted that it forages on the move probing with their bill in mud or shallow water, also picking up food by sight. They mainly eat insects and aquatic animals including crustaceans on the surface. They are rather noisy birds, with a rattling call like that of the frog or garganey. They can be easier to see on migration or when wintering.

Their breeding habitat is sedge beds in Europe, mainly in the east, and across the Paleactic.  This species is migratory wintering in east Africa and south Asia

These are some of my photos  using my Nikon P1000 in bright sunlight The distance shooting ranges  from 40-60 ft away. Focus tracking was still worrisome for me while shooting as the foraging bird  which seldom stop for you. Fortunately I was glad my P1000 managed some good photos abate some post sharpening. So higher speed shooting of 1/500-800s is recommended to freeze your subject. Buffering was really an issue with my P1000 using continuous shooting ie machinegun shooting.