Sparrow 4/4 - House Sparrow (lifer 549)

A new year of birding have started as I travelled to Perlis and Kedah with a birder friend to look for migrant birds and northern birds

In Kuala Perlis we stopped for a short while to shoot my first lifer of 2022. House sparrows are considered feral to Malaysia ; most probably from Thailand. Singapore have them too.

It looks almost similar to the Plain-backed The latter  can is also found in Sugar Refinery Chuping nearby less than an hour away.

The male House Sparrow have a dark patch to its neck and breast while the Plain stop at the neck. The Plain have darker coverts wings Both have Grey crown

Avian Nesting December 2021 - Little Cormorant Nesting Colony

The Little Cormorant are  permanent resident in many location in Malaysia They are staying for good and nesting in peninsula Malaysia Here in Kampar - Malim Nawar ponds they are nesting amongst the egrets 

I am shooting front the main road about 150-200 ft away. I was using my Nikon P1000 so the resolution and sharpness is not that good.

 

Avian Sighting December 2021- Black-shouldered Kite mating

 Pathetic shot with my Olympus OM-D Mark3 with Canon  400mm DO L lens. It was about 9.30 am along the main track that we capture the action of the pair copulating unabashly about 120 ft out in the open padifield in Langkap. The event lasted about half a minute before the male leaved her alone

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.