Where to go Birding today?
Tuesday, November 28, 2006

It's been raining every afternoon for the past weeks. I believe it will remain the same for another 2-3 weeks. Somehow, the rain has created a temporary wetland directly in front of my house. Occassionally there are cattle egrets, brown shrike, pond heron, black-shouldered kite, blue-tailed bee-eater, cinnamon bittern, sunda pygmy woodpecker and purple heron. But most of the time (since i'm taking my annual leaves and staying away from office for a week), I had to stay home and do birdwatching on the internet.

posted by wengchun @ 2:13 AM, ,


Ampang and Genting Highlands on a Rainy Season 26 November 2006
Sunday, November 26, 2006

This morning, I joined 'endemic guide' and Mark on a trip to Taman Rimba Ampang in the morning and Genting Highlands in the afternoon. Hoping to see the Blue-banded Kingfisher, I walked along the stream. And the only things I saw were children playing in the water. No sight of any bird at all. Well, the weather isn't good either. We do get to see some birds up in the top canopy of the forest. Since we also wanted to go and see montane birds, we left ampang at 12pm. Oh, I met Soon Pin in the park as well for a short chat. Up in Genting after lunch, we headed straight to the peak. The rain is not doing much of a favor for today. Still, we walked in the rain hoping to find birds for our friend from Australia.





Ok, the list of sighting includes
  1. blue-tailed bee-eater
  2. chestnut-breasted malkoha
  3. glossy swiftlet
  4. greater green leafbird
  5. black magpie (1 pair)
  6. bar-winged flycatcher-shrike
  7. scarlet minivet
  8. velvet-fronted nuthatch
  9. spectacled bulbul
  10. red-eyed bulbul
  11. common tailorbird
  12. crimson-breasted flowerpecker
  13. yellow-breasted flowerpecker
  14. oranged-bellied flowerpecker
  15. purple-naped sunbird
  16. grey wagtail
  17. oriental magpie robin
  18. tiger shrike (juvenile)
  19. asian brown flycatcher
  20. asian glossy starling
  21. common myna
  22. mountain tailorbird
  23. mountain leaf warbler
  24. chestnut-tailed minla
  25. black-throated sunbird
  26. mugimaki flycatcher (we were walking in the rain then)
  27. large niltava
  28. large cuckooshrike
  29. brown barbet
  30. dark-sided flycatcher
  31. grey-rumped treeswift
  32. pond heron
  33. yellow-vented bulbul

some of the unconfirmed sighting (and those that escape my scope and camera)

  1. drongo (both the guide and Mark saw this and probably a black drongo)
  2. mountain bulbul
  3. ashy tailorbird
  4. black-thighed falconet
  5. whiskered treeswift (flying high up in the sky of ampang)
  6. common buzzard (it was raining and misty on the highland)
  7. unidentified raptor (on the way up to Genting Highland)
  8. unidentified spiderhunter (at least 2 species)
  9. another flycatcher was sighted with the mugimaki (the guide says it is a pair but to me, it looks like a narcissus)
  10. black-naped oriole

a common buzzard?


the only bird photo I shoot and can be shared with you today is this flycatcher.



posted by wengchun @ 7:35 PM, ,


Some of my favorite shots
Friday, November 24, 2006




posted by wengchun @ 8:12 AM, ,


2005 Southward Migration

This year raptor watching in the park was affected by the haze. I managed to see a few individuals of sparrowhawks and oriental buzzard though. But the numbers were less than 10!!! Last year, it was the best sighting of the passage migrants flying south. Most of them were sparrowhawks and oriental honey buzzard. The buzzards were perching on rubber trees and on low shrubs - Dillenia sufruiticosa


























posted by wengchun @ 8:01 AM, ,


Another 2 pix from my collection 6 September 2004

Parasitism behavior was observed during the nesting of golden-bellied gerygone a.k.a. flyeater in the wetland park. It was 6.37pm and pretty dark then. No host were spotted nearby but this cuckoo managed to come close and invaded the nest, making a larger entry hole to the nest.

posted by wengchun @ 7:56 AM, ,


Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker

Few days before Phil arrived to photograph birds in the wetland, I was looking for asian paradise flycatcher but stumbled onto this common small woodpecker in the park. This time, I got to see the parent feeding a young bird. The juvenile have a shorter tail in comparison to this adult.

posted by wengchun @ 7:49 AM, ,


Falcon finishing a bird



















I was going through the stocks of CDs containing photographs taken since 2003. I guessed these are worth sharing with the readers. The photographs were taken on Raptor's Watch Day in Cape Rachado, Port Dickson Malaysia. It was my first time attending the event so that means I don't really know the way to the event venue. Then I ended up near the shore and saw a falcon with a yellow bird, Black-naped Oriole. Quickly, I took out the scope and attached the camera. It was extremely windy so, I took many shots hoping some will come out decently for record purpose. So here are the photographs for your viewing pleasure.










posted by wengchun @ 7:28 AM, ,


A flying Raptor - Resident of Putrajaya 5 November 2006
Tuesday, November 07, 2006

This raptor was seen circling in the sky over putrajaya while i was driving towards my work place. Since I have the D80 next to me, I stopped by the side and start shooting.

posted by wengchun @ 7:18 AM, ,


Only managed to see a few...

It rained quite heavily the night before and this morning, it is not the usual bright sunny day. It is still gloomy. Still, I remembered I need to look for the migrant black-backed kingfisher which was reported a few days earlier. I have to try my luck. However, this morning I was only greeted by a kingfisher, 2 wagtails, 2 bulbuls, 4 magpie robins, 1 warbler, and 1 bee-eater.

posted by wengchun @ 7:08 AM, ,