my parents' house

24th june 2008

woke up early this morning and start shooting from the 1st floor of my parent's house after sending my beloved sister and brother to the school :p

white-breasted waterhen

blue-throated bee-eater tend to spend their summer here

juvenile eurasian tree sparrow taken 2 days ago

spotted dove despite common in borneo, it is a lovely bird

digiscoped with nikon fieldscope ED82, srb-griturn Mk II adapter and fujifilm f31d

happy birding :)

likas lagoon part 3

17th june 2008

good weather today as usual and not windy like yesterday but unfortunately, arrived a bit late and only yellow-bellied prinia was close for getting decent shot. other birds such as intermediate egret and purple heron quite far until around 11.00 am

but heat haze was the main problem too ...

out of 300 frames today only 18 managed to get into my hard disk hahaha :p but it was fun digiscoping with my best friend, karim and before we left in the afternoon, yellow-bellied prinia was a treat for him where he missed it yesterday hehehe.

shot for today, combination of good and bad :p

collared kingfisher

common moorhen

little heron

purple heron around 100 metres

hey it's you again ! (yellow-bellied prinia)


exposure value stop above 2/3 - advice from chris gomersall and it really works wahaha !

great egret same like above

purple heron


magpie robin - sings exactly 5.30 am daily behind my parents' house !

digiscoped with nikon fieldscope ED82, srb-griturn Mk II adapter and fujifilm f31d

happy digiscoping :)

likas lagoon part 2

16th june 2008

nice weather this morning and after sending my fiance to her office, drove to likas lagoon again this time with karim and main mission, to get better shot of the cinnamon bittern and yellow-bellied prinia, only the latter with reasonable result :p

small patch of the lagoon near with the main road

it was sunny and windy at the same time, so digiscoping with fully extended aluminum tripod, cause lots of vibration which is visible through the lcd. an article i read from the internet stated that with carbon fibre tripod it takes only less than 2 seconds to dampened the vibration and with aluminum tripod, more than 4 seconds !

one thing that disappointed me is, i need to reset my camera function to macro and continuous shot (top 3) after i reviewed my previous shots and it has no programmable mode like what other cameras offered. so i tend to missed lots of opportunity of getting decent shot with my kit ...

my shot for today :p

yellow-bellied prinia (one of the difficult bird to digiscoped !)

not very good picture of this striated grassbird

purple swamphen and my favorite bird today

white-browed crake taken around 11.47 am this morning

pictures was digiscoped with nikon fieldscope ED82, srb-griturn Mk II adapter and fujifilm f31d

likas lagoon part 1

15th july 2008

been visiting likas lagoon for the past few days practicing to get sharper image with my digiscoping kit. the conclusion is, i need carbon fibre tripod either from gitzo, benro or velbon to get more keeper than using my current aluminium tripod from manfrotto due to the vibration from extreme magnification ...

and probably getting new camera like the nikon P5100 which is favorite among digiscopers with 12 mega pixels and custom setting for continuous shots and has built in hotshoe for using flash !

or get the new sony W300 that uses carl-zeiss lens (no colour fringing) and has 13 mega pixels ?

or get the nikon D300 for in flight shot ...

wahahahahaha too many choices but it all depends after my big day end of this month ...

anyone willing to donate ? hahaha :p

some of the shots today :)

collared kingfisher original image

cropped 50%


white-breasted wood-swallow original image


cropped 50%

cinnamon bittern and im happy with this :p

birds seen :

• purple heron
• black-crowned night-heron
• little egret (few in breeding plumage)
  
• great egret (with 1 in breeding plumage)
• yellow-bellied prinia
• spotted dove
  
• peaceful dove
• brahminy kite
• asian glossy starling
• emerald dove
• striated grassbird
• pacific swallow
  
• white-browed crake
• purple swamphen
• common moorhen
• yellow-vented bulbul
• black-headed munia
• osprey
• common iora (heard)
• glossy swiftlet
• pink-necked green pigeon

digiscoped with nikon fieldscope ED82, srb-griturn Mk II adapter and fujifilm f31d

happy digiscoping :)

hornbill in aviary

6th june 2008

me and karim were looking for roosting site of the large-tailed nightjar along the old penampang - papar road without success, so decided to visit lok kawi wildlife park which is under the wildlife department now and has few animals such as bornean pygmy elephant, bornean gibbon, orang utan, proboscis monkey and quite small aviary for birds that is found in borneo i.e chestnut-capped thrush, great argus and blue-winged pitta !

while taking pictures of the birds which i havent seen in the wild (pied imperial-pigeon, silvery wood-pigeon and straw-headed bulbul) saw 2 hornbills; rhinoceros and wreathed preening each other on the same tree which is a bit surprised for me because i havent encountered this type of behavior before among different species of hornbill

this is the emailed that i've got from orientalbirding group ;


Hi Jason,

It is common to see birds of different species mingling together this way, especially when in captivity or in a aviary. In a

confined and cramped environment, different species seem to lose

their protective behaviour and animosity with other species. Over time and limited space many birds will lose their natural inhibitions. Even parrots can be taught to ride bicycles.

At the Zoo Negara (National Zoo) I have also seen different hornbill species interacting and perching side by side in small aviaries in the zoo. Of course in the wild, their natural instincts and behaviour take over.

Cheers
Mike Chong
Selangor, Malaysia
ARRCN: http://www5b. biglobe.ne. jp/~raptor/ index.htm

so the question has been answered hehehe thanks mike :)

videoscoped with nikon fieldscope ED82, srb-griturn Mk II adapter and sony ericsson P990i

face of photographers

7th june 2008

visited rafflesia centre last saturday wth black-breasted fruit-hunter and long-tailed broadbill in mind, only short video out of focus of the fruit-hunter but did not get any glimpsed of the broadbill.

so while watching my friends in action chasing the juvenile bornean whistler in the afternoon, took few pictures of them hahaha :p

ready guys the bird's coming ! (chai)

too fast la this juvenile ... (karim)


ahhh (ron)


damn missed it again ! (jordan)

busy with wedding preparation, most probably next trip would be next month and lets hope i'll be able to get my first dslr nikon D300 hahaha :p

happy birding and digiscoping :)

all images was digiscoped with nikon fieldscope ED82, srb-griturn Mk II adapter and fujifilm f31d

mountain barbet at tambunan rafflesia centre

1st june 2008

bad news, did not see any of the besra's chicks at the nest after waited nearly 2 hours this morning with karim, andrew and dennis. found out, chai who had been staying up there for 3 days, he did not see the chicks either except probably the parents not far away from the nest ...

then took breakfast at gunung emas restaurant and drove to tambunan rafflesia centre and birded the whole day around the office, which produced many endemic birds of borneo such at the chestnut-hooded laughingthrush, black-sided flowerpecker and bornean bulbul.

quite cold this morning at besra site


view of crocker range from gunung emas restaurant

mountain barbet of borneo :p


waiting for the black-breasted fruit-hunter to appeared again (which it did not !)

this is the famous jordan at amazingborneo.blogspot.com hehehe

birds recorded today at besra site and the rafflesia centre :

• crimson-headed partridge (heard)
• oriental cuckoo (heard)
• bornean treepie
• bornean bulbul
• black-sided flowerpecker
• chestnut-hooded launghingthrush
• cinereus bulbul (split from ashy bulbul)
• whitehead's trogon
• grey-throated babbler
• verditer flycatcher
• long-tailed broadbill (2nd sighting after 2003 wahaha :p)
• temminck's sunbird
• besra
• ashy drongo
• black-breasted fruithunter (a pair)
• glossy swiftlet
• sunda bush warbler
• little cuckoo-dove
• dusky munia
• chestnut-crested yuhina
• ochraceous bulbul
• black and crimson oriole
• maroon woodpecker (heard)

video of the mountain barbet feeding at one of the red fruit available at my youtube www.youtube.com/user/horukuru

planned another visit with the others this month but probably 1 or 2 weeks before the big day :)

images digiscoped with nikon fieldscope ED82, srb-griturn adapter mark II, fujifilm f31d and sony ericsson k660i

TT session and besra outing

24th and 25th may 2008

met with tilan and nabghani (both are photomalaysia.com member) at tanjung aru beach and had a good conversation regarding birding in sabah and sarawak. at the same time tested 3 spotting scopes (nikon ED82 and leica APO 77) to compared with the new kowa 884mm belongs to sinooorita and from other observers eyes, we agreed that kowa is the best with wide FOV of its zoom eyepiece, sharp and brighter than the other two scopes.

tilan and sinooorita testing the scopes while nabghani enjoying his ABC (grated of ice cubes and fruits with syrup, brown sugar and evaporated milks !)

then today went to crocker range with sinooorita and chai and his girlfriend to check the nest of besra which chai found few days ago at gunung alab sub-station for crocker range national park and to our surprised, we managed to see and recorded 3 chicks on the nest and at few occasions, the mum came and fed the chicks without bothering us talking their pictures and video recording.

it is a new sub-station judging from the newly built facilities such as hut, small parking space, and building that houses an office for the rangers on duty and accommodation for visitors. temperature is around 20 degree celcius and elevation at 1880m asl.

snapped from my cellphone because my compact camera battery's died out :p

it rained after lunch and can u see the cooler box and a can of tiger beer next to it ? wahaha

short recording from my cellphone :)

bird seen and heard along the access road and at gunung emas restaurant:

• whitehead's broadbill (heard)
• bare-headed laughingthrush
• sunda bush warbler
• ashy drongo
• bornean treepie
• oriental cuckoo (heard)
• little cuckoo dove
• blyth's hawk-eagle
• chestnut-crested yuhina
• red-breasted partridge (heard)
• crimson-headed partridge (heard)
• temminck's sunbird
• mountain blackeye
• ochraceous bulbul
• ashy bulbul (bornean race)
• short-tailed magpie
• sunda laughingthrush (heard)
• chestnut-hooded laughingthrush
• black-sided flowerpecker (heard)
  

i'll be visiting this place again next week to check the progress of the chicks and updating my bird list of this station to see if this place is worth for a day visit combining with rafflesia centre, which is only about 15 minutes drive from the station with my upcoming birding groups.

thanks to sinoorita, chai and cindy for the company hehehe :o

pictures and video digiscoped and videoscoped with nikon fieldscope ED82, srb-griturn Mk II adapter and sony ericsson k660i

eye level with black hornbill

13th - 17th may 2008

pay a visit to my father who had a health problem and were admitted at duchess of kent hospital, sandakan few days ago. visiting hours started from 1230 - 1400 hrs and 1600 - 1930 hrs daily, so took few trips in the morning to the rainforest discovery centre, part of the sepilok-kabili forest reserve.

view from platform no. 3

has 3 viewing towers with the other 2 is connected with walkway together with excellent trails and during my visit, managed to record around 76 birds and 1 lifer; bornean bristlehead ! wahaha searched for 3 years and with the aid of my scope, got a splendid view of 3 bristleheads and took short footage of it and im so happy coz it was the day my father was discharged from the hospital too :)

total species recorded (including visit on last march) : 86 birds so far (own list)

black hornbill


violet cuckoo


endemic of borneo, white-crowned shama

summary from this trip :

• worth a visit for 2 days birding even though the whole trails could be completed within a day
• good introduction of the lowland rainforest
• fantastic place for bird photography i.e digiscoping due to the sufficient light during the day
  

pictures was digiscoped with nikon fieldscope ED82, srb-griturn adapter and fujifilm f31d

and videos of the bornean bristlehead and violet cuckoo at my youtube

birding at java island

2th - 11th may 2008

fantastic trip to java with ck recently and managed to see many lifers that is endemic to the island at bogor garden and gede pangrango national park which is about 3 hours drive from jakarta international airport.

some of the common birds found at bogor garden such as during ou:

• sooty-headed bulbul
  
• bar-winged prinia
• scarlet-headed flowerpecker and
• coppersmith barbet
• collared kingfisher

bogor garden


rain in the afternoon almost everyday


black-crowned night heron at its roosting site in the garden


horsfield's bronze cuckoo seen from the firman pensione balcony

then spent few nights at cibodas where we stayed at freddy's homestay and birded along the hot spring and waterfalls trails. some of the interesting birds was seen at the national park such as :

• pygmy tit - so small !
• javan grey-throated white-eye
• javan hawk-eagle
• oriental white eye - 2 forms occurred here
• lesser forktail
• white-bibbed babbler
• cresent-chested babbler
• javan fulvetta
• chestnut-fronted shrike-babbler
• brown-throated barbet
  
• red junglefowl - a pair on the 1st morning
• spotted kestrel - 3 birds seen at the waterfall
• javan tesia - much bigger and active than the bornean stubtail
  
• rusty-breasted cuckoo - heard daily
• fire-tufted barbet - along the hotspring trail
• sunda bulbul
• striated swallow
• tawny-breasted parrotfinch
• grey tit - common around cibodas garden
• yellow-throated hanging parrot
• javan kingfisher - on my last day at the golf course hahaha :p and many thanks to indra for the tips :)
  
• oriental cuckoo - heard daily
• black-banded barbet - heard daily too

javan kingfisher (endemic)

sunda blue robin


flame-fronted barbet (endemic)


sooty-headed bulbul


orange-spotted bulbul (endemic)

blood-breasted flowerpecker (endemic)


ashy drongo

planning to visit bogor again with my whole family and im impressed with the hospitality of the peoples and the pretty smiles from the girls hahaha :)

digiscoped with nikon fieldscope ED82, srb-griturn adapter and fujifilm f31d