Mission Completed - Hook-billed Bulbul !

22nd - 23rd January 2011

At last !

2nd achievement by finding these elusive Hook-billed Bulbul with the gang from BBC @ Keting2 :)

Digiscoped with Nikon Fieldscope EDG85 via Nikon FSA-L2 DSLR Photo adapter on Nikon D3s

Taken at ISO 12800

Happy birding !

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)

13th January 2011

Common winter visitor from September - April in my place and some of the shots taken yesterday while waiting for the Eurasian Teal for some action shot.

Digiscoped with Nikon Fieldscope EDG85 via Nikon FSA-L2 DSLR Photo Adapter on Nikon D300s

It caught 2 Damselfly !

Happy shooting !

White-breasted Wood Swallow (Artamus leucorynchus)

One of my favorite bird in North Borneo and can be seen easily around the paddy field hawking for insects and bees. Territorial bird and lives in pair, sometimes formed a big flocks up to 20 birds. I have seen it attacking bird of prey especially Brahminy Kite and Osprey !

Digiscoped with Nikon Fieldscope EDG85 via Nikon FSA-L2 DSLR Photo Adapter on Nikon D300s

Happy shooting !

Eurasian Teal (Anas crecca)

9th January 2011

Series of images captured at Tuaran district after being informed by friend the present of a pair of Eurasian Teal nearby the Chinese Temple. Considered vagrant visitor to North Borneo and making up total 6 species of Ducks has been recorded in Tuaran district.

• Eurasian Teal
• Garganey
• Tufted Duck
• Northern Pintail
• Northern Shoveler
• Wandering Whistling Duck

My new lifer for 2011 together with the gang yesterday observing and trying to get some good images of this elusive duck but unfortunately, it spent most of its time sleeping the whole day !

Digiscoped with Nikon Fieldscope EDG85 via Nikon FSA-L2 DSLR Photo Adapter on Nikon D300s and edited with Nikon Capture NX2

The female on the right showed more rufous on the underparts ? Anyone idea ?

Happy birding !

Tufted Duck Behavior

Observing the Tufted Duck while getting the best shots is pretty interesting. Below is some of the example both by male and female after feeding.

Digiscoped with Nikon Fieldscope EDG85 via Nikon FSA-L2 DSLR Photo Adapter on Nikon D300s

Time to cool down from the heat of the day

I like when they stretched their wings !

Then feeding time again :)

Happy birding !

Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passur montanus)

Commonest and the only Sparrow recorded in North Borneo. It was first sighted in 1964 and slowly establishing around Sabah. These was digiscoped at home at one evening ...

Digiscoped with Nikon Fieldscope EDG85 via Nikon FSA-L2 DSLR Photo Adapter on Nikon D300s.

500mm ~ Cropped 33% and edited with Nikon Capture NX2

Merry Christmas for all my readers and thanks for your supports !

Waders At Lok Kawi Beach

On my recent visit to Lok Kawi beach hoping for White-faced Plover, only saw common winter visitors at the beach such as Kentish Plover, Malaysian Sand Plover, Grey Plover, Greater and Lesser Sand Plover, Terek Sandpiper, Little and Great Egret

Digiscoped with Nikon Fieldscope EDG85 via Nikon FSA-L2 DSLR Photo Adapter on Nikon D300s

Grey Plover

Greater Sand Plover

Ruddy Turnstone

Lesser Sand Plover

Happy birding !

Hook-billed Bulbul Mission

7th - 8th December 2010

A short visit to Klias Peatswamp Forest Reserve with the gang recently searching for the elusive Hook-billed Bulbul, only seen and photographed by Seng before the rained that lasted for an hour !

Total of 55 birds seen and key species recorded at the Centre :

• Chestnut-bellied Malkoha
• Common Goldenback
• Red-crowned Barbet
• Bornean Magpie

Pictures digiscoped with Nikon Fieldscope EDG85 via Nikon FSA-L2 DSLR Photo Adapter on Nikon D300s together with 30x eyepiece and Nikon Coolpix P7000

Hostel provided by the Centre with air condition and WiFi

Waiting for the Hook-billed Bulbul

3 km long boardwalk with shelters every 100 metres

Then it rained ...

Shooting at Dragonfly

Alven and Chai busy with the Sticky Frog

Common Goldenback

Chestnut-bellied Malkoha

Black-naped Monarch

Long-tailed Parakeet

Sticky Frog sp.

Pacific Swallow

Interesting lookin Dragonfly & Damselfy seen during the trip. At least 4 species was recorded there

Good birding !

Ducks Of North Borneo

10th December 2010

Sighted by Ck Leong last week, only today I managed to get some pictures of these vagrant after my trip with the gang at Klias Peatswamp Forest Reserve (posting soon). There were 2 males and 1 female of Tufted Duck, 5 Northern Shoveler and only 1 Garganey together with the resident Common Moorhen, White-breasted Waterhen and Wandering Whistling Duck.

Apparently, the number of visiting Ducks from North Asia is smaller in Sabah, Borneo. There were new record of Northern Pintail last year by Ck Leong, and several other old records of Cotton Pygmy Goose, Mallard and Common Teal by Karim Madoya at Penampang paddy field.

With the increasing of birding and bird photography by the locals, it is possible now to get updated records of wintering Ducks, Waders and other species from September until April during the winter migration plus with the opening of abandoned paddy fields on the West Coast of Sabah with the funding by state government, there is a hope to see more wintering birds in the future.

Digiscoped with Nikon Fieldscope EDG85 via Nikon FSA-L2 DSLR Photo Adapter on Nikon D300s

Lagoon where the Ducks is

Northern Shoveler

Garganey

Pretty looking Tufted Duck

Wandering Whistling Duck

Happy birding folks !

Birding With Liberty Bird Group

7th - 20th November 2010

2 weeks birding around Sabah produced at least 5 lifers for me ! Everett's White Eye, Bar-bellied Cuckoo Shrike, Brown-backed Flowerpecker and the Copper-throated Sunbird which I missed during the 2nd Borneo Bird Festival held at Rainforest Discovery Centre Sepilok last October and making up my Borneo List to 440 birds now.

The group comprised of 15 birders from Switzerland under Liberty-Bird led by James Eaton and me was split into 2 groups to maximized numbers of birds sighting on each places.

Key species seen :

• Tabon Scrubfowl
• Chinese Egret
• Grey-faced Buzzard
• Grey-headed Fish Eagle
• Aleutian Tern
• Thick-billed Green Pigeon
• Blue-rumped Parrot
• Moustached Hawk Cuckoo
• Oriental Cuckoo
• Bornean Ground Cuckoo
• Helmeted Hornbill (Daily seen and heard at Borneo Rainforest Lodge)
• Whitehead's Broadbill
• Bar-bellied Cuckoo Shrike
• Bornean Bristlehead
• Kinabalu Friendly Warbler
• Bornean Wren Babbler
• Bornean Blue Flycatcher
• Brown-backed Flowerpecker
• Copper-throated Sunbird
• Thick-billed Spiderhunter

Pictures digiscoped with Nikon Fieldscope EDG85, 30x eyepiece via Nikon FSB-6 Adapter on Nikon P5100

Access road at Borneo Rainforest Lodge

Libert-Bird group

At Kinabatangan River with Robert Chong

One of the best food I had !

Accommodation and facilites at Kinabatangan Jungle Camp

Black & Crimson Pitta

Bornean Stubtail

Wallace's Hawk Eagle

Great-billed Heron

Asian Paradise Flycatcher

Helmeted Hornbill

Red-naped Trogon

Bornean angle-headed Lizard

White-tailed Flycatcher

Grey-chested Jungle Flycatcher

Forest Tortoise

Whiskered Treeswift

Grey-faced Buzzard

Thick-billed Spiderhunter

Maroon Langur

I will be off to Beaufort for the Hook-billed Bulbul soon. Happy birding everyone !