Termites Invasion

It has been a long time since I posted here... not that I don't go out birding. Just that my house have been invaded by termites.. So all my free time at home was spent hunting and eradicating this termites. So no time to do all the post processing at home, until all my CF cards are full.. and my HD full also...

Apart from moving my furniture around the room and brushing poison on the walls and furniture, i collect some and make an enclosure from a piece of plexiglass. From info from the internet. I put in a dampened termite infested particle board in it. However, because of high humidity,water droplets forms on the plexiglass making my attempt to take a picture harder.



The all whites are the workers..

Below are full frame picture of the soldiers, I dont know weather it is considered a 1:1 macro shot of not, the termites are 3-4mm in length.. The black bottom is because the light from the inbuilt flash was blocked by the lens combo. I just use a namecard as a diffuser to correct that.. hehe



well,watching this termites is a load of fun... more than rearing fish. can watch them eat wood, cleaning each other, creating tunnel and so on..

no food needed, just add water..

the hard part is keeping them in...after much trial and error, i got the ecologicaly friendly way..and thats my secret..

Is it only me,
mad enough too keep this pest?

Macro in Pandan Falls

When looking up, makes my neck strain or when see some interesting insect, I change to my Pentax 35mm F2.8 coupled with the panagor macro converter and shoot the said insect or flower whichever is the case.

At the top of the waterfall, a stick insect catches my eye, because it is on the rocks and almost got trampled by me. Another reason to watch where your feet are..

Here is it on the rocks.. as is


using kit lens..

using my macro setup, the stick insect head



this is how big the insect compared to a human arm



at the end of the hanging bridge, at one old tree stump, a colony of large forest termites was discovered



I estimate to be 10-12mm long, much bigger than a kerengge(A common large ant)

also a grasshopper seen at the same stump



At the site where we take a dip, an interesting damselfly keep popping at the water edge where waterflows above the rock.



how it kept itself from being dragged by the waterflow is intriguing.

Birding at Pandan Waterfalls

I got an invitation from a friend to visit Sg Pandan Waterfalls at Kuantan for the weekend, so I got on the bus, check in a hotel and went to the waterfall in Sunday morning. Never went birding in the east coast before, so I was quite exited. So here are the record shots I managed to shoot!

A Common Yellow Vented Bulbul catching insect?


nope,

A pair of Eastern Crowned Warbler, my 1st lifer


Eastern Crowned Warbler
Cekup Daun Tongkeng Kuning
Phylloscopus coronatus

or maybe a different species, maybe..

This site is a good reference for this species

next is the



Grey-headed Flycatcher
Sambar Kepala Kelabu
Culicicapa ceylonensis

another lifer..

then on top of the waterfall, found the White-rumped Munia(Pipit Tuli). How I wish it is the White-bellied munia.



then we came down from the top of the waterfall and took a dip in the cool water..

but then, notice a bird carrying nesting material to its unfinished nest at a branch on top of the stream.

It is the Munia's nest, waste no time to grab my camera.



I went nearer,and wait...

but the pair just sit in the nest and sometimes pecking at the wall, maybe weaving it it tighter.(it in the early afternoon already)



spend more time doing macro and waterfall shot, then we head to cherating.

Where we saw some birds at the sand...

took a while to id this ...


Greater-Sand Plover(Rapang Besar)

Kera di Taman Tasik Perdana

Dulu, saya tak kenal pun mana satu kera, mana satu monyet, mana satu lotong... main sebut saja.. sekarang, mana-mana jenis kera ke, monyet ke, saya nak letakkan gambarnya di sini berserta dengan namanya sekali untuk rujukan.

Kera atau dalam bahasa inggerisnya Long Tailed Macaque ini saya jumpa di Taman Tasik Perdana Kuala Lumpur. Ia berjalan berkumpulan mencari makanan.

Kera
Long-Tailed Macaque
Macaca fascicularis

Ia juga pandai mencari makanan sisa buangan manusia di dalam tong sampah..

Tapi, jangan memberi makanan terus kepada kera ini. Bila ia belajar manusia ada makanan, ia akan mula meminta, malah mungkin merampas apa yang dipikirkan ada makanan di dalamnya.

Biawak Air

Semalam masa melepak di tepi Sungai Klang, nampak lagi biawak berenang-renang menyeberangi sungai. Selalu juga nampak binatang ini sampai kekadang buat tak tahu saja.

Yesterday, while I was at the Klang river bank, saw one monitor lizard swimming across the river. Quite a number of times, i found this lizard that sometimes i just ignore it

Ini kelihatan ia sedang merayau mencari makanan.

This is when it is foraging for food


Suatu hari tu terjumpa bangkai babi/anjing terdampar di tebing , mungkin dibawa air pasang. Tak lama menunggu, datanglah seekor biawak memakan bangkai tersebut..

One day, I spotted a pig/dog carcass that landed on the bank, maybe carried by the rising water. Not long, came a monitor lizard and it start eating.


Ini pula gambat potrait. Baru jer naik dari longkang, terjumpa ngan saya...dapat beberapa shot, dia turun balik.. hehe

Here is the potrait shot, It just climb up the drain wall and met me.. got a few shots, and it went back down..hehe

Biawak Air
Malayan Water Monitor
Varanus Salvator

Anak dia comel jer, macam cicak..tapi yang ni dah sekaki setengah agaknya.

Its young are pretty cute, just like common house gecko..but this one already about one and a half feet.


Biawak ni tak makan orang, cuma orang je makan biawak. Kekadang saya duduk diam-diam, dia datang dekat.. kalau dah dekat sangat, saya hentakkan kaki ke tanah.. dia pun lari ler..

This lizard doesnt eat people, just people eat them. Sometimes, when I sit quietly in the bushes, It came near..If it is too close for comfort, I just stomp my feet to the ground and off it went!

Perenjak Leher Hitam

Perenjak Leher Hitam(Dark-necked Tailorbird), sekali dengar macam hero komik yang telah dialihbahasa kepada bahasa Malaysia saja.

Yang betina, sekali pandang, macam Perenjak Pisang(Common Tailorbird) sahaja.


Gambar kecil menunjukkan bahagian bawah ekornya yang kuning

Perenjak Leher Hitam
Dark-necked Tailorbird
Orthotomus atrogularis


Perenjak Pisang
Common Tailorbird/Long-tailed Tailorbird
Orthotomus sutorius

Perenjak Leher Hitam jantan lebih senang dikenali dengan bahagian leher hitam yang jelas kelihatan.

beberapa aksi menarik

Pandangan terbaik untuk melihat bahagian hitam di leher, sayang gambar kabur, Burung perenjak ini sangat aktif.

Mari kita lihat aksi-aksi meregang


Meregangkan kaki dan ekor..eeewah!


Regangkan kepak pula..hehe

Perenjak Leher Hitam ni boleh dijumpai di pinggir hutan tanah rendah.

Memburung di belakang zoo

Satu hari ahad, aku menerima ajakan Tabib dan Madibirder untuk memburung di Kemensah. Dah lama dengar ada kawasan hutan di belakang zoo negara ini, tapi tak pernah sampai. Sampai-sampai di depan pintu zoo negara, Tabib, Madi dan anak lelaki Madi(Ilyas) sedang makan pagi. Selesai makan, kami masuk ke kawasan hutan Kemensah dengan kereta Madi.

Sampai-sampai, masuk je denai kena memanjat bukit. Wah! mengah-mengah nak memanjat ke atas.. mungkin sebab cuti sebulan berjalan.

Sampai di sebuah kolam, sementara diorang mencari pekaka. Saya tangkap gambar burung ini..

Burung Merbah Belukar (Olive-winged Bulbul) sedang berkicau sambil diperhatikan oleh pasangannya.


Burung Layang-layang Pasifik(Pacific Swallow) ini juga sedang berehat di atas besi cerucuk yang terpacak di dalam tasik.


Naik lagi ke atas bukit, saya di temukan dengan lifer saya yang pertama hari itu..


Burung Layang-layang Berjambul Kecil (Whiskered Treeswift), tertarik saya dengan cara ia melipat sayapnya selepas hinggap, semacam robot.

sampai di satu lembah, banyak lagi berjumpa berbagai spesis burung.


Burung Belatuk Biji Nangka betina (Rufous Woodpecker;female) yang pertama dapat ditangkap gambarnya oleh saya. Pada spesis belatuk, yang jantan ada calitan merah pada sisi kepalanya.


Burung migrant juga sudah kembali.

Ini burung Sambar Asia(Asian-brown Flycatcher).



Ini pula burung Kelicap Pipi Merah betina.(Ruby-cheeked Sunbird)Sepah Puteri Dada Merah; betina.(Scarlet-breasted flycatcher;female), masih tak dapat yang jantan.


Daripada sekumpulan 5 ekor burung Cenuk Kerak ini, saya hanya dapat mengambil gambar seekor Cenuk Kerak Betina(Raffle's Malkoha;female) saja.


Seekor lagi burung betina?, Belatuk Merah.(Banded Yellownape;female). mungkin ya, sebab tak nampak tanda merah di sisi kepala.

Selepas keluar dari kawasan tersebut, Madi membawa kami berkereta di jalan-jalan sekitar Kemensah. Di satu lagi tempat di tepi jalan..

Lifer yang kedua!

Burung Mata Putih Rimba (Everett's White-eye)

Hampir-hampir tidak dapat menangkap lifer saya yang ketiga.


Merbah Siam(Black-headed Bulbul)

Terima kasih kepada Madibirder dan Tabib sebab mengajak saya mengunjungi kawasan yang mempunyai banyak spesies burung yang sungguh dekat dengan Kuala Lumpur.

My birdlist(seen,shot and with clear ID)

1. Whiskered Treeswift
2. Rufous Woodpecker
3. Yellow-bellied Warbler
4. Pacific Swallow
5. Ruby-cheeked Sunbird
6. Raffle's Malkoha
7. Banded Yellownape
8. Olive-winged Bulbul
9. Blue-tailed Beeater
10. Everett White-eye
11. Black Headed Bulbul
12. Barn Swallow

Hari hujan.

Pagi ni hujan, dengarnya di Malaysia, ada 200 hari hujan dalam setahun. Adakah ini bermakna, makin kurang hari untuk melihat burung?

Sama sekali tidak!

Sebabnya, kalau hujan di tengahari atau petang, selepas hujan burung-burung akan keluar mencari makan. Cuba bayangkan masa mencari makan dipadatkan daripada beberapa jam kepada mungkin sejam selepas hujan. Peluang untuk melihat burung akan menjadi lebih senang..

Berikut ialah antara burung2 yang biasa kita lihat2 di sekitar rumah yang saya ambil dalam masa hanya setengah jam selepas hujan.


Seekor Murai Kampung Jantan. (18:12:54)


Datang Tiong Gembala Kerbau ini berusaha menghalau Murai Kampung tersebut (18:14:13)


Kemudian, datang pula pasangan Murai tersebut(18:27:03)


Rupa-rupanya, anak murai itu pun ada disekitar tempat itu.(18:35:59)

Sekarang saya sentiasa mencari kesempatan untuk keluar selepas hujan.

rewind back a year.

I was checking back my rantings blog (of the same name but different site), still have some bird pics there.. so I move it here..

These are taken at taman tasik shah alam using my kodak z712 in february 2008


I cant see this black swan anymore? Did it died of loneliness like i write in this article "Lonely so lonely"


This male white peafowl seems to breed well in the island.

maybe the father of this white chick of this female blue peafowl as seen in this photo taken in June 2008


at this period, i know less about bird than now, and I am still learning.

back then, I called all this bird with long legs a bangau, malay name for egret. Unfortunately none of them are!


Its a juvenile Painted Stork, already fledge. Now I am thinking.. this year nesting starts in July, then last year nesting is so much earlier. Read about it here

even this grey heron is a bangau back then.



the nesting site seem to have shifted to the tall rhu trees on the east side of the lake

Still visiting this lake from time to time, but walking around with a long lens in the park is something to get used to as people will stare and gawk at you. When the lens is pointed their way, they cover their faces. So funny..

Dari air ke udara/From water to air.

Ini gambar lama dari kamera 350d, pakai tamron 75-300 macro. Masa tu dah tengahari, jadi tak banyak burung.. jadi lepak tepi tasik layan pepatung..



baru menjelma dari air, sayang lens pinjaman ni aperture dia sangkut wide open. ingat nak capture kulit nymph dia kat belakang tu

try pakai focus braketing technic, 2 gambar jadikan satu untuk dapatkan DOF(depth of field) sebab DOF tamron ni wide open sgt nipis



nak tau pasal teknik ni kat sini

sambungan kepak


gambar penuh


dapat pulak tangkap masa dia terbang, tapi ini spesis pepatung merah..