30 June 2009

Yellow-vented Bulbul Nest

While the Yellow-vented Bulbul is very commonly found bird, the nest isnt easy to find. Personally I only found it 2 times in 1 year of my birding.



a parent in the nest.

altough the bulbul is a furgivore(fruiteater), it feed its chick with protin rich food like bugs and worms.

24 June 2009

Fruiting Tree

I cant believe my luck when I found this fruiting tree. A lot of birds are busy plucking out its fruit, seems like a small cherry but I might be wrong.

so I just sat at one spot and take pictures of the birds.

among them are


Red-eyed Bulbul
Merbah Mata Merah
Pycnonotus brunneus

A group of Pink-necked Green Pigeon

here is a male


Pink-necked Green Pigeon
Punai Gading
Treron vernans

and the female


the Black-naped Oriole, the Asian Glossy Starling and the usual Yellow-vented Bulbul also stop by..

this lone Dusky Langur (Trachypithecus obscurus) Black Gibbon(Hylebates concolor) also stayed at the tree. Maybe this fella has recognized me and know I'm not a threat. Other members of the family aren't around.

**species name of primate changed, wrongly ID before, today I have rechecked this at http://www.wildsidephotography.ca/primates.html

18 June 2009

Cerita Gagak Kambing dengan Katak

Suatu hari semasa saya berjalan-jalan di suatu denai di Taman Pertanian Bukit Cherakah, saya ternampak macam pangkin di satu ceruk, saya pun pergilah melihat dengan lebih dekat..
Lah! perangkap binatang rupanya. Naik marah saya, di sini pun ada juga orang yang hendak menangkap haiwan secara haram. Saya ambil pisau saya dan saya potong semua tali2 yang digunakan.. habis saya potong pendek2 supaya tidak boleh digunakan lagi.

One day as I was walking down a trail in Bukit Cherakah Agriculture Park, I saw what looks like a small hut at one corner, so I went nearer to have a look.Oh! it is actually an animal trap! I've gotten mad! Even in then protected area of the Agriculture Park there is still poaching going on. So I took my knife and cut all the ropes that have been used in short pieces so it cant be used anymore.


Ni dia rupa perangkap itu.. silap saya, patutnya ambil gambar dahulu, baru musnahkan perangkap.. macam nak tangkap biawak sahaja.

This is the trap, my mistake! I've should taken the pictures before destroying the trap.. looks like a trap for monitor lizards.

Bila saya masuk balik ke denai tersebut, saya dapat mendengar bunyi bising burung.. terus saya meredah semak dan pokok rotan yang berduri untuk melihat apa burung itu. saya jumpa sekumpulan burung kambing. Burung ini termasuk spesis burung yang terancam.

When I went back into the trail, I could hear some bird calls, so I walked through some bushes and spiny rattans to see what is the bird. I saw I bunch of Black Magpies, a near threatened species


Gagak Kambing
Black Magpie
Platysmurus leucopterus

Mungkin sekeluarga burung kambing. Mungkinlah yang sedang memerhati sahaja itu ibunya, dan 2 ekor yang sedang berebut seekor katak anak-anaknya. Bagaimana agaknya kalau burung boleh bercakap macam manusia?

Maybe a family of Black Magpies. Could it be the one that is watching is the mother and the other two that is fighting over a frog is the juveniles. What if the bird could talk just like humans?




anak burung 1(di atas): Woi! Woi! lepaslah katak ni.. kan aku yang tangkap katak ini..
anak burung 2(di bawah): Mana boleh lepas, katak ni aku yang nampak dulu!

Juvenile1(above): Hei! let go of this frog, I'm the one who catch it!
Juvenile2(below): But I'm the one who saw it first! How can I let it go?




anak burung2: lepaskan! lepaskan!
mak burung: ish ish ish! apa kamu buat nih?

juvenile2: Let it go! Let it go!
mother: what are you two doing?



mak burung: kamu berkongsi apa salahnya. lepaskan..
mother: why dont you two share.. let it go!


anak burung1: mak, nanti saya lepaskan, jatuh pulak dia.
mak burung: laa...kan dia ada kepak!kalau dia jatuh dia terbanglah..

juvenile1:mum, if I let go, then he will fall!
mother:we are birds! if we fall we can fly back!


betul, anak burung2 jatuh dengan katak tersebut, tetapi dia boleh terbang.
Correct, the hanging bird did fall, but fly back up with the frog.

10 June 2009

Guard duty!

I still visit the baya weaver nest from time to time. It seem that it is easier to take the photo of the male bird. There seems one male always around at the colony which comprised of about 8-10 nest in various stages.

The trick is to spot it..
or it spotting me




maybe in the colony, it is a defense agains predator.

like this Black-naped Oriole, stalking the nest..



if the guard is around. It will strike and chase away the oriole. I seen it once(no pic, sorry)



here in this blurry pic(almost dark and quite far away), in absense of the guardian, an oriole managed to land on a nest..



and have a peek..



fortunately it is an unfinished nest, otherwise would have taken a chick or egg.

08 June 2009

an afternoon at kuala selangor nature park

Kuala Selangor is actually halfway to my hometown, so if posibble, I'll try to drop by for birding. So on May 10 on the way back, stop by at noon. I decide to take the pangolin trail and plan to double back when reached the bridge.

just after entering the trail, heard this bird call,quite similar to the common Yellow-vented Bulbul.



Merbah Belukar
Olive-winged Bulbul
Pycnonotus plumosus


more, the vent(the part below the tail) is a dull yellow colour, a quick look almost dismiss it as the common bulbul.



I like to identify it with the streaks at its cheek. The Olive green patch at the wings is not easily seen like in this pic taken at Bkt Cherakah



on the way back, the light is better with the sun behind my back. as i always shoot without flash.

I found this Strip-tit Babbler, very skittish bird.. including this I encounter it 3 times without a good photo. Oh well, try again.



Rimba Berjalur
Striped-Tit Babbler
Macronous gularis

another skittish bird I got is the Ashy Tailorbird, not a good photo..but it show its activeness..


a bit dark... only natural light.

05 June 2009

Teritory disputes

Satu hari di tepi sungai, nampak burung pucung keladi sedang terbang di seberang sungai, terus saya panning.. macam hendak mendarat di tebing pasir ..

One day at the riverside, I a little heron flying across the river, so i look into the viewfinder and pan. looks like it want to land on the sand bank.



nampaknya ia tak jadi mendarat, mungkin ia perasan seekor pucung keladi muda berdekatan.. lalu ia menyerangnya..

looks like it didnt land, maybe it sees a juvenile little heron ahead. it went on and attack the juvenile..



dari tebing masuk ke dalam air

from the river bank into the water.



tak cukup lagi terbawa-bawa ke darat

not enough, continue up on further on land



tak tahan dibuli, pucung keladi muda melarikan diri

being bullied, the juvenile flies away

04 June 2009

Eagle Eyes

One day at Bukit Cerakah, I shot 2 eagles.. One wild and one captive...

This is the wild one...A Crested Serpent-Eagle (Helang Kuik)


see the pose, the bird seems proud

at the Taman Haiwan,there were some bird cages.. A Changeable Hawk Eagle (Helang Hindek) was in one..but see the eyes. It seemed sad, always looking outside..


Like it misses its freedom.

Thats why I havent gone to KL bird park, I always take pics of the wild birds. It is different indeed.

01 June 2009

Pipit Pinang

Pipit pinang is a malay name for Scaly-breasted Munia. Commonly found at grassland, flying in groups.


an adult Scaly-breasted Munia on a lalang

it juvenile having brown underside, pic show a moulting juvenile showing some scaly pattern.



Pipit Pinang
Scaly-breasted Munia
Lonchura punctulata