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..

Stork Island

I accidentally found out the nest of the Painted Stork when we are having dinner at the restaurant on 12/7/09.

Me: Eh! burung upeh tu ada baby lah! Kalau ada kamera mesti dah ambik gambar nih..
Hey! the storks have babies! If I have the camera sure have taken pictures..

She: Salah saya lah ni, suruh bawak beg saya tadi. dah tak bawak beg kamera ..
Its my fault, I asked you to carry my bag, so you left your camera bag..

Me: Takper, next week saya bawak tripod, kamera shoot dari sini (the restaurant)
Nevermind, next week I bring the tripod, camera and shoot from here.(the restaurant)


Well, thats what I did on 18/7/09

The chicks maybe 2-3 weeks old, I think..


This is shot with my manual focus Tair Phs 300mm F4.5 coupled with Kenko 1.4x TC

just to show the difference using Tamron SP AF 2x TC


not much different, but using the 2x tc sure relieves my eyes for focussing job, but loose extra 1 stop of light.

from my point of view, I saw 5 nest with 1-2 chicks inside.



for the location of the island click here

200mm will do

The Painted Stork is such a big bird that i'm able shooting them using a 200mm lens.

One day, just before sunset I parked infront of the pkns building, fix the 200mm Seimar Auto F3.5 in m42 mount and walked to the lake. Noticed the storks up on the rhu trees and shoot the against the sunset.



only managed silhuette shots for not using flash.

the lamps around the lake already on, shining on the face of some stork



the correct direction to shoot them in the afternoon is from the west, where the golden sunlight shine from your behind.

lucky i got this panning shot



funny that i didnt use shutter priority, since I usually use manual lenses, I've set the halfpress shutter to exposure lock. So get low shutter speed of 1/40 sec in aperture priority.

the storks are breeding now, later post the chick development.

Upeh oi!

Upeh Sawah
Painted Stork
Mycteria leucocephala

The last time I took these bird pics was in february 08. it is this bird that sparks my interest in birding. Well, these painted stork (upeh sawah) colony still roost at the island at the lake. Dont know if they breed there? altough some juveniles are present. Do they stay for the night? I tought so, but havent confirm.. have to go during night to confirm.

It seems the birds are completely at ease at the island even with the humans around. Maybe they are from zoo negara. There is a lot of painted storks free flying there. well cannot be confirmed for sure, maybe the authorities taking care of the Shah Alam lakes can give the answer. But I'm sure the birds are safe there, visitor cannot go to the island so nobody can poach or disturb the birds.

If you see in the picture, the bird in the left is a painted stork juvenile based on the brownish feathers. The pinkish feathers not fully visible. Compare them to the adult bird at the right side.

How about the bird in the middle? To me, it looks much like a milky stork. I have compared them to pics I took at zoo negara in the aviary.

Milky Storks(Upeh Bakau) are considered a red alert species in Malaysia. In a survey in Oct 2004, there are less than 10 birds at Kuala Gula Bird Sanctuary. perhaps this is a bird who got lost and joined this painted stork colony. Perhaps from nearby Kuala Selangor Milky Stork rehabilitation program.

Upeh Bakau
Milky Stork
Myceteria cinerea

But there is no band at the feet which indicates it is a wild bird. No black feather at the breast and no pinkish feathers to indicate its a hybrid. Some say, only a DNA test can be done to confirm it a pure milky stork. For now, I will say its a milky stork until some expert came foward and say its a hybrid painted stork.