Gunung Pulai :: 10th Nov 2010
The reason for my frequent trips to Gunung Pulai is for the Spotted-wood owl and Barred-eagle Owl! I was only abt 20' from the spotted and a bike came past in full blast and scared it away! It was a 2-hour wait in the bush and hide behind some dying oil palm trees, lots of mosquitoes bites came free as usual. So far the only shot i have got is this......no, not camera shake, the SS was too slow and i stepped on a soft ground causing my whole setup to tilt just the moment i snap! Brilliant!
But the common Flamebacks are always there to entertain!
Panti :: 12th Nov 2010
The reason for my frequent trips to Gunung Pulai is for the Spotted-wood owl and Barred-eagle Owl! I was only abt 20' from the spotted and a bike came past in full blast and scared it away! It was a 2-hour wait in the bush and hide behind some dying oil palm trees, lots of mosquitoes bites came free as usual. So far the only shot i have got is this......no, not camera shake, the SS was too slow and i stepped on a soft ground causing my whole setup to tilt just the moment i snap! Brilliant!
My record shot of G Pulai's owl! Looked like spotted to me, i could be wrong though...
But the common Flamebacks are always there to entertain!
Common Flameback
金背三趾啄木鸟 * ズアカミユビゲラ * Gõ kiến vàng nhỏ
Panti :: 12th Nov 2010
The Red-naped Trogon was already waiting by the side of the bunker trail when I arrived at its usual hang around spot, the 3rd time it shows up on my arrival in fact. I have this stupid feeling that the Red-naped is trying to relay or transpire something to me, perhaps a message from someone. J
But when my friends came to the same spot last week, a female Diard’s Trogon turned up instead! The Red-naped was nowhere to be seen. And until now I have not seen a female Diard’s Trogon in Panti before. Arrr.....
Four birders from S’pore Nature Society were amazed that The RNTs did not fly away when they joined me and were extremely delighted the RNT stayed for more than an hour for them.
When I met up with the birders later on another location, I heard the muted calls of Scarlet-rumped Trogon probably 30’ away.
The SR Trogons are always easy to photograph in Panti, just a bit of patience and “sweet-talk’ you could have them perch almost right in front of you! And the birders shake their heads in disbelief, having seen 2 species of Trogons within 2 hours was just something they could never dream of. So i got 4 warm handshakes from foreign birders lasted more than 5mins, a record for me!
Sg Balang :: 14th Nov 2010
I put up a night in Batu Pahat, in Pelican Hotel on Saturday, hoping to catch some owls in Balang in the evening. By the time i reached Balang at 3:45pm, a friend who has came to Balang earlier was on his way back to JB, told me the Barn Owl was perching on a banana tree near the main entrance for more then 2hours!
And no, i wasn't lucky this time, a farmer who was at the scene told me the owl just took off the moment i drove in!! Now who is going to pay for my hotel bill!
Pelican Hotel (***) is located along the main road from BP to Muar, with the local hawkers centre across the road and nearest to Balang than any other hotels in BP, this one get my vote.
Last weekend was not a good day for birding in Sg Balang, occasional drizzles in the morning followed by extreme heat in the afternoon seemed to have quite an impact on birds' appearances. Terns were not seen at all and less than 4 Blk Kites were sighted. Even the Blue-taileds and Brown shrikes looked tired!
Scarlet-rumped Trogon
Kesumba Puteri*红腰咬鹃*コシアカキヌバネドリ
these alien can hover, flip, hop, and fly, so ladies be warned, I would scream too if landed on my back!
Spectacled Bulbul (Pycnonotus erythrophthalmos)
Merbah Mata Merah Kecil * 小褐鹎 * コアカメチャイロヒヨドリ * Bông lau nâu nhỏ
Sg Balang :: 14th Nov 2010
I put up a night in Batu Pahat, in Pelican Hotel on Saturday, hoping to catch some owls in Balang in the evening. By the time i reached Balang at 3:45pm, a friend who has came to Balang earlier was on his way back to JB, told me the Barn Owl was perching on a banana tree near the main entrance for more then 2hours!
And no, i wasn't lucky this time, a farmer who was at the scene told me the owl just took off the moment i drove in!! Now who is going to pay for my hotel bill!
extra single bed for my precious
Pelican Hotel (***) is located along the main road from BP to Muar, with the local hawkers centre across the road and nearest to Balang than any other hotels in BP, this one get my vote.
the car park behind with guard on 24hrs duty should give you a piece of mind to sleep soundly w/o worrying on missing rims and tyres the next morning.
One double and one singlebed for RM128, breadfast incl!
Last weekend was not a good day for birding in Sg Balang, occasional drizzles in the morning followed by extreme heat in the afternoon seemed to have quite an impact on birds' appearances. Terns were not seen at all and less than 4 Blk Kites were sighted. Even the Blue-taileds and Brown shrikes looked tired!
Black-shouldered Kite
Helang Tikus * 黑翅鸢 ＊ トビ ＊ Diều hâu
Scaly-breasted Munia (Lonchura punctulata)
Pipit Pinang * 斑文鸟 * シマキンパラ * Di đá
Jungle fowl? Ayam Kampung? Or Kentucky?
Another Lifer! Myna on a cow's head!
Black Kite (Milvus migrans)
Helang Ekor Cabang * 黑鸢 * トビ * Diều hâu
Against the strong back light, the only way to tell the diff between Blk Kite and GSE is the shape of their tails. The blk Kite has straight -cut while the GSE has rounded tail (see pic below)
Interesting to see the Blk Kite behind the GSE for quite some time without initiating an attack.
This is the 2nd GSE i saw in Balang, much lighter in colour, could be a juvy though.
Nikon D7000
I took delivery of my D7000 the day i went to Balang but unfortunately i did not have much time to really test it. ISO was really impressive and personally i would say more than 1-stop better than D300s/D90.
The shutter is a lot more quiet than my D3s in Q-mode. I am so used to the quick AF in D3s that i do find the AF speed a bit lagging in low lightl, this might not be a fair judgement against a pro body i guess!
Imgs looked softer compared to the D3s in raw but i suppose that could be easily fixed in pp.
My major complain about D7000 - the exposure dial (PSAM) which is not lockable, easily moved to another setting without my knowledge while handling the camera, so it is frustrating for me to constantly having to remind myself to look at the setting thru the VF or visually at the knob! Could it be just my left hand???
First congrats on your new camera. I guess you will truly enjoy it once you got your hands on it. And then second congrats on all your lifer and magnificent pictures you got. The flameback are my favorites there, although most of this species are fantastic for me as I do not know them!
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