Panti :: Black Magpie & Orange-backed Woodpecker!

I guess I am Trogonised somehow, last weekend a total of 10 Trogons were sighted , 7 on Saturday and 3 on Sunday. But wait, before you start yawing and fall asleep with more Trogon pics, let me freshen you with two species that I have always wanted for some improvement shots - the Black Magpie and the Orange-backed Woodpecker!

Black Magpie (Platysmurus leucopterus)

Burung Kambing * 白翅鹊 * クロカケス

Geai à ailes blanches * strakana cepcová * นกกาน้อยแถบปีกขาว

The 3-hour wait for the Blk Magpies to perch low was rewarded reasonably well, with an Orange-backed Woodpecker landed on a trunk nearby, motionless for more than 10mins. And thanks god that it didn't move as another few inches up or down my view would be partially blocked by the branches in front. Around 30 shots that all looked similar was the only regret though!

Orange-backed Woodpecker (Reinwardtipicus validus) male

Belatok Dada Merah * 橙背啄木鸟 * アカハラコガネゲラ

Pic vigoureux * zlatoš tmavokrídly * นกหัวขวานหลังสีส้ม

Quite a few parties were seen looking for the Banded Kingfisher on both Saturday and Sunday, A species that I have quit searching after learning that they are more easily seen perching quietly low unexpectedly than luring them with music only to see them perching higher than Petronas Tower. 

When I chance upon a ODKF near the Forktail's Corner, I told GCWong to stop his car as I wanted this common species on my blog and he had a good laugh while agreeing we should take a breather. Before I could setup my gear the ODKF was screaming and fleeing as if she just saw Jack The Ripper! 

While I felt insulted by the fleeing ODKF, my pet birds show up, male and female Red-naped Trogon! And Across the road, a male Scarlet-rumped Trogon. I am Trogonised!

Forget the SRT I told GCWong, lets concentrate on training the RNTs, and while I do the usual old man trick to the RNTs, a convoy of photographers from across the borders whom were earlier seen at the BKF spot, arrived with gloomy faces, so needless to say the BKF did not show up. 

Red-naped Trogon (Harpactes kasumba). male

Kesumba Tengkuk Merah * 红枕咬鹃 * アカエリキヌバネドリ

rogon à nuque rouge * dravcík kasumba * Краснозатылочный Трогон * นกขุนแผนท้ายทอยแดง

"But I have Red-naped Trogon here for you guys!" I smiled! Trust me, within 10sec 10 sets of bazookas were already pointing at my pet! Naturally all were very thankful as the RNT was cooperative, making two clean perches at reasonably close range of around 20', and I actually forgot to tell them that the Scarlet-rumped was just across the trail at low level! The female RNT was shy on the other hand, hiding behind the thick foliage all the time. 

I spent the later part of Sunday looking for the Blk Magpies again after the 2nd YSB. They showed up cautiously and I advised most of my friends that make sure that the thumb is glued to the shutter release as they could come very near for a 3-sec surprise perch! It did happen twice but none of us get the shot due to some blockage. 

And the rest of the species for the last weekend....

 Black-winged Flycatcher-shrike

 Hairy-backed Bulbul

 Scarlet-rumped Trogon, male

Scarlet-rumped Trogon, female

Panti :: 13th Feb 2011

It has been the norm for me in Panti that if a Trogon is sighted on arrival in the morning, it is likely that i would get to see many more for the day. 

The Diard's Trogon was sighted again, (ahem..) in the morning, but I wasn't very keen at it as i was very much attracted by the loud calls of the Moustached Babbler which filled the air around the same spot. A quick blast on my X-minis I saw at least 10 Moustached Babbler popping out of the bush! A bit unusual as I always see one individual.

Moustached Babbler (Malacopteron magnirostre)

Rimba Bermisai * 须树鹛 * ヒゲチャイロチメドリ

Akalat moustachu * dudroš fúzatý * นกกินแมลงหัวสีน้ำตาล

But I guess I am too old for the Babblers, they were quick and hardly perch still, all I have got was just one shot, and while searching for them along the main bunker trail hoping to sight one tired or old babbler that perch still, accidentally I saw this sub-adult Red-naped Trogon just 5-6'' in front of me, likely to be responding to the perpetual calls of the Diard's across the road. 

Red-naped Trogon (Harpactes kasumba)

Kesumba Tengkuk Merah * 红枕咬鹃 * アカエリキヌバネドリ

rogon à nuque rouge * dravcík kasumba * Краснозатылочный Трогон * นกขุนแผนท้ายทอยแดง

So I abandoned the babblers quickly because I have never seen a subadult RNT before! Mins later, the adult female (presumably the mom!) made a quick appearance followed by an adult male ( Dad i think! ). The female was shy as it stay on guard and watch at around 50m deep in the foliage. The adult RNT made a surprise perch on a branch overhanging the trail.

So I was surrounded by 4 Trogons! And just a week ago when I brought along a friend  who wanted to snap some pics of Trogon there was none, around the same spot.

Scarlet-rumped Trogon 

(Harpactes duvaucelii)

Kesumba Puteri * 红腰咬鹃*  コシアカキヌバネドリ

Trogon de Duvaucel * 

dravcík malý * 

Красноспинный Трогон * 

นกขุนแผนตะโพกแดง

I took a 1km walk around the 2nd YSB location with my setup and sighted a subadult Scarlet-rumped Trogon, ok so five trogons were sighted and I tell myself if another one turn up i promised not to take a look even though if it perches around my nose!

The greatest surprise of the day was the sighting of Rufous-collared Kingfisher. They usually appear around April-May. By then you could hear its call on several locations along the trail.

Rufous-collared Kingfisher (Actenoides concretus) male

Pekaka Rimba Besa * 栗领翡翠 * アオヒゲショウビン

Martin-chasseur trapu * rybárikovec zelenohlavý * นกกะเต็นสร้อยคอสีน้ำตาล

If I could remember correctly, a total of 5 Yellow-rumped Flycatchers were spotted since august last year but none had stayed at the same spot for more than a week, except a male on a fruiting tree after the 1st stream.

So it was delightful for me to see a male YRFC not far off from same spot again and 2 hours were spent with it before heading home! A lot of patience is needed to get a decent shot as its size is small and with a fullframe dslr I have to shoot at min focus distance of 10', so much time was spent waiting for it to perch in front of the cam then to endlessly going after for it, which usually send it to perch high.

Yellow-rumped Flycatcher (Ficedula zanthopygia),

Sambar Belakang Kuning * 白眉姬鹟 * マミジロキビタキ * Đớp ruồi vàng

Gobemouche à croupion jaune * muchárik zlatý *  Мухоловка даурская желтоспинная * 
นกจับแมลงตะโพกเหลือง

I was wondering why the orange patch on its chest and according to 

Craig Robson's SEA Bird Guide, it is a male(Spring).

On my way out, another SRT was sighted on a super clean branch 2' above ground but I didn't stop not bacause I had promised, but I was late for a CNY dinner! :(


Other shots ::

Spectacled Bulbul

Panti :: Sg Balang :: Gunung Pulai

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!

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 :: 12^th 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 3^rd 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! 

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???