Panti where got Banded Pitta? :))))

I have shot the Banded Pitta twice in the past, but either the head was fully blocked or the image was so blur which makes it look more like the chick of Ayam Kampung than anything else! Many times I was frowned at when the subject of its sighting was brought up in the discussion, and what follow was usually "ARE YOU SURE???"


Situation turned around slightly when when a pair were spotted 100m into the trail barely 20' away in one of the birding trips with my friends a few months ago. 

But for an hour we couldn't get a good shot due to thick undergrowth. However it was the moment of truth for me as one of my friends patted me on my shoulder and said "I believe in you now!" (Sobs...sobs.....)

Banded Pittas are not that rare in Panti. According to my observation in the past, they occur in  many locations but mostly deep in the forest/side trails. Occasionally they do venture very near to the Main Bunker Trail, but they are not as habitual as the Mysia Rail Babbler, i.e. if you see them (usually in pair -male/female) in one spot just don't hope to see them around the same spot the next day.

Extremely shy and getting a good shot is a real PITA (Oops!), as they like to move around quickly in the canopy of thick undergrowth. So you either run out of shutter speed  due to lack of light or out of breath chasing them in the wood. I have missed capturing their images at least 5 times despite they were just skipping cheekily around me barely 10' away.

"WUI! BAND BAND BANDED....P.... I.... T... T... AAAAAA!", shouted my Sifu!

So in Panti today and when one my friends gave me a loud yell 100m away, I probably dashed faster than Carl Lewis, with full gear on my shoulder forgetting I have not fully recovered from my illness. 9.8s later I reached the spot and told him if it was a joke I would probably kill him with my new Gitzo tripod! But it was all big smiles from all of us seconds later as the Banded Pitta made a brisk appearance in a well-lit patch of the ground, grinning at us almost like "Haha! See if any of you fools can get me this time!".   

And after one hour of seek-and-hide with the PITA, finally I managed to get some improvement shots and video recording of the Banded Pitta of Panti! Phew! I was thrilled naturally and suddenly the pain of my stomach cramp that tortured me for the last few weeks seemed to have gone suddenly and forever!

For once, I actually like a bird's name in chinese, Banded Pitta is actually 
called "Blue-tailed-eight-colored Pitta!" Make sense to me!

Banded Pitta (Pitta guajana)

Burung Pacat Berjalur * 蓝尾八色鸫 * キマユシマヤイロチョウ * 

Brève azurine * pita pásikavá * Синехвостая питта * นกแต้วแล้วลาย

Blauschwanz-Pitta * Gyldenbrynet Pitta * Pita Barrada

And some of the pics taken on both Saturday and Sunday. I am still excited with my Nikon D5100 so all imgs were captured with it, with 500mm VR F4 TC1.4.

 Crested Serpent-Eagle (Spilornis cheela)

Buff-necked Woodpecker (Meiglyptes tukki)

Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher (Ceyx erithacus)

Rufous-collared Kingfisher (Actenoides concretus)

White-bellied Woodpecker (Dryocopus javensis)

Scarlet-rumped Trogon (Harpactes duvaucelii)

And is this ID correct?  

Grey-rumped Treeswift (Hemiprocne longipennis) ?

Back to Panti again!

After dieting for two weeks i see myself looking more and more like Ally McBill than Hulk Hogan before! Lack of sugar intake makes me tremble at night so I convinced my family that the shivering was due to lack of birding trip, as i needed more sun and walking. So a compromise was made, go Panti but no venturing of the side trails on foot, stay close to the car (I lied) and make sure the mobile line is working at all times........

And Fluffy-backed Tit-babbler would be your best bet in Panti if you are tired of walking looking for birds but need to shoot something along the main bunker trail! They are in abundance and are extremely responsive to calls. If you are good in whistling you don't even need a mp3 player for this species.

Fluffy-backed Tit Babbler (Macronous ptilosus)

Burung Pong Pong * 绒背纹胸鹛 * ミノゲチメドリ * 

Timalie chamasa * timália štetinatá * นกกินแมลงหลังฟู

Stachelrücken-Meisentimalie * Timalí Piloso * Uldrygget Mejsetimalie

My favourite location for the Tit Babbler is at the swamp, 100m before the Elephant Trail, where the open space of the swamp gives you more light which is crucial for this species that like to perch in the shades of undergrowth. I left the D3s at home this time as I wanted to to carry lighter load in case a lot of walking was needed, and the D5100 with the recently acquired Gitzo 3-series is almost 2Kg lighter than the D3s with Gitzo 5 series!!!

And the decision to stay around the swamp proves rewarding, a Rofous-tailed Tailorbird shows up for a minute to investigate the commotion by the 4 Tit Babblers I was having fun with, perched right in front of me! So is another 'Tick' in my miserable collection.  

I have stopped counting lifer/tick since last year, after I leant that there are more than 9000 species in the world. So enjoy nature and the fun of bird photography while I still can rather than getting anxietic and grow more grey hair just because someone else has 2 more lifers than me. Life is short!

Rufous-tailed Tailorbird (Orthotomus sericeus)

Perenjak Ekor Merah *  红头缝叶莺 * ズアカサイホウチョウ *

Couturière à queue rousse * krajcírik hrdzavochvostý * Красноголовая славка-портниха * นกกระจิบกระหม่อมแดง

Rotschwanz-Schneidervogel * Rødhalet Skrædderfugl * Sastrecillo Colirrufo

There are birds you have to go after them, and then there are birds that would come for you. Sooty-capped is one such species of the later. I was resting near the 1st YSB (Yellow sign board) and heard its calls. It was loud and clear so I setup my gear immediately, played its music for a minute and wait for it to show up, It came within seconds and it was all over me for an hour! 

The occurrence of Sooty-capped Babblers are not as widespread as the Fluffy-backed Tit-Babblers. They tend to be near some messy undergowth under dark canopy, often near a stream. But the good news is they are extremely enthusiastic to perch clean in a bright spot when called upon, often within 10-15' reach without the need of camouflage or blind. 

Sooty-capped Babbler (Malacopteron affine)

Rimba Tinjau Belukar *  纯色树鹛 * ズグロチャイロチメドリ * 

Akalat affin * dudroš lužný * นกกินแมลงหัวสีคล้ำ

Schwarzscheitel-Zweigtimalie * Trætimalie * Tordina Coronioscura

And a few other species shot on the same day........

 Asian Fairy Bluebird (Irena puella)

 Grey-chested Jungle Flycatcher (Rhinomyias umbratilis)

 Raffles's Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus chlorophaeus)

Whiskered Treeswift (Hemiprocne comata)

Scarlet-rumped Trogon (Harpactes duvaucelii)

 Giant Cream Squirrel.

Pig-tailed Monkey ?

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