Wild Bird of the Week (week 44)

This week I am featuring Pygmy Wren-Babbler as the wild bird of the week. This tail-less bird is one of the smallest birds in Malaysia. From a distance away, it looks like an egg with legs.

Species Name: Pygmy Wren-Babbler, 小鳞胸鹪鹛, タカサゴミソサザイ

(高砂鷦鷯)

Scientific Name: Pnoepyga Pusilla 8.5 cm
Habitat: Broadleaved evergreen forest.
Altitude: Montane Bird 750 - 2565 meter
Photo captured at: Bukit Brinchang, Cameron Highland, Pahang, Malaysia
1 D mk3, EF 600 mm F4 IS 1.4 TC
1/30s f/5.6 at 840.0mm iso800

Thanks for viewing. 

Little Heron On The Lonely Pole

I was there at the right moment, I saw this Little Heron perched at a lonely pole. The light was perfect, the early morning sun-light shone on the water surface and created a beautiful reflection. I was lucky to captured it into my camera sensor, the beauty of natural light.

The following photos are captured using the Canon 5 D mk II with EF 600 mm F4 IS.

Thanks for viewing, feel free to leave your comments.

Wild Bird of the Week (week 43)

This week I am featuring the Checker-throated Woodpecker as the wild-bird of the week. Broadleaf evergreen forest is its favorite habitat. It flies among tree trunks on short bursts and uses its powerful toes to stable itself to the tree trunks. It belongs to the Piciformes family and has a strong bill and neck muscles.

Species Name: Checker-throated Woodpecker, 斑喉绿啄木鸟, チャバネアオゲラ (茶羽青啄木鳥)

Scientific Name: P.mentalis 28 cm
Habitat: Broadleaved evergreen forest.
Altitude: Up to 1220 meter
Photo captured at: Sungai Sidim Recreation Park, Kedah, Malaysia
1 D mk3, EF 600 mm F4 IS 1.4 TC
1/80s f/6.3 at 840.0mm iso800

Intermediate Egret Swallowed A Fish

I was amazed to see and photograph the entire sequence of Intermediate Egret swallowing a fish. Intermediate Egret must have a strong stomach to swallow a big fish without breaking it into smaller pieces using its teeth.

       

1. Caught a fish as breakfast

2. Struggle to swallow it

Finally into the stomach

Thanks for viewing, feel free to contribute your comments or observations.

Collared Kingfisher Funny Gestures

This morning at Byram, I managed to get multiple shots of funny gesture of the Collared Kingfisher. The series of shots were captured using the Canon 1 D mk3 and EF 600 F4 IS. I was too near to the subject so I have to take off my 1.4 TC.

Must be heavy breakfast, clearing the stomach before taking a bath, ha ha ha.................. :)

Drying the feather, after dipping itself into the river

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Wild Bird of the Week (week 42)

This week I am featuring the Chestnut-Headed Bee Eater as the wild bird of the week, in conjunction with one of my photo winning the Photo Malaysia ( http://www.photomalaysia.com ) August monthly competition. The winning photo featuring a pair of fighting Chestnut-Headed Bee Eater.

Chestnut-Headed Bee Eaters are the winter visitors to the Peninsula Malaysia and start to migrate here from Dec and returning to its breeding ground on March. This photo was captured on Feb 2009 using the Canon 5 D mk2 with the EF 600 mm IS F4 at a open scrubland in Penang Malaysia. I shot this photo from my car using a bean bag and positioned my equipments on the bean bag.

Species Name: Chestnut-Headed Bee Eater, 栗头蜂虎, チャガシラハチクイ (茶頭蜂喰)
Scientific Name: M.leschenaulti 21.5 cm
Habitat: Open Broadleaved evergreen forest and coastal scrub.
Altitude: Up to 1830 meter
Photo captured at: Penanti, Penang, Malaysia
5 D mk2, EF 600 mm F4 IS 1.4 TC
1/1600s f/8.0 at 840.0mm iso800

(Theme: Fighting) This photo won the monthly Photo Malaysia competition

Thanks for viewing, feel free to give your comments.

Little Egret

I like to photograph Little Egret due to its snowy white color feather. I have a high tendency to over-expose on the white color feather, so I always have to reduce the expose using the Lightroom (LR) and increase the "recovery" in order to get the deatil out of the snowy white feather. Here are the 2 comparison photos:

Post-processed using LR 2.3 by reducing exposure and increase recovery 

Pre-processed

"Standing-tall" on the coastal wet land 

Flight of the Little Egret:

Canon 1 D mk3 EF 600 F4 IS with 1.4 TC Gitzo Carbon Fiber Tripod

Wimberley 2 Gimba Head, AF: AI Servo Mode

ISO 640 F8 1/500

Thanks for viewing.

Wild Bird of the Week (week 41)

I will post here a species of wild bird from my image bank weekly. I will call it "Wild Bird of the week". This week I am featuring here a species called Silver-breasted Broadbill.

Species Name: Silver-breasted Broadbill, 银胸丝冠鸟, ギンムネヒロハシ (銀胸広嘴)
Scientific Name: Serilophus lunatus 17 cm
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Eurylaimidae
Habitat: Broadleaved evergreen forest.
Altitude: 50 to 2200 meter
Photo captured at: Bukit Tinggi, Malaysia
1 D mk3 EF 600 mm F4 IS 1.4 TC

Whiskered Terns Are Back to Byram

Oct 4th 2009, Byram Penang.

Rain, rain, rain again on Sunday morning. I decided to stop by at my favourite  "nasi-lemak" place to have my breakfast before going to Byram. At about 8.30 am, the rain stopped and I headed to the location.

At the entrance to my shooting location, I spotted this pair of Brahminy Kite. I wind down the window and made a few shots.

I saw a flock of Whiskered Terns hovering above a pond. They were looking for food and waiting for the right moment to dive into the target.  I setup my equipments for some flight shots. The following photos were captured using my 1 D mk3 + EF 600 mm F4 IS mounted on a Gitzo carbon fiber tripod.

I set the AF to AI servo mode.

A Whiskered Tern perched on a lonely pole. 

At the other smaller pond, I saw a few pairs of Little Grebe.

Thanks for viewing.

Sungai Sedim

On Oct 3rd Morning, Nelson, Tsien and I decided to head to Sungai Sedim to photograph wild-birds. It has been more than a month that we last  visited the area. With the start of the migratory birds season, we hope to get some species of flycatchers.

I managed to get 3 species of photo lifers and 1 lifer, photo lifers were Verditer Flycatcher, Brown Fulvetta and Banded Broadbill. I was not able to get a clear shot of the Yellow-rumped Flycatcher. I am delighted also to get some improvement shots of the Scarlet Rump Trogon.

Verditer Flycatcher

Brown Fulvetta

The Banded Broadbill perched high up on a tree.

The Scarlet Rump Trogon perched low.

While waiting for other birds to appear, I came across this unique insect.

 

Portraits of my friends:

Thanks for viewing !

Kingfisher

Kingfisher is a fascinating bird to photo-take because of its colorful and attractive feathers. There are 13 species of Kingfisher in Malaysia. Out of the 13 species, 11 species are resident birds and 2 species are winter migrant.
After 3 years of photographing wild-birds, I managed to get 8 species. I am still pursuing for the elusive 5 (Blue Banded, Black-Backed, Rufous-Backed, Banded and Brown-Winged).

1. White-throated Kingfisher (Resident Bird)

2. Collared Kingfisher (Resident Bird)

3. Blue-Eared Kingfisher (Resident Bird)

4. Stork-Billed Kingfisher (Resident Bird)

5. Ruddy Kingfisher (Resident Bird)

6. Rufous-Collared Kingfisher (Resident Bird)

7. Common Kingfisher (Winter Migrant)

8. Black-capped Kingfisher (Winter Migrant)

Thanks for viewing