Winter Visitors

October 24 2010. This morning I shifted my attention from the forest birds. I explored the marshes at the Pulau Burung area to look for the common winter visitors such as waders and Kingfisher. I arrived at the location at about 8 in the morning. It was low tide period. I scanned the vast low-lying waterlogged area with the binocular. I was excited to spot some waders. However, it was not easy to photograph the targeted birds. They were relatively far away from my shooting location. I had to use the 1.4 TC with my EF 800mm IS in order to get the maximum reach. With this set-up, I retained only the center point AF.

The first target that got my attention was the Common Redshank. It was easily identified by its orange color leg.

Common Redshank

Common Redshank

The next species that draw my attention was the Lesser sand Plover (non-bleeding plumage). 

Lesser Sand Plover

Lesser sand Plover

As I drove further, I saw waders with very long and curved bill. After careful checked with my binocular, it turned out to be a Whimbrel. Yahoo !!! another lifer to my photo lifer list. Unfortunately it was difficult to get sharp photos of the subject due to the heat-waved generated from the ground.

My Photo Lifer of the day
Whimbrel

Pacific Golden Plover (non-breeding plumage)

In addition to waders, I saw the Common and Black-capped Kingfisher while I was driving along the trail. They were quite skittish, it either flew away while it saw my vehicle coming or perched far away from my shooting location. Anyway, here are two record shots of the species.

Common Kingfisher

Black-capped Kingfisher

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Little Spiderhunter Again

Little Spiderhunter.
Canon EOS 7D EF 800mm IS
ISO 2500 F5.6 1/160 Without Flash

October 18 2010. Yesterday I went back to the same location where I got the Little Spiderhunter last week.   Upon setting up my gears, the Little Spiderhunter came and stopped by at a banana flower. It perched at the top of the banana flower and used its long bill to suck on the nectar. Due to poor light source, I had to use ISO 2000 to 2500 on my Canon EOS 7D to get a reasonable fast shutter speed to avoid motion blur. I am very surprised with the outcome of the photos. They were not as noisy as what I had expected. 

Sweet, sweet nectar

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Chestnut-breasted Malkoha

Chestnut-breasted Malkoha. Sungai Sedim Kedah.
Canon EOS 7D EF 800mm IS. ISO 1600 1/500 F5.6
I struggled to frame the entire body of the subject into my viewfinder. I ended up only photographing the head and body without the tail.

October 17 2010. I spotted the Chestnut-breasted Malkoha at Sungai Sedim this morning. The subject  alighted at a tree branch and partially hidden behind dense vegetation. Initially, I thought it was the Green-billed Malkoha. After a careful checked using my binocular, I saw the breast and belly area are in chestnut color rather than grey color.  I was very delighted that I managed to add a new species into my lifer list. 

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Little Spiderhunter

Little Spiderhunter, Sungai Sedim Kedah.
1 D MarkIV EF 800 IS
ISO 2000 1/50 F5.6 Without Flash

October 8 2010. Wild bananas flowers are everywhere at Sungai Sedim lowland forest. This morning I saw many wild bananas trees were blooming with flowers. The Little Spiderhunters were busy feeding on the nectar. I pre-focus on the bananas flower and waited for the subjects to stop by the flowers.

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More Violet

October 6 2010. Here are additional photos of the Violet Cuckoo. I hope you enjoy the color.

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Sungai Sedim Revisited

My Lifer of the day, a Violet Cuckoo.
While I was photographing the Chestnut-breasted Malkoha, this purple looking bird pop up
from the dense vegetation. The photo was captured with the Canon 1 D mkIV with EF 800 IS lens.
ISO 1250 F8 AP Mode. Without Flash.

October 3 2010. This morning I went to Sungai Sedim to look for the winter passage migrant bird. My target is the Yellow-rumped Flycatcher. Last year, there were multiple sighting of the Yellow-rumped Flycatcher at Sungai Sedim. Unfortunately I did not find my target bird. I ended up with a "consolation prize", a close relative of the Yellow-rumped, the Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher.

I like the sweet melody called of the Grey-headed Canary.
Canon 1 D Mark IV EF 800 IS
ISO 2000 1/60 F5.6

I shot without flash in order to retain the original color of the feather.

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HD Video Footage of Rhinoceros Hornbill

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Rhinoceros Hornbill

Female Rhinoceros Hornbill

Rhinoceros Hornbill, Sungai Sedim, Kedah, Malaysia
Canon 1D mkIV, EF800 IS + 1.4TC
ISO800 AP Mode F8