Merry X'Mas & A Happy New Year 2011

The Orange-bellied Flowerpecker (Dicaeum trigonostigma ) 9 cm.

Although it is classified as a flowerpecker this small, colorful and very agile bird feeds mainly on ripened small cherries. Often seen foraging in a flock of up to a dozen birds but at times maybe just a pair.

The habitat are mainly in broadleaved , evergreen forest, gardens and caltivation up to approx 900 meters.

Here are some photos to share.

    The more brightly colored male.

   The single color female.

Have a good day. Cheers!

The Black Hornbills ( Anthracoceros malayanus ) 76 cm

I came across a pair of the Black Hornbills at Bkt Cahaya whilst birding there recently. Initially I thought it's an odd couple combination of the Black and Oriental Pied Hornbills as I have frequently witnessed in another park near the city. However when I recorded the female Black Hornbill I drew conclusion that the Oriental Pied Hornbill is not part of the pair.

The arrival of the Black Hornbills was preceded by the distinctive loud harsh retching sounds and grating calls some distance away. The pair had perched on the canopy branches of a distant tree (together with 3 other Oriental Pied Hornbills) before finally decided to fly forward and closer to my location. Both continued with foraging for figs as the day slowly drew to a close with the sun disappearing in the horizon and darkness fell quickly and enveloped the forest.

Here are 3 photos for sharing.

    The Black Hornbill (Male)

   The Black Hornbill (Female)

   The Oriental Pied Hornbill which kept the pair company.


Have a nice day! Cheers!

The unusual behavior of a Sultan Tit (Melanochlora sultanea) 20.5 cm

A lone bird broke away from the flock and discovered a bee's nest just below the water gutter of a building. Whilst enjoying it's new found grub it decided to invite the other birds to join in. Unfortunately it's calls fell on deaf ears and none of the other birds came and join the feast. As this event occured during a bird wave it had to reluctantly leave the nest to rejoin the rest or risk being left behind. It was a very interesting observation which lasted for about 4-5 minutes.

Here are a few photos for sharing.

   Discovered the bees nest.

   Enjoying the grub.

Calling to it's mates to join in the feast.

   Having a few more mouthfuls before flying-off to rejoin it's mates.

  Thanks for dropping by! Cheers!

Insects, Flowers & Fungi IV

Sharing some more pictures taken in-between birding breaks.

Help required. Does anyone know what is the name of this bug? Thx.

The Rhinoceros Beetle is fast disappearing due to illegal trappings for sale as souvenir trophies! :-(

A spider web all ready and waiting for a victim.

Mountain flower in full bloom at 2500 meters above sea level.

Flowering season of the wild mountain orchids. They are all over the hill slopes.

A red Hibiscus flower.

A pink Hibiscus flower

 

Wild fungi growing on a dead tree trunk

The Fire-tufted Barbet ( Psilopogon pyrolophus ) 28 cm

I cross path with this lone bird during a birding trip to the highlands. It flew in very quietly from the valley behind me to perch on the canopy of a tall tree on the the mountain side. I was gazing up to the sky to check the weather which had just have a  very strong gust of passing wind from the vast valley toward the mountains. The tree was fruiting and it's fruit (fig) is one of the Barbet's favorite.

The Fire-tufted Barbet's name is derived from the unique crop of brownish-maroon spiked plumage on it's crown which resembles a lighted fire. 

Here are some photos for sharing.

Have a nice day! Cheers!

A splendid weekend with the Raptors!

A steady drizzle greeted us as we started out by road from Kuala Lumpur. The destination is about 2 hours away ie Sg. Balang - a relatively unknown farming village located off the main Muar-Batu Pahat trunk road. The heavy downpour along the way made the drive uneventful. All that was seen above was an overcast sky pouring out it's ballooned-up water on to the good earth below. It is too late to detour so we proceeded to our destination as planned. Birders are not be deterred by the weather. In fact they are quite accustomed to the unpredictable change of the weather and are well equipped to face them.

After passing numerous towns and villages along the way we finally arrived at our destination.By then it was down to a drizzle but still considered 'wet' insofar as the expensive photographic equipments are concerned. :-) So we sat in the car and waited and kept our fingers crossed hoping that the bad weather will pass soon. Our silent pray was answered when the drizzle stopped around noon time. We did not waste any time and immediately set-up the equipments in readiness for the 'shoot.' 

And as the weather warmed-up more from the forest fringes one by one the Raptors (our main target for this trip) took to the sky! All was not lost after all! The wet weather lifted and now the Raptors are out in full force for a rain delayed feeding spree over the paddy fields of Sg. Balang!

It was a very eventful and exiting couple of hours in the afternoon of camera action - before the weather master once again started to shed big tears. But this time we were nonchalant to the rain. Our objective of the trip was satisfactorily achieved. We stored our equipment from the rain and proceeded to Pt. Jawa for a much delayed 'brunch cum dinner' of curry fish at 5 pm. 

Here are some pictures for sharing. Hope you like them as much as I have sharing.

   A pair of Braminy Kites

   A Braminy Kite (Juvenile) in-flight.

  Another B. Kite (Juv) perching of it's favorite pole.

   Pic of B. Kite (Juv) taken from different angle.

   And from another perspective. At whichever angle all Raptors simply look majestic and awesome!

   Black Kites

   Have a nice day! Cheers!   

Sunset over Pt Jawa, Johore, Malaysia

     I will let the pictures tell their stories. :-)

Thanks for dropping by! Cheers!

From the Garden

If we look hard in and around our home garden we will marvel at what we can find. The following photos were taken in my home garden over the weekend. 

 

 

     Does this flower resemble a bird with a long tail? :-)

 

     Always good to see Love Bugs thriving in a city garden!

 

    And butterflies are also thriving!

Have a nice day!

The Chinese Pond Heron (Adeola bacchus) 45 - 52 cm

The Chinese Pond Heron could be found in freshwater wetlands, mangroves and tidal pools. Often the plumage acts as very effective camouflage making it difficult to spot even at close proximity. A shy bird it will 'take-off' and fly away to a great distance when sensing human presence.

When in flight the outer wings diplay an all-white plumage, showing a two-toned color of the bird.

Here are some photos for sharing.

 

Cheers!

The Olive-backed Sunbird - Female, ( Nectarinia jugularis ) 11.5 cm

The Female Sunbird  appeared after a short drizzle but the male was not in the same vicinity. It's bright yellow plumage was set against the dark green vegetation in the background. With the mid afternoon sun striking it's plumage the yellow color of it's plumage appeared florescent.

The habitat is usually open forest, magrove and gardens up to 900 meters.

Here are a few photos for sharing.

Have a nice day! Cheers!

The White-breasted Waterhen ( Amaurornis phoenicurus ) 32 cm

The White-breasted Waterhen have a somewhat similar body structure to the domestic hen. It is widely found in wetlands, roadsides and even in monsoon drains within some housing estates in the city. 

Here are some photos for sharing.

Thanks for dropping by. Cheers!

The stylish flight of the Black-shouldered Kites (Elanus caerruleus ) 31 - 35 cm

When I first saw the the Black-shouldered Kite what impressed me most was the Kite's trade-mark 'hover' in the sky. It will 'hover' wings flapping causally whilst scanning the vast horizon around it in search for a prey. The 'hover' could be as long as 1 - 2 minutes. It is a beautiful sight to behold! Most definitely one of the delights of the great outdoors.

In my last posting on this blog I featured 2 Kites in the process of building a nest. In this post are 2 different Kites feeding on a small unidentified bird and a large lizard which one of them caught in the paddy fields. A unique characteristic (I observed) was the sharing of the live meal. The first Kite would share the meal by passing part of it to the second Kite. This happened in both instances ie the bird and the lizard meal. Great caring in the wild!!! 

The Kites' habitat are usually in open country (paddy fields), semi desert and caltivated areas up to 1500 meteres.

Here are some photos for sharing.

Thanks for viewing! Cheers!