A casual morning of birding in Kuala Selangor Nature Park (KSNP)

It was the Festival of Wings weekend (Oct 22-23 2011). I was amongst the volunteers from the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) who had turned up to lend a hand to the many activities planned for the weekend. On Sunday morning we got out of bed at around 6 am. Freshen up and was ready for casual birding in the park by 7 am. For company I had Tang Tuck Hong, Lee Keen Seong, Chin Choong Liung and Andy Lee all members of the Birdgroup SIG of MNS Selangor Branch.

The sun was slowly breaking in the distant horizon. We only have the 1st half of the Sunday morning. In the afternoon we have to take up volunteer duty at the Kapar Power Station Ash Pond, same schedule as on Saturday.

We had just entered the left trail when the familiar calls of Laced Woodpeckers broke the quiet morning silence. There were three of them, possibly 2 adults and a Juvenile.

 

We came upon a winter visitor next - the Asian Brown Flycatcher

Further down the trail was a lone Black-capped Kingfisher, another winter visitor. It was perched a fair distance away, amongst some leafless branch. Just a record shot.

 

At the edge of the trail a Black Drongo was seen feeding on flying insects and a pair of Blue-tailed Bee-eaters perched at the top of another leafless tree.

A short distance after turning right of the trail 5 Great-Tits were seen playfully chasing one another. One stayed long enough for me to take a close-up shot of this very agile specie.

An Ashy Tailor Bird was in the same vicinity as the Great-Tits. This is another bird which move from perch to perch at great speed. It tested my patience and mental reflexes to follow it, waiting to seize an opportune moment to release the shutter. YES...! this time it did not get away. :-) This is one of my closest shots of this tiny bird! And against bright natural sunlight too - a bonus!

A Grey Heron flew over-head and was 'captured' in the nick of time.

As we ventured a little further down the trail 3 birds which 'escaped' the camera earlier was seen foraging in a tree just by the side of the lake. It's the Little Bronzed Cuckoo. There were 3 of the them, 2 adults and 1 Juvy.  Here are photos of an adult and and that of the Juvenile.

A quick look at the watch and it was already 12.30 pm. It is time to proceed to the next venue. To save some time we decided to return by back tracking the same trail in which we started. We knew more bird species lie ahead but duty calls, so reluctantly we 'retreated'. 

On our way out we were again rewarded with more bird sightings. An Artic Wabbler was seen and heard (no pix) and below are the Abbots Babbler and an Olive-backed Bul Bul. A great wrap to just a couple hours of casual birding. The 'treasures' would have been more abundant if we have more time at our disposal. Well there is always a next time.

  
How to get to Kuala Selangor Nature Park (KSNP)