29th May: Juru, mainland Penang

Went out this afternoon to give the new camera another try. I tried various options on autofocus with the bee-eaters, but got nowhere, so in the end went back to manual focusing.

























I noticed that some birds (the same ones judging by the nests they attended) were dragonfly specialists, and seemed to prey predominantly on Orthetrum sabina. Goodness knows where they find them all, or how the O. sabina population manages to maintain itself despite the daily harvest of what must be hundreds.



The only other dragonfly species I saw taken was Pantala flavescens. This is a really common dragonfly, flying in swarms over dry grassland. However, I only saw this one as a prey item once.



Other birds really were 'bee-eaters', while this one favoured wasps. I suppose that if a pair finds a particular source of food, like a wasps' nest, they will go back again and again for more.



Another Orthetrum sabina incoming.





I am quite disappointed by how noisy these images are - even at 400ISO.

I noticed a mist net had been set up near the bee-eater colony. At first I wasn't sure if it might have been put there by a researcher, but since it was in direct sunlight and no-one was attending it, I closed it. After driving away from the colony, something made me turn back to check on the mistnet again. When I returned a man was busy opening it again. When I approached him he ran off into the forest. I took this as an admission that he was using the net illegally, so confiscated the net and his poles. I can't imagine why anyone would want to catch bee-eaters, except for 'fun'.







Near the mangroves a flock of Germain's Swiftlets were hawking over the coastal bund in the low evening light. I found the autofocus coped pretty well in this situation, though, again, I found the images a bit noisier than I would have hoped. Check out the variability in appearance and depth of the tail notch. I think sometimes people underestimate how forked a Germain's tail can appear.All these birds seem to be in very fresh plumage.



I was pleased that the autofocus managed to track the birds (not always!) even when they flew in front of distracting elements in the background.



I don't think my 40D would have been able to focus on this fly-by Little Heron...



...or this subadult White-bellied Sea Eagle against the trees.



As I was watching the swiftlets near to dusk, I noticed a steady procession of green pigeons flying to roost in the mangroves. I turned my attention to them in the hope of seeing a Cinnamon-headed, but all were Pink-necked except for this Orange-breasted. Definitely worth another try though!



A Crested Serpent-Eagle in the gathering gloom.

25th May 2010: Juru with Canon 1D Mark 2

I bought a 2nd hand Canon 1D Mark 2 camera body yesterday, chiefly for its autofocus capabilities (it has a 45-point Autofocus area, as opposed to my 40D, which has only 9 focus points).

Today I took it out to see how well it would cope with flying bee-eaters against a busy background! As it turned out, this was being a tad ambitious, as the AF couldn't cope any better with the challenge than my 40D, so I ended up resorting to manually focusing! The 8.3 frames per second was fun, but meant I soon started filling up my CF card! Here are some of the better efforts.




















































































All the bee-eaters today were Blue-throated apart from this solitary Chestnut-headed!





I got a few fortuitous shots of a fly-by Emerald Dove. They weren't particularly sharp, but it's not often you get chance to photograph an Emerald Dove in flight, in good light, and a bright adult male into the bargain! At least you can see the curious double-banded rump pattern.

Early days with the camera. I know from past experience that it will take a few months' use before I start getting the best out of it. In the meantime I think I'll need to do some arm exercises - I certainly felt the extra weight today!

24th April 2010: Juru, mainland Penang

Around the end of April things go a little bit flat, birdwise, in this part of the world. Most of the migration is over, and as a consequence, you feel that birding gets rather predictable until the end of July, when the waders start arriving from the north.

I had a half day to get out today, so decided to try my luck searching for rare pigeons at Juru. Both Cinnamon-headed and Orange-breasted Green Pigeons are seen there on and off - never regularly - and I have yet to connect with either species.



Baya Weavers are common enough, but this male looked resplendent in fresh breeding plumage, sitting on a frond of dead Acrostichum fern.



After a bit of searching, I managed to find some pigeons, and set my scope up with high hopes...

At first I thought they were all Pink-necked, but then I began to notice some subtle differences! The bird at the bottom, obscured behind the leaves, seemed to have orange and pink on the breast, but a green face and greyish nape.Hmm!



Then I noticed that the middle top bird, which I'd taken to be a male Pink-necked in the awkward light, in fact had a green face.Hmm Hmm! Orange-breasted!






















A male Pink-necked for comparison.

























Another couple of views of the two males (top and bottom left) next to a male Pink-necked (top right). The male Orange-breasted look distinctly smaller than the male Pink-necked, which makes me wonder whether the upper female bird may be Pink-necked and the lower Orange-breasted...



The uppertail pattern of Orange-breasted is different from Pink-necked. The central tail feathers are all grey, lacking the dark terminal band. You can just about make out the difference in these two tail shots (Orange-breasted on the right.) All in all, these were a lot more difficult to distinguish from each other than I'd anticipated, though in better light the job might have been easier!



Last year an aberrant Jungle Myna was found in Ipoh. I looked for it during the whistling-thrish project visits without success. But today I found one here that looks very similar - with a whitish throat and underparts and a contrasting black breastband.



The Water Buffalos had found a way to stay cool under the hot sun!



Elsewhere I saw another green pigeon in flight with maroon wing coverts. Cinnamon-headed?? Nope - "just" a male Thick-billed!





Another Pink-necked.



Still some migrants about - a nice Tiger Shrike skulking in the shadows!



I was pleased to photograph this Rufescent Prinia; it has quite a localized distribution in Penang.



I spent quite a while trying to photograph bee-eaters - I've not had chance to photograph Chestnut-headed and Blue-throated together before.





A couple of portraits!





I really wanted to try to get some sharp flight shots, but the light was a bit awkward, so my efforts can be improved upon! These were my best Chestnut-headed attempts.





And these were my best Blue-throated.

Getting a good flight shot is a combination of good technique and good fortune! First, you've got to get the bird in frame and in focus (that's where the skill comes in). Then you need to bird to be in a photogenic pose (that's the luck part!). Those three factors don't coincide in the same shot often. And then, when they do...



...Murphy's Law kicks in and the bird flies behind a branch!



I was so frustrated at losing this one that I decided to indulge in a spot of Photoshoppery! It is cheating? Well- I'm not pretending it's a photo ... or a painting - more of a hybrid - a phainting?!