15 March 2012: Bukit Larut, Perak

This was a bare-faced twitch!

A male White-throated Rock-thrush has been showing well for photographers since it was found by Mun on 25 Feb, and, since it's a species I'd yet to connect with in Malaysia, I had been tempted to go for quite a while.

Things finally came together yesterday, and Choo Eng, James and I took the hour or so trip south. It proved to be a good decision!



This was my first view of the bird as it alighted momentarily, in full sunlight, on an overhead wire. It proved to be the only shot I got of it in sunlight the whole day!



As I watched the bird sit motionless for long periods, I realized I've probably walked past more of these than I've had hot dinners - well - you get the point!
























People have regularly been putting mealworms out for this bird, and even set up a perch for it to land on! Well - these shots look a bit 'staged' to my eyes, but I'm not complaining too much!





This is how it spent most of its time, just sitting quietly in the undergrowth.

A few other birds did distract my attention too!



Ashy Minivets got a good grilling, but proved to be just Ashy!



There were lots of Eastern Crowned-warblers about, and several were singing their 'fizzy' songs - delightful!



The warblers were roaming around with a pack of Everett's White-eyes...



... and White-bellied Yuhinas (which I should really call Erpornises, except that I find that difficult to do without conjuring up an image of some kind of dinosaur!)



And finally, a Golden Babbler peered into my lens to check me out!

So - thanks to Mun for finding this bird - you might want to make another visit to finally get some pictures! Oh - there's a video of it here.

16 - 18 Sept: Ulu Muda

I finally made a trip to the forests of the north of the Peninsula, with the main aim of seeing Plain-pouched Hornbill.

I went as part of a group staying at Earth Lodge. We had no electricity due to someone helping themselves to a length of cable over the recent holidays, but this proved a very minor inconvenience, as the forest was cool by day and night.



















The hornbills didn't disappoint, with regular flights to and from the roost morning and evening; 379 was the best count.




















The biggest flocks were over 30 birds, but most were in the 6-16 range.








































Photographing them in good light was a challenge due to mist and low sun, but I finally managed to catch this flock on the last morning.

The other highlight was the outstanding number of night-birds around the camp. I estimated 3-4 Reddish Scops-owls, 2 Collared Scops, 1 Brown Hawk-owl, 2 Buffy Fish-owls and one other large owl which called once briefly. Another frustrating once-only call was a probable White-fronted Scops. There were also 3-4 Gould's and 2 Javan Frogmouths in the area. The Reddish Scops, seen briefly and close-up at dawn on our last day, was my second lifer of the trip, and brought my 500 Club list to 555 - which has a nice ring to it!















































This male Gould's Frogmouth perched much lower than my only previous sighting.

Some other birds seen crossing the river while waiting for Plain-pouched Hornbills...



















One of a party of Great Slaty Woodpeckers.

























We counted 27 Large Green-pigeons flying to roost the first evening.



















Oriental Pied Hornbills were noisy and obvious!








































Oriental Honey-buzzard (top)and Crested Goshawk were among the six raptor species seen.



















A Ferruginous Babbler on a rare open perch! The bird activity on the forest trails was good, but the leeches were plentiful and ferocious, and I didn't have adequate protection, which meant I probably spent less time on the trails than I could have!















































I am pretty confident the swiftlets which came down to drink in the evening were Black-nest Swiftlets. They had virtually no tail notch, the plumage lacked the warmer brown tones of Germain's, and there was no obvious darker cap, which can be seen on Germain's with good views.






































Here's something you don't see every day...a leucistic swiftlet - very cool bird!




















A serene sunset on the Muda River. Something tells me I'll be back - once I've got my leech socks sorted!

26th July 2011: Sungai Perdik, Ulu Langat, Selangor

This was my first visit to Sungai Perdik, which lies in the foothills of the main Titiwangsa range near Gunung Nuang. I was very impressed with the variety of birds there, with activity continuing well into the late morning.

Frustratingly, I couldn't identify potentially the best birds of the visit - a pair of partridges which scuttled off into the undergrowth without me getting my bins onto them. A pair of Jambu Fruit Doves eluded my camera, as did a male Green Broadbill. Some of the species I did manage to capture are below.



I glimpsed the partridges while photographing this Black-capped Babbler.



For my second consecutive trip I managed to photograph Siamangs - these ones were definitely undomesticated!









Rufous-fronted Babbler is a species I rarely see and have not photographed in the Peninsula before. I was surprised to see the bright pink base to the lower mandible, as it's not shown in any of the books I looked at. Perhaps it only occurs during peak breeding time, like on some herons?



One of a few Black-and-Red Broadbills which were active.







Numerous fruiting trees attracted a variety of bulbuls, including Black-headed.

23 July 2011: The Gap - Fraser's Hill

By now I was seeing a regular pattern of birds. Starting at the Gap, knee-deep in Bamboo Woodpeckers again (how did I manage to miss these before?!), but the same old problems getting good light and a clear perch. My best efforts below.









At my Ferruginous Partridge 'stake-out' - the same blank result. There were two Rail-babblers calling today, and one briefly walked across the track, but didn't stay long enough for a photo.



Back at the Gap, a small group of Black Laughingthrushes were obliging, but the light wasn't, as thick fog swirled in.





The weather wasn't much better at the top, and I spent some time on Bishop's Trail photographing a pair of Buff-breasted Babblers in the gloom, before rain stopped play. These are a surprisingly common bird at Fraser's Hill, as you realize once you learn their calls, but they can be quite difficult to get good views of. I was lucky with this pair, which came down to feed on the trail as I was waiting quietly to see what would turn up.

29 June - 4 July 2011: Poring, Sabah

Just back from a relaxing few days in Sabah, initially to do a survey of bird life around a new Jungle Camp, entrancingly called "Lupa Masa" (Forget Time), and then to spend a few days in the more familiar Poring Hot Springs park area.



The dining area. The place really blends in with its surroundings, and it is not difficult to indeed forget time there. The story of the genesis of this place can be read here. It's not long before the only clock you take notice of is the natural rhythm of the dawn-day-dusk-night.





You sleep in 'sulaps' - ingenious structures housing cozy hammocks complete with mosquito nets. From one of these some lucky visitors had wonderful views of a Yellow-throated Marten family at play.



I wasn't quite as lucky, but was fortunate enough to photograph this male Purple-naped Sunbird while laying on my sleeping-bag!





It was only a few metres away, yet completely oblivious to my presence! Very nice!



Not a bad place to cool off after a hot day in the jungle! Complete with fish which nibble your toes, and the occasional Bornean Forktails and Bornean Whistling-thrush.









The endemic Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker was a common visitor to the dining room verandah.





Black-winged Flycatcher-shrikes were also seen there daily.






















If you visit the camp, look out for this fellow - I think he's wanted for rustling!






















Lupa Masa offers some exciting possibilities for exploring the quieter areas behind the national park. I spent the last few days of my stay in the park proper, trekking up to the spectacular Langanan Waterfall.

You can't go to a place called "Poring' and expect not to get wet, it is RAINforest after all! The rain was fairly predictable, however, usually arriving around midday or early afternoon, giving me clear mornings.



On my first day I decided to reacquaint myself with one of the Park's more well-known residents - Blue-banded Pitta.



This was a markedly brighter bird than the one I photographed at Kubah in Sarawak - too bad I didn't quite get the same photographic opportunities!





The red on this bird is far more intense and 'pure' than on the Kubah bird, and the blue chest-band is broader (cf these pics and these.

I spent a lot of time on the trails hoping for a shot of Bornean Banded Pitta, but a single call was the closest I got for my efforts!



I was pleased to get a look at the Bornean melanops race of Banded Kingfisher. This one was wrestling with a large stick insect. As I watched, it flew to another branch where a juvenile was waiting quietly.



Too bad my camera's autofocus popped out at the critical moment, but I was interested to see that the fledglings are sexually dimorphic - this one is clearly a male.



A bit late now, but a sharp shot at last!



Another juv Banded,another endemic subspecies (brookei), but a Broadbill rather than a kingfisher - rather overflashed! This and Black-and-Yellow were my only broadbills of the trip. Despite much searching, the Hose's remained elusive.





A few non-avian images. The second butterly was huge, and in flight had exactly the colour scheme of a White-crowned Shama (and it was nearly as big!).



Some friendly frogs!






















A Plain Pygmy-squirrel...



...which was not only cute...



...but also fascinating! As it moved around it constantly rotated the rear of its body to rub itself against the bark of the vine - whether to scent-mark, alleviate some itch, or for another reason I couldn't tell.



OK, so sometimes I was bored!



This Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher seemed to be permanently stationed on this particular dead branch at all times of day and every day. This enabled me to try out every possible variation of ISO, flash setting and shutter speed, and still only come up with a rather mediocre series of photos! I'm hoping one day someone will help me understand how to use flash properly!

I'll finish off with two hard-to-photograph species:



Olive-backed Woodpecker (juv?) male.



Female.





And a rather fine White-necked Babbler.