Asian Fairy Bluebird (Irena puella)

Asian Fairy Bluebird is a beautiful bird. Male has sapphire-blue feathers on its back while its front from neck to belly region are predominantly black. Despite its deep rich blue feathers, it may be difficult to spot these birds in the jungle.  According to Wikipedia, Asian Fairy Bluebird are close relatives to ioras and leafbirds.  It can be seen in plantations, rural kampungs and forest up to 1900m but more often at regions around  850m - 1200m. Locally named as "burung dendang gajah" is a fully protected bird. Although listed as "least concern" by Birdlife International,  you won't be able to see this bird in all trails or all the time. Here are some of its pictures (all are males) which i have managed to shoot when it came down from its usual canopy home for its morning breakfast of wild berries...

If it stays put this way it will be difficult to spot this bird in a dark forest due to its jet-black frontal feathers.

Unless it moves to show its blue shinning feathers.

This is another male lurking nearby.

A simply magnificent bird.

Asian Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis)

Asian Glossy Starling or previously named as Philippine Glossy Starling are one of the most common birds one could see in parks, gardens, plantations etc - especially where there are fruit trees. If there is a ripe papaya, a flock could finish it within a few hours. A flock of about 50 birds were seen recently at Templer's Park (Aug 2011) , feasting themself on ripe berries on a tree.

This is a juvenile grabbing itself a ripe berry.

This fellow is an adult looking at which berries to pick.

This is probably a sub-adult.

An adult deciding which of the two hungry mouths to feed!

A juvenile and a sub-adult together

Another sub-adult fluffing its feathers.

Common Flameback (Dinopium javanense)

Common Flameback woodpecker or previously named "common goldenback" is a woodpecker said to be widely distributed in Asian region (Bangladesh, India, China, Indonesia, Singapore, Borneo, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam). Its habitats ranges from lowland forest up to 800 m, rural gardens, plantations and mangroves. Despite that and although IUCN has listed it as "least concern", you would not be able to see it in every trail. It is a fully protected bird under the local law (Act 76/72) and locally called "belatok pinang muda".  Here are some of its photos taken recently in Kuala Selangor Nature Park (KSNP):

The pictures above are male Common Flamebacks. Male has red crown while female ones have black crown. There are 3 quick ways to differentiate between a Common Flameback and a Greater Flameback in the field. Here are the 3 distinguish features:

This first thing which you should look is behind its neck. Common Flamebacks have an all black hindneck while a greater flameback has whitish circles in the centre of its hindneck.

The second thing which you should spot is just below its red crown. A greater flameback has a thick black line below its crown. In this picture, you can't see any any thick black line below its crown side.

The third thing which you could spot is to see its bill. Greater flamebacks are said to have longer bills than this one.

Birding in Templer's Park

As today was a public holiday in the state of Selangor, i did some birding with a birder from Scotland (Tim Bromilow). It is supposed to be a reserve forest and its just about 20 minutes away from KL. Its one of those birding trips where you will see more mammals than birds. In addition, some of the trails were really in the bad shape (overgrown shrubs and fallen trees everywhere) which rendered some to be unpassable. Then there was an abandoned black magic altar which makes the trail a bit spooky. To top it up i have 6 leech bites ( 4 on the legs, one on the hand and one on the stomach!). The only consolation from this trip was this female Scarlet-Rumped Trogon.

and this Grey-Bellied Bulbul

This is a Gold-Whiskered Bulbul - a common resident in Templer's Park.

This is a Large-billed Crow flying by. A huge bird with wide wing span.

These are some of the many squirrels we saw on the trail.

Birding in Kampung Kemensah - Aug 2011

It was back-to-back birding after the trip to KSNP. This time two other birders called me to join them to do a half day birding in Kemensah. Since i have not been to Kemensah for quite some time, so i decided to take their offer. Kemensah is a small village located near the heart of KL (behind the National Zoo) . It has its own attraction like a beautiful waterfall and areas for picnics, mountain biking, and of course birding as well. The trail which can be quite hilly at times would lead to the Klang Quartz Ridge and Sungai Chongkak.  Saw a couple of interesting birds which i would like to share with you here:

These are Black & Red Broadbills. Not sure exactly how to differentiate between male or females.

This could be a juvenile Plaintive Cuckoo. It probably just came out of its jungle hideout as it did not fly away when we approach quite near to where it perched. 

 

Up next is this Tickell's Blue Flycatcher. These are just for record shots as the bird could not stand still. It certaintly looks nicer in person out there.

This is a Black & Yellow Broadbill. Probably a male due to its straight breast bend.

This is the first time that i saw a juvenile Drongo Cuckoo represented clearly by the white spots on its feathers.

This is an unidentified perching bird - it could probably be a crow.

These are Green Ioras. It has a darker olive-green body as compare to its relative the Common Iora which has a yellowish body and could sing better.

This fellow looks like a Large Woodshrike.

The bird above could be either a juvenile or a female Blue-Crowned Hanging Parrot.

This fellow is most likely a juvenile male Blue-Crowned Hanging Parrot although it still lacks the red throat.

These are male Crimson-Winged Woodpeckers.

This is a juvenile Asian Glossy Starling. 

This is the common Black-Headed Bulbul. Frank Sinatra would probably envy its blue eyes ! 

These are Olive-Winged Bulbul - can be id from the olive color at its wings as well as the few lines below its eyes.

This is a beautiful female Blue-Winged Leafbird. It was perfectly camouflage.

These are Pacific Swallows. Most birders or photograhers came here to test their photographic skills and equipments on these birds. 

This is a Spectacle Bulbul grabbing a berry on flight.

This is a White-Rumped Munia preparing to built its nest.

Competing nearby is this Baya Weaver.

Its completed nest would probably look like this one !

The last bird we saw was these two Yellow-Bellied Warblers. The top one is a female preening herself and the bottom one is a male. These birds are the smallest birds i have seen so far - only about 9cm - smaller than a common tailor bird ! If it is not for the sound it makes, one could just mistaken it for an insect or a small butterfly !!