Birding at National Botanic Park

National Botanic Park or Taman Botani Negara in Malay language is located in Shah Alam, Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia. Many names have been given to this place but it is not as troublesome as to trying to locate the place. We spent about 15 minutes searching before locating it. When we reached the place about 9.00am it was already packed with hundreds of people. Whatever it may be we had earlier decided to visit this place because of some earlier reported sightings of hooded pitta and long-tailed parakeets at this location.

Dark-Necked Tailorbird

The first bird seen was this dark-necked tailor bird which was also heard calling near the roadside. The roads here were wide and long but there were just too many cyclist around.

Common Flameback (male)

A pair of common flamebacks were seen foraging for food.

Indian Cuckoo (Juvenile)

Heard this juvenile Indian Cuckoo calling from the edge of the forest. Its continous calls led me down from the roadside to some bushes without knowing that it was just a few feet away from me.

Short-tailed Babbler

I have learnt a few tricks from people on how to get good images of babblers in the jungle. Although i am far from perfect but at least these images were able to tell that they belong to a short-tailed babbler. We saw two of them down on the slope. Luckily they kept coming back to the same location which allowed me to get some images of it.

Rufous Woodpeckers

We saw these pair of rufous woodpeckers drumming at a dead tree trunk - probably looking for some insects.

Hill Mynah

We saw quite a number of this hill mynahs calling.

Large Woodshrike

This large woodshrike was seen whacking a long caterpillar.

We saw at least two large woodshrikes making a lot of noise up on a tree.

Chestnut-Bellied Malkoha

We waited for sometime for this chestnut-bellied malkoha to come out in the open but it somehow did not want to obey orders.

Raffles's Malkoha

This Raffles's malkoha was more receptive.

We thought this bird flying towards us was an oriental magpie robin until it perched.

White-Rumped Sharma

White-rumped Sharmas featured quite prominently at this place. Its calls were noticeably different than those of white-rumped sharmas in Gg Nuang.

Dusky Langur

We also saw quite a number of Dusky Langurs.

Although we did not see any lifers but this place could possibly spring a few surprises due to its vast wooded area. 

Birding at Sg Lepoh, Ulu Langat - July 2012

Sg Lepuh or originally called "LOPO" has two birding trails. One trail is where you can get to see all the wannabe star birds but with limited photography opportunities due to the limited access of sunlight. On the other hand the 2nd trail is more expose which allows good photography opportunity but then the birds can be quite common. The choice is yours but today i spent most of the morning in the first trail where i got to see my lifer i.e. the "Rufous-collared Kingfisher" perched on a broken bamboo trunk. Unfortunately it was quite dark at 7.45am and all my efforts in adjusting the knobs on my dslr went in vain. All the 10 shots produced blurry images despite using flash. Before i enter the first trail i have noticed that there were quite a number of people warming up to enter the same trail. Apparently there is a camp here which has adopted a concept quite similar to those summer camps in United States.  Then there were also a large number of people going in and out of the jungle picking up wild durians. Despite all the hive of activities, the birds have kept calling and the woodpeckers have continued pecking on the bamboo trunks to my pleasure.

This sporting pakcik was nice enough to give me a "V" sign. For my effort i was given a wild durian by one of the folks and it tasted just as good as the branded ones. As you can see the headlights are still on although there were some sunlight sipping thru the thick bamboo foliage.

Short-Tailed Babbler

Whenever i managed to get a clear image of a babbler i always felt like a sense of achievement. As you know babblers have sulking habits and you need loads of patience. Same goes with pittas i guess. There were three of them playing along side the trail and at one time they were so near that i needed to back-off to focus. Although some books say that this babbler is common but there are reports which have indicated that it is near threatened due to habitat destructions.

An unmarked jungle trail

One word of caution is that when you go searching for babblers or pittas you will need to be carefull not to sway too far from your main trail. In pursuing these birds they could actually lead you to different trails where you may lost your sense of direction. I was tracking the short-tailed babblers which lead me to the above trail and detouring from the main trail. I was lost for a few minutes but i somehow spotted a familiar marker inside the trail which eventually got me back to the main trail, phew !

Hill Mynah

 I actually saw a flock of this Hill Mynahs (close to 7 - 8 of them). Glad to see them doing well in the wild despite that they are well known pet birds.

In addition to the Rufous-Collared Kingfisher, other birds which was seen but no clear images were available from them are as follows:

i) Chesnut-naped forktail - one

ii) Asian Fairy Bluebird - one male

iii)  Rufous woodpeckers - two of them

iv) Black-Headed Bulbuls
v) Black-capped Babbler - two heard and seen

Red-Eyed Bulbul

As i had enough of the first trail off i went to the 2nd trail. Spent only about an hour at this place. The first common bird seen was this red-eyed bulbul.

Drongo Cuckoo

The next bird was a Drongo Cuckoo which has perched motionlessly on a large branch.

Green Iora

Although it is also a common bird but it is less common than the common iora.

Blue-winged Leafbird

Another common bird which you can find at this place.

It was almost close to noon when i spotted this pair of mynahs. One of them was going in and out of the tree hole, probably it was too hot for both of them in the same hole. The above mynahs certaintly looks like jungle mynahs at a glance but i am sure the experts would disagree with me as they are most likely are Javan Mynahs.

Little Heron (Butorides striata)

Little Herons or some books have named them Striated Herons are said to be quite common near the river mouth, mudflats and mangrove areas. However nowadays one could also see them nesting at  nearby park esp at places near water catchment areas.

At a glance you may think that this is a Black-crowned Night Heron if not for its orangey legs

Little Heron in flight

The bird on the left (the tormentor) is an adult bird while the right one is a juvenile.

At times you can also see them at a jetty.

....or on a boat mast like this fellow.

....or just wandering around like this one.

...or on mudflats foraging. This one is on a full adult "dressing".