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".

Jungle Myna (Acridotheres fuscus)

Jungle Myna is reported to be a common bird in Peninsular Malaysia particularly in its northern regions (Kedah, Perlis and Perak). Not an easy bird to photograph as it is quite wary of human presence - keeping its distance a fair bit. Certaintly need a long range lens to get good images of them.

This one was looking for ants to eat on a road

This fellow has bright yellow eyes and orangey bill

They do fly up but seldom as high as to the tree canopies

Most of the time they prefer grass lands or paddy fields

Although the blue markings at the base of its bill could not be clearly seen in these images but because they were taken in a northern state of Kedah recently, it is therefore safe to say that they are all Jungle Mynas.