Birding in Semenyih - July 2012

Today (Sun) i decided to do some birding at Sungai Tekala Forest Reserve in Semenyih. The last time i came here was a few years back with the MNS bird group. It was a bright sunny day and i was right at the entrance by 8.00am but unfortunately the forest reserve area today was rather quiet. It may be because of the continous firecrackers played by a group of youngsters or probably due to the sound of the leave blower operated by the forest reserve worker. But the birds outside the area was really fantastico ! Found a "lubuk" (or a location) before the waterfall area which was full of star birds. Never have i seen so many star birds congregating in one area in my many years of birding experience. Here are some of its better photos.

Stripped Tit Babbler

This stripped tit babbler did not utter its usual "chuck - chuck" calls. Could not id the bird from the calls until it came out after 10 minutes of waiting for it.

Blue-Throated Bee-Eater

The next bird was this blue-throated bee eater which was seen picking up insects from a nearby pond.

Black-Bellied Malkoha

This malkoha flew in silently and allowed me to take only two shots before it flew deeper into the jungle.

Hairy-Backed Bulbul

Scarlet Minivet

Black-and-Yellow-Broadbill

This is one of the star broadbills which many avian photographers would not mind filling up their SD cards with its photos.

Banded Kingfisher (Female)

Heard it calling above my head and that was how i managed to locate it.

Whiskered Treeswift (in flight)

Black Headed Bulbul

Black-Winged Flycatcher Shrike

Violet Cuckoo (Juvenile?)

This is an uncommon and small size cuckoo (about 17 cm only). You can see a patch of purple colour on its wings which may suggest that it could be a juvenile male as females are browner. Its the only cuckoo in this region with an orange bill. (Note: the expert says it was an immature/sub adult male - yup it looks more like it )

Black-and-White Bulbul

This bulbul has got to be my lifer for this year. Must really count my blessing as there are people who went all the way to Taman Negara or Panti or even East Malaysia  just to get a glimpse of this uncommon / scarce bird. A separate posting just on this unique bird will be up in due course.

Lesser Green Leafbird (female)

This new found place certaintly shows a lot of potential. Birding was easy as it was all done by the road side. Just a word of caution: there are a lot of monkeys (i mean real monkeys) along the road leading to the forest reserve. If you wish to stop your car to see them, just remember not to wind down the car window because these monkeys can jump right up to your window. Yes they are that desperate and aggressive - i guess it is more for food.

Birds of Sungai Perdik - July 2012

Today i was caught in the rain for the first time as the trail has no shades to hide except bamboos. Luckily the rain was not too heavy. Weather was cloudy and gloomy for the entire day but nevertheless the birds were still abundant.

Spotted Dove

This spotted dove was seen outside the main trail.

White-throated Kingfisher

This white-throated kingfisher was seen near the duck pond.

White-Breasted Waterhen (female?)

This was a surprise find at this place. Never seen a white-breasted waterhen after so many trips here. This fellow was seen near the duck pond as well.

When i reach the first trail inside Perdik, i was surprise to see that the wooden bridge was no longer there. Luckily the water did not totaly wash it away.

Gold-Whiskered Barbet

This gold-whiskered barbet was the first bird seen in the trail. The bird was seen foraging for riped figs to eat.

Hill Mynah

Saw a pair of Hill Mynahs bringing in nesting materials to a tree trunk. Glad to know they are doing well in the wild. Will go back next month to see whether any hatchlings are out. Wonder whether MNS bird group would appreaciate the data?

Yellow-Bellied Warbler

A group of 3 - 4 yellow-bellied warblers were seen foraging near a bamboo shrub.

Yellow-Eared Spiderhunter

This yellow-eared spiderhunter was seen been chased around by a crimson-wing woodpecker. Also seen nearby was its bigger cousin which is the Spectacle Spiderhunter.

Spectacle Spiderhunter

Grey-cheeked Bulbul

Oops initially thought this bird was an ochraceous bulbul but the sifu says its a Grey-Cheeked Bulbul because ochraceous bulbul is a sub-mountane bird. Saw quite a lot of bulbuls today but most images were not clear due to the weather condition.

Black-Headed Bulbul

Yellow-Bellied Bulbul

Asian Glossy Starling (Juvenile)

Surprise to see this asian glossy starling outside from their more usual habitats such as gardens, city parks etc.

White-Rumped Sharma

I believe this is also a sub-adult white rumped sharma. It was seen quite late in the morning.

Sultan Tit

Looks like this sultan tit has make this place its residence.

Common Tailorbirds

Saw at least 5 - 6 of these tailor birds today.

Broadbill Nest?

Saw this half completed nest hanging down from a tree branch. It looks like a broadbill's nest.

Today i went all the way to the end of the trail and came across this water spot. It could just be the source of water for Sungai Perdik.

Me and Mr CY Tan went to check the Hill Mynah nesting site on 6 August 2012 and found that they did not use the site. It was probably due to the clearing of the site near the fish pond for commercial purposes as depicted by the image below:

Image was taken on 6 August 2012

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.