Birds of Genting Highlands - 2015 - Part II

This is a continuation from the first part of "Birds of Genting Highlands - 2015.

Ashy Bulbul

The color of its feathers certainly looks ashy alright but not sure why experts have re-named it as 'Cinereus bulbul" instead.

Grey-Headed Canary Flycatcher

At times you can hardly see this flycatcher in your birding trips but other times they can just appear almost every where.

Pin-Stripped Tit Babbler

There have been some local research conducted in Puchong some years back on the effect of brood parasitism on the population of its host and it was found that the population of some of its host have indeed been reduced. However this babbler seem to have no effect.

Mountain Fulvetta

I think Mountain Fulvetta is more common than Brown Fulvetta over here.

Slaty-Backed Forktail

This could be a sub-adult bird and this was also the first time i have managed to take its photos.

Black-Throated Sunbird - female

Did not see the male this time.

Dark-Necked Tairlorbird

You may asked me how did i know that it wasn't a common tailor bird instead ? Well just look at the color of their butt !

Here you go !

Here is an interesting looking bird. The color of its feathers was certainly brighter than a pale blue flycatcher.

It is not a disease bird but it was nevertheless a Pale Blue Flycatcher  - a sub adult that is! See the photos below of another Pale Blue Flycatcher which were also taken on the same day for comparison.

This one has spots all over its body.

While this one above was probably in molt. Based on the above photos, would it be possible to say that the colors of Pale Blue Flycatcher changes from bright blue to pale blue as they mature?

Fiery Minivet - female

Too bad the male Fiery Minivet did not stay long enough to be photographed.

Here is another family captured on camera.

Little Pied Flycatcher - male

From the brown color of its rump, this could probably be a female Little Pied Flycatcher.

And this one here is probably their young one !

A look from another angle - from its back !

Verditer Flycatcher

This flycatcher is slightly smaller than Pale Blue Flycatcher and the adult Verditer Flycatcher wears a Zorro like mask !

For comparison purposes, the middle one is a Pale Blue which was flanked by two Verditer Flycatchers ! 

"Awat hidung hang kemek macam itu?". This siamang also made its presence felt at this location albeit on a silence mode.

Blue Winged Leafbird - male

Blue Winged Leafbird - female

Glad to know that the Blue Winged Leafbirds are doing okay as well.

Everett's White Eye

The above is certainly an Everett but how about the ones below?

I believe they were Everett's White Eye too instead of Oriental.

This Himalayan Stripped Squirrel had also came down to enjoy the feast.

Lastly before i packed my bag and gears to head for home, i saw a group of photographers from China who have just arrived. These are real china men from China whom was lead by a local birder. They were carrying a small portable recorder and they immediately set it aloud to the sound which sounded like 'kok' 'kok' then followed by the familiar calls of a hornbill. Amazingly out from no where came the majestic Great Hornbill !

You can call them insane or disgusting but they have  somehow managed to lure the giant out from the forest and it did perched right in front of us.

Note: if you look closely at its median coverts, you will notice a small orangey/yellowish patch which color was actually secreted by some glands in male GHB. 

Great Hornbill - male

Luckily they were just a few bird photographer enthusiast and hopefully they did not spook this hornbill. If you travel up Genting Highlands lately you will noticed that there were lots of construction works up there which some are as big as a theme park at Johor Bharu. While no one will be critical about development works but the key word here is "sustainable development" ! Although from the photos depicted here and the earlier part 1 posting, you can see that the birds were breeding well at this location but with the massive development works going on now and in the future perhaps, one can only just wonder how long can the nature profile at this place be sustained !

Happy Birding !

NOTE: ULU KALI MOUNTAIN IS NOW CLOSE TO PUBLIC ! YOU CAN'T ACCESS THERE ANYMORE ! NO THANKS TO SOME OVER ZEALOUS PHOTOGRAPHERS !

Birds of Genting Highlands 2015 - Part 1

Genting Highlands is already well known for its theme parks and hotels (both locally and internationally). However not many people may realise that this place also offers a variety of birds and avifauna which can be mesmerizing. Here are some of the birds which can be seen at this highland and from the photos depicted here, you can roughly guess which part of the highlands that they have came from.

Snowy-browed Flycatcher (female)

Too bad the male has refused to come out this time although it was calling from the bush right behind where the female was located.

Mountain Leaf Warbler

Bar-Throated Minla

Bet you can't find this bird in Penang Hill.

Mountain Bulbul

Quite a stunning looking bird but unfortunately there is nothing melodious about its calls.

Long-Tailed Sibia

This Long Tailed Sibia could have been a sub-adult cause its eyes is not quite that reddish yet.

Pacific Swallow

Pacific Swallow Jr

The above juvenile Pacific Swallow was seen fed by the above adult bird. This time i saw quite a number juvenile fledglings of other bird species too. You can see more of them in later photos. Its Kids Power this time !

Mountain Tailorbird

Tailorbirds as some of you may have known are the host brood for some cuckoo birds. However i am not sure whether this fluffy looking Mountain Tailor is a host to any cuckoo birds at 1700 meters asl. 

This pitcher plant or more commonly called monkey cup, believe it or not is a collector's item ! Luckily it was located at a very steep cliff for any poachers to get their hands on it. One slip he/she can go right down to visit Gollum or Mr Sauron in the Middle Earth and kiss goodbye to their mountain adventures.

Malayan Laughing Thrush

Not sure why was it meddling with a flower bud.

Chestnut-Capped Laughing Thrush

It was late July but feeding session is still going on.

After feeding their young ones its time to fill up their own stomach. Looks like it had just caught a Hawk moth.

Large Niltava - male

Large Niltava - female

Large Niltava - sub adult

The above group of Large Niltava may have all came from the same family.

Could this be a Small Niltava?

The above squirrel was probably the one which was making all the weird sounds inside the bush. This time it has decided to come out to forage for food.

Get out of my way ! No you get out of my way !

Streaked Wren Babbler

This Wren certainly don't need further introduction. Although it is said to be common but you can't see it all the time let alone coming out to forage just a few feet away from where i stood !

I was also lucky this time to see another of its species which is not so common as the above Wren.

Pygmy Wren Babbler - dark morph

From the above photos you can see the differences between the two Wrens.  One has spots on its wings and scale like feather on its back while the other Wren is more brownish and smaller in size etc etc. As you may know, Pygmy Wren Babblers have actually two morphs. The nominated and more common ones are the pale morph while the not so common ones are the dark morph ! Both the above Wrens were so human friendly and tame that i could have fed them with my hands !

Here is another mega star  !

Red-Headed Trogon - female

Besides pitas and hornbills, any sightings of trogons will usually be considered a priceless encounter. Glad that Malaysia do have quite a number of its very own unique species of trogons.

Orange-bellied Leafbird

Bronze Drongo

Yellow-Bellied Warbler

More photos and stories to be continued in part II

Happy Birding !

A Field Report from Base of Nuang - 2015

As the earthly things unfurled around us nowadays you may realised that this planet is actually divided between the 'believers' and the 'non-believers', the 'haves' and the 'have nots', the 'rights' and the 'lefts' etc etc. In politics there are no such things as the middle kingdom. Its like you choose either 'MU' or 'Liverpool', 'tosai' or 'nasi lemak', 'LA Lakers' or 'Boston Celtics' or simply either 'Letchumi' or 'Minachi'. It looks like even radio DJs are into it - seek a new life Ben ! However unlike humans, birds have no preferences. To them its either survive or perish !

It goes the same for these stinking bugs too.

Even at noon surely there are some birds out there as i asked myself. As the nation is undergoing some transformation, this place is experiencing some changes too. If you have been to Nuang recently you can see that the trails have been cemented from the base to the top. I could still smell the cement at that time and now one could just ride their scramblers right up to Camp Lolo. I fear for the worst but luckily the common birds and some not so common ones are still out there even at such odd birding time.

In the afternoons most of the birds will be hiding far inside the shades and these are some of the things you should be aware off when birding during those hours. I believe the bird on the left was a Buff Vented Bulbul while the bird on the right was a Puff -Backed Bulbul.

Little Spiderhunter

This is the whistle blower of the jungle. It will alert other birds if it sees any uncommon visitors even for such as an appearance of a black giant squirrel. 

Raffles's Malkoha

Much smaller in size than other malkohas and its calls were like the sounds made by a cat. Pictured here is most likely a sub-adult male.

Buff-Necked Woodpecker

It seems that this woodpecker can be seen more often in between April to June.

You might probably have a hard time guessing the above bird under such light.

Large Woodshrike

Unless until it moves into a shade. Here is a male Large Woodshrike based on the greyish color of its head. It does hawks for insects but unlike flycatchers it does not fly back to the same branch after hawking the insects as observed here. Its true identity however is still under scrutiny by scientist as some research have reported that its DNA is closer to those of flycatchers (or the family of Prionopidae). 

Note: i have also recorded its calls which was taken inside a very low and thick foliage - just like the usual spots where you might find a common tailor bird or some pin stripped tit babblers. Due to the location of its call i had some hard time figuring out its calls until a veteran birder assisted me. What was it doing inside a low foliage is anyone guess but i believe it was probably looking for bugs rather than building a nest there - this can be further validated.

If you have done sky diving or base jumping, you will usually jump first and then open the chutes later. This was exactly what this Blue-Eared Barbet did. It was seen diving head-on first and then open its wings a few seconds later.

Blue-Eared Barbet

Although its size is just slightly larger than a Black-and-Yellow Broadbill, its calls especially its first calls were really loud. Despite its common status here, most of the time you will hear its calls rather then seeing it. This time it has decided to come out in the open.

Did u say something about my big mouth?

Oriental Magpie Robin is a common bird down here.

This was a surprise find. Although other birders have reportedly seeing Oriental Pipits at this location but this was the first time i have personally seen it here.  It could have resemble other pipits if not for its longer beaks and yellow base etc

The location where they were seen was just a small patch of greens but i guess they don't mind it. It shows that they do not have any special preference for an open field to forage. 

There were two of them and this one here was probably saying "wow what a feeling" while enjoying the sun rays. From the looks of their behavior like sun bathing and staying alert towards their surroundings, they might have just landed when i saw them.

My other half has lost her job recently due to company's restructuring exercise so there will be less birding trips for me which mean less postings as well. Hopefully she can find a part time work to sustain the family. As you can see some of the photos presented here were nothing spectacular as compared with other fellow birders but the field info presented here will hopefully be of some importance to the field of ornithology.

Happy Birding!