My 1st long birding trip (which was organized by Selangor Bird Group) to Panti Rainforest in Kota Tinggi, Johor.

Everybody lifer (Grey chested jungle flycatcher)

It’s been a very hectic year for me this year (2008) and what a joy it was to have my leave approved (had to wait two months for this). I’ve been looking forward to my first long birding trip to Panti Rainforest and Kuala Sedili in Kota Tinggi, Johor (which was organized by Selangor Bird Group). This is my way of de-stressing my body, my mind and my soul from my working environment and tiring everyday routine.

I am not a morning person but on 12^th September 2008, I woke up as early as 5:30 a.m. so that I could meet up with Susan, as promised, in front of my office in Kajang at 8:00 a.m. With my groggy cousin as my driver (and I do mean, groggy, as she can’t join us on this trip), we reached my office at 7:30 a.m. At 8:10 a.m. Susan arrived in her Kenari. Along in the car is our old-timer, Uncle Lee. Although we travelled using the highway, it’s a relief to see that there are still acres and acres of trees along the way. There were also times when we saw raptors flying in the sky on our way to Kota Tinggi. It’s really a sight for sore eyes.

Hairy backed bulbul

It’s a journey of nearly 6 hours and finally we reached the budget hotel called Hotel Sri Kota, at 1:45pm, although we had a tough time finding the place. There were about 18 of us in the group and on that day itself, we left the hotel at about 3.30 p.m. to head off to the Bunkers Trail which is approximately 20 minutes drive from our hotel. I am really anxious to see all birds there as it could be my “lifer”. After 2 hours and 45 minutes exploring the rainforest, I saw 9 species of birds and 4 out of it was my lifer. I ended my first day trip with a very big smile on my face with hope to see more for the next 2 days. We then went to a restaurant to celebrate our lifers. We ordered 11 dishes and ate like we have never eaten before. Luckily for us we have to walk for a distance before we reach the hotel or else we’ll get indigestion!

Even though I came down with flu for the next two days, my spirits are still high as I am looking forward to my next lifer. We also went to Kuala Sedili looking for Waders. After 4 hours in Kuala Sedili I managed to find 11 species of Waders and 9 of them was my lifer. We went back to Panti Bunkers Trail to try our luck for another lifer. It was worth it, as we heard and saw the Malaysian Eared Nightjar.

Kuala Sedili

During the third day I managed to see 27 species on the day itself and 13 out of them were my lifers! It makes a total of 29 lifers altogether after 3 days of this trip. Simply amazing!

Last day of the trip, I targeted to see at least 1 more lifers to make a total of 30 lifers. Since that it is our last day here in Panti, my emotions are mixed with sadness and excitement. Sad, to leave this place but excited to have met up with so many lifers! I think luck is on our side as we reached the Bunkers Trail, Uncle Lee suddenly spotted one bird and after looking precisely through our bin we found out that it was the Dusky Broadbill – another lifer for me! Till the end of the trip I saw another 3 more lifers to add up to my list. Finally my list becomes 33 lifers for the whole trip in Panti Forest and Kuala Sedili, Johor Bahru.

We checked out of the hotel at noon and head for home. It was a very memorable trip for me as I get to see 33 lifers which 7 out of it are my favourites such as the Grey-Chested Jungle Flycatcher, the Malaysian Plover, the Javan Frogmouth, the Red Bearded Bee-eater, the White-bellied Woodpecker, the Red Crowned Barbet and the Pale Blue Flycatcher. I can’t wait for my next trip!

Dollar bird (my lifer)

On a separate occasion during my cousin’s wedding (18.3.08) roughly about 11am I need to take something from my car. On the way to my car which is about 100 meters away from my auntie’s house, I took the opportunity to look for a bird at the nearby area.

I was excited to see one bird flew and perched on a dead tree which is not far from my car. Spontaneously I grab by bin and spot the bird. Wow! That’s the word came out from my mouth. It was so cute with pair of red leg, red billed and dark green all over the body. After referring to my new Craig Robson field guide I found out that the bird is known as Dollar Bird.

It was weird when I think of its name – dollar bird. It doesn’t make any sense for a green bird with that name. After scratching my head few times and had no choice but to ask my sifu then I got the answer .

The answer was TA DAAA!!!!!!!!! HEHEHE ...

Dollarbird (Tiong Batu)

Dollarbird got their name from the two silvery white circular patches on each under wing, that flash as they fly. These look like shining American silver dollar coins.

Dollarbird eat mainly insects, and appear particularly fond of hard-skinned flying insects like beetles. But they will take any large insect or even feed on swarming insects. They also catch other small animals.

Dollarbird are aerial feeders. Like other Rollers, they are flying acrobats, wheeling and swooping about. They catch insects on the wing, with their short flat bills that are broad at the base. But they may also take insects and lizards from on the ground. Large insects are brought back to the perch, to be beaten to death and to knock off less edible bits like hard wing cases.

Feeding alone or in pairs, Dollarbird are frequently seen perching on high vantage points like dead trees or telephone wires, keeping a lookout for a passing titbit.

They feed in the cooler afternoon and evening. During away during the hottest part of the day, they may hide away or simply remain motionless on their favorite perch.

Fall in Love (Birding)

Sometime April 2007, Mr. Andy Choong (my boss) invited our team to joint him for a nature walk at Putrajaya botanical garden. He lends me his binocular (Bushnell 10X42). We then walk around the park see various type of flowers and plants. While walking in the park, he suddenly stopped and asked to use the binocular and look for a bird. It was very hard for me to justify the location where the bird is, as it is my first time using a binocular. After I tried for couple of times, then I managed to spot it.

It was stunning when I saw the bird. I’m speechless and I’m so amazed for the beauty of the bird which was yellowish in color with the black stripe at his eye (like a mask of Zorro. ha-ha!) and the feather was so fluffy.

Don’t know what to say la..... Mr. Andy told us the species and family of the bird, the common name is black nape oriole. I laughed as it sounds like Oreo biscuits I always had for my snack time…hehehe. From that moment of time, I already fall in love with birding and nothing can stop me anymore.

Black-naped Oriole - Dendang Selayang/Kunyit Besar (Malay)

Black-naped Orioles enjoy a wide menu of plants and animals. They are fond of fruit and berries, particularly figs. Besides large insects, they also take small animals, including nestlings. For this reason, during the breeding season of other birds, Black-naped Orioles are often chased away by other birds.

Black-naped Orioles rarely descend to the ground. They forage high in trees and usually say within the canopy. Nevertheless, they are not birds of the deep forest. Originally from coastal woodlands and mangroves, they have adapted to cultivated areas and parks and gardens.

Black-naped Orioles usually forage alone or in pairs. They are most active in the morning and evenings, making their melodious calls as they forage.

2nd Birding trip with Mr. andy & Wife

Date: 10 feb 2008
Time: 8am - 4.30pm
Location: Bukit lagong kepong & Bandar tasik selatan

Bukit lagong was gazetted in 1947 (virgin jungle reserve) its located in north of KL, adjacent to kepong and near by to FRIM.

(8am-2pm)

1. Greater racket tailed drongo
   
2. Yellow vented bulbul
3. Grey wagtail
4. Fiery minivet - (L)
5. Red eye bulbul
   
6. Black headed bulbul - (L)
7. Stripe -throated bulbul
   
8. Green pigeon (unidentified)
9. Oriental magpie robbin - (M)
   
10. Gold whiskered barbet
    
11. Baya weaver - (L)
12. White throated kingfisher
    
13. Little spiderhunter - (L)
14. Blue-tailed bee eater
    
15. Yellow billed warbler - (L)
16. Black headed munia - (L)
17. Grey rumped tree-swift - (L)
18. Chestnut breasted malkoha - (L)
19. Rufous woodpecker - (L)
20. Crested serpent eagle
    
21. Velvet fronted nuthatch - (L)
22. Red throated sunbird - (L)-(M&F)
23. Blue winged leafbird - (L) -(M&F)
    
24. Common Ixora - (L) - (M&F)
    
25. Pied trailer
    

Bandar Tasik Selatan KLIA transit station (3.30pm-4.30pm)

1. Grey heron
2. Painted stork
   
3. Purple heron (juv/adult)
4. blue-tailed bee eater
   
5. Purple swamphen -(L)
6. Common moorhen - (L)
7. Eurasian tree sparrow - (L)
8. Little egret
   
9. Little heron
   
10. Pink neck pigeon (beidelia tree)
11. KOEL - (L) - (M)
12. Brahminy kite

1st Fraser Hill birding trip

Date: 27 january 2008
time: 7.00am - 10.00am
Location: Jelai hotel -carpark (fraser hill)

This is my 1st trip to fraser hill for birding with my parent. We woke up as early 6.30am and start birding at 7.00am. We are so lucky that day coz there are Singaporean birders around, if not we have to scratch our head to id those bird.

1. Longtail sebia - (L)
2. Chestnut-capped laughingthrush - (L)
3. Lesser racket-tailed drongo - (L)
4. Golden warblers - (L)
5. Streaked spiderhunter - (L)
6. Javan cuckoo strike - (L)
7. Silver eared mesia - (L)
8. Mountain fulvetta - (L)
9. Verditer flycatcher - (L)
10. Grey chinned minivet - (L)
11. Mountain leaf warbler - (L)
12. Blue winged minla - (L)
13. Black throated sunbird - (L)
    

worth birding trip for starting, we saw lots colorful bird which we can't imagined how pretty they are. we will coming back and spend more time in fraser hill.

My MUNIA's (Lifer)

I've seen 4 species of munia (till to-date). Small birds but fantastic characteristics.

Habitat

The Scaly-breasted Munia is a small gregarious bird which feeds mainly on seeds. It frequents open woodland and cultivation. The nest is a large domed grass structure in a tree or under the eaves of a house into which 4–10 white eggs are laid.

Characteristics

The Scaly-breasted Munia is 11–12cm in length. The adult has a stubby dark bill, brown upperparts and darker brown head. The underparts are white with black scale markings. The sexes are similar, but immature birds have pale brown upper parts, lack the darker head and have uniform buff underparts.

Habitats

The White-rumped Munia is a tiny gregarious bird which feeds
mainly on seeds. It frequents open woodland, grassland and scrub. The nest is a large domed grass structure in a tree, bush or grass into which 3-8 white eggs are laid.

Characteristics

The White-rumped Munia is approximately 10 to 11cm in length with a long black tail. The adult of the south Indian race L. s. striata has a stubby bill, dark brown upper parts, head, breast and wings, and white underparts and rump.

The sexes are similar, but there is racial variation. Northern L. s. acuticauda has paler brown upperparts and breast, and buff underparts. The rump only is white.

Habitat

The Black-headed Munia is a small gregarious bird which feeds mainly on grain and other seeds.

It frequents open grassland and cultivation. The nest is a large domed grass structure in a bush or tall grass into which 4-7 white eggs are laid.

Characteristics

The Black-headed Munia is 11-12 cm in length. The adult has a stubby pale grey bill, black head, and brown body. Some races also have a black belly.

The sexes are similar, but immature birds have uniform pale brown upperparts, lack the dark head and have white to pale buff underparts.

Description: Smallish (11 cm), white headed brown finch. Similar to chesnut Munia but paler brown and entire head and throat white. Young birds are brown on upperparts with underparts and face buff. Iris-brown; bill-grey; feet-pale blue. Voice: high-pitched 'pee-pee' Distribution and status: malay peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Bali and Celebes. In Java and Bali this is a fairly common and widespread bird up to 1500 m. Habits: frequents marshes and reedbeds. Like other munias form large flocks during rice harvest but spread out in pairs during breeding season. General behavior similar to other munias. Diet: Rice and Grass seeds. Breeding: Four to five, occasionally six, white eggs are laid in a typical munia ball-shaped grass nest. Breeding is recorded in West Java for February. Race; L.m. leucocephalus

1st official birding trip

my 1st official birding trip - with my dearest boss Mr. Andy Chong on 7th Oct 2007.
(Using bushnell 7X 35)

A) Taman Melawati Ampang

• 08.15am - yellow vented bulbul - L
• 09.10am - tiger shrike (juv) - L
  
• 09.25am - stripe throated bulbul - L
  
• 09.35am - green billed malkoha - L
  
• 09.50am - dusky leaves monkeys
  

B) Taman Rimba Ampang

• 10.35am - black thighed falconet - L
• 10.40am - brown shrike - L
• 10.50am - yellow wagtail (male)- L
  
• 10.55am - blue banded kingfisher (female) - L
  
• 11.05am - Oriental magpie robbin (male) - L
  
• 11.25am - yellow wagtail (female) - L
  
• 11.45am - gold whiskered barbet - L
  
• 11.50am - red eye bulbul - L
  

C) Sg Kerayong treatment plant near desa water park

• 01.05pm - little heron - L
• 01.10pm - little egret (yellow feet) - L
• 01.15pm - common sandpiper - L
  
• 01.30pm - scaly breasted munia - L
• 01.40pm - painted stork - L
  
• 01.50pm - white throated kingfisher - L
  
• 01.55pm - peaceful dove - L
  
• 02.00pm - oriental honey buzzard (juv)
• - pale morph - L

The history of Binoculars

Binoculars are like two telescopes, one for each eye, that enlarge a distant object and make it appear nearer. The exact place and year of invention of binoculars is not clearly defined as similar work was conducted around the same time at different places. Basically a telescope designed to view the stars and other celestial bodies was modified to produce a handy optical instrument which used both eyes and could magnify the object under view. Binoculars are extremely useful devices in a number of situations, and let us do so much more than possible with naked eyes.

It was believed that Galileo invented the binocular after the telescope but this claim has not been authenticated. According to early recorded history, the telescope is supposed to have been invented in 1608 when Jan Lippershey applied for a patent for a telescope. He was asked to make an instrument for two eyes – a pair of binoculars. The first pair he made had a power of 3 or 4 and an objective of an inch and a half. Telescopes were difficult for inexperienced persons to use; hence the need to make binocular telescopes was felt.

There are references to several other inventors in the 17 th century who claimed to have invented binoculars. They include Ottavio Pinani in 1613, Antonius de Rheita in 1645 and Cherubin d’Orleans in 1671 whose treatise La Dioptrique Oculaire describes binocular telescopes with great details and diagrams. Pietro Patroni of Milan was another person who was credited with having made early telescopes and binoculars in the 17 th century. Some of his pieces are still found at auctions. In1702, Johann Zahn made the first hand held binoculars with a flexible linkage between the tubes.

The first instruments must have used Galileo’s optical system though later ones may have had convex lenses as eyepieces for greater magnification. Early optical lenses were of poor quality and were made of glass. Some later instruments used quartz which is more difficult to work with but gives clearer images. Early telescopes had inverted images but by the 19 th century image erecting two lens systems were invented. It is entirely probable that they used the techniques to make binoculars as well. The first binocular telescope was invented in1825 by J P Lemiere.

Binoculars were used by the US Navy in its observatory during the Civil War but unfortunately none of those pieces have survived and are not available anywhere now. In154 Italian inventor Ignatio Porro patented prism binoculars which are capable of erecting the image, the forerunner of the modern binoculars. Several people made prism binoculars in the mid nineteenth century but hardly any businesses succeeded. The poor quality of the glass, shoddy production and faulty design caused the ventures to fail.

In the late nineteen century three Germans ushered in the age of modern optical instruments including binoculars. They were optical designer Ernst Abbe, Otto Schott, glassmaker and Carl Zeiss, instrument maker. The first modern binoculars of high quality were sold in 1894. This was the beginning of many other designs and modifications but the principle was the same.

The early twentieth century saw many innovations which made the binoculars more practical to use. In1919 wide-field lenses were used in binocular eyepieces for the first time. The instruments were still quite cumbersome and light weight metal was used instead of brass for the housing by the 1930s. Alexander Smakula worked successfully to improve the light transmission through the binoculars. His use of antireflective coating in1935 resulted in more than 50% improvement.

In 1954 the use of two lenses separated by air, known as the tele-objective system resulted in reduction of the length of the binoculars. The larger relative aperture helped to improve the image quality. Over recent years nitrogen filled binoculars help to reduce fogging of lenses. Other such improvements have made binoculars indispensable for birders, race goers and opera lovers.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN THE FIELD

Here are some helpful hints:

1. Try to put the bird in a basic family. While we may look at color first, you would never compare a reddish duck with a reddish tanager. So you ask yourself, is it a duck, is it a dove, is it a heron, is it a gull, is it a hawk, is it a sparrow.

2. What is its size? Compare it to a familiar bird, a crow, a robin, etc. When you have established that the bird is smaller than a crow, but slightly larger than a robin, you have already narrowed down the field considerably.

3. What is its shape? Is it slender like a cuckoo or chunky like a robin? What do the wings look like, how long are the legs, what is the shape and length of the bill? Is the tail long or short–is it notched, forked, wedge-shaped, rounded?

4. How does the bird behave? Does it pump its tail, does it wag its tail, does it dart out from a perch sallying for insects, does it feed on the ground, does
it hover, or is it a glider? Does it wade in the water, does it teeter or bob while it walks near water? For that matter, does it walk or hop, or both? These are all excellent clues.

5. Observe its f light characteristics. When it f lies, is it a straight trajectory, undulating, lurching, soaring? Does it travel in f locks, in pairs or alone?

6. What are the specific field marks? Plain breast, streaked or spotted breast, wing bars, white outer tail feathers, f lash pattern, white rumps, white bands on tail, or patches on wings or on rump, stripes over the eye, through the eye, around the eye? Does it wear spectacles? Does it sport a jaunty crest or wear a black mask? Does it have a whisker stripe or a red throat patch?

7. What is its voice like? A long melodic warble, a hoarse caw, does it say its name Chickadee-dee-dee-dee, etc.? Does it have a distinctive call note or scold? Does it rustle dead leaves when it forages on the ground, does it drum like a woodpecker or make whistling sounds with its feathers?

8. When is it found? Is it here only in the spring and fall, thus a migrant? Is it here all the time, a permanent resident? Is it here only in the winter or only in the summer? Does it show up unpredictably? Check your field guide maps and regional check list to support your call.

9. Where is it found? This is one of the most important questions. Is it always found near the coast at the beach, in mudflats, in brackish or freshwater marshes, or is it a denizen of inland desert scrub, rocky outcrops, open fields, prairies, deep woods, or bottomlands, along fence-rows and edges of thickets and woods, etc.? Habitat is by far one of the best clues to the identity
of your bird. Most birds are dependably habitat specific.

An Introduction to Birdwatching

Going birdwatching is a great way to get out into nature, to keep in touch with the awe and mystery of the natural world. While you are birding you are also getting fresh air, exercise, and learning more about the various areas you visit.

Seeing the wild flowers, trees, shrubs, vines, butterflies and other critters that share the birds’ environment, helps you to appreciate how all the living parts fit into the whole scheme of things.

Tracking the seasonal movements of birds keeps you in touch with the passing seasons. The annual cycle, the mysteries of spring and autumn migration, birds are pre-eminent harbingers of spring and fall and subtly mark the passage of time Birding can contribute positively to your feelings of mastery and self esteem.

These feelings will increase as you get better at it. While identifying birds is very difficult in the beginning, as you practice and improve your observation skills and hand-to-eye coordination skills you will start to gain confidence and pride in your new found ability to take a number of clues and come up with a speedy and correct I.D.

Finally, amateur birdwatchers have contributed and continue to contribute much to the scientific knowledge of birds.