NIGHT HERON

WHITE-THROATED KINGFISHER (Burong Pekaka Dusun)

This bird is a frequent visitor to the river near my office. I am using my new Canon PowerShot SX50HS superzoom bridge camera with 24-1200mm zoom lens to take this photo. Obviously at 1200mm i should have used a tripod as any movement would result in a blurred image. Anyway i am still trying to get used to using this camera features and all.

BLUE-TAILED BEE EATERS (Merops philippinus/Burung Berek Berek Sawah)

Bee Eaters are one of my favorite birds because they are colorful and cute. I have been trying to shoot photos of them for so long however i have not had much luck despite doing so many trips to the Fraser's Hill and Bukit Tinggi in Pahang state. Maybe i was there at the wrong spots and the wrong time. Maybe it was not the migration season yet.

Anyway, my wife had just bought a point and shoot Samsung Galaxy camera with 21x optical zoom which operates on Android Jelly Bean OS two days ago and i brought it to the office to test shoot it. As i was walking next to the river beside my office during my lunch time i noticed a Yellow-nape Oriole flying away. I could not locate the Oriole but to my surprise a pair of Bee Eaters were taking shelter from the hot sun. I was pleasantly surprised because my favorite bird just dropped by just next to my office, unbelievable! Unfortunately, the Samsung Galaxy does not do justice to the bird's beauty even with the 21x optical zoom. I should have brought my Canon 5D MK3 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens to get good shots of the bird. Anyway beggars cannot be choosers, i just have to take as it comes. Below are two shots i made with a bit post processing in Photoshop to get rid of color fringing.

Tomorrow i will bring my heavy gear to the office and see whether these birds will still be around. I hope they are because i want to post better quality photos than the above to show the beauty of these birds.

Updated: new photos using Canon EOS 60D + Canon EF400mm f5.6 lens: