LUTFIALI BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY: 2017

27 November 2017

MISTY FRASERS HILL BIRDING

My recent trip to Frasers Hill was unplanned as i was bored and itching to get out of KL. So i took a half day emergency leave from work last Friday (24/11/17) so i could arrive there before sunset. Booking a room at my favorite Shahzan Inn was a breeze through Agoda.com online reservation. The good thing about starting a trip during work day was the drive was smooth with very little traffic. I arrived there at about 4.00p.m. The weather was light drizzling, misty and cold, just what i wanted. My last trip there about a month ago the weather was warm, not what i wanted for a mountain setting.

Off course, when it is wet, misty, cold and windy it is not so ideal for photographing birds. The camera focus system will have problems locking on birds in the thick mist. Forget about shooting without flash because you will just see a silhouette, hardly any details to see. So i relied on my Canon 600 EX-RT set at zoom 105mm at minimum with a flash extender. Sometimes when the mist was so thick i even set at zoom 200mm to throw the flash at Drongos so high up on the tree tops.

It was hard to spot any birds in this misty condition.

My son acted as a spotter with Bushnell 8 x 40 binoculars to increase the chance of finding birds

A pair of Drongos perching up high in the trees. They became active after rain.

A racket-tailed Drongo in the mist. Very bad lighting!

It helps if you are birding in this kind of condition to have a buddy with a good pair of bino to help spot birds in the trees because everything was a one big blurry scene. Every now and then rain would fall and light became so dim, the window of opportunity to get some shots was very short. My son Amin tagged along and helped me to spot while i did the shooting.

The spot that i chose was near the near the Loji Penapis Air (Water Treatment Plant) half way down towards the Jeriau Waterfall. My short time at the abandoned Jelai Resort only seen a few Black-throated Sunbirds and a squirrel before the rain came down and we had to take shelter at a nearby gazebo by the roadside.

A squirrel shot at the Jelai Resort compound

The spot next to the Water Treatment Plant. The mist was quite thick.

You can get a good view of the valley and ravine below from the road side.

You can see my set up - 5D3 + 400mm f5.6 + 600 Ex-RT+ flash extender

This spot was quite productive during normal weather and i noticed before quite a few Drongos and other species frequented this spot. We spent almost 30 minutes without seeing anything and almost gave up due to the rain, i did not want to spoil my expensive gear in the rain. After the rain stopped, then the action slowly picking up with a few Spiderhunters showed up in the tall trees, and then a loud call from what appeared to be a Mountain Green Magpie. My son tried his luck by blindly shooting in the canopy and got a blurry shot of the bird below. Sometimes you need all the luck in birding.

A Montain Green Magpie.

After that the jungle came alive with waves of different species - Spectacled Laughingthrush, Drongos, Woodpeckers, Flycatchers, Bulbuls and Sultan Tits all over the place around us. There were so many at the same time flying and hoping in the trees and bushes i did not know which one to photograph. It was difficult to lock the focus on in such dim lighting, i could not even make out the birds even when they were like 10 feet in front of me! I just took multiple shots hoping i could get a few right.

I managed to get this Spectacled Laughingthrush photo after a few bad shots

Not sure what this is, could be a Flycatcher

Olive-backed Woodpecker - very very hard to spot if it did not move especially in the mist!

Busy looking for ants?

A Sultan Tit hiding in the tree canopy

This trip i saw an unusually high appearance of Drongos in one spot. Usually you will see one or two at any one spot but on this day i saw close to 10 all over the place! They must be after certain insects after the rain stopped.

A pair of Drongos perching on the top of a tree

A juvenile Drongo?

All in all it was quite a challenging birding session in the misty, wet and cold weather but it was fun too as we saw at least ten species that showed up after the rain. I also heard a few strange bird calls which i could not identify. My only frustration was that i did not see any new birds to add to my list, but heck there will alway be next time.

Till next time, happy birding.

11 November 2017

OCTOBER 2017 TRIP TO FRASERS HILL

It has been quite a while since i last went to my favorite hill for birding due to my busy work schedule. The thing is whenever i am under duress due to work pressure my mind will automatically think of this place as an escape. I always feel recharged after a few days breathing fresh mountain air.

For the last few trips here i enjoyed them just for being on the hill instead of the attraction of the birds mainly due to less presence of birds based on my observation. I will consider it as a bonus if i could get to see ten or more species per day or one or new species a day to add to my list. I do not know why but i feel there is something wrong with the hills that made the birds presence dwindling. It could be due to the weather or less food source i.e blooming flowers, fruiting trees or insects population, or less migratory birds, i just could not point my finger to the exact cause but it feels like the hill is slowly dying. There are still common birds like Swallows flying in the sky, or Long-tailed Sibias and Silver-eared Mesias showing up at some spots but the species mix and frequency were a lot less. You would still hear Fire-tufted Barbets making call on top of the trees but not as loud and frequent as before. I only saw only once the Blyth's Hawk flying high above during my three days there even while going down toward the Gap. What happened to them? Where did they all go? Has the weather become less favorable to them? The food source is less now? Quite worrying in my opinion.

This little guy - a Pacific Swallow - kept me company at my roof balcony

Nowadays i have to search the birds further and in wider area as there are less of them. Usually i would concentrate not far around the Golf Course, near the Singapore House, Barkat House, the abandoned Jelai Resort, near Silver Park Apartment road leading to the Bishop Trail, the junction at Hemmant Trail, and the Telekom Loop road as my favorite spots, but during this trip i had to descend 4 KM down toward the Jeriau Waterfall to increase my chance of finding birds to photograph. It was a lot of work but you need luck too, being at the right place at the right time.


The Jeriau Waterfall is a breathtaking place to take a break or a dip

I was lucky to have spotted this Racket-tailed Drongo on the way back from the waterfall

I went into Hemmant Trail to try my luck to see if i could find any birds. It is not the best place to take photos of birds especially without flash as the light is not that good in the jungle. The trail had been upgraded with hard plastic footpath, rope and posts and resting gazebos. The previous timber usage did not last that long in the jungle as it is a damp place with termites and what not. You have to take care of your head as there are a few falling trees across the pathway.

A sign before entering the Hemmant Trail, always take care of nature

Newly constructed footpath for a safer walk

Almost 1 KM walk, i was only greeted by this cute Mountain Fulvetta


You should look for other things the forest has to offer when the birds are not around - White Fungus

Red Fungus on a dead tree trunk

Jungle trekking was tiring but worth it. I usually do birding and a bit of macro photography at the same time like killing two birds with one stone they say. But at the end of the day even though i did not get that many photos of the birds i should not complaint too much as just being here in the Frasers Hill was really refreshing for me compared to the city. I just hope the birds start coming back to the hills as they are one of the main attractions for the visitors. Meanwhile if they are not around i just come here for the view and cool weather.