SLATY-BACKED FORKTAIL

Date: 3 November 2019
Location: Frasers Hill

CHESTNUT-CAPPED LAUGHINGTHRUSH

Date: 12th August 2019

Location: Frasers Hill

MY FAVOURITE BARBET

Date: 12th August 2019
Location: Frasers Hill

CAR CAMPING AND BIRDING

Date: 14 July 2019
Location: Frasers Hill
Gear: 7D2 + 400mm f5.6



I went to Frasers Hill during the weekend to do some car camping, and birding at the same time. It is a nice thing to do to relax and get away from the city. I find that I do that more often nowadays as the stress level goes up and boredom creeps in.

By car camping I mean pack everything I need - food stuff, cooking stove, pots and pans, clothing, and sleep overnight or two inside my CRV, converted into a camper. I took out the two back seats and put a full size air mattress for sleeping and put a rooftop box to put all my food box, cooking gears, pots and pans, foldable chair, sleeping bag, clothing, camera tripod, camera bag and a tent, to free up my cabin space for sleeping. The cabin is wide enough to sleep three people, albeit a little tight. If I need more space I just erect my tent beside the CRV or underneath the gazebo.

I used to stay in the hotels all the time whenever I went to Fraser Hill, but it is more fun to camp outside nowadays. Furthermore, I am not restricted by the check-ins and check-out time. The best part of all is that not staying in a hotel while birding will save you a lot of money, which you can use to buy your camera gears like lenses or tripods. Of course if the weather is very bad, and you cannot stand it you can always check-into a hotel. I could have saved thousands of Ringgit had I started this earlier and used the money to buy my dream Canon 600mm f4 lens, but it is water under the bridge now. However, it is better late than never. Nowadays, I am more relax about birding because if the birding is bad, I can always enjoy camping and cooking food outdoor, enjoy hot food in cool weather. 

Bring enough food and water supply to last your camping duration..and don't forget the coffee! It is a must especially when it rains and your birding stops. There is nothing like sipping your hot coffee under the shade when it rains and cold.

Car camping is very mobile because if you do not like one spot, or if you feel unsafe or no privacy due to too many people or cars, you can always pack up and move to another spot. Just make sure that if you are alone you do not park too far in isolated places because safety is the utmost importance.

Frasers Hill has a few gazebos along the winding roads which are up for grab on a basis of who arrived there first and they are free. Just keep them clean after you used them for the next users, please.

So, i woke up early in the morning to bathe around 6.30 a.m, and prepare my breakfast - pancake and eggs with coffee cooked on a portable stove. 

Pancakes for breakfast. They are easy to prepare and taste good especially with honey syrup.

After breakfast I heard a repeated knocking sound on a tree trunk nearby and I thought to myself that must be a woodpecker starting his day early as the sun just about to rise. The lighting was poor as the sun rays appear in between trees, and the area was still misty and cold. It took me a while to spot the bird which was just a few meters away up on a tree near my camping spot. It was not a woodpecker but a Fire-tufted Barbet getting up early to create a nesting hole in the tree trunk. It was too busy making a hole in the tree trunk to notice me below snapping a few shots at it.

A Fire-tufted Barbet picking a spot on a tree trunk to make a nesting hole

I stopped my birding during noon to cook my lunch. I used to have lunch at the foodcourt last time but now I prefer to cook my own lunch as it is more fun and relaxing. If you go camping you need to bring all of the essentials like cooking oil, butter, black pepper and salt, onions, garlic , rice and potatoes. For your beef steak and fish, you can marinate and freeze them the night before and carry them in a cooler with ice pack. I use mini stoves with propane or butane gas, and sometimes I used foldable stove with square fuel tablets which are cheap. I like these versus using chopped woods as they are cleaner and fast. Sometimes I cannot find dry wood especially when it rains.

Cut potatoes with onion, garlic and black pepper

Beef steak with black pepper sauce

A salmon steak with black pepper sprinklered on top saute in butter

My lunch was fantastic, i forgot about birding for a while. Later, a female Large Niltava dropped by my camp site to say hello and maybe get some leftover for lunch?

A female Large Niltava dropped by to say hello

After noon a wave of Sultan Tits came over the bushes looking for insects. They were very skittish and difficult to lock on. They made a very distinct tweet sound.

A Sultan Tit with a dried caterpillar

My birding stopped around 5.00 p.m due to rain and heavy mist, but it was fine by me as I could just sit under the shade and sip a cup of hot coffee. I was happy to get some shots of these beautiful birds on Frasers Hill. I took an hour nap in my camper before going back home to the city. The trip cost me almost nothing except for the one tank of petrol, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I look forward to go car camping and birding nowadays every two to three weeks just to relax. You should give it a try too.

Thanks for reading. Till next time go out there and have a great birding...and camping too.

FEMALE LARGE NILTAVA

Date: 21st May 2019
Location: Frasers Hill
Gear: Canon 5D3 + 400mm f5.6

ISO500, F5.6, 1/800sec at 400mm

RED-HEADED TROGON IN THE MORNING MIST

Date: 20th May 2019
Location: Frasers Hill, Hemnant Trail
Gear: Canon 5D3 + 400mm f5.6

ISO10000, f5.6, 1/400sec at 400mm

ISO12800, f5.6, 1/400sec at 400mm

ISO12800, f5.6, 1/400sec at 400mm

RUFOUS-BROWED FLYCATCHER

Date: 19th May 2019
Location: Frasers Hill
Species: Rufous-browed Flycatcher
Gear: Canon 5D3 + 400mm f5.6 + Kenko Pro DGX 1.4X

ISO12800, f8.0, 1/500sec at 560mm

ISO12800, f5.6, 1/400sec at 400mm

ISO12800, f5.6, 1/400sec at 400mm

ISO12800, f8.0, 1/500sec at 560mm

ISO12800, f8.0, 1/500sec at 560mm

ISO5000, f5.6, 1/400sec at 400mm

ISO8000, f5.6, 1/500sec at 400mm

GREATER RACKET-TAILED DRONGO

Date: 19th May 2019
Location: Frasers Hill
Species: Greater Racket-tailed Drone
Gear: Canon 5D3 + 400mm f5.6 + Kenko Pro DGX 1.4X

ISO4000, f8.0, 1/800sec at 560mm

ISO5000, f8.0, 1/800sec at 560mm

ISO5000, f8.0, 1/800sec at 560mm

ISO3200, f8.0, 1/800sec at 560mm

HELLO BARBEY

Date: 19th May 2019

Location: Frasers Hill

Species; Fire-tufted Barbet

Gear: Canon 5D3 + 400mm f5.6 + Kenko Pro DGX 1.4x

ISO8000, f8.0, 1/500sec at 560mm

SECOND OUTING WITH CANON 7D2

Date: 4 & 5th May 2019
Location: Frasers Hill
Gear: Canon 7D2 with Canon 400mm f5.6

This second outing was to further familiarize with the Canon 7D2 body features, and test further the performance of the AF and image quality in the field. For this outing in order to get the best image quality I decided to pair with a prime Canon telephoto lens 400mm f5.6 non-IS. I did the AF micro adjustment in the field and +4 gave me the sharpest image possible. 

The first few images here are of a Malaysian Laughingthrush shot quite close at about 4 meters. I had a bit of problem focusing on this bird as it was too close and very skittish under poor lighting condition, I had to use a single point with 8 point helpers AF mode. The original images was quite dark and noisy, and had to be recovered in Lightroom. I had to bump up the ISO to 6400, used the widest aperture at f5.6, and slowdown the shutter speed to 1/320 second to get as much light as possible. I tried using the speed at 1/640 sec ( 400mm x 1.6 crop factor) but it was too dark. So at ISO 6400 the noise is visible. In this scenario the 5D3 would be a better performer, but I only brought the 7D2.

Malaysian Laughingthrush shot at ISO6400, f5.6, 1/320 sec

Shot at ISO6400, f5.6, 1/320 sec

Shot at ISO6400, f5.6, 1/320 sec

Shot at ISO6400, f5.6, 1/500 sec

I find the 7D2 image quality was not as sharp and clean as my 5D3. There is a bit of softness in the images, lacking contrast even though I adjusted the contrast up in the picture profile in the camera.

The AF locking on the bird sometimes felt slower than the 5D3 despite all my setting was on focus priority. The AF sometimes missed the focus point either in front of the bird or at the back. Sometimes the single point with 4 helper points AF missed the target and I had to use the single point with 8 helper points AF instead. In my 5D3 the single points with 4 helper points AF works the best and the single point with 8 helper points AF not so good. I set the focus priority on my 5D3 and 7D2 the same, and yet I couldn't help but feel the 5D3 AF is more accurate and lock on the subject faster.

The only sharp image of this White-throated Fantail out of so many I took because the 7D2 AF could not lock on this skittish bird despite having a capable AF. The keeper rate is very low.

I finally got record shot of a Slaty-backed Forktail at about 5 meter distance in good lighting condition. However, the image is not tack sharp, a bit soft I might say. ISO3200, 1/640 sec, f5.6

ISO3200, 1/640 sec, f5.6

ISO3200, 1/640 sec, f5.6

ISO3200, 1/640 sec, f5.6

ISO3200, 1/640 sec, f5.6

Well, those are all I have to show you from this second outing with the 7D2. I took a lot of photos but due to the keeper rate is so low I have to discard a lot of unfocused shots, under exposed shots which are not worth keeping, which is due to the 7D2 limited ISO capability of only up to ISO16000 which is not usable due to noise, compared to the 5D3 native ISO of up to 25600. The highest ISO I would use for 7D2 is at ISO6400 with a bit of noise. With 5D3 I can push up to ISO12800 with a bit of noise. However, it is not fair to expect an APSC sensor to have the same ISO performance as a full frame sensor in 5D3. My biggest disappointment with the 7D2 is the soft image quality more than anything else. What did Canon do in the design of the sensor used in the 7D2? How come my 60D sensor produced better images? Is it the quality control in the production line of the 7D2 that caused this or the software algorithm designed by their engineers? What is it? Would sending my 7D2 body back to Canon for adjustment solve this issue? I just do not know yet. All I know is the results so far have not convinced me that the 7D2 can live up to my expectations. Maybe I should invest in the 1DX series instead? That is a million dollar question. Hmmmm......money again!

Until next time, happy birding. Go out there and shoot some bird photos.

Cheers.