WHITE-THROATED KINGFISHER (Halycon smyrnensis/Burung Pekaka Dusun)

These shots were taken on the edge of oil palm estate area near Sepang Gold Coast, Selangor using Canon 5DMK3 and Canon 70-300mm L lens.

COLLARED KINGFISHER (Todirampus chloris/Burung Pekaka Bakau)

This Collared Kingfisher aka Todiramphus Chloris or Burung Pekaka Bakau in Malay was shot on the beach in Sepang Gold Coast using EOS 5Dmk3 with Canon 70-300mm IS L lens.

COMMON SANDPIPER (Actitis hypoleucos/Burung Kedidi Biasa)

I went to Sepang Gold Coast(just 45minutes from Kuala Lumpur, twenty minutes from KLIA) on Sunday to fish for whiting. Unfortunately the fishing was not good due to the murky water condition propably from heavy rain the day before. Fortunately for me there were many lifers moving around at the water edge near the mangrove and sand flat. These tiny birds are called Common Sandpipers or Actitis Hypoleucos in Latin or Burung Kedidi Biasa in Malay.

The sandpipers are not native to Malaysia as they are migrant birds from up north but they can be seen throughout the year along the coast, padi fields, canals, riverbanks, ditches and even monsoon drains.

There were also Bee-eaters and Kingfishers sitting on top of the mangrove trees but they were too far for my Canon 400mm f5.6 lens and EOS 60D. So, i trained my lens on the Sandpipers instead which was not easy as they were very active and would fly away as soon as get within 20 meters from them. How i wished i had a 500mm f4 or 600mm f4 lens with me at that time so i can get tighter and detailed shots, but one thing i learned from my previous experience is that you have to make do with what you got when the opportunity present itself. The thing is i left my Sigma 15-500mm zoom lens at home which would give me a better focal length because it is too heavy to carry around in a fishing bag, so i brought the Canon 400mm prime lens instead.

The light available was not great as it was an overcast day, so i had to pump up the ISO a little bit to 500 or some time to 640 to get the shutter speed that i wanted around 1/1000 second. I was not using the flash because i also left it at home, duh. The most challenging task is to shoot the Sandpiper in flight as the EOS 60D AF is slow and struggled to lock on  the fast flying Sandpipers over the water. I brought my EOS 5D MK3 which has a better AF but did not use it because i needed the extra reach with the Canon 400mm lens, so an APSC camera like EOS 60D with the 1.6crop would give me an effective 640mm focal length, unfortunately the image quality is not that great like a full frame body. 

Below are some of the shots i took for record and i will endeavour to come up with better shots the next time i go there again hopefully with a better prime lens like the Canon 500mm f4 lens which i am planning to buy(when the fund is available that is).

crabbing

are you looking at me?

surfing

you are too close dude! Time for me to fly

SULTAN TIT

It has been quite a while since i last posted an entry into this blog. It is not that i have stopped birding but i have been quite busy with work. I have done some birding here and there but did not have the time to sort out my photos and simply did not have time to edit them.

There is one species that i have been trying hard to take a record shot for so long but i simply did not have the luck. It is a matter of not being at the right spot at the right time. But this time the lady luck was on my side as the species i was looking for for so long just showed up while i was taking a break eating my banana fritters by the road side. It must have been attracted to the sweet smell of the fried banana i just bought a couple of minutes earlier at a stall not far from the spot i was seating at. Birds must have an acute sense of smell i think. So next time i know what to do to attract these little birds to come to me instead.

Sultan Tit, sound a bit vulgar isn't it? I mean why would anyone want to insult a Sultan by combining a word which refers to a certain part of the human sexual organ? Couldn't he or she have selected a better name? One guy got into trouble by saying out loud the name of the bird in front of the royalties in a birding function in the Fraser Hill! Lucky he got a book to proof he was not mocking the Sultan and his wife at the function.

Anyway, the Sultan Tit bird is a small size bird with bright yellow color at the belly, chest with black color on the wings and head, and yellow crest on top of the head. The yellow color is the favorite color use by the Sultans in Malaysia which explain the Sultan part, but i cannot figure out the Tit part...err maybe i need to study the bird anatomy more?Ha ha..

Anyway, here are some record shots of the bird that has been so elusive for so long:

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: