Kit & Herman Year 2

[Kitsafari]

Thanks to TDGraves and Michael-ibk, I've got four more species to add to the count. 

 

243/BW116: Chestnut-vented Tit-Babbler, CKGR

Missing the head but this was a flighty bird and was quite a challenge to pursue as it was also very high in the trees. It was in the same grove of trees with the pririt batis. 

 

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

244/BW117: Zitting Cisticola, Camp Kalahari, MP

 

I've made a call - if in doubt, zitting cistocolas are also found in CKGR.

 

 

[Kitsafari]

245/BW118: African Pipit, Nxai Pans

 

[Kitsafari]

246/BW119: Violet-eared Waxbill, Camp Kalahari, MP

 

[Kitsafari]

That wraps up my Botswana list. there were a couple of really bad EBCs that I didn't include (eg Wahlberg's Eagle) and a few birds which I saw but couldn't get a shot, such as the Pied Wagtail. all in all, not too bad a result given it was not a birding trip. I'm still pleased to get fairly good shots of the birds.

 

 

[Kitsafari]

In April, Herman and joined a friend's Fraser's Hill birding weekend. It was a very brief, and very short trip. 

Fraser's Hill is a hill station in Raub District, Pahang in Malaysia. It is a popular weekend resort for the residents in Kuala Lumpur as it is cool, less commercialised than other hill resorts (like Genting Hills which I've never been), with quite a good chill laid-back factor.  My family used to take coaches up to KL, and from there we would take a public mini-bus filled with people up to the hill station. That was about 40 years ago. I still remember one bus ride vividly, sitting next to a lady with her child on her lap and the lady was busily checking the child's head for ticks. Meanwhile the driver had one hand on the wheel, while the other rested on the knee of the leg that was on the accelarator, while the other leg was rested on the floor. He was busily chatting with a lady passenger while driving on a narrow road edging precariously on a cliff into a deep valley. Obviously, we survived the trip!

I recalled the wonderful flights of butterflies but didn't realize there was a huge chest of gems - colourful and stunning birds. Fast forward to today, a lot of the forests have been cleared but still there's a bit left for some of the birds to remain. Our timing wasn't good though. our weekend clashed with the hill's anniversary celebrations and the state's sultan was in attendance,which meant a lot of roads were closed and we couldn't access some bird species.

There are about 300 species in FH with 10 in the globally threatened list. We managed only 14 new species but I was pretty happy, given the blockages and that we only had 1.5 days  and they were all lifers for Herman and I. I've already included the Red-Headed Trogon as #200. 

 

247/FH01: Silver-eared Mesia 

 

This stunning bird blew me away. I had seen photos of this mesia but nothing prepared me for seeing it in person. The striking colours make me wonder if it was an easy prey for both poachers and raptors, but the jungles in Southeast Asia are very dense and the mesia appears to prefer high altitude areas. The silver-eared mesia used to be part of the old world babbler family but is now in its own genus mesia. The species can be found across Himalayas across to Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the hill ridges of Malaysia, where its distribution ends. It is an introduced bird to Hong Kong. 

 

 

female: 

 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

248/FH2, Pygmy Wren-Babbler

 

This was a sneaky and very clever, and a rather delightful if you can see it properly, tiny little bird that measures only 7.5-9cm and weighs 11-15gm. we waited a  long time for it and when it appeared, it disappeared almost instantly into the dark dense bushes. Because it was so small and was so skittish, the photos weren't a clear success, not even for the most accomplished photographers in our group. The almost-tailless pygmy wren babbler is also known as the pygmy cupwing and is distributed in the Himalayas to central and southern China through indochina to Malaysia and Sumatra. 

Like the pitta, it likes to forage on the litter on the floor and is often found in the undergrowth of evergreen forest and densely vegetated, mossy areas. Feeds on ants, insects, snails and grubs. 

 

[michael-ibk]

The Mesia is stunning. 

[PeterHG]

What a bird, that Silver-eared Mesia and what a beautiful close-up shot by Herman!

[Tdgraves]

@Kitsafari the edit button is still there as you are a moderator 

[michael-ibk]

@Tdgraves No, it seems to be open for all of us - at least it is for me.

[Tdgraves]

2 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

@Tdgraves No, it seems to be open for all of us - at least it is for me.

 

Perhaps @Game Warden needs to close it again then?

[Peter Connan]

The second shot in post no.331: I believe that's a Woolly-necked Stork, not Abdim's?

 

Edited June 5, 2019 by Kitsafari

[Zim Girl]

What a wonderful and colourful little bird the Mesia is, lovely photos by you both.

[Soukous]

Wow Kit, I just caught up with your latest postings. You're having a terrific Big Year. 

I have to agree that he Mesia is stunning, but there are so many other lovely shots in there.

 

I hope you don't mind me saying it, and I don't mean to sound patronising, but your photographic skills have improved in leaps and bounds. If you don't believe me, just look back at the photos you were taking 3 years ago. 

[Kitsafari]

@Soukous thank you for the compliment. 

 

After starting my first BY last year, I've realised that photographing birds is quite different from photographing landscapes or the larger mammals. the birds are fast, flighty and tiny so you need to have quick hands, steady hands, quick fingers and better (=more expensive) camera equipment. quick minds too to frame the birds. 

 

I've yet to improve on quick and steady hands but i think part of the reason for the improved quality is the camera - mine's still a bridge Sony RX10 mIII - the focus is slower than the mIV version. 

Herman's photos have improved leaps and bounds i believe. 

 

Lots to learn from you guys!

 

[Kitsafari]

On 6/2/2019 at 8:46 PM, Peter Connan said:

The second shot in post no.331: I believe that's a Woolly-necked Stork, not Abdim's?

 

 

 

I'm sorry i made a mistake - imeant to click the "quote" button but clicked "edit" instead. 

 

But you are so right!  it's the woolly-necked stork and not abdim's. 

 

A terrible photo but this is Abdim's.

 

[Kitsafari]

249/FH3: Grey-chinned Minivet

Found in forests in high altitudes of 1,000m-2,000m, the grey-chinned minivet is sexually dimorphic. The male is distinguished by orangey-red underparts, lower back and tips of the greater coverts while these parts are  yellow in the females. The immature bird is coloured like the female but its back has yellow-olive bars instead. 

It is distributed in the eastern foothills of the Himalayas through Southeast Asia to southern China, down to Sumatra and Borneo. The birds were a challenge to photo as they were far out in the valley and high in the treetops. 

 

male: 

 

female: 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

250/FH4: Large Niltava

 

An extremely shy bird that we waited eons for it to appear, and when it did, it would come out to the open for a split second before fleeing into the dark areas. we had to visit a particular area a couple of times to wait for it. In the low light, it would look dull but  I can imagine when the sunlight hits it, its blue body would shimmer. this species is found in north-eastern Indian sub-continent to China and Southeast Asia. Its habitat is mainly in sub-tropical or tropical montane forests. 

 

[Kitsafari]

251/FH5: Black-throated Sunbird

 

Distributed in the foothills of the Himalayas, Bangladesh, Southeast Asia and southern China. 

 

[Kitsafari]

252/FH6: Yellow-naped Woodpecker

 

A rather sombre olive-green woodpecker with the yellow crested nape found in Indochina, Hainan into Southeast Asia.

it was a quick glance, and few quick clicks before it vanished into the forest. 

 

[Kitsafari]

253/FH7: Orange-bellied Leafbird

 

Distributed in the central and eastern himalayas, Yunnan, and northern parts of Southeast Asia and in Fraser's Hill. Although listed as least concern, IUCN admits the population is decreasing due to habitat destruction. We initially thought it was the blue-winged leafbird as the light was very low. it was when we put it on the big screen that we noticed the bright blue throat and orange breast that it was the orange-bellied leafbird instead, a species not found in Singapore. 

 

male: 

 

female: 

[Soukous]

wonderful Balck-throated Sunbird

[Kitsafari]

254/FH8: Rufous-browed Flycatcher

 

A really cute flycatcher that we saw regularly in various areas of the hill station, including a pair close to the road preparing a nest. It is distributed in Southeast Asia preferring subtropical and tropical moist montane forests. 

because it kept showing itself to us, I'll put more photos of it!

 

[Kitsafari]

255/FH9: Long-tailed Sibia

 

A rather greyish looking bird that didn't look spectacular until you see the bars on its tail and its red eyes. Found in the Himalayas through northern Southeast Asia to southern China, into Malaysia and western Sumatra. This is placed with the family of laughingthrushes.