Malayan Patridges, Cameron Highands.

I spent 3 days in Cameron Highlands from 17th to 19th April, stayed at Lutheran Mission Bungalow. Not many birds I had spotted as compared to last year, partly due to the rain during the day, and it was also a holiday in Perak state. Here are the birds that I digiscoped.

Malayan Patridges

Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush

Crested Serpent Eagle

I had my first birding trip to Cameron Higlands from 4-6 July 2009, organized by the Selangor Bird Group. Here are the digiscoped pictures from last year visit. 

Fire-tufted Barbet

Golden-throated Barbet

Mountain Imperial Pigeon (a chicken size pigeon)

Little Cuckoo-Dove (Macropygia ruficeps)

Barred Cuckoo-Dove (Macropygia unchall)

Cuckoo-Dove feathers, I do not know it is belong to which species, most probably is the Little Cuckoo-Dove. :

Mountain Bulbul

White-tailed Robin

Large Niltava

Slaty-backed Forktail

Blue Whistling Thrush

Besides wild birds, Cameron Highlands also has many beautiful mossy forests, these forests are also home to many montane flora and fauna species. 

Therefore, to help to protect this pristine and fragile environment. Kindly visit this LINK to find out more about R.E.A.C.H, the environment awareness and protection organisation in Cameron Highlands.

Happy Birding and Digiscoping.

Banded Bay Cuckoo

The Little Bronze Cuckoo (Click HERE to view the Little Bronze Cuckoo) that I spotted in Ipoh reminds me of the Banded Bay Cuckoo and the Plaintive Cuckoos which I sighted in year 2009.

The first cuckoo that I sighted was the Banded Bay Cuckoo (Cacomantis sonnerati) and the Common Iora (Aegithina tiphia) in Ipoh, which I sighted on 11-July-2009 together with birding friends, Connie and Peggy.

Cuckoos are nest parasites, laying their eggs in the nest of the host. The photographs have obviously shown that the iora is the foster parent of the much larger juvenile, it has been tricked into incubating and brooding the cuckoo chick. 

Here are the pictures show the Juvenile Banded Bay Cuckoo being fed by a Common Iora:

The second cuckoo which I sighted was the juvenile Banded Bay Cuckoo in the month of July 2009, it was spotted in my neighbourhood in the southern part of the Penang islands. Here is the picture of the second Banded Bay Cuckoo which I spotted in Penang:

 

To understand more about the behaviour of the brood parasitic, watch this video clip from Youtube, "Nature of the Cuckoo" by David Attenborough, BBC:

To learn more about cuckoo, you can read the introduction chapter from the book "Cuckoo" by Robert B. Payne, CLICK HERE.

Plaintive Cuckoo in Ipoh

The third cuckoo that I sighted was the Plaintive Cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus) at Kek Lok Toong, in Ipoh on 24 October 2009. The Plaintive Cuckoo is an astonishing bird, which is hardly seen in Penang but one can hear its calls in the evenings. I was very fortunate to see both male and female Plaintive Cuckoo in Ipoh. 

The female:

The male:

and they love caterpillars very much:

Happy Birding and Digiscoping.

Birding in Ipoh

Besides that, I also spotted an adult Tiger Shrike at Bercham in Ipoh, after I came back from Cameron Highlands. I had seen the juveniles in many locations, but this was my first encounter with the adult Tiger Shrike, probably the last month for the shrike to stay before migrate back to the north. CLICK HERE to learn more about Shrikes.

out of focus

Here are other birds that I spotted and digiscoped during my stop at Ipoh:

Black-tighed Falconet, one of the world's smallest raptors.

Rufous Woodpecker. CLICK HERE to see my other Woodpecker pictures.

Rufous Woodpecker eating ants using its tonge. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Pied Fantail:

Pied Fantail preening its feathers:

Common Iora:

weird action performed by the Iora:

Paddyfield Pipit, just outside Aerden's house.

Happy birding and digiscoping.

Little Bronze Cuckoo, Ipoh.

I was lucky to spot and digiscope my lifer, a Little Bronze Cuckoo in Bercham, Ipoh on 16th of April, before continued my journey to Cameron Highlands. This was the third time I encountered with Cuckoo in Ipoh.

Let's take a look of this cute and beautiful Little Bronze Cuckoo:

Little Bronze Cuckoo is one of the world's smallest Cuckoo, the length is about 15cm. CLICK HERE to find out more about other Cuckoos I spotted last year and learn about their brood parasitic behaviour.

Happy birding and digiscoping.

Gold-whishered Barbet, Sedim.

I visited Sungai Sedim Recreation Park (visit this LINK to find out more) on 15th April, it is one of the popular birding localities at the foothill of the Gunung Bintang. Gunung Bintang is one of the peaks lies within the Bintang Range. Other recommended birding sites nearby the Sungai Sedim and Bintang Range are Ulu Paip Recreation Park (visit this LINK to find out more) and Bukit Hijau Recreation Park (visit this LINK to find out more).

Here are the digiscoped bird pictures of the day, not many birds were spotted but many bird calls were heard, it was partly due to rain. The bird calls we heard included the Banded Broadbill and Banded Kingfisher.

Gold-whiskered Barbet, Dark-sided Flycatcher and Orange-bellied Flowerpecker were my lifers of the day, but only managed to digiscope the Gold-whiskered Barbet and Dark-sided Flycatcher.

Gold-whiskered Barbet:

Dark-sided Flycatcher:

Other beautiful birds of the day:-

Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher:

Grey-rumped Treeswift:

Happy Birding and Digiscoping.

Common Tailorbird, Penang.

Yesterday, I saw five Tailorbirds visited my garden. One of the birds was a fledgling, it has a short tail as compared to the adult, its call was noisy and always begging for food from the parents.

At the beginning, I saw the fledgling was resting on the wall, and calling for its parent:

Suddenly, I realized that the threat from the Black-naped Oriole, the Oriole was trying to attack and hunt the fledgling.

The chase by the parents was fierce. Luckily, the parents were managed to chase away the Oriole. Immediately after the chase, the parents were then led the fledgling to perch on a short cherry tree in my garden.

Finally, the fledgling perched on a safer place, a short Acerola Cherry tree in the garden.

It was always hungry and calling for more food from the parents.

After fed by the parents, the fledgling was happy, satisfied and started to groom its feathers. It then gave me a wink before flying away with the parents. Isn't it cute? adorable?

I wish the fledgling will grow healthier, and one day will revisit my garden with its pretty feathers and tail.

Let's start caring for our garden birds and join the MY Garden Bird Watch, click this LINK to find out more about the program.

Beauties of the day: Brown-throated Sunbird and Scaly-breasted Munia.