Red-headed Trogon in Fraser's Hill

(18 August, 2011) - I encountered two impressive species of Trogon during my trip to Fraser's Hill, the Orange-breasted and  Red-headed Trogon in Fraser's Hill. Due to the misty day, I only managed to digiscope the Red-headed Trogon.

Happy Birding.

World's Smallest Raptor in Fraser's Hill

(16 August, 2011) - Black-Thighed Falconet (Microhierax fringillarius) is the smallest raptor in the world, it can only be found in South-east Asia region of Peninsular Malaysia, Peninsular Thailand, Borneo, Sumatra and Java.

Only two raptor species I saw in Fraser's Hill in the month of "hungry ghost festival", the Blyth's Hawk Eagle and Black-Thighed Falconet. The Black-Thighed Falconet was the only raptor that I have a chance to digiscope. (click on the picture for enlarged view):

Black-Thighed Falconet

On my way back from Fraser's Hill, I also encountered two impressive raptor species, the Changeable Hawk Eagle and Crested Serpent Eagle.

Changeable Hawk Eagle

Crested Serpent Eagle

Happy Birding.

Verditer Flycatcher's ...

(17 August, 2011) - Verditer Flycatcher (Eumyias thalassina) has a beautiful turquoise-blue plumage, which is easily distinguished from other bluish Niltava and Blue Flycatcher, it is also one of the common flycatchers in Fraser's Hill. Here is my digiscoped picture of Verditer Flycatcher in Fraser's Hill recently:

Verditer Flycatcher 

After digiscoped the flycatcher, I scanned around with my naked eyes for any bird on the tree and the ground, suddenly, something stunning on the grass reflected the sunlight like a gem with stunning colour, I then approached the item and confirmed it was a tiny feather, a beautiful turquoise-blue feather. 

I cannot surely confirmed this tiny turquoise-blue feather is the feather of Verditer Flycatcher, but logically it should be, because I found this turquoise-blue feather at the same spot where I saw the flycatcher.

Photographed on Craig Robson's field guide, plate-92, to show how small the feather.

Thus, birding is not necessary only watching or observing the birds, sometimes you can find something interesting on the ground where the birds have perched or roosted.

Happy Birding!

Blue-eared Kingfisher in Ipoh

I'm currently on vacation back to my hometown in Penang, Malaysia. I spent 6 days (14-19 Aug.) in Fraser's Hill and Ipoh, mainly for birding and food tasting. Bird watching in Fraser's Hill at this time was really quiet, not many active birds can be seen. Although without a lifer during this birding trip to Fraser's Hill, I still had some interesting birding experiences which I will update in my blog later.

In Ipoh, I saw a female Blue-eared Kingfisher (Alcedo meninting) hiding in the shed of a small tree on the bank of the pond at Kek Lok Toong region. The blue colour plumage of the Blue-eared Kingfisher is really attractive and magnificent.

Here is the digiscoped picture of the kingfisher, hope you also like it, especially the beauty of the blue plumage. (click on the picture for enlarged view):

A female Blue-eared Kingfisher 

Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) is the most common kingfisher in Asia and Europe, in fact, it is an uncommon migratory bird in Malaysia. As compared to the Blue-eared Kingfisher, the Common Kingfisher has darker plumage and light blue on the back, whereas the Blue-eared Kingfisher has brilliant bluish plumage on the crown and the wings, and stunning light blue on the back.

A male Common Kingfisher, which I digiscoped in Singapore Botanic Gardens in 2009.

Question: Do you know how to distinguish the male and female of these Alcedo kingfishers?
Answer:  You can actually find out the answer from these two pictures.