Black Bulbul at NCKU

In last winter (16-Jan-2013), I sighted huge flock of Black Bulbul (Hypsipetes leucocephalus) foraging and competing for food on most of the fruiting bayan trees at NCKU (National Cheng Kung University) in Tainan. There are two species of bulbuls can be sighted at NCKU, the Black Bulbul and the Chinese Bulbul. Chinese Bulbul is a common resident in the campus, while the Black Bulbul is the winter visitor.

Black Bulbul

Chinese Bulbul

 Happy Birding

Taiwan Bulbul at Kenting National Park

On 10 Oct 2012, I visited Kenting National Park for the annual event of the massive raptor migration. Kenting National Park is located at the southern tip of Taiwan, it is the first national park of Taiwan.

The migratory raptor species stop at Kenting in October are mainly the Gray-faced Buzzard (Butastur indicus, 灰面鵟鷹), Chinese Goshawk (Accipiter soloensis, 赤腹鷹) , Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus, 遊隼) and Eurasian Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus, 紅隼). Besides the raptor, Brown Shrike is also one of the common migrants in Kenting, especially the subspecies of lucionensis.

Kenting is also one of the birding sites for the Taiwan Bulbul (Pycnonotus taiyanus, 烏頭翁), an endemic bird species of Taiwan. This species of Bulbul can only be seen in the lowland forest of the east or southern tip of Taiwan, whereas the Light-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus sinensisis 白頭翁) is the dominant species on the island.

Taiwan Bulbul

Light-vented Bulbul

Gray-faced Buzzard, Chinese Goshawk, Eurasian Kestrel, Great Cormorant and Chestnut-cheeked Starling were my lifers in Kenting.

Happy Birding.

Birding in Fraser's Hill

After the bird race, I spent three full days for digiscoping in Fraser's Hill, from 21st to 23rd June. In fact, April to July are the best period for observing the resident birds. The common birds of Fraser's Hill are usually Passeridans and Corvidans.

The common Passeridans include the Silver-eared Mesia, Long-Tailed Sibia, Blue-winged Minla, Malayan Laughingthrush, Spectacled Laughingthrush, Streaked Spiderhunter, Black-headed Sunbird, Mountain Fulvetta, Mountain Bulbul and Large Niltava.

Silver-eared Mesia is one of the common birds, and it is also the icon bird of Fraser's Hill, with beautiful feather colors of red, yellow, silver, black and grey.

Silver-eared Mesia

Malayan Laughingthrush (a.k.a. Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush), an endemic species of Peninsular Malaysia and Southern Thailand. Malayan Laughingthrush and Spectacled Laughingthrush (a.k.a. Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush) are the most common laughingthrushes in Fraser's Hill, whereas, the Black Laughingthrush is the less common.

Malayan Laughingthrush

Malayan Laughingthrush

Streaked Spiderhunter and Black-throated Sunbird are the most common nectarivores in Fraser's Hill.

Streaked Spiderhunter

Black-throated Sunbird

Long-Tailed Sibia and Blue-winged Minla are also common birds in Fraser's Hill, but Blue-winged Minlas is hard to digiscope, coz they usually move very fast like the warbler. Warbler-type of birds are the main challenge for a digiscoper, and I'm looking forward to digiscope a warbler, hopefully I can make it.

Long-Tailed Sibia

Blue-winged Minla

Mountain Bulbul and Ochraceous Bulbul are the most common bulbuls in Fraser's Hill, other bulbuls can occasionally be seen, which include the Black-crested Bulbul and Ashy Bulbul.

Mountain Bulbul

Ochraceous Bulbul

Black-crested Bulbul

Mountain Fulvetta is one of the fast moving birds, with the skill and patience, it can be digiscoped also.

Mountain Fulvetta

White-rumped Munia is the only munia species I spotted in Fraser's Hill.

White-rumped Munia

Rufous-browed and Little Pied Flycatchers are the common flycatchers in Fraser's Hill, but Rufous-browed Flycatcher is easy to digiscope than any other flycatchers in Fraser's Hill.

Rufous-browed Flycatcher, guess which is male, female and juvenile.

Large Niltava is one of the common birds in Fraser's Hill, you can easilly see it on every street or trail.

Adult Large Niltava, male in Blue and female in brown.

Juvenile Large Niltava

The common Corvidans in Fraser's Hill include the Grey-chined Minivet, Javan Cuckoo-Shrike, Lesser Racquet-tailed Drongo, Bronze Drongo, White-Throated Fantail, and Black & Crimson Oriole.

Grey-chined Minivet, male in orange color, and female in yellow.

Javan Cuckooshrike

Please be reminded, there is no Large Cuckooshrike recorded in Peninsular Malaysia. I realized that many have mistakenly named it as Large Cuckooshrike rather than Javan Cuckooshrike.

White-Throated Fantail

Lesser Racquet-tailed Drongo

Black and Crimson Oriole

Woodpeckers and Barbets are also highly vsible in Fraser's Hill, the most common Barbets are the Fire-tufted Barbet and Black-Browed Barbet.

Black-Browed Barbet

Fire-tufted Barbet

The most common Pigeons in Fraser's Hill are the Mountain Imperial Pigeon and the Little Cuckoo Dove. Other Green Pigeons can also be found in the forested area at the lower elevation.

Mountain Imperial Pigeon

Little Cuckoo Dove

Trogon, Broadbill and Pitta are not a common birds in Fraser's Hill, you may occasionally spot them in the forested area. Red-headed and Orange-breasted Trogon are the most visible trogon in Fraser's Hill, and I only spotted the Red-headed Trogon in this birding trip.

Red-headed Trogon

Long-tailed Broadbill and Silver-breasted Boardbill are the most visible broadbills in Fraser's Hill.

Long-tailed Broadbill

My lifers in this trip included the Long-tailed Broadbill, Black Laughingthrush, Ashy Bulbul and White-hooded Babbler.

Click HERE to find out more about birding in Fraser's Hill and Fraser's Hill International Bird Race.

Happy Birding, Digiscoping and Digisniping.

Corvidans and Passeridans in Sepilok, Sabah.

The Corvidans that I sighted in Sepilok RDC were the Slender-billed Crow, Racquet-tailed Drogon, Black-naped Monarch, White-throated Fantail, Common Iora, Rufous-winged Philentoma and Scarlet Minivet. I missed the Borneo Bristlehead, which is one of the endemic birds in Borneo.

Rufous-winged Philentoma

Common Iora

Nevertheless, Sepilok RDC is rich in Passeridans, particularly the Sunbird, Spiderhunter, Flowerpeckers, Munia, Bulbul, Tailorbird and Babbler. My lifers included the White-crowned Shama, Dusky Munia, Ruby-cheeked Sunbird, Little Spiderhunter, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, White-chested Babbler, Short-tailed Babler and Black-capped Babbler. Following are some of the photos of the Passeridans that I digiscoped in Sepilok RDC:

Little Spiderhunter

Female Ruby-cheeked Sunbird is the most beautiful female sunbird, with apricot-orange throat and breast.

Female Ruby-cheeked Sunbird

Male Ruby-cheeked Sunbird

 

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

White-chested Babbler

Black-capped Babbler

Short-tailed Babbler (sorry, out of focus)

I spotted a beautiful Yellow-bellied Bulbul carrying food for its nestlings. Unfortunately, both nestlings were missing on the third day of the hatch, interfered by human that exposed the nest to danger. I was sad, really sad, why human is so greedy, I sat down there the whole morning, do not know what to do, then left the sad place. 

Yellow-bellied Bulbul

Reputable bird photographers worldwide do not climb over one another for photographs of nesting birds. Leave the birds alone, let them bring up their family in peace. Click on this LINK to learn more.

The male Brown-throated Sunbird and its fledgling.

The Black-headed Munia

and the noisy Ashy Tailorbird.

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