Great Slaty Woodpecker in Temengor

Great Slaty Woodpecker in Temengor Forest Reserve, Perak, Malaysia, one of the common woodpeckers in Temengor. Both pictures and call were taken and recorded during the Hornbill Volunteer Program in Temengor, in 2009. 

and its recorded call:

Happy Birding.

Plain-pouched Hornbills in Temengor

Plain-pouched Hornbill is rated as "Vulnerable" species due to the rapidly declining population as a result of hunting and extensive deforestation. This species occurs in south-east Myanmar, west, south-west and extreme southern Thailand, and northern Peninsular Malaysia (BirdLife International 2001). Click HERE to learn more about Plain-pouched Hornbill.

I was in Temengor for the "MNS Hornbill Volunteer Program" in 2008 and 2009 for the Plain-pouched Hornbills (Aceros subbruficolis) survey and count. Since July-September are the time frame for the Hornbill Volunteer Program, I therefore would like to share the picture and the calls of this unique bird which I digiscoped and recorded during my visit to Temengor in 2009. I hope more birders will be encouraged to involve in this meaningful volunteering work.

The recorded call of the Plain-pouched Hornbill :

Click on this LINK to learn more about the Hornbills in Malaysia and the Plain-pouched Hornbill in Temengor:

      

Brown Wood Owl - Fledglings

In my last visit to Fraser's Hill on 17-Aug-2011, I encountered a pair of impressive and adorable fledglings of  the Brown Wood Owl (Strix leptogrammica).

I heard the owls were calling very sharply in the forested area during our owling session at around 9pm, indeed, it was an abnormal and eerie call during the month of the Chinese hungry ghost festival, but I strongly believe the eerie call must be the call of the owls or any nocturnal wildlife. In fact, I saw the hungry owls instead of hungry ghosts.

At the beginning of the search, it's difficult for me to locate them, however, with my passion and patience, I finally found two adorable owls with the white head robe perching on one of the big trees. I was really lucky to locate them, and had a wonderful moment of digiscoping and recording their eerie call.

It's my first picture and call record of  a pair of Brown Wood Owl fledglings, probably the first fledgling call recorded in Malaysia.

Owlsome!

Click on the play button to listen to the recorded call of one of the fledglings :

WARNING: this recorded call is for learning purposes only, do not use this as a bird call playback, you may be seriously attacked by the owl and other predators at night.

Click  HERE  to view the Brown Wood Owl which I digiscoped during the day time about a year ago.

A Gentle Reminder: Owl is currently threatened by illegal poaching for exotic meat market, click HERE to read the recent news report. Please free and save the owls. 

Happy Owling. Keep Watching, Keep Listening and Keep Exploring.
*Special thanks to Peggy and Connie Khoo for their help during the recording.

Recorded Call of the Malayan Night-heron

Today, at around 8.00 pm, I was lucky to hear and to record the call of the Malayan Night-heron at  NCKU (National Cheng Kung University) in Tainan, Taiwan. The call is loud, continuous for about 15 seconds, the interval for each repeated call is approximately 30 seconds.

This is my first recorded Malayan Night-heron's call. Let's plug in the earphone, click on the play button and enjoy listening to the call.

Warning: this recorded call is for identification purpose only, do not use this as a bird call playback. Click HERE to learn more.

Click HERE to read about the Malayan Night Herons in NCKU.

28-3-2011.
Boon Eu

My First Night-Digiscoping

On 26-June, I went owling with my old friend, Victor Yeoh, started from 8pm until 1am. We were fortunate to spot a pair of Buffy Fish Owl roosting on a palm tree, it's a precious moment for me to practise my night-digiscoping and to digiscope the fabulous owls at night.

These Buffy Fish Owls (~45cm) are the fourth species of owls which I spotted in Penang, other owl species that I had spotted in Penang are the Brown Hawk Owl (a.k.a. Brown Boobook, ~30cm), Barn Owl (~35cm) and Oriental Bay Owl (~30cm). I'm delighted to find out that these species of owls are living freely and healthy in Penang, I hope that I will be able to find other species of Owl in Penang in my next owling.

Following are my first digiscoped pictures of owls during the night, with the only light source from the torch and without using camera flash. No Flash Please...

a pair of Buffy Fish Owl...

the male owl,

and the female owl.

How do I distinguish the male and the female? haha... because I saw them doing that....copulation, so top one must be a male and vice versa.

In 2009, I found a pair of Oriental Bay Owl in one of the corners in Penang. The owls were digiscoped by Dr Chan Ah Lak, and the call was recorded by me. I was lucky to have an opportunity to learn from Dr Chan on the skill and the art of night-digiscoping. Dr Chan is a prominent night owl digiscoper in Malaysia, a.k.a owl guru. 

One of the Oriental Bay Owls that I found in 2009

The recorded call of the Oriental Bay Owl in Penang :
(WARNING: this recorded call is for learning purposes only, beware if you use this as a bird call playback, you might be seriously attacked by the owl and other predators at night.)

 

Spotted Wood Owl (~45cm) was the first owl I digiscoped during the day time using Dr. Neoh's digiscoping setup. The picture was taken in Seberang Perai, Penang, in 2009, the time when I was a beginner in digiscoping, thanks to Dr Neoh for introducing me to digiscoping.

Spotted Wood Owl, my first digiscoped owl.

A Gentle Reminder: Owl is currently threatened by illegal hunting, due to a recently-emerging taste of owl meat in Asia. Click HERE to read the news report. Please free and save the owls.

Please stop killing and eating these adorable owls.  请停止杀害和食用这些可爱的猫头鹰.

Click on the following links to view other owls which I spotted and digiscoped:

Brown Hawk Owl, Penang.

Buffy Fish Owls of Sabah

Juvenile Brown Wood Owl

Thanks to all for sharing with me the skill and the art of digiscoping. Happy Owling.