Pole position

I can't differentiate the species name (Hirundo tahitica or Hirundo rustica) with this back view.

Swallow (Hirundo sp)

This is my last entry this year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!

Birding at Graveyard during Maal Hijrah Holiday

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This two species of Malkohas were my LIFER. Caught it digitally during Maal Hijrah holiday, at a graveyard!

Raffles's Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus chlorophaeus) - female

Black-bellied Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus diardi)

Kampung Sempam Graveyard.

Bunga Gelenggang - Two Golden Candlesticks

Bunga Gelenggang - Candle Bush (Cassia alata)

Salam Maal Hijrah 1430 H

Sempena dengan Maal Hijrah pada hari ini, saya mengambil kesempatan untuk mengucapkan "Selamt Menyambut Maal Hijrah 1430H" - berazamlah untuk berhijrah dan berubah kepada sesuatu yang lebih baik.

Flying Blackbird

This is not the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, but

Large-billed Crow (Corvus macrorhynchos)

Local name: Gagak Paruh Besar

Post Holiday Red Eyed

Asian Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis) - adult

Red-eyed Bulbul (Pycnonotus brunneus)

A Dead Tree Full of Live Birds - SkyWatch Friday

One lonely dead tree covered with so many live Asian Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis)

I found a poem at South African Poetry International Web, by Lionel Abrahams with the same tittle.

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Red Capped Bird

This a Red Capped Bird, from Malaysia for this holiday season.
a very small bird, only about 9cm in size

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker (Dicaeum cruentatum) - male

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker (Dicaeum cruentatum)

Wild Migrant - Flycatcher

This is migratory bird that winters in tropical southern Asia.

Asian Brown Flycatcher (Muscicapa dauurica)

Happy Holiday!

Crested Serpent-Eagle at TopRank Camp @ Raub -That's my World

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I have an nice close encountered with Eagle on Sunday while birding at TopRank camping ground near Raub. The resident eagle there, and I have seen it during my previous trip.
This is the first time that I have a close view of eagle in the wild environment.
TopRank is my new birding site after my favourite site (The Dead Teak Tree) at my back has been chopped down by neighbour.

Crested Serpent-Eagle (Spilornis cheela)
Take off and fly away...

Crested Serpent-Eagle

Wild Grass Flowers ~ Happy Holiday

Happy Holiday!

I don't know the name of this flower, but it look like a Christmas tree.

Barn Swallow and Magpie Robin

Oriental Magpie Robin (Copsychus saularis)

Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

Juvenile Brahminy Kite with EOS 50D

I caught this Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus), a few days ago in a perfect evening light with a blue sky.
The EOS 50D AF lock on very fast (without the 1.4x TC). This not so sharp pictures are due to the one behind the camera, my poor handling of in flight subject.
Shot in RAW that produced very large 20.2 MB files. With shutter speed set at high continuous, that quickly filled my 4MB CF card.
My Adobe Photoshop CS2 can't handle the CR2 format, so I have to use DPP- (Digital Photo Professional) , a software supplied by Canon first, and then transferred to Photoshop as a 'TIFF' and convert to 'JPG' file for web page.

Orang Utan Island - Skywatch Friday my #13

Another picture from Bukit Merah LakeTown Resort.

Trees, ropes and platform for Juvenile Orang Utan- having a practice in jungle survival.

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Juvenile White-throated Kingfisher

Another test of my new setup. This time I removed the 1.4x TC, so as expected the AF is much better and fast with all nine focusing points.
Subject: Juvenile White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis), in not so bright morning light.

Focusing Test with Yellow-vented Bulbul

Testing my new camera with this very common backyard bird - Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier).
With 400mm f5.6 lenses + taped 1.4X TeleConverter (Tamron SP), the camera's center AF point is useless (hunt endlessly), but the peripheral focusing points are still useable.
My old 400D can handle this situation much better.

Birds in flight with my new camera

I acquired a new toy for photography this week. Still learning and familiarize with control knobs and its characteristic. I like its fast shutter speed (compare to my previous EOS 400D). The focus lock is also good, especially in good contrast subject like this birds in flight against the clear sky. I was not able to get the shot of fast swallows with my old camera. Most of my in flight shot were birds that just jumped from perch.
If you want to know what is my new toy , just right click the images to reveal the detail with EXIF reader.

Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

House Crow (Corvus splendens)

Barn Swallows (left)


House Crow, about to land on Telecoms Tower.

Dragon Flowers

Sweet Pitaya's Flowers - Dragon Flowers (Hylocereus sp.)