Common Myna – juvenile

Common Myna – juvenile

Common myna (Acridotheres tristis tristis)

A sub-adult Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis) is generally duller than an adult, lacking the gloss on its black head feathers and the erectile crest, and may have a more brownish head

Tiung gembala .The common myna is native to Asia. It is so common and breeding rapidly that it on the 100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species

 

Bald Common Myna - Tiung Kepala Botak

Yellow funky "botak-head", looks like vultures.

Cause: Unknown

I photographed it in Temeroh, just outside my perimeter fence. 

Common Mynas (Acridotheres tristis tristis)

Bald Common Myna

Feeding on a Lesser Spear grass,(Chrysopogon aciculatus). Rumput kemuncup

doing their activity normally

 

Birding during COVID-19 Pandemic

Birding at my backyard is a solo activity , that don't involve large crowd gathering.

Friday, 13 Mar 2020, 10:23 PM MYT - Malaysia positive cases = 197 cases, 0 death.
UPDATE:
=======
PKP (Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan)
FASA 1: 18 MAC - 31 MAC 2020
FASA 2: 01 APR  - 14 APR 2020
FASA 3: 15 APR  - 28 APR 2020
FASA 4: 29 APR  - 12 MEI 2020
FASA 5: 13 MEI  -  09 JUN 2020    (PKPB)
FASA 6: 10 JUN - 31 OGOS 2020  (PKPP)

*(PKPB) - Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan Bersyarat

*(PKPD) - Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan Diperketatkan

*(PKPP) - Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan Pemulihan

SARS-CoV-2 virus illustration from CDC
This Corona virus believed to be originated from bats.

Above picture from my posting on 11 January 2009 - baby bat  Myotis muricola
As all Ministry resource are focusing on Corina Virus, don't neglect on the old Dengue virus.

A worker doing fumigation to kill adult Aedes mosquito at my backyard.
"Dengue fever cases in Malaysia reached an all time high, hitting nearly 80, 000 cases and 113 deaths reported from January until Aug 3 2019" - Deputy Health Minister Lee Boon Chye

Happy New Year 2020 - Happy Birding

Birds in Flight during Raya Holiday

My lifer Red-wattled Lapwings (Vanellus indicus). size=32cm
Exif: 1/8000s |  ISO 640 | f/5.6 | 400mm | Exp bias 0 step.

Testing Canon EOS 5D Mark iv and 400mm f5.6 L lens for birds in flight photography during recent Hari Raya holiday.
I set the camera at 61-points Automatic Selection AF, AV mode, AI servo and high speed continuous shutter, and just fired 7fps at any passing birds.

Unlike egret or eagle, these birds are small 20cm (Asian Glossy Starling) to 32cm (Red-wattled lapwings), and moving very fast.
With overcast weather, I have to push up the ISO to 4000. Shooting against the sky,  need to compensate the exposure to +1 to +2 to bring up the birds details.
Most of the birds fly laterally to the sunlight, except for Oriole, when the sun is at my back 

Asian Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis), size=20cm
Exif: 1/6400s | ISO 1600 | f/ 5.6 | 400mm | Exp bias +1

Jungle Myna (Acridotheres fuscus), size=24cm
Exif: 1/8000s | ISO 1600 | f/5.6 | 400mm | Exp bias  +1 step

Jungle Myna carrying  nesting material.
Exif:  1/8000s | ISO 4000 | f/5.6 | 400mm

Oriental Magpie-Robin (Copsychus saularis), size=19cm
Exif: 1/4000s | ISO 1600 | f/5.6 | 400mm | Exp Bias +1.3 step

Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier), size=20cm
Exif: 1/4000s  | ISO 640 | f/5.6 | 400mm | Exp bias +1 step

Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis), size=25cm

Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis), size =27cm
Exif:  1/6400s | ISO 640 | f/5.6 | 400mm | Exp bias 0 step
All the pic are shoot handheld.

Common Birds of Srinagar Kashmir

Birding is not my  main activity while traveling in Kashmir. Just a casual observation, and with only wide angle lenses . (17-40mm f4 and 24-70mm f4 Canon lenses).

Here are the common birds around Srinagar town and garden.

Gagak- Jungle Crow foraging in a flowering apple tree.

Tiung - Common Myna

My first lifers was found at the Dal Lake in front if our houseboat - Hooded Crow

Second lifers in the Srinagar Botanical  Garden - Eurasian Jackdaw

Lifer No. 3:  Black Kite

Lifers No 4: Itik -  Little Grebe

 Lifers No 5: Common Moorhen

House Sparrow

Lifer No. 6: Tern

I arrived at the Hazratbal Mosque a few minutes before maghrib /sunset, so all the noisy pigeons are already roosted on  the Chinar trees outside the mosque. .