Sunday, April 6, 2008

Adventure to the montane zone: Birds of Borneo (formerly titled; Calling on the bird experts!)

What better way to spend your weekend than spending some truly quality time with your family and best buddies...?

This weekend was one of those weekends that I really had a wonderful time. Brought my kids to have lunch at their favorite place-ACE Club! my second daughter, Sarah asked for a hair re-bonding for her and her elder sister Sabrina as a birthday gift! My girls...they've grown up... I couldn't believe myself I waited for three hours in the hair saloon...Am I getting old and have grown patience??

Sunday- Ron and I went to Kinarut to see Alphon and of course the beautiful birds in his backyard! Mind you, we went there at 5.30AM...(Talk about passion and determination!). He was supposed to drive back to Sandakan at 8.00AM, but kind enough to serve us breakfast. Chai came a little later joined the shooting spree...

We went there to solve a little bit of so-called "mystery". A flycatcher at Alphon's really excites everybody. We could not determine weather it is a Bornean Blue Flycather or a Mangrove Flycather. Our reference books and our lack of know-hows didn't help. So, to solve it...There's no other way than to get the pictures from all possible angles!

Later, Chai and I went to Tambunan for another bird-hunting session. We were in for a big surprise when we encountered with several other birds species which we are not familiar with. The sky was perfect but I faced some serious challenges shooting under the tree canopy. Of course, my 250mm lens was a bit of disapointment.

1. Mangrove Blue Flycatcher ***









Bornean Blue or Mangrove flycatchers?? I do not know. (Now I now, thanks to Horukuru!)It was really a tough challenge trying to get good shots. Noticed the shadow across the bird's belly? The sunlight reflected from the stream below can fool cameras.

2. Asian Brown Flycatcher ***




3 First Winter Mugimaki Flycatcher ***
Again, I think they are also the same bird-male and female....(Wrong!duly rectified; credit to Horukuru)
4. Ashy Drongo
An Ashy Drongon posing for a jungle potrait and an action shot!
5. Monkey

Doing some deep thinking on how to get food from the people eating in the restaurant!
6. Long-tailed Broadbill

A good shot under some serious lighting problem! (another broadbill collection) I will never know if I will have another encounter...I'm grateful.
7. Chestnut-crested Yuhina ***
They came in group and spent less than a minute on a fruiting trees. I really have no ideas of their ID...
8. Bornean Treepie ***

This one pearched high up on the trees. This was the only shot I managed to capture. It flew away before I could get a decent shot for ID.
Instead of solving a problem, I found myself getting another bigger problems! So, calling on the bird experts to give a hand. I really appreciate it!
...Problems Solved...
Credit to the Sabah-born Bird Expert;

1 comment:

Jason Bugay Reyes said...

buss nice birds u got here hehehe :)

1. mangrove blue flycatcher

2. asian brown flycatcher and the 3rd picture of the no. 2 is first winter mugimaki flycatcher

6. chestnut-crested yuhina which is endemic hehehe

7. bornean treepie also endemic hahaha :)

the long-tailed broadbill taken at the rafflesia centre or at the restaurant ?