My Play Ground: Kinabalu National Park HQ

It has been more than a month since I last went to Kinabalu National Park HQ. I kinda missed that place very much.

It rains frequently lately specially later in the afternoon. That could be a good reason I think...to stop going there for a while. My wife and I are planning to spend our weekends there soon as we always did before...it would be very nice. Hopefully by January, the weather would change. I wouldn't mind if the sky is blue always!

Anyway, before we start going to KNP again... Here's some of the many reason why I have such urges to go to the place I call my play ground...


One of the commonest and active ones, easier seen than shot...


Another jewel of KNP...never managed to get the 'fan' right...


Hmmm..almost perfect but too close for my liking..

Kinabalu National Park: There Are More Than Just The Eyebrowed Jungle Flycatcher

I had been under the spell of the Eyebrowed Jungle Flycatcher for a long time.

As I was gradually recovering, I once again started to venture further and to different places of the jungle trails in the park. I discovered a few potential spots for birding.

Spotting birds activities is easy specially for the common ones along the trails, but photographing them with a 300mm?? You guess...

Frankly speaking, I like it a lot when I'm trekking alone in the jungle trails. Sounds of the chirping birds, water flowing form the stream, smells of the wild...never gets tired from that all... When the camera stayed idle, I wouldn't mind so much.

Anyway, I have not been blogging as active as I had. I intend to make up for that, no worries. Today, pictures taken from Nov 8th, 2009. The Hair-Crested Drongo was a lifer, female White-Browed Shortwing was intended goal and the Indigo Flycatcher supposedly be "Bird as art" material( If you can call it that!)... :)

The Blogging Marathon: Nick of Time

He made it just in the nick of time...

Sepilok Sandakan proved to be a tough proposition that time around. Record shots were great at personal standard. Competition? A total disappointment.

Back in Tuaran and an extra day on hand...I went to Kinabalu National Park..alone...

Half a day without anything...luck came when I needed it most. I had plenty of opportunities that afternoon. The most memorable ones were the moments a male Pied-flycather having a splash.

Soon after reaching home, I looked for the showering Pied-flycatcher. I knew it was my best action shot for the competition. Needless to say, after minor tweaking I emailed it to Alphon for submission.

I've got 2nd place at the bird festival's competition. Thanks to the unimaginable effort of Alphonsus. I lost words after knowing what he had to go through before he could submit my photos.

I learned it from Alven who was at Alphon's that it was not until 4.00AM he successfully downloaded my 2 files. Spending hours and hours trying to download files when the connection kept breaking??

If only I knew what he was going through, I could have asked him to forget about it...It was not that important...

Worse still, he had to submit the files before 8.00AM. He made it just in the nick of time...and I owe him BIG TIME for what he had done. Alphonsus, If you are reading this, you are truly one of a kind and I thank you for being who you are...my best buddy:-

The Blogging Marathon: The Competition II

My legs were tied...

The bird festival was drawing nearer each day. Unfortunately, I only had weekends for my photography sessions. With a few 'weak' photos to bet my luck on, I was not about to enter the competition just for the sake of it. I had to make an impression...I thought.

Good timings couldn't be better, when the management approved my annual leave. I had four days to produce something for the competition. I was free!

Booked a ticket to Sandakan for the festival and of course, the hunt of a perfect photo. Sepilok is such a gifted place and if one works really hard, luck is in their own hands...My best buddy Alphonsus prepared the itinerary and left me nothing to worry about!

Contrast to what could be found in the Kinabalu National Park, birds in Sepilok are more colorful and vibrant. Obviously, can easily catch attentions...judges attentions! I heard a few wise words, colors win contests...

I began my hunt and got some photos. I was aiming for the Oriental Dwarf Kingfishers (feeding of course coz flight shots are just too much to consider!). I saw and heard a few, but not a single shot. Instead, I got these shots, one of which a lifer to me...the Scarlet-rumped Trogon.

Again, not 'competition-worthy' but nonetheless are for keeps. If you scroll down further, you will also find a photo of a cicada. It's interesting, check it out;-

P/s: The 1st eight pictures were actually taken from Sepilok, Sandakan...my apology for the cut & paste overdose :)

Blogging Marathon: The competition

"Bird Photos must be taken around Sabah between 3rd to 13th October 2009"....

One of the rules and regulations of the Borneo Bird Festival 2009 photography contest. One that made all nature photographers including myself went havoc in search of the winning photograph during that period. It was USD1000.00 for grab, who wouldn't?

Well, me at first! Discussions after duscussions with my best buddy Alphonsus, finally concluded that I should compete.

I am not really into competition. Why? lots of reasons really...guess one and you are probably almost...right. I'm sure of it!

Another challenge was to capture an "interesting bird behavior", which is obviously not easy. After spending many weekends in the foothill of Mt. Kinabalu, I was sure that an "interesting behavior" is not easy to capture.

Weather can quickly change in the mountains. My setup was far from ideal on those conditions. Running on a budget, have to make do with whatever I have obviously. I didn't want ISO issues to cloud my mind.

There we were, two good buddies waited for the thick fog to go by and make way for the sunshine...

The first day was bad and unfortunately, the second day was not any better...contest-wise. 'Otherwise'?...not too bad I guess;-

The Blogging Marathon: Options

It's easier when you only have a handful of choices...

I have spent most of my time on the foothill of Mt. Kinabalu photographing and observing the Eyebrowed Jungle-Flycatcher.

As I was going to update my blog, I realized the flycatcher didn't only demanded more time and space for them in Kinabalu National Park. They are now dictating time and space on my computer!

They consumes plenty of space in my disks and even more time editing them. Shot in RAW, when I said editing, I meant converting them to Jpegs. Except cropping and adjusting lights, I rarely move the other sliders...

Eventually, I have a hard time choosing a photograph and having something to blog about of course!

It's not that I don't appreciate them ( I love every single shots!), they are not just another flycatchers... mind you they're endemics and uncommon.

However, maybe it's a little bit easier when choices are scarce...as reflected by a photo of another uncommon Bornean Subspecies below- the White-browed Shortwing. Undesirable image quality, but yet...you'll get the idea...

The Blogging Marathon: The Eyebrowed Jungle-Flycatcher

"Going to feed your birds?...You should give them names".

Ron with his remarks presumably thinking I have ridiculously spent too much time hunting for the Eyebrowed Jungle-flycatcher at the Kinabalu National Park.

Sarcastic? I know, but I thought about the idea. Kind of interesting coz I have familiarized three individuals.

I don't quite agree with the feeding part though. It totally beats the purpose of taking their pictures in the first place. I just enjoy photographing them at their best... in their natural behaviour that is.

I must admit I have been concentrating on the Eyebrowed Jungle-Flycatcher for months. They spend most of their time on or near the ground where light is challenging. Moreover, the backgrounds are not so pretty either.

This will only mean successful shots bring more satisfaction, such as these;-

2009 Bird Photograph Account: Officially Opened

Tambunan was the first place we visited on the first day of the New Year 2009. Chai, Siesie, Alphonsus, George, Zaiton and I embarked early from Kota Kinabalu to open our accounts for 2009.

Searching and waiting at the Rafflesia Centre for hours, we switched plan and headed for Kinabalu National Park (KNP) instead. It seemed that all the birds there were still resting after the New Year’s celebration the night before…

Unlike in Tambunan, KNP was livelier. I managed to capture some photos enough to say it was a successful trip. Enjoy;

1. Mugimaki Flycatcher (Ficedula Mugimaki)

I saw another one in Tambunan earlier that morning. The Mugimaki Flycatcher is a common passage migrant and winter visitor. However, this encounter was only the third time for me.

2. Brown Wood-Owl (Strix leptogrammica)

How I wished to have better angles for this huge Owls. There was a time when all of us stop shooting and enjoyed the beauty of these owls through the Binoculars.

3. Black-sided Flowerpecker (Dicaeum celebicum)

One of my favorite flowerpeckers. However, due to their size and behaviour they are not really good models. They are too jumpy!

4. Indigo Flycatcher (Muscicapa indigo)

When luck is with you, then the only thing that stands between you and the bird is...CF cards! Taken at a frame filling size, I have to say that this was one of my best shots. I had my speedlite but fortunately for me the battery died during this shot. It appeared that this was the best light for this flycatcher shots.

I lost counts of the shots I made for this bird but lucky for me one turned out better than I expected. My initial shots for my 2009 account is officially opened.

Thank you for reading!