Feathers

Blue-eared Kingfisher 蓝耳翠鸟 This is a relatively rare and small kingfisher. Last year we had to go all the way to Tupah Kedah to look for it. This year, one of them showed up at Air Hitam Dalam, but still was not an easy target to photograph, due to its shy nature. (28/5/2016, Air Hitam Dalam)

Common Iora 黑翅雀鹎 The huge canopies of the many large and old rain trees by the side of Taiping lake garden are rich habitats to many birds and insects.   A common iora flew between branches of the rain trees to forage for caterpillars. (29/5/2016, Taiping)

Buff-breasted babbler 棕胸雅鹛 Another smallish and brown montane bird found in Fraser’s Hill. They feed on insects. The 3 rd photo shows clearly the buff-colored breast of the bird. (May 2016, Fraser’s Hill)

Streaked Wren-babbler 短尾鹪鹛 Another smallish bird usually found in the tropical moist montane forests such as that of Fraser’s Hill. The dark-brown plumage is nicely patterned and decorated with two rows of white dotes on the back, turning it into an attractive bird species. (May 2016, Fraser’s Hill)

Rufous-browed Flycatcher 棕眉姬鹟 This is a relatively small bird found usually in mountain areas and not usually seen on lowlands. It showed up at a dark roadside cliff. Our professional birding friends employed a lighting gadget placed close to the bird and hence enabled these shots to be taken under a well-lit condition, much like a mini studio in the wild. (May 2016, Fraser’s Hill)

Long-tailed Sibia 长尾奇鹛 The glaring floodlight around rest houses and bungalows that beamed into the night at Fraser’s Hill attracted many species of moths to the lights. Very early in the morning, numerous birds had already arrived at the floodlight area for a lavish breakfast, among them were these long-tailed sibias which had the skill to cling on the wall to feed on the moths. (May, 2016, Fraser’s Hill)

Large Niltava 大仙鶲 This beautiful deep blue bird showed up as we were waiting for the appearance of the Malayan Hill Partridge, a bonus for me.   It is a common montane resident and as such is not a common bird to me who has been a resident on coastal plain all my life. (May 2016, Fraser’s Hill)

Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush 栗头噪鹛 This is another laughingthrush.   It is not commonly seen on lowland and coastal plains but it is a common sight in Fraser’s Hill especially at popular birding sites.   My observation about the birds is that when they spotted food, they would appear quite boldly in a loose small group for the food despite our close proximity with them. (May 2016, Fraser’s Hill )

Malayan Laughingthrush 马来亚噪鹛 Laughingthrushes are noisy birds with the characteristic laughing calls. (May 2016, Fraser’s Hill)

House Crow 家鴉 Half-jokingly, one of my good friends once said to me that after seeing many of our FB postings of nice looking birds, he had not seen any posting of common street birds such as crows. He quipped that we were biased against crows. I could not agree with him more, but I could not help it because every time I wanted to snap some shots of the crows, they were either besides garbage bins, dump sites or worst, scavenging rotten carcasses. All dirty or unpleasant scenes. This time, I got the chance to snap them whilst they were on flight, and so at least able to accord them with some air of elegance to qualify them to be posted. LOL. (May 2016, Kepala Batas) A flock of crow on a tree at Kepala Batas padi field, providing some rare graceful scene of crows.