Charming tiny bird, brightly-colored but difficult to see as it forages quietly in dense undergrowth. Olive-yellow above and dark gray below, with a dark line through the eye and a bright yellowish crown. The very similar Gray-bellied Tesia has a paler belly, a distinct yellowish eyebrow, and a darker greenish crown. Slaty-bellied breeds in foothill and montane forest and winters at lower elevations. Frequents dark damp areas, often near streams or fern beds. Song is a series of high thin whistles followed by a jumble of warbled notes, longer and more complex than Gray-bellied Tesia’s similar song. Gives sharp chirping call notes, as well as loud rattles. [Ebird]
This tiny bird moves swiftly through the bushes, making it incredible that we managed to spot it.
It’s a bird everyone on this trip has been eager to photograph. Yesterday, only Amy and I were lucky enough to capture it, while others could only catch a glimpse without getting any photos. However, luck was on our side today! Two different Tesias came close to us within just 15 minutes, giving everyone the chance they had been hoping for. Tonight, we can all sleep soundly, content with the experience.
This is a fairly common bird in the area, but it moves too quickly to capture good shots. It often hides in dark and damp spots, making it a wonderfully active but elusive subject.
– another bird that we seldom missed since pandemic “covid” (previously seem more shy). This bird just pop up when we trying to locate the partridge. Cute, small and fast
– “side effect” of the CANON RF200800, this bird small, fast and always in lowlight .. end up ISO20000 needed
– as usual very fast moving and tiny bird.but now with the AI camera CANON R7. so much easier with the animal eye detect. almost like point the lens to the bird and press shutter
– very common glass-land, paddy field winter visitor (North)
– mostly brown, long billed, gray leg
update 202411
– It’s great to see them return to the paddy fields, where they are as active as ever in the morning. I came to test out the Canon R1, and with its new Continuous Pre-recording and advanced AF tracking features, I was able to capture the moment they took off and flew toward us. Later, I combined the JPEGs into a single movie file.
– long tie never go paddy field for birding, take a short visit with friend. Very quiet instead but this bird make us spend some time to have good view than follow with good meal
1. Siberian Stonechat, 黑喉石䳭, 黑喉石䳭, Saxicola maurus, ノビタキ, MURAI-SAWAH BIASA
– a common winter visitor(North) normally found grassland, paddy field
update 202012
– this little poor bird with the bill hook up
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2. Pied Bushchat. 白斑黑石鵖, 白斑黑石䳭, Saxicola caprata, クロノビタキ, MURAI-SAWAH HITAM
– Males are black with a white vent and a white wing patch. Females are dark brown with a reddish-brown rump and underparts. Females can resemble the migratory Siberian Stonechat, but can be separated by the absence of an eyebrow and of any white on the collar or wing. (Ebird)
Small songbird of forest edges, open scrub, and farmland, usually seen in pairs or small flocks. Male is silvery gray overall with black face and white supercilium, throat, belly, and wing patches. Female dull brown overall, with a rufous tail and faded version of the male’s head pattern. Bold but not very active, usually seen perching for long periods on posts and overhead wires. Song is bright and melodious, but often has a somewhat faltering quality, trailing off towards the end. Most common call is a harsh rising “bzeeet!”. [EBird]
During one of the quieter moments while waiting for a Scarlet Finch, a female caught my attention. As it flew around, I decided to enable Continuous Pre-record mode, just in case. Suddenly, it spread its wings, and I seized the perfect moment to press the shutter after see the action, capturing this stunning shot.
– a special bird found at Borneo near open area, not difficult to spot along any road near open grassland and Palm Oil plantation ..
update 202503
I spent my rest day near a paddy field and spotted some great birds, including this beautiful Grassbird flying around. I really wished I had my 400mm f/2.8 with me to capture these special moments. I had to use ISO 16,000 for a fast shutter speed, but it still wasn’t quite enough to freeze the bird in motion.
我在附近稻田度过了我的休息日，看到了一些不错的鸟类，其中包括这只美丽的草鹛在空中飞舞。真希望当时我带着我的 400mm f/2.8 镜头来捕捉这些精彩瞬间。为了提高快门速度，我使用了 ISO 16000，但仍然不足以完全凝固这只鸟的飞行姿态。
202503, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
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update 202411
– A streaky brown bird commonly found in fields, scrubby edges, and dense thickets. This large but elusive warbler is usually spotted as a quick glimpse of its chestnut rump and long, trailing tail as it flushes from nearby cover. It occasionally perches in the open, sometimes even on telephone wires.
– On our first day, we managed to get incredibly close to this bird, just 5-10 feet away. It’s not a rare or particularly striking bird, but it’s always a pleasure to encounter one, especially since we don’t often visit its habitat.
A distinctive chestnut, white, and black waterbird with a sky-blue bill and enormous feet. The immature lacks the blue bill and shield and is brown-headed. Resident and nomadic, this species trots on the surface of water lilies and other aquatic vegetation, using its long legs and ludicrously elongated toes to prevent it from sinking. It flies weakly, low over the water, with legs and toes dangling behind awkwardly, and calls with a honking repeated “kyaaan” and wheezy hurried “skreeeeeet’–most often in flight. Highly unusual mating system in which one dominant female maintains a harem of multiple males. After egg-laying, each male will raise a brood alone. [EBird]
Here’s another true story of why I prefer using large-capacity memory cards (I’m currently using the Angelbird 1TB CFexpress B). After 18 days of birding, I returned to Malaysia and started editing my photos. That’s when I realized an entire set of pictures was missing—specifically, a series of shots of a bird in flight (it had been flying around us, and I’d managed to capture several sequences).
I checked my SSD, thinking I might have accidentally deleted the folder after downloading, but I couldn’t find anything. As a last resort, I decided to recover the images from the card. Thanks to the large capacity of the card, I had never filled it up completely, which meant the missing files were still recoverable. In the end, I managed to recover the entire series of bird-in-flight shots, as well as some photos of White Rhinos. This experience reinforced the importance of using high-capacity cards!
1.Black-crowned Night-Heron, 夜鹭,夜鷺,Nycticorax nycticorax, PUCUNG-KUAK BIASA
– 46-60 cm
– common, widespread, like to roosting big group in same area
Adults have a black crown and back with the remainder of the body white or grey, red eyes, and short yellow legs. They have pale grey wings and white under parts. Two or three long white plumes, erected in greeting and courtship displays, extend from the back of the head. The sexes are similar in appearance although the males are slightly larger. Black-crowned night herons do not fit the typical body form of the heron family. They are relatively stocky with shorter bills, legs, and necks than their more familiar cousins, the egrets and “day” herons. Their resting posture is normally somewhat hunched but when hunting they extend their necks and look more like other wading birds.
Immature birds have dull grey-brown plumage on their heads, wings, and backs, with numerous pale spots. Their underparts are paler and streaked with brown. The young birds have orange eyes and duller yellowish-green legs. They are very noisy birds in their nesting colonies, with calls that are commonly transcribed as quok or woc.
7. Chinese Egret, 黄嘴白鹭, 黃嘴白鷺, Egretta eulophotes, カラシラサギ, Bangau Cina
– Vulnerable species
– look confusing to little egret, bill, leg color make the different
– medium size, sometimes confused with a little egret
update 202101
– high tide, force this rare and globally endangered white egret to come near to platform feeding
update 202012
– funny to see this bird inland where is in a Manure pond.
202012, Selangor, Malaysia
8. Great-billed Heron, 大嘴鹭, 大嘴鷺, Ardea sumatrana, スマトラサギ, Cangak Laut
- lucky to have these 2 birds displaying and managed to have a good session with them
- a not so common heron
非常幸運，拍到它們在配偶行為。
update 202102
- while w on the way to Great-billed Kingfisher. Saw these 2 birds displaying and stop to capture the good moment.
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9. Cattle Egret, 牛背鹭, 牛背鷺, Bubulcus ibis, アマサギ, BANGAU PENDEK
1.White-faced Plover, 环颈鸻,環頸鴴,Charadrius dealbatus, シロチドリ, RAPANG PANTAI CINA
– depend on checklist, this may sub-species of Kentish Plover if not split as full species
– Very pale upperparts, paler edges to coverts. Short breast patches. Pale legs (Thanks Dave Bakewell for the summary difference)
– it mixes with all Lesser, Greater Sand Plover but not that difficult to spot it as a very pale color
update 2020 Oct
– Selangor, Malaysia
– only one individual found this trip. trip before seem another individual found which look slight different bird
2. Lesser Sand-Plover, 蒙古沙鸻,蒙古沙鴴, Charadrius mongolus, メダイチドリ,RAPANG-SISIR KECIL
– one of the most common and move in big group wader (winter visitor)
– sometimes can be very confused with Greater
– various plumage can be seen
update 202109
– one of the most common waders found here when migratory season (North).
– one of the bird still showing some post breeding plumage.
– 马来西亚蛮普通的候鸟（北）
– 其中一只还在非繁殖羽。
202109, Selangor, Malaysia
update 202104
– continue to have more change plumage of this lovely and common winter visitor
– lucky to have 2 birds bath together
– 这个月是马来西亚看候鸟转繁殖羽的最好时候。这最普通的其中一种，还是很漂亮的。还要2只一起冲凉。
202104, Selangor, Malaysia
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– it is almost time to go back home, the plumage change to breeding plumage
– looking at the forehead and chest orange bar which different from Greater breeding plumage. Lesser tend to have no white forehead and bigger breast band
– 开始换繁殖羽。又是时候回家了。与铁嘴沙鸻也有相似点。可是头部美白，胸的橙较多/大。
202103, Pantai Jeram, Selangor, Malaysia
update 202012
update 202010
202010, Selangor, Malaysia
3. Little Ringed Plover, 金眶鸻, 金眶鴴, Charadrius dubius, コチドリ, Rapang Gelang Kecil
– a bird with a yellow eye ring
– normally single or small flock
– found near a paddy field
update 202011
– very interesting feeding way
4. Greater Sand-Plover, 铁嘴沙鸻, 鐵嘴沙鴴, Charadrius leschenaultii, オオメダイチドリ, RAPANG-SISIR BESAR
– long and pale yellow leg
– leg is forward the center of the Body
– bill shape (refer to this good reference by Dave Bakewell)
Small, pale plover with broken black collar, sandy upperparts, grayish legs, and rather fine black bill. Breeding plumage has black mask and black tabs at sides of breast (not a complete band). Nonbreeding plumages have black replaced by brown. Mainly coastal, on sandy beaches, dry mudflats, and at salt ponds, usually near water; also locally inland. Migrants will join with flocks of other shorebirds. [Ebird]
– a bird that not really so common at Malaysia and so far I only saw it here non-breeding plumage. Finally I see breeding plumage at such close range and very good focal range (800mm +1.4 = 1120mm .. also use on R7 .. ===1792mm)
2. Common Iora, 黑翅雀鹎, 黑翅雀鵯, Aegithina tiphia, ヒメコノハドリ, KUNYIT-KECIL BIASA
– common at beautiful song bird near urban, mangrove
201710, Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia
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3. Great Iora, 大绿雀鹎, 大綠雀鵯, Aegithina lafresnayei, オオヒメコノハドリ, KUNYIT-KECIL SAYAP HITAM
– rareness among 3 species, overall bigger and longer beak
– normally like Green Iora feeding and action near the canopy
马来西亚较稀有的。较大，嘴也大。
update 202404
– still clearing hdd and this moment remind me my best time spent with my buddies .. hope I have time to go out with them more. Very lucky to see the adult keep feeding the young
– 还在清理2022的旧照片。这照片是鱼一帮朋友无忧无虑的看鸟看到，幼鸟在等成鸟来喂。朋友等等我。
202206, Ulu Langat, Selangor, Malaysia
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update 202401
– after years, revisit a special location where we spent ours time Pandemic lockdown time. Surprise to heard this bird call and very soon we got to see it so well … amazing beautiful tree and bird
– what a lucky day, while we having our casual birding we saw the juvenile standing at a low branch waiting to be feed. Even we got stint by hornet and leech bite… but all of us still waiting for the moment and reward with this not so common bird with some good feeding pictures and videos.
– casual morning, when heard the call I thought I may hear wrong
– 轻松的早上。当我在这听到这鸟叫，还以为我听错。
202204, Ulu Langat, Selangor, Malaysia
202204, Selangor, Malaysia
update 202203
– a wonderful & casual morning with my buddies again. noisy fellow keep making call until we see it stay long for us
– 与好朋友的美好早上。这鸟，叫不停。
202203, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
update 202110
– another day with “Iora wave” with 3 species of Iora feeding high up. So I am trying hard to find this special one. finally one is stop for few second for picture opportunity
– 遇上雀鹎鸟浪，可是都高高在上。听到这只较稀有的鸟，幸好看到它停了几秒。
202110, Selangor, Malaysia
update 202105
– Malaysia rareness Iora, biggest in size too.
– overall black-top and yellow-below. Wing without any white- 馬來西亞較稀有的雀鵯。
– 較大型。身上-黑綠。下半身-黃。
– as usual, have my casual birding in Kuala Lumpur surrounding forest (cannot cross state due to Pandemic covid-19 lockdown) – lucky day to see ~17 Green Iora (which originally attract my attention), 2 common iora, and 2 Great Iora in the same tree.
– 因为疫情不能过州。只能在附近森林，看看鸟。非常幸运的遇到马来西亚3种雀鹎。
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– 2nd encounter, but this time high up and keep making alert call.
– a not-so-common bird at Selangor and lucky to finally got to see it again.
– 第二次見到他。站高高，一直叫不停。
– 在這。蠻稀有的鳥種。
202104, Gunung Nuang, Selangor, Malaysia
update 202104
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– another lucky moment when I have my easy morning walk with my light setup. follow the bird wave this bird just appears quick come and go.
– 又一个幸运的早上。它跟鸟浪一起冲冲的来，冲冲的走。
202104, Hulu Langat, Selangor, Malaysia
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– a slightly bigger iora and obvious bigger bill and making a lot of noise
– 比起马来西亚另2种雀鹎较大，也很吵。
202103, Hulu Langat, Selangor, Malaysia
update 202103
– as usual, have my casual birding in Kuala Lumpur surrounding forest (cannot cross state due to Pandemic covid-19 lockdown)
– lucky day to see ~17 Green Iora (which originally attract my attention), 2 common iora, and 2 Great Iora in the same tree.
finally on hand with production Canon EOS R5 for 2 days. managed to test standard function, ISO performance, Raw file capability (Shadow and highlight recovery) and AF : Animal eye tracking on birds
For wildlife Photographers, few things about AF bordeing us : AF speed, AF accuracy, AF tracking capability
*** yet to have time setup screen capture to show the R5 AF capability and hope I can make one to show
for the 2 days bird photography with the R5
Day1 : standard shooting experience, Handheld IS capability , ISO, Shadow and Highlight recovery
Day2 : I shooting Tv mode , Full Animal eye tracking
Here, I will sharing real Tropical forest field experience on using the R5 … few simple conclusions before start some sharing
1. the AF to lock the object
i. normal condition – EOS 1Dx m2 definitely faster and R5 is faster than my 5D mark4
ii. low light condition – EOS1Dx m2 faster , R5 is good compare to 5Dmark4
iii. back light condition with shadow highlight backgroup (not just pure sky)
– EOS1Dx m2 faster, 5Dm4 slow but R5 seem can’t really look for the object (small object on the overall frame) . the R5 just can’t get the lizard or the trunk nearby to focus for long (and I am still looking single button to change AF to MF peaking to solve this easy .
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2. Animal Finding — > Eye Tracking
– I was amaze by A9 with 600mm FE year back where my guest using it to find the the bird !!! As long as we point the camera and len toward bird direction with some minor complex object (with pure sky there are no problem at all) the A9 will automatic found the bird and keep tracking it !!!!!
so I also try to use R5 , I know where is the bird and point R5 with EF-R adapter 500mm EF IS4 II toward the direction . the Camera did found the tiny flowerpecker if it move/jump but it stay and just moving it’s body .. I still can’t depend the R5 help me find where’s the bird yet …
Trac#
Tracking : this TOTALY change my thought of Mirrorless camera !!!!
As long as I can find , focus the bird (use shutter button focus the bird) than I use the AF-on (configure to Animal eye focus) it will track the bird head/eye in any conditions : dark, backlight, moving, flying small object etc
Even, the Green Iora is far and small in this case. After I got the bird focus and press AF-On button, the eye tracking just work seamless (no matter it change head direction, jumping etc)
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situation where birds flying with plain sky … it is incredible fast to get the camera to focus on the bird .. as long shutter speed fast enough , shooting swiftlet is like “makan kacang putih” (Malaysian say) …. picture below .. point my camera and len toward sky with any bird , and press the AF-On button which is Animal-eye tracking than within very short moment it will lock the bird and fire shutter ….
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We always do have problem shooting bird in flight when bird flying toward us with speed . the AF not easy to lock the object firmly , even yes we need luck , high skill (camera and tripod handling) to have higher success rate for Bird in Flight toward us .. which is different from side way flying which many way can make higher success rate
Very lucky day, we have this Owl for us to try the animal-eye tracking AF … with condition
– bird flying from about 200m toward us about 20-30m toward us and than to right
– Canon EOS R5, R-EF adapter , Canon 600mm F4 IS2
– Tv mode set to Auto ISO, 1/2000
– This test , using single focus get the bird focus when it flying toward us than using Animal-eye tracking for full sequence shooting of ~3s
– Mechanical shutter
– among 29 frame pictures captured , only 1 frame missed and 1 not capture correct (due to moving my camera slower than the bird flying)
simple video show how each the bird flying toward us
each frame as below 2048px
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