Striking and essentially unmistakable, with elegant shape, boldly pied plumage, long bluish-gray legs, and long, slender, upcurved bill. Curve is stronger on female. Usually breeds in small colonies; nesting birds call noisily. Nonbreeding flocks locally number in hundreds. Feeds while wading or swimming, sweeping its bill side to side. Most common in coastal wetlands and brackish lagoons and estuaries, but will also appear inland, particularly on or near large lakes. (Ebird)
Normally refer weavers, weaverbirds, weaver finches and bishops. These names come from the nests of intricately woven vegetation created by birds in this family.
1. Baya Weaver, 黄胸织雀, 黃胸織布鳥, Ploceus philippinus, キムネコウヨウジャク, Burung Tempua
non native male with bright yellow head
update
– the male having bright yellow head, female dull overall dull brown. Normally moving in group with munia
– 公鸟，头部黄。母鸟全浅棕色。通常是群体活动。
20240106, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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– pretty common at open grassland and paddy field. male with bright yellow crown.
– another hot day at Paddy field and all of sudden, saw this bird carrying a long leaf flying toward us.
Large dark widowbird. Breeding males, with massive tails and red and white highlights on their broad black wings, are unmistakable. Non-breeding males lose their long tails and become streaky and brown but keep the distinctive wing pattern. Females are brown and streaky year-round. Breeds in moist grassland but sometimes found in cultivation and other open habitats. Usually in flocks, especially when not breeding. Males give a very slow display flight in which the huge tail hangs down. Song is a sizzling trill. Females could be confused with many other species but even during the non-breeding season usually associate with males, which show a distinctive wing pattern. [EBird]
update 202501
A fairly common bird in South Africa, often seen gracefully flying around with its stunning long tail, offering us an incredible view.
102. Southern Red Bishop, 红寡妇鸟, 紅寡婦鳥, Euplectes orix, オオキンランチョウ
A small, dumpy sparrow-like weaver. The breeding male is a mix of velvety vermilion and black; the narrow black forecrown is diagnostic. The female and non-breeding male are nondescript, with a short tail and strong buff eyebrow, and are difficult to tell apart from other bishops. Pairs and small flocks are always close to water when breeding, and mixed-species colonies occur in reedbeds and swampy grassland, but they disperse into adjacent scrub in the non-breeding season, often in flocks. The song is an extended fizzling sizzle. Breeding males of other red bishop species either have no black forehead, or have a much more extensive black crown. [Ebird]
One of the most common birds we encountered during our South Africa trip, yet its vibrant bright red plumage made it impossible not to admire. It became the joke of the trip when someone yelled for the car to stop, shouting, “RED Kingfisher!” From then on, everyone jokingly referred to this bird as a Kingfisher for the rest of the journey.
1. Brown-backed Needletail, 褐背针尾雨燕, 褐喉針尾雨燕, Hirundapus giganteus, オオハリオアマツバメ, LAYANG-LAYANG BESAR BIASA
– a fast-moving back “brown”, forehead normally consist of white spot sub-species indicus . Or without white giganteus
飞非常快的较大型的雨燕。头部带白（indicus）。
update 202408
– fantastic afternoon, we miss ours main target but so many good bird show up even at noon time. 4 of this big “flying fast” bird passing by few times and managed to have it .. and suddenly feel the R3 not fast enough 😀 even managed to have good few frames.
– 一个很慢的中午，目标鸟完全没声没影。可是很多很好的鸟却出来看看我们
202408, Fraser Hill 55, Pahang, Malaysia
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202103, Selangor, Malaysia202103, Selangor, Malaysia
– a slightly complicated species to be ID among Edible-nest (which also either white-nest or Germain), Black-nest & Mossy-nest which best to id by their nest build
– for Penisular Malaysia, many believe the mix of White-nest Swiftlet (Aerodramus fuciphagus) and Germain’s Swiftlet (Aerodramus germani) or some study claims North – germani and South – fuciphagus
– a rare migrant for Peninsular Malaysia but common winter visitor for East-North Borneo
– 馬來西亞西馬稀有過冬鳥。婆羅洲較普通的過冬鳥。
update 20231224
– I still remember years ago, when we had one visit Malaysia.. drove 2 hours… sit in the hide before light … the bird stand 200-500m away .. and here (Taiwan) so easy and so many … and now I shooting with 1792mm (R7 with 1.6 crop, 800mm + 1.4x tc).. the plumage also look good .. check out the CANON RF200800 update for actual size JPEG
– a special tour at South, make a opportunity to visit a hot spot for waders one dawn. only this duck and black winged stilt spotted for the morning. am waiting for it flying back with back view. but turn out never come back.
– a small tiny small “duck” male with more white and “pied”, female white-brown
– a not so common winter visitor
– 不很普通的過冬鳥。
– 很小的鴨科。
update 202105
– lucky to see this group of Cotton Pygmy-Goose (78++) birds – it is always happy to see them flying to see the male wing-back look greenish and white. female is almost grey-brown – captured this fully manual focus with 1000mm focal length is a painful experience
– 非常幸運見到這麼大群的稀有過冬鳥。(78++只）
– 公鳥-綠-黑-白。 母鳥-棕-灰。
– 1000mm 手動對焦真的不容易。飛的還蠻快。
202103, Dengkil, Selangor, Malaysia
update 202103
– another site found, this site record ~78 birds
– 在这个点，发现到～78鸟。
202103, Selangor, Malaysia202103, Selangor, Malaysia202103, Selangor, Malaysia202103, Selangor, Malaysia
– a rare migrant and believe to be 2nd record after 2016 at North of Peninsular Malaysia. But this is little bit odd while out of migrant season Jun 2022
– any how, local experience birder claim it should not be any escape from nearby small bird park or zoo.
Colorful miniature waterfowl that is smaller than most ducks. Both sexes have rufous underparts, a dark back, white on the face, and white on the wing in flight. Males have a green patch on the back of the head and a yellow bill; females have a black-and-white head and a dark bill. Found in freshwater wetlands with floating vegetation, especially water lilies. Shy and inconspicuous, as it generally avoids open water. Voice is a high-pitched squeaking. Small size and bold and colorful plumage separate it from other waterfowl. [Ebird]
It was a rainy morning, but even after spotting our target bird, the Black Coucal, we didn’t let the weather stop us from birding. Just before our breakfast break, we were treated to great views of a Palm-nut Vulture and this tiny duck. We were lucky to see it flying around rather than staying hidden!
– shy and not difficult to be found at most the islands near Sabah
update 202404
– a casual relax short break with only camera and myself .. managed to have few good birds and enjoy my cold drink with beautiful beach view. Lucky to have few birds included this use to be shy bird and came out feeding without worry about me.
– a special almost represent Sulawesi as almost any where you can see symbol
A massive black-and-white megapode with a rose-pink breast and a diagnostic prominent knob on the nape. Found in lowland and hill forest, in areas near beaches or areas with volcanic sands in which they lay their eggs. Immatures show a blacker head with a white throat and a tufted crest. Occurs in pairs that forage on the ground and roost in trees by night. Often best seen at known egg-laying sites, either during laying sessions, or roosting in trees nearby. Generally silent, but occasionally gives a loud, bubbling “waow.” [Ebird]
update 202310
– another main target for a short Photography tour, not really a difficult bird to be seen but it stay far from the hide and very alert with sounds. But there are few individual come to the ranger area which gave some close pictures.
One of the reasons to own 8k video most probably is to crop the video like this one to get more clarity (but I didn’t reduce it to 4k just want to show 8k video and zoom in)
let’s have a look at 4k and tell me how’s this video looks like? very good? good? normal?
I am glad to be given a chance to be tried on the Fujifilm XF70-300mmF4-5.6 R LM OIS WR. Even though we don’t have that many opportunities to do more tests on this setup because of the Covid-19 lockdown.
for quick sharing from Fujifilm XF70-300mmF4-5.6 R LM OIS WR Liew WK – Lens Stories
For birding Photography, we always concern about on few camera and lens specifications
1. Image Quality
– how sharp and how’s the ISO performance
– with Teleconverter Image quality
2. Autofocus performance
– how fast the autofocus, how accurate autofocus, and how good is the tracking capability
3. Weather-resistant, Weight and Size
– no one can deny bigger lens (longer and bigger aperture) will give you better image quality but we need to know how much we can tolerate with Image quality drop with the size and weight reduce.
– most of the bird photography here (Tropical rainforest – Malaysia) involves a lot of tracking, walking, hiking so it is not really a good choice to carry heavy equipment to long hours to do bird photography here.
Some Extra Features
4. Minimum Focus Distance
– most of the Bird photographers also a nature lover who may also capture many other creatures (butterfly, snake, etc
– minimum focus distance of 0.83 which give magnification 0.33
5. Image stabilization
– I can’t comment much as not really do a lot of testing on this but some of the dark conditions where I shoot ~600mm at 1/10-1/30s also give a very good success rate but for my comfort. 1/100 is a base shutter speed to get a very high success rate for myself.
I also captured some videos handheld
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Very low light condition
ISO1600, F8.0, 1/30
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1. Image Quality
– with previous testing on the Fujifilm equipments
– as previous testing share, the X-T4 AF performance FAST, accurate and tracking is good too.
– I won’t share any single point AF here as all others above are using AFS or single focus but here I am sharing what I am concern about continuous focus for both lock focus & tracking capability
– Both above Loglight Condition sharing pictures were captured in very low light condition and AF is still fast and accurate for AFS
All pictures below captured with AFC – continuous focus and Zone (almost full screen). [I let the camera and lens decide to lock the object and track without any additional setting change]
i. Terns
– many of them flying far and near with moderate speed but in any direction under the hot sun
– most of the focus can lock fast and continuous tracking the bird by the next 1-2 s as the tern fly out from the frame
– it is almost no fail to lock focus when the birds flying with blue/white sky and sea background which has enough contrast
– it is getting difficult to lock focus when a bird flies into the frame where the background is green
– this owl all of a sudden fly out from the small palm oil plantation- the focus lock fast but the tracking miss 50% intermittent as it is flying toward me fast and close (some of the focus frame lock on the wing but not the head).*** the tracking may able to improve by some AF setting. as the focus locking is fast enough to focus again after miss out of focus within 1-2s flying toward me seriesFujifilm X-T4, Fujifilm XF70300, TC 1.4x [434mm, ISO800 F.8.0 1/1250]
– This is a special case where this hornbill standing on a building wall. So make use of the continuous focus & tracking mode. Even the bird is near the tracking work since the bird begins flying until it missing into a tree.
– the moment happens just ~2s, while I am shooting 7fps. and the focus just miss 2 frame
– it is very difficult to capture swift picture due to normally they are flying fast, all different direction
– success rate is not very high due to the flying speed very fast and accelerates in any direction for feeding. But the camera and lens still able to lock the focus as long as my position is at the right position.
– due to the APS-C sensor size the lens design in a smaller size compared to an equivalent 35mm equivalent lens (100-400mm)
– the lens with X-T4 which is 607g (including battery and SD memory card)
– 1.4x TC
with such focal length 107mm to 457mm or (107mm to 457mm)x1.4 or x2)
look at the size
4. Minimum Focus Distance
– this lens can take a photo at a minimum focus distance of 0.83 which give magnification 0.33 think this is also good for some butterfly, big object macro
– a medium-sized tree squirrel, overall olive-brown and underpart red. Slight different form the Plantain squirrel which is lowland species and with an extra Black buff stripe on the flank
– Fraser Hill, Cameron Highland, Genting Highland Pahang, Malaysia
9. Red giant flying squirrel, 棕鼯鼠, 大鼯鼠, Petaurista petaurista
– common at lowland forest (RDC, DANUM etc)
– 在低海拔森林，蛮普通。
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update 202409
– a wonderful special extension for some mammals, we sight Thomas’s Flying Squirrel flying in day time at Danum Valley, follow by Black flying squirrel flying close toward us (yes just ~10m from us like hitting us … plus this common Red giant flying squirrel flying in close distance while ours dusk drive .. wow wow wow
Thomas’s Flying Squirrel is endemic to Borneo where it inhabits tall forest, both primary and secondary, in the lowlands and in mid-montane areas at elevations of up to 1600 metres.
Its fur is reddish-brown to dark brown, with no markings to speak of : it is this plain appearance which distinguishes it from other large flying squirrels, such as the Red Giant Flying Squirrel and Spotted Giant Flying Squirrel, both of which typically have black fur on some part of the body (e.g. face, feet, tip of the tail etc.).
In common with most other flying squirrels it is exclusively nocturnal. Its diet includes forest fruits, but little else is known of its ecology.
Within Borneo, this species has been documented in parts of Sabah (including Mount Kinabalu), Sarawak, Brunei and west and east Kalimantan. It appears to be absent in the southeast of the island. [https://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/mammals/thomas%27s-flying-squirrel.htm]
After witnessing the spectacular gliding display of the Red Giant Flying Squirrel, we encountered this Thomas’s Flying Squirrel up close—just about 10 feet away. It was calmly feeding on a small tree, completely unbothered by our presence.
– Adobe Camera RAW 12.4, same recovery and other parameters for the same test
*** I found the Dynamic Range setting not just affect JPEG output, but also affects the data inside the RAW files. So testing also included DR100 (off), DR200 (suppose reserve highlight exposure 1 stop) & DR400 (suppose reserve highlight exposure 2 stop)
But check out the RAW files recovery result below !!! it is some magic that happens !!!
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1. Highlight Recovery Test
1A. Highlight Recovery Test: Dynamic Range setting
– make sure of in Camera setting to protect Highlight details
Even with the direct JPEG output, the highlight details have been protected (DR200 1 stop and DR400 2 stops). But let’s have a look at the RAW file recovery
LEFT: DR100
CENTER: DR200
RIGHT: DR400
#
1B. Highlight Recovery Test: RAW files recovery
Test1: Highlight recovery from RAW files
– ISO1000, F5.6, 1/15 – this makes the picture +4 (4 stops overexpose)
– Adobe Camera Raw recovery. [Highlight -100%, Exposure -3.00]
#
Test1Bi. Highlight recovery, DR100 (DR off)
– All setting same as mentioned above
– DR100
– LEFT: Direct JPEG from Camera
CENTER: RAW
RIGHT: recovery setting as above and save as JPEG
#
Test1Bii. Highlight recovery, DR200
– All setting same as mentioned above
– DR200
– LEFT: Direct JPEG from Camera
CENTER: RAW
RIGHT: recovery setting as above and save as JPEG
#
Test1Bii. Highlight recovery, DR400
– All setting same as mentioned above
– DR400
– LEFT: Direct JPEG from Camera
CENTER: RAW
RIGHT: recovery setting as above and save as JPEG
#
Here’s come the magic of the RAW file and the Dynamic Range settings !!!!
– Look at the right face of the toy & background paper beg
– the DR400 not just protect highlight data in JPEG but in the RAW file, preserve more than what we expect (3 stops + 100% hight recovery)
DR400DR200DR100
#
2. Shadow Recovery Test
– 5 stops underexpose
– ISO800, F5.6, 1/8000
– DR100, 200, 400
– below are JPEG direct output from Camera
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Test2A. Shadow recovery
Test1: Highlight recovery from RAW files
– ISO800, F5.6, 1/8000
– this makes the picture -5 (5 stops underexpose)
– Adobe Camera Raw recovery. [Exposure +5.00]
#
As the discussion of Dynamic Range is to protect Highlight data of the pictures. But I still go ahead with my test with DR100, 200 & 400
#
Test2Ai. Shadow recovery, DR100
Test2Ai. Shadow recovery, DR200
Test2Ai. Shadow recovery, DR400
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For the 5 stops Shadow recovery, most of the details of the focused object still intact.
But when we turn on the Dynamic Range (DR200 & 400) gives an impact on the RAW files. Something really weird where DR400 actually give negative impact which produces more color noise and purple tint when exposure recovery
#
So we need 2 settings for Highlight & Shadow recovery
1. Highlight recovery: Highly recommend Turn on DR400
2. Shadow recovery: Highly recommended Turn of DR which is DR100
