Birds Of British Columbia Part 6: Great Blue Heron

I found this magnificent bird in a pond at Stanley Park in Vancouver. This is my first encounter with a great blue heron.

Birds Of British Columbia Part 5: Swans And Ducks

I don't see swans and ducks often enough in Penang. Meeting them is always a joy. 

 

Birds Of British Columbia Part 4: Sparrows

Hiding in the bushes were these little sparrows.

This is the white-crowned sparrow.

This is a golden-crowned sparrow.

Birds Of British Columbia Part 3: Geese

Canadian geese can be vicious birds!

Birds Of British Columbia Part 2: Cormorants

These are double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus). They were seen hanging out at Coal Harbour. Thanks to the folks at the Flickr Bird Identification Help Group for helping me identify this bird.

Birds Of British Columbia Part 1: Seagulls

While in Canada, I got to do some bird photography with North American birds! The first bird I noticed was the seagull, which I had never before seen in real life. They were larger than I expected! After a while the novelty of seagulls wear off though.

An Evening With Some White-Bellied Sea Eagles

The white-bellied sea eagles were flocking near the coast near my house (and the university), with a few pairs of them circling the Malacca Strait and diving for fish. I got some pretty sweet video footage of them, which I'll use for my web documentary (which is hopefully coming soon).

A Bird Near The Window

I got the above shots of a female olive-backed sunbird from inside a window at the new workplace. She was frantically trying to get inside the room, for some strange reason. In the third picture you can see her peeking in from the other side of the glass. This is probably the best shots I've taken of the olive-backed sunbird yet.

Oriental Magpie Robin At Lake Gardens

Today we went to Kuala Lumpur Lake Gardens, where I found this very friendly magpie robin. These are my best magpie robin pictures I've taken up to now.

A Brahminy Kite Flies Overhead

I got a pretty close shot of this brahminy kite as I was wandering around campus. This was near the football fields. I think there is a nest close by.

A Few More Bird Sightings

I have a huge backlog of bird photos to upload!

Here are a few:

A yellow-vented bulbul sits in a tree in my garden.

Morning meal search time for this white-breasted waterhen.

This kingfisher shows us which way we should drive.

This olive-backed sunbird was chattering away at a university cafeteria.

I saw a little heron walking in a stream.

Here's a new one for this blog! A little egret!

When I first got a picture of a dollarbird I thought it was fantastic and rare. Now I find out they aren't all that rare after all. I see these birds on the hill at my university every morning.

Another Round Of Bird Photos

This yellow-vented bulbul is sitting on a lamp post, but from this angle it looks like it's thwarting the invasion of tiny aliens in tiny flying saucers by sitting on their mothership.

A brahminy kite launches itself from a treetop in the distance to look for breakfast.

Here's another shot of a coppersmith barbet.

Here's a black-naped oriole.

The last two birds were sitting in a tree at VC Rock in USM. This is the last time we'll see pictures of that tree, for it was cut down over the weekend. It's a pity, since that was a favourite perch for many birds, and the leaves were sparse enough for me to see the birds in the branches. Sigh. Another tree falls victim to human axes. One of these days I'd like to see the trees get their revenge (like the ents in The Two Towers).

Pied Triller

I took these pictures last month, but I had no idea what this bird was until now. It's a pied triller (Lalage nigra), according to David Gardener (thanks for the identification help).

Bird Sightings This Week

This week I have attempted to record more birds on video, so that I can compile them into web shorts and put them up here. In between the video shots, I took a few stills too. I've been mainly using my still camera (DSC-H2) for this, but I've also got a video camera on loan for a bird film I am making. We'll see how that project goes. In the meantime, enjoy these shots.

Olive-backed sunbirds are small and jumpy. They are hard to photograph unless they're perched high up on some antennae or treetop and chirping their lungs out.

"Astro" is the name of the satellite TV subscription service in Malaysia. It's so common that "everyone" has it, that is everyone who wants to fork out about 80 bucks a month for old, repetitive shows. Clearly this white-throated kingfisher doesn't think much of the service either, as it looks like he's pooped on the Astro dish.

Look, a team of vigilant superhero birds! On the top of the branch is the famous and heroic dollarbird (dum da da dum!) and the smaller guy at the bottom is his sidekick, coppersmith barbet!

Brahminy kites are a common sight on campus. This one is carrying a twig, probably to build a nest with.

This is a common sparrow, and he looks angry. Maybe he hates being photographed.

Chasing Kites

It was a windy day today. I went chasing kites; the kind that has wings, feathers and fly on their own. A couple of brahminy kites were gliding on the winds, circling above VC Rock and making close passes over the treetops.

The brahminy kite is quite a beautiful bird, silhouetting the sky with its chestnut wings spread out and its sharp eyes looking down. They are a common sight in this part of the world, and they are both hunters and scavengers.

Birds In Trees

Sometimes, I like to look at the very tops of the trees to see if anything interesting is perched there. When I have my camera with me, I zoom up and take a picture if I see any birds.

On a bright Monday morning, I took this picture of a black-naped oriole while waiting to pick up visitors (the three French guys) from the guest house in USM.

I don't usually see Brahminy kites perched, so this picture is a rare treat. This is at maximum zoom, as the bird was quite a distance away (hence the picture quality isn't too great).

The same kite as seen from the side. It has pretty chestnut-coloured wings with black tips.

A chestnut-headed bee eater sits in the usual bee eater hangout tree.

I saw a whole bunch of coppersmith barbets! Now I know they like to gather at VC Rock

When taking this batch of photos, I took videos too. I will be making a documentary-type thing about the birds I've seen soon. Hopefully by January or February I can post it on the blog.