arghhh....i missed August writing!

Time flew too fast......31st August 2010 marked the 1st anniversary of my unemployment....It was interesting to note that on 1st Sept 2010, I had a call from a headhunter, asking for an interview with me on a prospective job. You will have to wait for the Sept blog to see how it goes.....the interview is tomorrow (and it was over now, and I havent even posted this blog...haha- the interview was a friendly chat....fingers crossed on where all these leads will take me to.....).

What have I done in August?

Two assignments this month.

One from my nephew, Alvin...where I helped to combine 3 separate photos of him and his friends into a photo collage. I am glad he was pleased with the result.


2nd assignment was from my sister, Poh Yoke. I was assigned to put together into a slideshow, a series of videos and photos captured during her church's ministry to the Indonesians in Malaysia. This assignment took me almost a week, as it was quite tedious viewing frames after frames of video to choose clips that are usable and not shaky...and to synchronize the music with the transitions of the slides/video clips...Anyway, again, I was very happy that Poh Yoke was very pleased with the final product.



3rd assignment from Poh Yoke again, this time in September, was a easier job as all the media were still images.....


I didnt forget to bird though.......went to the ulu dedap paddyfields twice, once with friends from Penang and Sitiawan, and a followup trip on my own. Also finally get to visit Kek Lok Tong in Ipoh for the blue rock-thrush. Will post photos later!

July 2010 ~ I've made a trip to Fraser's Hill

Ok....I know I need to blog my US trip before I totally lost my memory on them, but the thought of blogging two months' experience sure felt like a mammoth task! So, shelving it aside, I am blogging my recent trip to Fraser's Hill first.

Have been deferring my plans to visit Fraser's Hill, Pahang, Malaysia for a few weeks already, until one fine morning (26 July 2010), I woke up at 6.00am and said to myself - "I am going to Fraser's Hill today".

Took me two hours to do my packing....my Mom said I was packing up my whole home there....Well, my camera stuff already consisted of 3 bags - one for tripod, one for accessories, and one more for the lens and camera. Food and water in a water cooler, books to read at night, knitting materials if I'm bored of reading....computer to serve as hard disk for downloading of images and as alternative reading materials....what else have i forgotten? Oh yes, I brought along my fishing chair as well.....it sure served me well during the whole trip.

First stop at Fraser's - to get me an accommodation. Puncak Inn offered me RM80 per night without breakfast....Went checking another cheapo accommodation (Jelai resort) which could be RM10 cheaper - known for its overdue maintenance but a nice place to shoot birds (haha) - the area was locked up and deserted...Anyway, since it was a weekday, I have no worry of getting accommodation, so I went to search for birds instead and only returned in the evening to Puncak Inn.....

Orange-bellied leafbird

A flock of leafbirds - male, female and juveniles were busy drinking from these red bottle-brush flowers. Streaked spiderhunters were plenty too. I liked this shot the most because of the clean background, and the eye contact given. This is a female.

Flying Lemur (Colugo)

I was resting in the car near the gate of the entrance to Fraser's Hill, when suddenly I noticed something flying towards me....It flew right above my car...luckily, my sunroof was opened, and I could see that it was a flying lemur (colugo)...all widespread, its legs and arms, to glide from one tree to another.....it was so golden colored against the setting light, and was really an amazing sight to behold...I quickly get out of my car, and scanning the area, found the colugo holding on to the trunk of a nearby tree....I quickly set up my tripod and camera...and all these while, the colugo observed me curiously as I put up my equipment....however, the moment my camera clicked away, it quickly leaped higher up and hid itself in the thick foliage above....it sure can leaped very fast! I was so happy and felt blessed to be able to enjoy this sighting. Praises is given to God for the blessing!

Back in hotel, I was again counting my blessings - there was free wireless internet service in the room. So, there goes my plan for reading books or knitting my shawl (which my Mom has predicted it would take me years to complete at the rate I am doing it).

Squirrel

Havent searched for its name yet....i liked its bushy tail...It was really difficult to shoot birds in a forest environment - the birds were either too high up in the trees, so they were too fast for me...or I was real slow! Lighting and cluttered background were problems too.....

Monkey (again I have not established the name yet - thought it was silver-leaf monkey, but images in internet lacked the white in the breast...probably a dusky-leaf monkey although the eye-ring is less obvious here)

As usual, all my subjects are pretty friendly until they see and hear my camera clicked away! Saw a group of these monkeys resting on a tree...they were wary when my car stopped, and they ran away when I started shooting....luckily, curiosity got better of this guy as it gave me the eye-contact I wanted before scooting away...I took a nice long nap here! Wonderful weather with cool mountain fresh air....sure made me sleepy.........

Large Niltava (female)

My first shot of this female Niltava was in April 2009 with the NPSS...this bird was not camera shy at all, but always loved to perch on wire posts!! I wanted it on a natural perch!! Hoping for a reshoot to improve my shoot, I looked for this bird again in Hemmant's trail. This time, it again chose the wires as a perch! Sigh!!! But at least, it was really super camera friendly - I was at my minimum focusing range and the bird didnt mind me at all.....It flew away to hide in the thick of leaves in a nearby tree when a truck passed by, but would very quickly come back and perch on this wire again for my continued shots!

Overall, a great trip, to get away from the mundane of everyday activities....cool fresh air to rejuvenate my mind, peace and quiet time in the mountains....I love it! Wished I could find cheaper accommodation so that I could stay on for a while longer.....already stinging on the meals to make $$ runs longer....haha!! Spoke to the guard at the Gap about jobs in Fraser's Hill...he said the wages here are pathetic, ~ RM200+ per month and at most, RM500 (probably with overtime, I am guessing). He said the wages in Cameron and Pangkor would be better at about RM1,000......(yea, but the birds there are lesser, you see!!) Well, penning off on my adventure. Hope to make another one soon!.

It is now June 2010...time flies again

What has happened in the past two months?

Well, I made a trip to Mexico on 6th April to 13th April - Yucatan peninsular; and had a great time....The main objective was to witness an extraordinary event - the setting of the sun over a pyramid in Mexico called Chichenitza on the 6th April. It was an old Mayan structure. The setting of the sun over the pyramid creates 5 to 6 triangles of light & shadow on the west side of the pyramid...and during Equinox (21st Mar), 7 triangles could be seen. Only on 6th April (and 6th Sep), can the complete 9 triangles be seen. 9 triangles is the most complete of the phenomenon, with eight visible on the staircase and the ninth illuminating the head of Kukulkan.

Why is 6th April so special in the Mayan calendar that a structure is built in such a way as to commemorate it? It is my friend's belief (and I concur) that it was to commemorate the day the believers of Christ in the old America was delivered from death. The unbelievers had threatened to kill all those who had believed that the Savior would be born and signs would be given, if the signs foretold by prophets of old did not come to pass.......The signs did come and the believers were spared from death.....It has been revealed to our dispensation that 6th April was the date of our Savior's birth....

Now, do you think it was just a coincidence that this phenomena in Chichenitza happens on 6th April?

Chitchenitza at 5.40pm - no visible triangles

Chitchenitza at 6.15pm - 3 visible triangles

Chichenitza at 6.50pm - 9 triangles (including the light on Kukulcan)
Kukulcan - Maya serpent god

Now in all my trips, I do get a chance to do some birding, thanks to my friend who supported me in this interest. Some of the pictures for remembrance.

Turqoise-browed mormot
It was an exciting time sighting this bird - wow! a real colorful racquet-tail!!

Brown Pelican
- they are so friendly to cameras
Magnificent Frigatebirds
It was fascinating watching them fish...

Even more fascinating to watch them steal fish one from another in mid-air piracy!
Flamingoes
Lots of other birds images - I need to find out how to create a website that I can display my pictures like in a gallery for people's viewing.....

Met a couple of people in Mexico, mostly friends of Norman....they are so beautiful. I love the shots of these two little girls...

We visited this family....Norman became the Santa ~ all kids crowded to him for Easter eggs and extra candies. This family loves him.
I bought a hammock from them, but could not bring it back to Malaysia due to weight limit...maybe next trip. The Mexican hammock is very nice, very comfortable and I love to sleep in them. In two of our nights there, we slept in hammocks, choosing these over the beds in the rented chalets. The family also let me tried making and baking some tortillas (i think that was what it was called....a corn bread....). Took me more than two tries before I can make a real round looking one...ha ha. I ate my own creation, and it was delicious..:-)

Me getting out of the cooking house, cleaning my hands! Happy & satisfied with my culinary skills....ha ha

One thing I do realised that eversince I took up bird photography, I dont have many pictures of people or scenery of places I go.....maybe my equipment is just too heavy and cumbersome for ad-hoc shooting....or I was afraid to lose them to theft........as such, I did miss out on many memorable shots of everyday sightings.....Maybe I need to get myself one of those little idiot-proof camera, or maybe, i should just hold out a handphone....(if i have one! I am thinking of which hp I should get.....well, that is another story.). Adventures in the US will be my next story, when I get time and mood to write.....

Birding at Bukit Tinggi

Had the opportunity to meet up with my Singapore NPSS photographers in Bukit Tinggi on 13 & 15th March 2010. As the accommodation in Bukit Tinggi was a bit steep for me on my own, I decided to drive from KL to Bukit Tinggi daily. I used the Middle Ring Road and Karak Highway from Cheras ~ took me less than an hour to reach. Toll fee RM5.00.

Anyway, as bird-brain as myself, for this trip, I forgot to bring my tripod along! Most of the shots that I tried to handhold ended up as "trash". For some shots, I tried using a beanbag, though this meant that I have to almost crouch on the floor to see through my viewfinder. Luckily for me, I met up with Con later who happened to have a spare tripod in his car! Phew!!

A few star birds we were after - silver breasted broadbill, mugimaki flycatcher and red bearded bee-eater.

We put out some worm baits to tempt the mugimaki flycatcher to come out of its hiding....but this black and white fellow (magpie-robin), a very common bird, kept stealing the show and our baits!



Luckily, the super star didnt forsake its appearance....(image was underexposed and had to be recovered using Photoshop - resulting in quite some noise on the shadow areas).


I dont have any shots of the broadbill or bee-eater that I am happy with, so I have to think about going for re-shoots. Sharing also images of the female mugimaki flycatcher....taken using beanbag as a support!

The bird was probably peering to see what I was doing lying on the ground....

Back with Birders' friends to Fraser's Hill

Well, I have been away for a long long time from bird-watching with my old birding friends in KL. So it was very lucky for me that I could join one of their overnight trip to Fraser's Hill (26 & 27 feb 2010).

Fraser's bird sightings was rather "dry" that day...was hoping to sight the collared owlet that the group saw the week before, but no such luck for me! Birds were perching way way far away, and even with a 500mm lens, I would never be able to make any great shots. Nevertheless, being able to spend time strolling along the forest edge and enveloped in the Fraser's cool weather is really a joy to behold. And coupled with chatty friends and most yummy homecook food, all these are special bonuses to the trip.

Just sharing two shots to remember this trip by -

I heard this bird first before I could sight it....A mountain bulbul singing its heart away!

For this red-bearded bee-eater, I have to thank Phoon & his gang for sighting this one near our apartment (Silverpark Apartments) and phoning us to come back for some shots. Wished for a better background but no such luck again that day for me.

Red bearded bee-eater

Not sure when I could make my way up to Fraser's again, but hope it will be soon.....as soon as possible. haha!

Common birds

I posted these images in the nature photography singapore society ( www.npss.org.sg) and tease the members to drive 7 hours from Singapore to my area of abode to do bird photography ~ I doubt anyone would for these common birds...ha ha.

Cattle egret @ Ulu Dedap paddyfields - a big flock was following a tractor as it turned up the soil. This egret was lucky to find a juicy meal.

A brahminy kite circling the sky, also hoping for a meal.

A paddyfield pipit (Richard's Pipit) spotted in Kinta Nature Park

Ulu Dedap paddyfields.....

A blue-tailed bee-eater

Just sharing a shot of a bee-eater taken in Ulu Dedap paddy-fields. Our paddy fields can be a treasure mine for birds, and the green paddyfields made such a great background for photography. Initially, I had fear driving my car unto the bunds around the fields, but with Norman by my side, my fears can be set aside. After all, if I get my car into a ditch or whatever, I have someone to shout HELP to.....ha ha.


This bee-eater was flying against the wind, and the wind was so strong that the bird seemed to be hanging there in mid-air not moving...Without the wind to stop its flight, I would never be able to shoot this bird in flight!

Although I am not working at the moment, other commitments at home stopped me from doing much bird photography. Hopefully, more opportunities will come in the near future, so that I can practise more and improve........