Distinctively Different

So another birding opportunity arose when Philip & Chien planned their outing two months ago to the same place. I thought I had better be prepared or I’d get chided again by people who adhere strongly to some kind of bird code of conduct which no newbie would ever get to know if they had just gotten into the sport by sheer coincidence, chance or timing.

The second trip was a bit more organised. I drove up to Fraser’s Hill after work, following the instructions laden by my GPS for the heck of it but after I got to passed KKB town, the unit was telling me to make a U-turn & head 21km North East!!! Either there’s something wrong with my GPS or there’s something wrong with the maps installed. I got up there feeling so good about the thought of birding again the next morning. Met Chien & Daisy for dinner before retiring for the night.

The next morning, I put on all my camo gear & went straight out to expect my feathered friends. Right. Not only was it 5 degrees colder than the previous trip, it was misty & we couldn’t see much. Even our bird pictures were ‘fogged up.’ We trotted along the Telekom Loop to look for some elusive ‘Cutie’ that someone had spotted many moons ago. What it looked like, I don’t know. I was just tagging along. When you’ve been working, travelling & leading groups all year long, you would be happy just to follow & receive instructions for a change.

And so the tripods, bipods, monopod & quadropod came out. What on earth are bipods & quadropod??? Here is a picture of two tripods, two bipods & one quadropod……

Chien, ‘Bruno’ & Philip.

Just as fast as Bruno got into our group, Bruno got out of our group to join some passers-by. So I watched for the bird wave to come.

Chien: “Greater Racket-tailed Drongo! No, Lesser!!!”
*Philip swivels his Wimberly to the canopy…*
Chien: “Look, the female drongo is coming!”
*Philip fires away……….clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick!*
*Chien spots with his binoculars, high up in the trees…*
Chien: “The female is harassing the male!”
*pummkin’s holding onto tripod for balance as she laughs…*
Chien: “See? See? The female is hammering him, the drongo probably came home late last night.”
*pummkin is now showing more teeth than eyes….*
Chien: “Worse, he probably came home with a lipstick mark too!”
*pummkin & philip momentarily stops firing from inability to focus while listening to Chien’s rendition of bird behaviour*
Philip: “Oi, Chien, where did you pick up THIS laughing thrush from?”
*Philip laughs while looking at pummkin*

The company was great & I even inherited a camo foldable chair from Philip & Jodie! Thank you very much! While Daisy & Jodie were digiscoping, I was fiddling with my Olympus E500 to get the settings right since I got it two weeks ago. It’s no D2x quality nor does it have a 600mm prime to go along with it but it served me well with pictures that I would not be afraid to share with you. Until I decide between a Sigma 50-500mm & a digiscope with an OM mount, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do…!!

Here’s what I shot with an Olympus E500 & 40-150mm & sometimes firing the FL36. Apart from the first thrush, every picture was cropped.

Chestnut Capped Laughing Thrush – Garrulax mitratus – hahaha! Got the name right this time!

Another one in the golden light….

Long-Tailed Sibia – ]Heterophasia picaoides

Javan Cuckooshrike – Coracina striata, it announces its’ arrival pretty loudly.


Flycatcher – which species it belonged to, I dunno. It was too small to see!

Mountain Bulbul – very showy this one. Almost at eye level.

Until this wannabe develop some length & reach, pummkin will remain a wannabe, bringing a part of God’s first creations to you.