Carey Island Daytrip - Raptors

Black-shoulder Kite. This raptor has beautiful eyes!



The piercing glare...


Graceful flier...



Mating pair (?)


This magnificent Serpent Eagle was perched on a great position for us to shoot and was very cooperative & photogenic.


Beautiful patterns...

And more Raptors

Made another trip back to Tg. Tuan to see if we can catch more raptors flying in. Although we were earlier than the previous week, the raptors were even more early. According to the birders doing the raptor count, most of them came in around 9.30am.

Managed to catch some of the later ones as they arrived.

Like fighter squadrons as they approach land.




I love the wing spread as they glide so magnificently.



Look of relief?




No, not a raptor that has fallen into the sea but a turtle! There were lots of turtle sightings in the sea below the lighthouse. Looks like a hawksbill turtle.

Raptors over Tg. Tuan (Raptor Watch 2010)

These magnificent birds of prey are on their annual migratory flight back to their breeding grounds up north. Some heading to Japan, Korea, India, China even as far up as Mongolia & Siberia. They seek refuge south during the winter months.

These birds have just crossed over the Straits of Malacca from Sumatra. Its a perilous journey as they must gain sufficient height to glide over the straits least they plunge into the sea. Some are really low by the time they are near to land and have to flap the remaining bit.




Raptors over the landmass catching the thermal updraft to gain height before gliding to the next destination.




Catching the raptors at eye-level from the Tg. Tuan lighthouse.

Kuala Gula - Birds (Raptors)

Brahminy kite perched.




In-flight meal:

Wings over Kuala Gula (Raptors)

One of my favourite bird subject, raptors!

Have yet to identify this one.






Brahminy Kite



Majestic!!



A nesting pair... the nest is nearby.



Having sushi for lunch.

Tasek Bera (Feathers)

This bird, a Kingfisher has been one of the hardest subject to capture. It is easily spooked and it doesn't help when we are trying to shoot en route to a destination. These represent the best I have managed to capture so far.




If only it stayed a split second longer ... or maybe I just need one of those Canon EF L lenses that focuses super fast ;-)




The best of the lot. The aboriginal people here call this 'kekaka', from the laughing sound that it emits. Usually we hear it just as it flies off before we manage to shoot as though it was mocking us. I call this a 'laughing jackass' tho no relation to the Australian Kookaburra.




There it goes again with the 'kakakaka' laughter.




As we prepared to move out for owling, a big bird came to perch on a pole nearby. We could not make out what it was then but just fired off 2 frames before it flew off. A delightful surprise that an owl had come to us. Bum-bum shot but better than none-none. We spotted 2 out on the road but did not manage to capture on photo.

From the road journey - Wings

If a journey is an hour's drive, add another hour if traveling with photography enthusiasts. Take a pair or two of keen eyes and you are likely to encounter mother nature's splendor en route to the destination. Ultimately it is the journey, not the destination that counts.

Just another tree but more than that, there's a raptor sitting high up.




At maximum zoom and some cropping yielded the image below; A Serpent Eagle. Even from afar, we could make out that this was a big fella.




Another tree some kilometers down the road, another Serpent Eagle was spotted.
Yet another stop and more megabyte filling moments.




An elusive subject; Kingfisher. Many attempts to shoot it only to have it fly off before we can get in some decent shots. Every time that happens, we can hear its cry like it was mocking us.
This was the first time I managed to get a shot of it before it took off.




Another opportunity to shoot another kingfisher presented itself and it would have been the best due to our close proximity to where it was. Alas a car that zoomed by before I could train my lens on it. Ah well, blurry colours are neat too.