2013 Raptor Watch

First timers..

Michelle and I had grabbed the opportunity to witness the 2013 Raptor Watch at Port Dickson.
This is an annual bird of prey migration where species like the Oriental Honey Buzzard,  Chinese goshawk, the Black Baza and several other large eagles.
We picked Sunday as our choice day to visit Tanjung Tuan or Cape Rachardo in Alor Gajah, Malacca where its known as a Raptor Watch site.

Happy camper: wrapping up at the end of the session

 This is an annual event organised by the Malaysian Nature Society and is also a crowd-puller. 
There were many visitors at the site which is a critically-acclaimed venue for bird lovers and watchers.
Each year, birds of prey will go on a migration route from Indonesia to Northern China, Mongolia, Russia and Japan before going as far as Northeastern Australia.
Its a spectacle to see hundreds of Raptors circling the air over the skies in Tanjung Tuan. 
And there are at least 25 known migratory species in the area.
After breakfast, Michelle and I took a casual drive from our home in USJ 26 to the Ilham resort in Tanjung Tuan. 
We parked our car there and made our way to the lighthouse which is roughly about a kilometre's hike from the base of the cape.

"Dude, where's your bike?"

I met some cyclists along the way.
Guess they were puzzled as to why we were not cycling on the Raptor Watch day.
To me, its a good break from pedaling our bicycles. 
I swapped my Dahon folding bike for my Canon EOS5DmkIII and EOS7D to capture the Raptors on my trusty Canon EF400mm F5.6L lens.
When I arrived at the lighthouse (which is opened to the public once a year for two days), I met Mr Chan, a folding bike kaki.
He's with the Malaysian Nature Society's birding group and has been watching the Raptors for nearly 45 days.
What dedication! 

Anticipating the arrival of the Oriental Honey-Buzzard

And so they came.. 

Under the stifling heat, the birders made an announcement: "They are here!"
Out there beyond the horizon, the Raptors arrived in flocks.
They soared with the thermal currents high up in the air.
It was a spectacular sight to see these birds taking up the sky...

Buzzards in the sky

An Oriental Honey-Buzzard in flight

The Raptors at the peak of their appearance

A learning experience...

I have never shot a Raptor in flight and the event gave me an opportunity to capture the birds in its full glory.
With my limited resources, I had to make do with a shorter telephoto lens.
And when the buzzards came close, I missed the chance to capture them.
Even with a 1.4x teleconvertor, I couldn't get a close full-body shot.
After waiting for the buzzards to appear again, it was obvious that the wind conditions had pushed them even further away from the lighthouse.
I managed to capture a few shots which I am happy with for my record purposes and am contented with the effort.
It was my first time and with the experience gained, I know what to do and where to wait when these birds arrive again.. 

A decent day for Smallies...

Follow that lil' bird..

Been working the whole morning to clean the house.
This is the only opportunity we get to mow the lawn, get rid of weeds at our yard.
I also vacuumed the carpet and mopped the floor as the standard clean-up ops.
While checking my emails on my Google Nexus 7 tablet, I saw a sparrow hopping on the yard.
We cut the grass, so, there's lots of green waste lying around.
I observed the little sparrow as it hopped around and worked on getting a shot of it with my Canon EOS7D and the trusty EF400mm F5.6L.
Its been a while since I shot any birds around the neighbourhood.

Sparrows are common lawn birds that you see everyday. 
But, capturing them in their element is another thing.
I guess I'll have plenty of time to shoot and catalog them next year...

The Olive Backed Sunbird

I went on a walkabout with my camera.
It was rigged to shoot 'smallies' (as birders would refer them) up close.
While scouring the plants at my neighbour's house, I noticed a very familiar 'chirp'.
Its a very small bird, no more than 20cm in length.
The bird has a long and sharp beak and its olive-yellow coloured.
Its also a very loud bird as it tweets non-stop.
I managed to get one in frame and fired away.
My camera's pixel sensitivity was set on auto, so, to compensate motion-blurring, the shutter speed as set at 1/1000sec with an aperture of F8.0.
This is the setting I get by mounting a 1.4x teleconverter on the EF400mm F5.6L lens.
On a cropped sensor body like the EOS7D, the total magnification is 896mm.
The wide-open aperture is reduced by one stop to F8.0 and this means that in order to get a decently exposed frame, the ISO sensitivity was sacrificed.
Even when the shot is sharp, the details are 'grainy'.
Another down-side to this is that the camera is unable to record the full exif data. 
Since a teleconverter is added, focussing has to be done manually. 
Here, I am training to shoot bigger birds..

Decent results...

Well, I must say that I am pleased with the capture I made with the rig.
There is always room for improvement and with the weak ambient light, I made good with the shots that were taken mostly hand-held.

The Mangrove Whistler

Aaaahh.. That wonderful morning...
 I swapped the day off by taking my Canon EOS 7D, EF teleconverter 1.4x and my trusty EF400mm F5.6L for a walk around the neighbourhood's fence line.
This place has a healthy population of birds where anything from a small spider-catcher to an Eagle can be spotted if you are lucky.

The Mangrove whistler

Horrendous lighting conditions
To get the most out of it, you have to set your camera to the lowest ISO.
Lower sensitivity means a tighter and crispier shot.
This also yields you a sharper image.
The enemy for a bird photographer is low-shutter speed.
I set my Canon EOS7D to 1/1250sec.
This would guarantee a clear shot.
There's nothing much I could do about the ISO settings which I had set on 'Auto'.
To compensate for bad lighting conditions, the camera would use a higher-sensitivity light capture.
Your shots may end up 'grainy' and if you blow it up, the colour pixels are not as compact as the lower ISO settings.

The image at 70% crop

 Autofocus and F8
The AF sensor on my EOS7D would not operate with a 1.4x TeleconvertorII.
Apparently, there is not enough light for the sensors to activate autofocussing.
To me, its not an issue.
I've been working with manual focus on my macro shots.
On a long telephoto lens, its just a matter of 'eye-hand' coordination.
I managed to cap off six shots and out of the lot, two came out pretty decent.
A little tweaking on the Adobe Lightroom 4.2 had fixed the exposure...

Black-winged Kite

My first raptor
A couple of weeks ago, I saw a Brahminy Kite in Kuala Selangor.
It was soaring high up above the sky and there was nothing I could do to score a decent shot of the bird of prey.
While driving around the Sekinchan rice fields, I saw the outline of a bird.
"Ah! That's nothing la!," said Michelle, my wife.
I got down of the car and trained my EF400mm F5.6L lens which was mounted with a 1.4x teleconverter on the object.
It turned out to be a bird of prey perched high on top of the treeline.
I began to focus and slowly, the shape took form of a Black-winged kite.

On final approach: the pair of kites on a tree top

Before I could fully depress my shutter button, another kite swooped down from the sky and started mounting the bird that was resting on the branch.
With a burst of shots and by lightly moving the focusing ring, I managed to get a few clean shots.
Even at 860mm (400mm x 1.4x + 1.6x crop body), I was barely managing it.
The kites were mating and it was the most satisfying 10-minutes of my outing in Sekinchan.
I captured the moment and was very happy with the results.
Lighting conditions at the time was really challenging.

Gallery

 

Sekinchan has plenty to offer for the first-time birder.
There are Kingfishers at the canals and the Kites had proven to be an attraction.
I might try 'Cyclobirding' with an overnight stay in Sekinchan town. There are species of birds to capture in the area.

White-throated Kingfisher

A weekend escape
One of the best thing to do on a Saturday is to go on an excursion. 
My mission is to head to Sekinchan, Selangor's Rice Bowl where birds are almost guaranteed.
So, Michelle and I had set out on a road trip via the LATAR highway that connects from our home to Kuala Selangor.
We had lunch in Pasir Penambang before setting out to explore villages like Bagan Pasir and Bagan Tengkorak.
By mid-day, we reached the Sekinchan paddy fields.
I took out my gear and started looking for birds..

The action in Sekinchan

I had my Canon EOS7D rigged with the EF400mm F5.6L and a 1.4x teleconverter. This voids the auto focus feature on the lens and everything had to be done manually.
At the beginning of my quest, I had no luck at all...

The game-changer
Michelle took the wheels at at the fringe of Sekinchan A village, she spotted a Kingfisher.
I took out my camera and started snapping away and managed to squeeze a couple of decent shots.
On the whole, I was really happy with the results.

Gallery

Kuala Selangor Nature Park revisited

A follow-up visit
The last time I was at the Kuala Selangor Nature Park was back in the late 90s.
I was sent to cover a tourism road trip in the state. 
Now, fast-forward to 2012, I made a trip again to the nature park two weeks ago.
Before I did that, I purchased a guide book at the MNS Nature Owlet in Jalan Kelantan.
The RM7 booklet was filled with information on the wildlife, flora and fauna found in the park.


Some updates
Entrance fee to the park is now RM4. In the outdated booklet, it was RM2 per entry.
To get there, I drove via the ELITE Highway from my house in USJ26, Subang Jaya and connected with a new highway that links to Kuala Selangor.
The journey took about an hour and a-half and while I was driving, the weather was really bad with haze engulfing the entire coastline of Northern Selangor.

Spotting for birds at the nature park

 Gearing-up
This was strictly a birding trip.
So, I left my wide angle and close-up lenses at home.
The shortest length was the 100mm F2.8L IS macro lens.
For some closer subjects, I packed my EF70-200mm F2.8L telephoto zoom lens.
The serious business is done by the EF400mm F5.6L.
To spot the birds, I had a cheapo Silva 10x25 binoculars.
This worked very well in getting an ID of the birds as well as other wildlife.
While walking down the 2km trial, I encountered some Silver Leaf Monkeys.
Slowly and little by little, the birds came in plain sight.
My first capture was the familiar yellow-vented bulbul.
I learned later that this is a common bird.
My capture of the day was a little bronze cuckoo.
There were some egrets and a brahmin kite flying around the park. But these were harder to capture as the angle was too steep.

Gallery

Summary
I've had a blast getting acquainted with the bird population at the park.
There's enough fowl to keep me occupied during the walkabout. 
I made two loops before leaving the area for lunch in Kuala Selangor.
Before setting out to the town area, I was told by an MNS staff that the best time to visit the park is in September during the bird migratory season. 

The Yellow-vented bulbul

Projek photo: Phase II
I have always wanted to dabble into nature photography.
A couple of years back, before getting into capturing insects with my macro lenses, I met a gentleman in Taman Negara in Merapoh, Pahang.
He was lugging a super telephoto lens around, shooting birds.
I became inspired with his blog and corresponded with him on how to start out capturing images of birds.


Canon EF400mm F5.6L
There's a wealth of resources on the internet about birding.
And when it comes to value for money -- especially among beginners: the Canon EF400mm F5.6L lens came highly recommended.
Its also one of the most affordable super telephoto lenses around that can yield some really good results wide-open.
I was encouraged to pick up this lens and after my tax returns, I had ample funds to embark on bird photography.

A decent beginner's lens: the EF400mm F5.6L

Always a first time..
I've added a full-frame system to my keeps for added versatility.
The EOS5DmkIII would serve primarily as my bug capture tool.
With that, I still have the advantage of a 1.6x crop factor on my Canon EOS7D.
This is by far, one of the most versatile APS-C system I've ever used.
My choice is by far, still the EOS7D for its ease of use and features.
Now, complemented with the EF400mm F5.6L, I can concentrate on learning to capture birds.
So, the first time I brought this lens out was at the Putrajaya Wetlands.
There are a lot of birds here and one of the capture that yielded some really good results were from a walkabout near the waterline.
I captured a Yellow-vented bulbul, which I later learned that -- is a common bird.
Back at home, I tweaked the pictures a little bit.
The EF400mm F5.6L gave some really good shots. 


Gallery

A long way to go.. 
I am very happy with the results.
The bulbul will go into my record of birds capture on the EF400mm 5.6L and my EOS7D.
Between cycling my folding bike, now, I have to divide my time to capture bugs and birds and I am sure that there are ample locations to pick and choose from...

Pooch portraiture: Queenie

My favourite pup
Queenie has bee with us for six years.
I never get bored taking snapshots of my female Siberian Husky and she's pretty capable of some natural poses with a range of expressions.


Gallery

Settings
Most of the shots were taken in natural light. Shutter speed at 1/60 and aperture F2.5. I set the picture mode on Monochrome and adjusted the contrast a bit to bring out the rich grey tones. Portrait shots work very well with a vertical framing and this never fails. All you need, is patience to capture a range of expression on your subject.

2011 Parting shots..

Last photography outing for 2011
We had some overseas guests at our home.
My wife hosted them and her best friend's hubby had wanted to give macro photography a try.
Since we had the weekend off (No cycling), I decided to bring him to the Sungai Tua nature park near Hulu Selangor.
This is my old hunting ground and I've made at least two record finds in this place.
I led Mr Eric Yee from Melbourne, Australia on a hunt for some bugs in this nature trail.
The bug population at this time of the year was really small, but despite that, Mr Yee said he had enjoyed himself with the colourful bugs he found along the trail.
I gave him my Canon EF50mm F2.5 compact macro and the EF100mm F2.8L IS macro lenses to try out.
He also had the chance to utilise my Canon MR14EX ring flash.

Samo (right) and Mr Yee on the bug hunt at the Sg Tua nature park in Hulu Selangor

 Some cool finds..
Sungai Tua has never been disappointing.
We found plenty of beetles, jumping spiders and the surprise find here was a gliding lizard.
I've had a blast photographing the lizard and some extreme close-up of the jumping spiders along the trail.
My hope of finding a portia faded in the distance as time ran out. After spending a few hours on the trial, we, packed up and headed off to Batang Kali for a sumptous lunch...


Gallery

Gliding lizard

Fighting spider

Face-to-face with a jumping spider

Crab spider with prey

A female jumper

 

Mr Yellow..

Lynx spiders are fascinating creatures.
They make fantastic insect macro photography subjects and I don't have to travel far to find them.
Just outside my house, there is a Jasmine tree planted by my wife.
And on the leaves, I can find some small Lynx spiders (measuring about 4mm) prowling for its prey.
The spiders keep its domain free from pests and also guards the Jasmine tree from being gobbled up by destructive bugs.
Here's set I took recently at Gasing Hill...

Macromania Returns..

Inspired by Santi..
My Thai bro Santi Senarat has been working hard with his camera.
I saw some of his pix today and seeing the weather is hot, after bathing the dogs, doing laundry, I got inspired...


Back to the usual hunting ground..
I knew that I can't go wrong at Gasing Hill in Section 5, Petaling Jaya.
Since its smack in the mid-afternoon, the place isn't crowded. Its also pretty cooling underneath the jungle canopy.
I don't know if I still have what it takes to use the Canon MPE-65 macro lens.
This baby can really get you some awesome close-ups! 
I mean, at a 5:1 magnification ratio, anything that is smaller than 10mm in length is dead centre in the viewfinder...

On location.. 

A different landscape.. 
Gasing Hill is even more beautiful now.
Some folks had landscaped the entrance.
You get flowers growing as well as introduced ornamental plants and edible herbs.
My first subject was a Lynx spider.
This was a good sign.
I must admit that I don't have a high expectation of today's outcome in the trail.
And as usual, I packed my EF-50mm F2.5 macro lens together with the 100mm F2.8L and MPE-65 lenses for this exercise.
For the full flash photography, I used my trusty MT-24EX and MT-14 Ring flash.
These are my most reliable source of controlled flash devices.


Lost and found
It didn't take long for me to locate some fine specimens.
And I am happy to report that the spider population in Gasing Hill is healthy.
I was not disappointed with my find along the trail. 
There were some really good shots especially a close-up of the Salticidae or Jumping Spiders.
I also managed to snap a juvenile Tiger Beetle along the way.
With the shots working, I am rigging up for a night macro session at Gasing.. Yep, no more buying bicycles, its Macromania and its back! 


Samo's Macromania Gallery

A juvenile jumper

Another fine specimen: a Salticidae

Close-up shot

The juvenile, taken at 3:1 magnification..

A question of two formats..

A coupla weeks back, I was having lunch with one of our editorial artist.Then came a visualiser from the Marketing Services Department.I noticed that the lady has been taking some photos and had posted them on her facebook
account.This budding photography enthusiast is also a keen learner who is going to turn
professional.She then posed this statetment: "The Canon EOS7D is a lousy camera. My friend
recommends the Nikon D700.."I asked her is she realised that both cameras are different in many ways and that their
sensor size are also different."What is APS-C and full-frame? I don't understand," she said.The lady also added that her friend, some guy who is well off, had made some thorough
research on the Nikon system.He said the immaculate truth is that the EOS7D is an inferior product.I asked her if the guy had used or tested the 7D, in which the answer was: "No".Having summed up her findings, I conclude that most enthusiasts are fickle-minded and are
also easily influenced by personal opinions.Photography today, is a totally different game.Many enthusiasts labelled themselves as professionals because they own high-end
systems.I wouldn't consider them as pros because they don't make a living out of photography and
definitely would not agree to half assed statements like the 7D as an inferior product
because someone had combed the entire internet for an opinion to influence their purchase.Be it the D700 or the 7D, good results can only be produced by a pair of skilled hands and
eyes.Beyond that, the cameras are only tools.