Birding West Papua | Birds of Paradise Biridng West Papua | Birds of Paradise Trip in 2023 The most labor-intensive bird of paradise that I have ever photographed is the Wallace's Standardwing bird of paradise on the island of Halmahera. It involved setting up a base camp in the forest and waking up at 4... Continue Reading →
Bird Watching in Hat Yai, southern Thailand
Bird Watching in Hat Yai, southern Thailand The southern city of Hat Yai is renowned for shopping, food, entertainment, and more. We spent a morning at Tone Nga Chang Wildlife Sanctuary, west of Hat Yai, to explore the local birding experience in Tuk Tuk with fellow resident bird watchers after our trip to Hala Bala... Continue Reading →
Birding southern Thailand, Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary
Birding southern Thailand, Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary
Birding southern Thailand, Bang Lang National Park | Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary
Birding southern Thailand, Bang Lang National Park | Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary After breakfast, a 4-hour van ride from Hala Bala Wildlife Reserve took us to Bang Lang National Park in southern Thailand through a hilly and winding country road to reach Kampong Chulanporn 9. When we got to the destination, it was time for... Continue Reading →
Taking pictures of a nocturnal bird at night, Large-tailed Nightjar with a small torchlight.
Taking pictures of a nocturnal bird at night, Large-tailed Nightjar with a small torchlight. Taking pictures of a nocturnal bird at night, Large-tailed Nightjar with a small torchlight. One early evening in my friend’s garden, I noticed a call of the Long-tailed Nightjar nearby. I discovered that a bird was perching on the tip of... Continue Reading →
Birding Trip Kaeng Krachan National, Thailand
Birding Trip Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand
How many species of Sunbirds in Singapore
How many species of Sunbirds in Singapore How many species of Sunbirds in Singapore? The Crimson Sunbird, Olive-backed Sunbird, and Brown-Throated Sunbird were the first three sunbirds I photographed in Singapore some twenty years ago with slide film. I recently took the stunning Copper-throated Sunbird in Sungei Buloh and the Van Hasselt's Sunbird at Bukit... Continue Reading →
My 16-day birding and nature expedition to Sabah coast to coast | A panoply of rare birds and exotic plants – Part 1
My 16-day birding and nature expedition to Sabah coast to coast. A panoply of rare birds and exotic plants.
My 16-day birding and nature expedition to Sabah coast to coast | A panoply of rare birds and exotic plants – Part 2
My 16-day birding and nature expedition to Sabah coast to coast. A panoply of rare birds and exotic plants.
Changeable Hawk Eagle and White-bellied Sea Eagle in Pasir Ris Park Singapore
Changeable Hawk Eagle and White-bellied Sea Eagle in Pasir Ris Park Singapore On the morning of 2 July, about 8:30 am, I was at Carpark B in Pasir Ris Park. When I got off the car, my daughter saw a large bird at a distance on a tree by the Tampines River and alerted me. It was a Changeable... Continue Reading →
My First 15 Day Borneo Birding Trip To Sarawak| Photo Travel Asia
My First 15 Day Borneo Birding Trip To Sarawak | Photo Travel Asia Mano and I teamed up to do a 15 day bird density survey in Sarawak in 2006. After the trip, I had two articles published. One was on “Sarawak’s Elusive Rainforest Birds” in Australia by Wingspan Magazine in June 2008. The other... Continue Reading →
Masked Finfoot| Early sighting in 1992| Malaysia
Masked Finfoot | Early sighting in 1992|Malaysia Masked Finfoot | Early sighting in 1992 | Malaysia In the early 90's, not much was known about the Masked Finfoot (heliopais personata), an aquatic bird, except for its distribution in eastern Indian subcontinent, Indochina and Malaysia. There were a few reports of its early sighting in Taman Negara,... Continue Reading →
Photographing spectacular regional endemics birds in southern Vietnam | Dalat and Cat Tien
Bar-bellied Pitta. Regional endemic bird in southern Vietnam.
7 Endemic Birds of Vietnam in Dalat
7 Endemic Birds of Vietnam in Dalat I was fascinated by the number of endemic birds in Vietnam in the main land as compared with the neighbouring southeast Asian countries like Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. Normally islands like Philippines or Borneo bring about habitat isolation with more endemism due to geographical isolation by the sea.... Continue Reading →
The awakening of the Sunda Scops Owl at the Singapore Botanical Gardens|UNESCO World Heritage Site
The awakening of the Sunda Scops Owl at the Singapore Botanical Gardens|UNESCO World Heritage Site Observing the Sunda Scops Owl at the Singapore Botanic Gardens (UNESCO World Heritage Site) was a learning experience for me since it had a very ‘narrow shooting opportunity’ before the daylight fades. It is also a test of the capability of... Continue Reading →
Dulit Frogmouth| First image of a very rare bird of Borneo| Kelabit Highland | Sarawak, Borneo
First image of Dulit Frogmouth
Photographing Fungi in The Rainforest of Southeast Asia | PhotoTravelAsia
Photographing Fungi in Rainforest of Southeast Asia | PhotoTravelAsia We have encountered fungi in our lives either through our favorite cream of mushroom soup or the molds that grow on a piece of stale bread. Fungus is a simple fast-growing type of organisms such as mushroom and mold. While some fungi are edible, others can... Continue Reading →
Endemic Kingfishers of Sulawesi | Birding Tangkoko, North Sulawesi, Indonesia
Endemic Kingfishers of Sulawesi | Birding Tangkoko, North Sulawesi, Indonesia There are 34 kingfishers in Indonesia. The island of Sulawesi has 12 of them, of which six are endemic to Sulawesi. The six endemic kingfishers of Sulawesi are: Lilac Kingfisher Green-backed Kingfisher Great-billed Kingfisher Sulawesi Dwarf Kingfisher Scaly Kingfisher Black-headed Kingfisher Endemic Kingfishers of Sulawesi... Continue Reading →
Birding Halmahera | Bird of Paradise
Birding Halmahera | Bird of Paradise Birding Halmahera | Bird of Paradise I was in the Aketajawe Lolobata National Park. It was 4 am, pitched dark, and drizzling. I was getting ready for an hour of trekking in the forest, crossing knee-deep streams in tanning brown water, and climbing up unmarked slopes in complete darkness... Continue Reading →
Birding Tangkoko. North Sulawesi, Indonesia
Birding Tangkoko. North Sulawesi, Indonesia
Ruddy Kingfisher at Berlayar Creek Boardwalk in Singapore
Rudy Kingfisher at Berlayar Creek Broadwalk Singapore
Bird Hides – Kaeng krachan National Park Thailand
Bird Hides - Kaeng krachan National Park Thailand Kaeng Krachan National Park in Thailand is the largest national park and an excellent place for birding. In 2008, a conservation project convinced the poachers to convert the water holes for hunting birds for food into bird hides outside the park. Poachers were skeptical why anyone would... Continue Reading →
My Three Encounters with the Jambu Fruit Doves in Singapore
My Three Encounters with the Jambu Fruit Doves in Singapore The Jambu Fruit Dove is a beautiful and shy dove found in Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo from lowland to 1200 m above sea level, usually seen alone, feeding on fruits in the middle canopy. It is not easy to spot in the forests.... Continue Reading →
Blue-eared Kingfisher Singapore
Blue-eared Kingfisher photographed at Dairy Farm Nature Park, SIngapore
Buffy Fish-owl took flight in broad daylight at Hampstead Wetland Park Singapore.
Buffy Fish-owl took flight in broad daylight at Hampstead Wetland Park Singapore.
Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, Crested Goshawks and Southern Pied Hornbill in Pasir Ris Park Singapore
Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, Crested Goshawks and Southern Pied Hornbill in Pasir Ris Park Singapore After missing out on birding for a month, I decided to go to Pasir Ris Park this morning. I saw almost 50 photographers shooting the fledging Crested Goshawks. I took a few shots of the chicks at the nest and decided to... Continue Reading →
Grey-headed Woodpecker, Streak-breasted Woodpecker and Laced Woodpecker
Grey-headed Woodpecker, Streak-breasted Woodpecker, and Laced Woodpecker are three similar-looking woodpeckers but of different species. Can you spot the difference? Grey-headed has unmarked olive-green underparts. The Streak-breasted Woodpecker has a blackish moustache that is usually less bold, a greener streaked throat distinguished by greener throat which is often streaked, greener breast with bold whitish scaling.... Continue Reading →