Finally, the Fantail

When I first spotted the Pied Fantail, I only managed a record shot which was not even worthy of posting.  The bird is local and commonly seen in gardens and parks, but is an infrequent visitor to the taman.
Finally on this occasion, it stayed long enough for me to get some decent shots, even then these were far from ideal in view of what I deemed its whimsical behaviour, or some may say erratic, flitting across a vast expanse of space including ground and canopy level.  Chasing it, trying to spot it under varying lighting condition, photographing this ever active bird measuring about 18-19 cm is a real challenge.  It's pretty obvious why this bird is called the fantail, by the way it constantly fans its tail.  The Malay name for the bird is merbok, or murai gila, ie crazy songbird, I guess, referring to its crazy flitting movements and unceasing fanning of tail.
The following images speak for themselves in terms of the ground and trees covered by the Fantail as it foraged and at one time, even seemed to spar with an oriental magpie robin.

This curtain of hanging vines seemed to be its favourite as it tarried the longest here.  Unfortunately this was the least desirable in terms of background lighting and pose.

And then it sought the dense foliage and before I knew it, was out and about again.

Down to the ground.

When least expected it flew into the shade again, to emerge immediately, up a tree.

Only managed to sight it, just, in time for a mere blocked shot.

The Munia exposed!

Watching the Scaly-breasted Munia can be a captivating occasion, i.e. its balancing act.  It's also when one gets to admire the bird's gorgeous plumage as it's revealed when the bird twists, twirls and whirls on the wild grass, exposing its under-parts such as the throat, breast, flank, belly, vent, and under-tail coverts.

Munias rarely forage alone.  It's always a family or social event.

Bird bullying

Bird watching, and photography, are always entertaining.  Sometimes one wouldn't know what one has photographed until the images are downloaded, such as on this occasion.

A peaceful perch that would soon be broken!

I guess one can term this bullying - size is certainly might!

Hyperactive Babbler

It's always great when one can redo images of birds that are extremely challenging to photograph like the Pin-striped Tit Babbler.  Bukit Kiara is indeed an excellent site to recapture images of this gregarious bird because the place seems to abound with them.
Measuring only 12-14cm, these birds are normally found in forest and forested areas but hardly stay long enough whilst foraging or perching for good shots.

Positively EC Warbler

It's so challenging to photograph the Eastern-crowned Warbler that most times one would just get record images.  This time encounter with this bird was indeed rewarding, and firmly established the bird's identity, distinctly via its clear pale lower mandible (as opposed to the arctic warbler's with a dark tip, for which it's always mistaken and vice versa) and pale median stripe on dark crown.

Compared to the arctic warbler, it has whiter underpart.

Tracking the Waterhen

Soon after I came across the brood of White-breasted Waterhens, I have been always on the look-out for them, hoping to track their development.  

Unfortunately these chicks were no where in sight.  However the next time I came across one, and only one, was about a month later.  Still, it was thrilling to have sighted this sub-adult, which showed that this bird certainly developed fast.

And then only after a couple of weeks, I managed to spot it again.  Waterhens are generally simply too alert to and wary of human presence.  One senses their presence more than sight them.

The difference of a couple of weeks and this was how it looked then.

Feeding Sparrow

It's always an awww-moment when one captures feeding time.  This young Eurasian Tree Sparrow so evoked this feeling when I caught it in action although I would have thought that it looked old enough to hunt for itself.

As innocent looking as a bird - the sub-adult Sparrow.

Happy hours when Mama (or it could be Papa) came with food.

Looked like the adult regurgitated its catch, i.e. brought its food from its stomach to feed its young, going by the empty bill in the pic above and how it emptied its food in the pic below.

Not enough?

What a loving parent would do to pacify its young!

Left alone again as the adult flew off, probably for more food.