Everlasting Kingfisher

When it is relatively quiet in the taman, there will always be the resident birds to look out for.  The White-throated Kingfisher, now renamed as White-breasted Kingfisher, is not difficult to spot.  There is more than a pair of Kingfishers here, and productive too, and so it's always delightful to come across a sub-adult suggesting a perpetual healthy population.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the taman, this one was calling out even as it was sunning itself.

Catches for the Myna

So what's the lesson here?
Greed?  Caring - perhaps there's more than a hungry mouth waiting somewhere?
Whatever ... it's skill, dexterity ... two different feeds in one hold!

Mother and young Sunbird's outing

Adult sunbirds are commonly seen in gardens and parks.  The juveniles or immatures are not so easily detected so when I chance upon any, I do consider it a privilege, and this immature male Brown-throated or Plain-throated as it's now known gave me the privilege on this occasion.

 

 

The immature was actively accompanied by the female adult that stayed with it the entire duration.

Tailorbird flick

The Common Tailorbird is one of the super active birds and thus most challenging to shoot.  Coupled with its tiny size of 11-13cm, it can be an elusive subject.  Whenever I managed some shots, I do feel gratified, especially on this occasion when it appeared relatively distant and high up.
The Tailorbird is also one of the birds whose size belies its call.  It's a common resident bird and has the most amazing weaving skill, to which I had the privilege of witnessing when one weaved its nest in my balcony, whose calls also provided me with the most authentic ringtone ever.

Affectionate Bulbuls

The Stripe-throated Bulbuls must be one of the most loving winged ones around by virtue of their preening behaviour as these birds are commonly seen to preen together, with and for one another, whether it's with its mate or its young.
These pair of adults were seen together after a wet night.

Icon, mascot - the Hornbill

I was more than happy to contribute a photograph of the Oriental Pied Hornbill, our taman iconic bird, as a memento to YB Hannah Yeoh who was the Guest of Honour at the recent Earth Day 2019 celebration, organised by Friends of Bukit Kiara.
There is no bird more representative of our efforts to save our green lungs, namely Bukit Kiara and specifically Taman Rimba Kiara, as this Hornbill that has graced the taman and on a wider scale Bukit Kiara for so many years.

Always the Hornbill

I must say that of late the taman iconic bird, the Oriental Pied Hornbill, has given me more than ample opportunities for photo shoots.
However on this occasion there was a little apprehension when I saw where it was perched, too close to the lineated barbet's nest as I recalled how it tried to raid the nest the last time it was in that area (see post of 5 May 2018 at http://rimbakiara.blogspot.com/2018/05/nuisance-hornbill.html).
Nevertheless I couldn't help but still love this bird.

Close-up shots that display even more the beauty of this Hornbill despite being merely black and white, colours that give it its name 'pied' as the word 'pied' describes "bird plumage that has large, contrasting patches of bold color, most often in black and white and with distinct edges".

A few days later when I was in the taman loud cries alerted me to its presence and led by this I found it at the far end of the taman, as if it was calling out to another.

And then it made a sudden move to fly straight past me, its huge wings flapping just metres above me.

Everyone loves a baby, Barbet

This is a rather lengthy blog because it is primarily about tracking the Lineated Barbets for over two months.
Following basic birding ethics about not revealing and displaying bird nesting whilst it's still active, I have decided to do this posting only after I'm certain that the juvy Barbet has fledged.

I first noticed that there could be a young one brewing when I saw the adult trying to scare off a squirrel, and so guessed that there must be a cavity nest somewhere.

After ensuring that the predator is gone, it indulged in some figs, offering some lovely photo opps.

The next time I saw it, it looked like there could be a chick already.

Then after a period of about ten days, I finally saw a pretty well-grown juvy; although even now, I was uncertain if this was the parent or the juvy.

Finally its behaviour and rather clean bill suggested that it's a juvy, in contrast to the adult's appearance.

Who wouldn't be enamoured by this little one?

The adult was now seen pretty active, flying in and out of the cavity hole, even staying inside and calling from the hole.

When it emerged with discards, it confirmed that the juvy was not going to leave any time soon, and still being fed.

The adorable juvy seen from time to time.

Sometimes it looked like the adult regurgitated the food to feed the young.

As usual the adult was always alert to what appeared to be external threats.  It was seen to exit the cavity upon detecting perceived noise or commotion and to be frantically searching for the source.

It's already two months, and feeding and cleaning of the nest were still seen to be ongoing.

The parent was once seen to arrive with what appeared to be some soft pulpy food for the young, unusual feed!

Another housekeeping.

The sought after pics would always be feeding at the cavity where the young could be seen to receive food from its parent.

The juvy certainly looked old enough to have fledged already but it was only seen subsequently to do so about a week later.

The last captures were the following pics whereafter there was no more activity seen around the cavity although the parents could still be spotted and heard calling out loud and continuously in the vicinity.
Perhaps coaxing the young to emerge, which it finally did to perch on the adjacent branch.

One can understand why this is not an easy bird to spot by the way it easily merges into the foliage background which bears close resemblance to its plumage in terms of the colours.  This is the general ingenuity of birds that is illustrated in their choice of nest and perch for camouflage purpose.  However, this Lineated Barbet always gives away its presence and location by its throaty calls.