jasnjohn's Nature Photography

Welcome to nature.jasnjohn.com. This site is dedicated to Malaysia's animal kingdom, where you can find an array of photos of subjects ranging from birds to lizards, bugs, butterflies, dragonflies and more.
To view photos of the various categories of life, you can click on the various menu buttons which will display a list of links for photographs of those species.
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Early Migrants at Kapar Powerstation

17th August 2008

Today we headed to Kapar as it has been reported that a few thousand birds never left from the previous wintering period.
Those birds that are not mature enough to breed are smart enough to stay put for the few months that the older birds migrate north to have their young.
No only did we get a chance to see those 5,000 (approx.) birds, we also got to see an additional 5,000 that had already made their way down from the north.
The number of species for waders reached about 18/19.
With Lesser Sandplovers

Whimbrels, Curlews and Godwits (Black-tailed and Bar-tailed)
Godwits, Curlews and Whimbrels
A number of the Curlews were going through a mault, notice the reduced number of primaries.
Maulting Curlews
Late in the afternoon, the gathering of birds collectively took off as there were regular disturbances from passing crows and Brahminy Kites.
Swarm
We even had an albino Common Redshank
Albino Redshank
Here is the birdlist for the afternoon spent in Kapar, which happens to include 2 lifers for us!!

Bulbul, Yellow-Vented (Pycnonotus goiavier)
Crow, House (Corvus splendens)
Curlew, Eurasian (Numenius arquata)
Dove, Zebra (Geopelia striata)
Egret, Little (Egretta garzetta)
Gerygone, Golden-Bellied (Gerygone sulphurea)
Godwit, Bar-Tailed (Limosa lapponica)
Godwit, Black-Tailed (Limosa limosa)
Greenshank, Common (Tringa totanus)
Heron, Grey (Ardea cinerea)
Heron, Little (Butorides striatus)
Kingfisher, Collared (Todiramphus chloris)
Kingfisher, White-Throated (Halcyon smyrnensis)
Kite, Brahminy (Haliastur indus)
Knot, Great (Calidris tenuirostris) LIFER
Knot, Red (Calidris canutus)
Oriole, Black-Naped (Oriolus chinensis)
Plover, Greater Sand (Charadrius leschenaultii)
Plover, Grey (Pluvialis squatarola)
Plover, Lesser Sand (Charadrius mongolus)
Redshank, Common (Tringa totanus)
Sanderling (Calidris alba) LIFER
Sandpiper, Common (Actitis hypoleucos)
Sandpiper, Curlew (Calidris ferruginea)
Stint, Red-Neck (Calidris ruficollis)
Sunbird, Brown-Throated (Anthreptes malacensis)
Swallow, Pacific (Hirundo tahitica)
Tern, Caspian (Hydroprogne caspia) photo added
Tern, Gull-billed (Gelochelidon nilotica)
Tern, Little (Sterna albifrons)
Turnstone, Ruddy (Arenaria interpres)
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)

Genting Highlands Old Pumphouse Road

10th August 2008

Another early start, we headed through the rain, up through the clouds to the Indian restaurant by 06:45am to have a couple of Roti Canai and a frothy mug of Nescafe Tarik, just to prime us for a long walk along the Old pumphouse Road in Genting Highlands.
A strange image for the blog entry this week. We were walking along the road and I almost stepped on this land crab (930m above sea level!). I've never seen such a thing. He was only 2-2.5cm across, and that includes his legs, walking very slowly, and not particulary bothered by us.
Back to the birds, we had a fairly good list, and views of some birds we haven't seen for a long time, such as the Yellow-vented Green Pigeon, and the Streaked Pygmy Wren-Babbler.
I had a lifer too.
We walked all the way from the main entrance, right up to the entrance to the pumping station. An old diesel engine that runs 24hrs a day in the middle of the forest pumping water from the treatment plant down below right up to the hotels and casinos at the top.
An eventful day, producing a total of 2 lifers, pushing the Malaysia List up to 450 (incl. E. Malaysia), and 385 species for 2008 (incl. E. Malaysia).

Babbler, Golden (Stachyris chrysaea)
Babbler, Grey-Throated (Stachyris nigriceps) photo added
Babbler, Pygmy Wren (Pnoepyga pusilla) LIFER
Babbler, Streaked Wren (Napothera brevicaudata)
Babbler, Striped-Tit (Macronous gularis)
Babbler, White-Browed Shrike (Pteruthius flaviscapis) photo updated
Barbet, Black-Browed (Megalaima oorti)
Barbet, Brown (Calorhamphus fuliginosus)
Barbet, Fire-Tufted (Psilopogon pyrolophus)
Bulbul, Black-Crested (Pycnonotus melanicterus)
Bulbul, Ochraceous (Alophoixus ochraceous)
Bulbul, Stripe-Throated (Pycnonotus finlaysoni)
Dove, Little-Cuckoo (Macropygia ruficeps)
Drongo, Bronzed (Dicrurus aeneus)
Fantail, White-Throated (Rhipidura albicollis)
Flowerpecker, Fire-Breasted (Dicaeum erythrorynchos)
Flycatcher-Shrike, Bar-Winged (Hemipus picatus)
Fulvetta, Mountain (Alcippe peracensis)
Laughingthrush, Chestnut-Capped (Garrulax mitratus)
Leafbird, Orange-Bellied (Chloropsis hardwickii)
Minivet, Fiery (Pericrocotus igneus)
Minivet, Grey-Chinned (Pericrocotus solaris)
Pigeon, Mountain Imperial (Ducula badia)
Pigeon, Yellow-Vented Green (Treron seimundi)
Swiftlet, Glossy (Collocalia esculenta)
Warbler, Yellow-Bellied (Abroscopus superciliaris)

After heading back to KL, we stopped off at a site known to have Asian Palm-Swifts, and we managed to get a good look at some juvi's in their nest, and also some adults stopping by to feed them.
As an added bonus, we also got to see some short-nosed fruit bats hanging in the same tree getting some shelter from the huge palm leaves.

Palm-Swift, Asian Adult and Juvenile (Cypsiurus balasiensis) LIFER photo added

Mount Kinabalu Park

26th - 27th July 2008

Jas and I headed over to Mt Kinabalu Park for the weekend, our first time there.
We stayed at the TM Resort which is about 10km from the park entrance, in a small town/village called Kundasang and had the use of a car to get us around.
The first morning there, we were up a little too bright and early, not sure what time the sun would rise in Sabah, we were awake and excited at 4am, having breakfast by 4:30am, and twiddling our thumbs waiting for the onset of sunrise. At 5:30am we would wait no more and headed off to the park entrance, paid our entrance fee, and drove right up the road to the powerstation/generator area.
As soon as first light broke, we were greeted with a few lifers already, so we knew it would be a great trip.
For the next 2 days, we spent the whole time birding within the park, along forest trails, along the roadsides picking up more and more species.
We ended up with not as many species as we were expecting, but we thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful place and the cooler fresh air.
Here is our birdlist for Mount Kinabalu Park:

Babbler, Black-Throated (Stachyris nigricollis)
Barbet, Golden-Naped (Megalaima pulcherrima) LIFER
Black-eye, Mountain (Chlorocharis emiliae) LIFER
Bulbul, Ochraceous (Alophoixus ochraceous) photo updated
Dove, Little-Cuckoo (Macropygia ruficeps)
Drongo, Ashy (Dicrurus leucophaeus)
Drongo, Spangled (Dicrurus hottentottus) LIFER
Fantail, White-Throated (Rhipidura albicollis)
Flowerpecker, Black-Sided (Dicaeum monticolum) LIFER
Flycatcher, Indigo (Eumyias indigo) LIFER photo added
Flycatcher, Little-Pied (Ficedula westermanni)
Flycatcher, Pale-Blue (Cyornis unicolor)
Flycatcher, Snowy-Browed (Ficedula hyperythra) photo added of female
Forktail, White-Crowned (Enicurus leschenaulti) photo added
Laughingthrush, Sunda (Garrulax palliatus) LIFER photo added
Magpie, Short-tailed Green (Cissa thalassina) LIFER
Minivet, Grey-Chinned (Pericrocotus solaris)
Oriole, Black And Crimson (Oriolus cruentus)
Pigeon, Mountain-Imperial (Ducula badia) photo updated
Sunbird, Olive-Backed (Nectarinia jugularis)
Sunbird, Scarlet (Aethopyga temminckii)
Tailorbird, Mountain (Orthotomus cuculatus)
Thrush, Orange-Headed (Zoothera citrina)
Thrush, Sunda Whistling (Myophonus glaucinus) LIFER photo added of female
Treepie, Bornean (Dendrocitta cinerascens) LIFER photo added
Warbler, Sunda Bush (Cettia vulcania) LIFER
Warbler, Mountain-Leaf (Phylloscopus trivirgatus)
White-Eye, Black-Capped (Zosterops atricapilla) LIFER photo added
White-Eye, Everetts (Zosterops everetti)
Yuhina, Chestnut-Crested (Yuhina everetti) LIFER

We also went to a place around the other side of Mt Kinabalu, calle Poring, where there can be found a canopy walkway. Arriving a little late in the day, we raced up the 500m track to the start of the walkway, recovered our breath and made our way through the canopy. Very quiet for birds, but a pleasant walk.