My "Consolation"

The 2nd Borneo Bird Festival 2010 has just ended a few days ago, and due to my busy work schedule i was unable to be part of the organizing team - much as i would love to be part of. The only activity that i managed to partake in this year is the Bird Photography Competition. Here, i would like to congratulate all my fellow friends from the Borneo Bird Club, Rainforest Discovery Centre, Sabah Tourism Board, Sabah Society, Nikon Malaysia and other collaborative organizing committee for working hard to ensure the overall success of this event. You all are superb! Even though i feel bad that i wasn't part of the team but at least i have a consolation. Well, maybe next year then.. or maybe i should say.. See you next year.. and YES i will be there for next year.

Sunbird - Consolation Prize - 2nd Borneo Bird Festival 2010

Taken with a Nikon D 300 + 70 -300 mm VR lens at Sepilok Forest Reserve on 05/10/2010

Borneo Bird Photography Competition 2010

The hunt for the best bird photo at the 2nd Borneo Bird Festival 2010 has started since 4 days ago. Avid bird photographers and wildlife enthusiast will hope to 'Nail" thier best wild bird photo shot taken throughout Sabah before the dateline on the 17th of October 2010. With the lucrative prize money that is being offered to the best wild bird photo shot this year,  it will certainly add to the excitement of all that is participating. But, wild bird photography is not easy. In order to get the best shot, a photo with a 'WOW' factor in it - you will have to spend a lot of time and effort on the field and hope that the bird might give you a dose of luck such as at least a pose and also hope that the weather and other factors might play in your hands right as you release the shutter of your camera.

My only hope is that all photographers should respect the birds and not go to the extreme to disturb thier nest or use to much excessive repeated flash just to get the shot that they want. I believe that the right moment will come if we learn to understand the birds behaviour and respect their right of space whenever we are photographing them on the field.

This are the two Rhinoceros Hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) photos that i submitted for the bird photo competition last year albeit a very last minute entry. The first photo won me a consolation prize. Hopefully- finger crossed, i will fare better this year. Wish me Luck!

The Flight of the Rhinoceros Hornbill on the moment of landing as it approaches a fruiting Fig tree

The Rhinoceros Hornbill perching on a dead stump looking for insects and termites

All photos taken with a Nikon D300 + 70 - 300mm VR lens with iso 500, f 5.6 at 280mm at the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary on the 10 of November 2009. (N 05. 27' 401" E 118. 13' 904")

The 2nd Borneo Bird Festival 2010

The 2nd Borneo Bird Festival will be held once again this year at the Rainforest Discovery Centre, Sepilok on the 15th - 17th of this month. This annual event is expected to attract not only birders and photographers alike but also all nature enthusiast and the general public. The 1st Borneo Bird Festival last year was such a huge success that it makes this years event the more so to look forward to. Plenty of fun-filled activities such as Bird Camps, Face Paintings, Colouring Competitions and even Bird Tattoos will be conducted to cater for visiting families with children. There will also be exhibitions from various bird clubs and organizations plus interesting talks and workshops conducted by specialist in thier respective fields. The Bird Race and Bird Photography Competition in particular will be the highlight for all birders and nature enthusiast (Like Me!!) with great prizes in store for the lucky ones. With about 300 species of birds already recorded within the Sepilok-Kabili Forest Reserve, this event is a must visit for all so as to allow each of us to foster a greater awareness and understanding of the importance of bird conservation and its direct link to our fragile ecosystem. See YOU there!

"There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before" (Robert Lynd)