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 'Snake Bird'

The Oriental Darter (Anhinga melanogaster), sometimes called the 'Snake Bird' is a waterbird of tropical South Asia and South East Asia. It is a small family of only four species of cormorant-like birds, one in the Neotropics, one in Africa, one in Australia and one in Asia. The Anhingas chase fish and prawns underwater and spear them with thier beaks before eating them. Unlike the cormorants, the darters have straight dagger shape bill and very long and slender neck which makes them look very snake like. This is particularly very evident when the anhingas 'poke' out thier heads from the water - They have the ability to reduce thier buoyancy really very well so that only the head comes out of the water but because of thier whole body feathers are waterlogged, has difficulty running and flapping over the water to get airborne.. The anhingas have to spend a lot of time on low branches or logs spreading out thier wings to dry because of this.

This Oriental Darter photo is taken in an ox-bow lake along the Lower Kinabatangan River and important feeding and breeding ground for this Near-Threatened species. (IUCN Red List Category 2010)

Photo taken on 23rd of July 2010 using a Nikon D 300 + 70 - 300 mm VR lens at iso 400, f 8 at 300mm.

The Forest Dragons of Borneo

The Forest Dragons that i am referring to are reptiles from the beautiful lizard genus of Gonocephalus. The Gonocephalus are a medium-sized genus of a distinctive looking agamids distinguished by thier quite unique head shape, which gives them the scientific and common name of "Angleheads". As with other species from the agamidae family, these lizards have a unique ability to change colour which happens when the lizards mood changes and is also an an adaptation to camouflage from potential predators.

Most Gonocephalus lizards live in forested area from an elavation of 0 - 1600 metres a.s.l. The majority are found fairly high up in the trees, either clinging to vertical tree trunks or sitting on the end of thin branches. They are always found nearby to a source of running water mainly a stream.

Among some key characteristics of this genus are the following - body laterally flattened, has a throat and shoulder fold, a distinctive gular pouch and crest on its naped, fairly visible hearing organ or ear drum (tympanum) always present in both sexes, a rather triangular head, and a strong tail that unfortunately does not regenerate if broken.

This species of forest dragon is the Doria's Anglehead Lizard (Gonocephalus doriae). This species was found clinging on a tree trunk about 1 metre high from the ground in the rainforest of Kubah National Park in Sarawak along the waterfall trail.

Photo taken with a Nikon D300 + 16 - 85 mm lens on 5th August 2010.

Thick-billed Green Pigeon (Treron curvirostra)

The Thick-billed Green Pigeon (Treron curvirostra) is a common bird of Borneo's lowland rainforest and can be found up to an elevation of 1500m above sea level. This species has a wide distribution in around South East Asia stretching all the way to Hong Kong, Bangladesh and also to India. According to the IUCN Red List this species is evaluated as Least Concerned due to thier large range and population.

This species comes from the family of Columbidae, a big family of Pigeons and Doves. They are all mainly frugivorous birds and eat a wide variety of fruits, berries and also seeds. According to Smythies - The Birds of Borneo (1999), two subfamilies are represented in Borneo - The primarily arboreal and frugivorous Treroninae family represented by the green pigeons, fruit doves and imperial pigeons and the remainder in the predominantly terrestrial seed eating family Columbinae.

Sexes of this species differ greatly in where the back, mantle and upper inner wing coverts are maroon in the male but dark green in the female. Both though have a grey crown and a distinctive heavy bill with a red base.

This Thick-billed Green Pigeon "couple" photo is taken in the Sepilok Forest Reserve.

All photos taken with a Nikon D 300 + 70-300mm VR at ISO 400 f5.6