Oriental Bay Owl, Kinabatangan River, Sabah

Oriental Bay Owl, Kinabatangan River, Sabah




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Manual Mode 1/60secs, f6.3 at ISO 3200, Center Weighed metered, focal length 850mm



This small owl is quite a
scarce and rarely encountered resident species of the floodplains and
lowland forests of Borneo. It prefers to perch on vertical tree trunks
much like a woodpecker (as this image shows).





We had to beach the boat on
the mud and jump off onto the mud for this shot. Taken standing almost
knee deep in mud in the torrential rain at night at 10pm with a black
garbage bag over my lens and camera. Had to tear a small hole so I could
see the viewfinder.





This image is a culmination
of teamwork from 4 people working in unison. A guide to spot the bird
and hold and aim a halogen spotlight, a front spotter to hold a 2nd
halogen spotlight while steadying the bow of the boat among the trees
and a helmsman at the back idling the engine to hold the boat in
position and a shooter off the boat, on the mud to close in on the
target.




All in the blinding unrelenting rain in the middle of the night in a crocodile infested Kinabatangan tributary.

The above image was taken with a D7000, Nikkor AF-S 600mm f4 II IF-ED with a Nikon AF-S TC 14E II Teleconverter mounted on a Wimberley II gimbal head and a Gitzo G1325 carbon fiber legs.

Note that the image link above is updated each week with a new bird (it's my "Image Of The Week" page). Hence you may no longer see the bird titled here. Sorry about that.

Chien
AvianNatureScapes Wildlife Photography
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Not easy task too... I live this owl like woodpecker... hope one day also can see it myself.

NICE SHOTS

Yes I agree Chien.

Mostly heard only and I have not seen one too :p

Congrats! and she is cute.

OMG! a very rare owl!

Thanks guys

Wow, Horukuru has not seen it yet?? Then I must say that it is indeed rare! You are close to getting membership into the Borneo 500 club correct?

Superb shot.

this is cute and rare. Very nice capture. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Owl .
I want to find one once I go to Broneo.

very rare find, and the pic is good too!!!!

Great shots of the rare bird, thank for sharing.

Great story telling too ! Can imagine how difficult and excited is it .

pardon my ignorance. what is Borneo 500 club?

tsechien wrote:Thanks guys

Wow, Horukuru has not seen it yet?? Then I must say that it is indeed rare! You are close to getting membership into the Borneo 500 club correct?

Ya ba Chien not really lucky with Frogmouth, Nightjar and Owl for my list and need 40 over species for 500

wahoo wrote:pardon my ignorance. what is Borneo 500 club?

Must have confirmed verified sightings of 500 species of birds

chien
Aviannaturescapes Wildlife Photography
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wahoo wrote:pardon my ignorance. what is Borneo 500 club?

a club for those who had seen at least 500 species of birds in Borneo...... I am probably only qualified for Borneo 5..... if there is one...... hahaha.....

There is also a Peninsular Malaysia 500 club, I am already HALF-WAY there, yes, really half way with only around 250 species..... No time to go out do serious birding yet, more than half of the species I have seen had been seen in my garden, current and previous workplace environment....... one of the seriously low counts are on primary forest birds and coastal birds, something seriously missing from my list as I dont visit these areas much.

Great to hear that!

The 1st 150 to 200 or so takes about 1 year, the next 50 takes another full year, the next 100, takes a further 2-3 years and the last lot of 250 could take up the rest of one's lifetime as birds get rarer and rarer......

chien
Aviannaturescapes Wildlife Photography
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jytou wrote:

wahoo wrote:pardon my ignorance. what is Borneo 500 club?

a club for those who had seen at least 500 species of birds in Borneo...... I am probably only qualified for Borneo 5..... if there is one...... hahaha.....

There is also a Peninsular Malaysia 500 club, I am already HALF-WAY there, yes, really half way with only around 250 species..... No time to go out do serious birding yet, more than half of the species I have seen had been seen in my garden, current and previous workplace environment....... one of the seriously low counts are on primary forest birds and coastal birds, something seriously missing from my list as I dont visit these areas much.

tsechien wrote:Great to hear that!

The 1st 150 to 200 or so takes about 1 year, the next 50 takes another full year, the next 100, takes a further 2-3 years and the last lot of 250 could take up the rest of one's lifetime as birds get rarer and rarer......

chien
Aviannaturescapes Wildlife Photography
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jytou wrote:

wahoo wrote:pardon my ignorance. what is Borneo 500 club?

a club for those who had seen at least 500 species of birds in Borneo...... I am probably only qualified for Borneo 5..... if there is one...... hahaha.....

There is also a Peninsular Malaysia 500 club, I am already HALF-WAY there, yes, really half way with only around 250 species..... No time to go out do serious birding yet, more than half of the species I have seen had been seen in my garden, current and previous workplace environment....... one of the seriously low counts are on primary forest birds and coastal birds, something seriously missing from my list as I dont visit these areas much.

I have been birding for 13 years...... haha, your formula failed on me......

great work choo. with this type of excitement, crocodile hv to wait in line.

jytou wrote:
a club for those who had seen at least 500 species of birds in Borneo...... I am probably only qualified for Borneo 5..... if there is one...... hahaha.....

I see, so I am qualified for B 10...., P20...., T300..... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

ketupuketupu wrote:

jytou wrote:
a club for those who had seen at least 500 species of birds in Borneo...... I am probably only qualified for Borneo 5..... if there is one...... hahaha.....

I see, so I am qualified for B 10...., P20...., T300..... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

T is ?? Are you kidding, you only see 20 species in Peninsular and 10 in Borneo? My house 1-2 hour birding also worst weather I get almost 20 species redi, good weather, good spot, something up to 50 species in a trip within 3-4 hours....... but I add a few that I saw in Vietnam, China, New Zealand still almost only 300...... I saw so few species......... sob sob....

Now is work first la... when I retire, I will start hunting for more...... (long before that will arrive) but I am happy with backyard birdwatching so far, my main source of lifers comes from my own doorstep, my neighborhood and my workplace...... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] And not necessary bad ones....... for example Javan Pond Heron (opposite my house), Rufous-bellied Eagle (flew pass my house on migration), Asian Paradise Flycatcher (perched opposite my house), Common Kestrel (seen near my house) and etc....... sometimes backyard birdwatching is fun because it is way harder to expect what you will see because your backyard is often only best watched by yourself..... so far the only bird that is identified in my neighborhood by someone else but is not seen by me is the Black-capped Kingfisher, I am still waiting for this lifer.... PLEASE...... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Chien, nice to see you posting here.
Great work as usual!

ketupuketupu wrote:

jytou wrote:
a club for those who had seen at least 500 species of birds in Borneo...... I am probably only qualified for Borneo 5..... if there is one...... hahaha.....

I see, so I am qualified for B 10...., P20...., T300..... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Cannot be la....you close eye while birding ka...hehehe

Chien is bird magnet......

Mr No Good wrote:

ketupuketupu wrote:

jytou wrote:
a club for those who had seen at least 500 species of birds in Borneo...... I am probably only qualified for Borneo 5..... if there is one...... hahaha.....

I see, so I am qualified for B 10...., P20...., T300..... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Cannot be la....you close eye while birding ka...hehehe

Chien is bird magnet......

maybe he carries a gun, fire craker or something with him everytime and fire them all around, all birds long fleed before he can even noticed, so probably even sparrows are hardly seen..... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Mr No Good wrote:

ketupuketupu wrote:

jytou wrote:
a club for those who had seen at least 500 species of birds in Borneo...... I am probably only qualified for Borneo 5..... if there is one...... hahaha.....

I see, so I am qualified for B 10...., P20...., T300..... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Cannot be la....you close eye while birding ka...hehehe

Chien is bird magnet......

agree!!

OK lah.
B 50, P 100.... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]