Dr Chua is a wildlife author and photographer with nine coffee-table books on nature. His main gear – Sony A1, A7R5, 600mm f4, 300mm f2.8, 135mm f1.8, 20-70mm, 90mm macro, 1.4 TC and a Leica Q2. He has won a first prize in a Nikon contest (which included a trip to the Galapagos and a Grand Prize in a National Parks Photography contest (and among the prizes was a trip to Burkina Faso). Concerned with the global devastation of the rainforests, he focuses his work on showcasing the beauty of nature.
June 2024 – Sabah
Rafflesia kethii (5 days old and 1 day old) at Poring
May 19-29, Bhutan
Land above the Clouds, Paradise unlimited, Land of Happy People or Land of Phallic Symbols – Bhutan has it all
Chasing wildlife in Bhutan is much more challenging than in Fraser’s Hill. The areas are desolate and vary in altitudes. The are no feeding stations and baiting or luring is strictly prohibited. One can only hope to see specific birds in certain areas. One must avoid stepping on cow dung; ubiquitous in all elevations on the roads. Sandflies are nasty and are present at all elevations too!
The main setback in Bhutan for tourists is the Sustainable Development fee (SDF) which is currently USD $100 per pax per day. This is to deter the “lower value tourists”. However, Indian tourists only pay about USD$15 per pax per day and seem to flood the more touristy areas.
Ibisbill at Paro River, which is near the airport and River Lapwing (Punasthangchu River (Bajo town)
Himalaya Cutia
The Tawny Fish Owl
Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, Hoary-throated Barwing and Green-tailed sunbird
The much touted Himalayan Monal
May 6-7 Kangar, Perlis, Malaysia
Blyth’s Paradise Flycatcher (White Morph)
The first nesting failed but fortunately my guide managed to find an alternative nest. The long tailed of this bird is only displayed during the nesting season. There is a clear colour dimorphic between sexes. The male is white and female is brown,; although there are brown males too. The male BPFc is more dominant in feeding the chicks and in warding off predators
Rufous Woodpecker, Black-naped Monarch and Chestnut-winged Babbler
A delightful lunch awaited us at Wansyah Kitchen. Smoked duck was the highlight.
March 15-29 – A SRI LANKA SOJOURN
We left Changi at 10.22pm and arrived in Colombo at 11.30pm (in actual hours – 3.5 hours of travelling) and were garlanded with orchids by our Guide from Accipiter Birding. As Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country, the image of Buddha greets all travellers on arrival.
The Mutturawela wetlands is just a 5 mins away from the hotel we stayed in (near the airport). Despite a small waterhole, the avifauna was surprisingly rich. We had two endemics – the Red-backed Flameback and the Sri Lanka Swallow. The Blue-tailed Bee-eater was actively catching insects on the wing.
Other birds include the Black-headed Ibis, Black-hooded Orioles and Stork-billed Kf
View and meal from the Hotel Plantation Kithulgala
Young Jackfruit curry, Lady’s fingers, vegetables with coconut, dhall, curry fish
The endemic Yellow-fronted Barbet and Grizzled Giant Squirrel at Kithulgala forest and Red-wattled Lapwing from Mutturajawela wetlands
Kithulgala forest. We crossed the river with a row boat and started a 2 hour hike to the undulating forest.
A Lantern bug, the endemic Sri Lanka Gray Hornbill and Black-capped Bulbul.
Our guide Chaminda went all out to look for the rare owls for us, even setting out at 4am in total darkness and hiked 2 km away to confirm its presence. I have never seen such dedication before. The endemic Chestnut-backed Owlet, endemic Serandib Scop-owl and the Malabar Trogon
Norton Plains. The birds were not detected easily, other than the Pied Bushchat and circling Black-winged Kite, but we were comforted by the presence of the majestic Sambar Deer
The Sinharaja forest can only be accessed by Jeep. Paths are filled with large rocks and are steep and the ride is very rickety. Leeches abound on the walking paths. Sri Lanka endemics – Crested Drongo, SL Gray Hornbill and SL Blue Magpie
Leopard Country – Yala National Park
While we were not focusing on the Leopard, it seem that this mammal is the highlight for most visitors to Yala. The competition to see one creates a frenzy that can be unsafe for visitors. Jeep drivers speed, to scramble to be the first to show off the mammal often blocking others of the previledge views.
2nd March 2024 – Rafflesia Kerrii at Lojing Highlands
We charted a limousine for a trip to Cameron Highlands (the trip took more than seven hours) and then to the Lojing Highlands in Kelantan the next day. We met our guides (one local and one Orang Asli) at the Lojing Eco R & R for a 4wD (30 minutes) before we started the climb.
We were fortunate to see two R kerrii blooms (one with a bud and a decayed specimen). Model is 9 year-old boy called Hamzah.
We stayed at the Quintet and had some delectable foods in Brinchang
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