Malaysia has some wonderful birds. Unfortunately most are found deep inside the forests. However, one stunning golden beauty, the Black Naped Oriole is a common garden bird that is not only pleasant to look it has a nice melodious yodel that is always pleasant to hear.
Orioles are quite shy birds so they can be a challenge to photograph. But once you get one, the results are usually very pleasing.
Another fantastic little (half) golden bird that frequents our garden are Olive Baked Sunbirds. They are fidgety birds seldom stopping in one place for more than a few seconds. However, catch them when they are feeding and its possible to approach close enough to get nice shots without them flying off.
The male with his luminescent dark purple-blue throat sitting above a bright golden yellow breast is particularly attractive. The female, although more plain is also not unattractive and is similarly always a pleasure to photograph.
I particularly like the photo above, taken yesterday afternoon immediately following a heavy afternoon storm. I went out to try and photogrpah a Bee Eater, but by the time I’d got the camera out he’s disappeared. Fortunately the sunbirds were hungry and were so busy foraging for food they ignored me.
The moral of the story is that quite often the opportunity for good photographs is right under your nose and you don’t really need to go far to find some birds who will pose.
