Birding 101 #2: Taman Tasik Cyberjaya

It was an unplanned trip, but there I was earlier this morning at Taman Tasik Cyberjaya, ready for some birding action.

The last time I was here, it was for my Larian 40 Taman. Yes, it's been THAT long! 😂 And I must say, I can't recall much of what the place actually looks like, apart from what I can see in the pictures from that particular run.

So, haze or no haze, I just had to test out my shiny new binoculars while hoping to tick off a few new lifers. 

And things started really well when we spotted some birds flying around near the park entrance. As I started looking around with my new binoculars, I spotted one perched among the trees.

And there it was — my new lifer!

Oriental Magpie-Robin (aka Murai Kampung)

A striking little black-and-white bird, although the one I spotted was a female, with its softer greyish upperparts, white underparts and distinctive white wing patch. It was perched quietly among the foliage, and spotting it through my brand-new binoculars made the moment even sweeter.

Lifer! 😎

From there on, we were serenaded by some beautiful bird calls.

BUT... they were not so easy to spot! 

You know how it is. You hear something going chirp-chirp-chirp somewhere in the trees, get all excited, point the binoculars in that general direction...

Nothing.

Just leaves. Lots and lots of leaves. 😂

We went a bit deeper into the park and were just impressed by the sights. It's been a while, remember? And looking at the place now with my new birder eyes made me appreciate it in a completely different way.

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to spot any more new lifers this time.

But no worries. We still got a good number of steps in and burned a decent amount of calories too. Haha.

I also explored quite a bit of the park, but as it was getting more panas by the minute, we decided to wrap things up and look for somewhere to cool down with some teh ais and tosai. 

And since this was partly a reconnaissance mission for a special project next year...

Hint hint. 😎

We'll definitely be back! Insya Allah. 

Another park explored. Another lifer added. And another little piece of Allah's creation properly noticed. Alhamdulillah. ❤️