4th June 2008: Fraser's Hill, Part 5

I set up my hide pre-dawn at the place where I had seen the whistling thrush yesterday. While making final adjustments to my camera I heard a flutter of wings and the shrill whistle of the thrush from the left side of my hide. I had accidentally flushed it from a few yards away without actually seeing the bird at all. It didn't return!

My next stop was the pheasant spot, where I waited for 2 hours, seeing only a Buff-breasted Babbler. I heard a Malaysian Hill Partridge calling distantly and briefly.

Things picked up considerably once I hit the Bishop's Trail in mid morning.





This Black-eared Shrike Babbler was part of a mixed flock that also included Rufous-browed and Pygmy Blue Flycatchers.



Here's the female Pygmy Blue.




And here's the male.






















There were also Long-tailed Broadbills, which I didn't manage to photograph, and two Red-headed Trogons, which I did.


A large mixed flock of laughingthrushes included several Black Laughingthrushes - incredibly wary and difficult to photograph well!


One of my best sightings on the trail wasn't a bird but this gorgeous Red Malay Harlequin Butterfly - Paralaxita damajanti.



I was also pleased to find this rare endemic damselfly, Coeliccia erici.


In town, the kids found this stunning green beetle.

Back at High Pines, I managed to photograph a few birds from our room...


A male White-browed Shrike Babbler...






















...one of several Blue-winged Minlas...






















...and a Mountain Leaf Warbler - much brighter than race in Sabah (see here, photographed almost exactly a year ago!)