26-29 January 2012:Fraser's Hill, Pahang

A few shots from a rather quiet visit (birdwise!) over Chinese New Year.




















A male Black-and-Crimson Oriole.



Female Black-eared Shrike-babbler.



Blue-winged Siva.



Chestnut-crowned Warbler.



A typical view of a Large Scimitar-babbler! For a better view, see this post.






















A confiding Mountain Imperian Pigeon.






















This splendid male Mugimaki Flycatcher just wouldn't come into the open!
























Red-headed Trogons were more than usually in evidence.

24th July 2011: Fraser's Hill to Kuala Kubu Bharu

As this was my last morning, I decided to start at the top for a change and wait for the Malaysian Whistling-thrush.



My efforts from before dawn till about 8 o'clock yielded neither sight nor sound of them. This Rufous-browed Flycatcher was typically obliging in the early morning light.



As I was packing up my hide, I noticed a young Siamang feeding quietly right next to the road. Since this species is usually extremely shy, I could barely believe my luck as I stealthily reset up my camera and crept closer. A man was walking down the road so I beckoned him over, urging him to be completely quiet. "Oh", he said in an unnecessarily loud voice, I thought, "That's Bobby - he likes candy very much!" The man held out a sticky sweet and rustled the wrapper, and sure enough, this shy denizen of the forest came down and took the sweet from his hand! My sense of disappointment was palpable, and I was also left feeling pretty foolish with my stealth approach! It turns out that this is an orphan, and it was either raised, or at least fed, one of the guards at the Top Gate, so it is semi-domesticated.













































Of course, it would be nice if folks could be educated not to feed it junk food, but it's still a very fine looking beast, and will hopefully provide visitors with the thrill of seeing a 'wild' Siamang at close quarters for many years to come. Actually, I think that hairstyle might really catch on...!





Down at the Gap, I had to wade my way through the Bamboo Woodpecker hordes once again, and as before, they evaded my attempts at getting a clear shot.



On my way back to civilization, I couldn't resist stopping at the swift bridge again. The light was less favourable than last time, and I only got this head-on House Swift.



Rufous-bellied Swallows were in hunting mode (I noticed 2-3 nests beneath the bridge) and provided me with some good photo opps as they glided around.







Very fine-looking creatures indeed, and a near-endemic taxon into the bargain!

23 July 2011: The Gap - Fraser's Hill

By now I was seeing a regular pattern of birds. Starting at the Gap, knee-deep in Bamboo Woodpeckers again (how did I manage to miss these before?!), but the same old problems getting good light and a clear perch. My best efforts below.









At my Ferruginous Partridge 'stake-out' - the same blank result. There were two Rail-babblers calling today, and one briefly walked across the track, but didn't stay long enough for a photo.



Back at the Gap, a small group of Black Laughingthrushes were obliging, but the light wasn't, as thick fog swirled in.





The weather wasn't much better at the top, and I spent some time on Bishop's Trail photographing a pair of Buff-breasted Babblers in the gloom, before rain stopped play. These are a surprisingly common bird at Fraser's Hill, as you realize once you learn their calls, but they can be quite difficult to get good views of. I was lucky with this pair, which came down to feed on the trail as I was waiting quietly to see what would turn up.

22nd July 2011: The Gap - Fraser's Hill

Much the same routine as yesterday, with a dawn start at the Lower Gate.

Today I was fortunate to get great views of Marbled Wren-babbler in a somewhat exposed area just below the road, and managed a few reasonable pics.









These are just great birds, though why they are called wren-babblers I can't quite work out - they look more like laughingthrushes to me!

The same fruitless result waiting for Ferruginous Partridges (one heard calling), but this was somewhat compensated for by the brief appearance of a Rail-babbler!





Rain rather curtailed activities in the afternoon!

21 July 2011: The Gap - Fraser's Hill

I started at the Lower Gate before dawn, being surprised to hear a Javan Frogmouth near the gate. Once it was light I soon located three Bamboo Woodpeckers - one of my Fraser's Hill 'bogey birds' finally laid to rest!







Getting good photos was another matter! Over the next few days I encountered this species daily, usually more than once, but never got a decent chance of a clear shot in good light.



A flock of Black Laughingthrushes was obliging, but I failed to get any sharp shots.

Having finally got the woodpecker, I now only have two Fraser's Hill residents left to see, both of them partridges (Ferruginous and Long-billed)! The first of these was my target for the trip, and I spent much of the morning sitting in my hide and waiting...! Two birds were calling further up the hill, one above the road and one below, but none came close, so I gave up the hunt towards midday.



This White-bellied Yuhina (Erpornis) was one of several species still active at the Lower Gate as I left.

At the top I headed for some lunch and an iced strawberry juice, but I met Ahli Chung and a group he was guiding, who told me they'd found a roosting Mountain Scops-owl on Hemmant's Trail. The drink was hastily postponed as I got precise directions and headed off to try to locate the bird. It wasn't where they'd seen it, but incredibly, while I was searching for it, a bird started calling close by, and, in response to my whistled imitation, flew straight in to perch about 5m away! It sat there oblivious to my attempts to manoeuvre myself to get a unobstructed shot and continued calling, stimulating a second bird to respond not far away!





While watching the bird, I noticed it peering over my shoulder at something behind me. On turning I saw two Yellow-throated Martens coming down the slope toward me. At about 3 metres away, they finally noticed me and ran off up the slope. No chance to move, still less photograph them, but it was an unforgettable moment nonetheless!

Here's a video of the bird calling. Thanks Ahli!

Eventually hunger pangs kicked in and I walked away from the bird, still in view and still calling!



The afternoon was a bit of an anticlimax after that. This female Black-and-Crimson Oriole was part of a bird wave.

25th July 2010: Fraser's Hill

I made sure I had a good night's sleep so that I could be in my hide at first light migraine-free, and I settled down to wait for the pheasant to appear. Within moments however, I felt my skin being assailed by gazillions of tiny biting insects. They were much smaller than mosquitoes, but with a much more ferocious bite. It became utterly impossible to remain motionless with these things attacking any patch of exposed skin. I tried moving my hide in case they were just a localized swarm, but the forest seemed to be full of the obnoxious beasties. In less than an hour I'd had enough, and was forced to retreat with my hands, ankles and face covered in pink bumps, feeling as if I'd been roasted over an open fire! Over a week later, the bites are still as itchy as anything. Why can't those nameless horrors become extinct instead of Spoon-billed Sandpipers?!



I made my way to Hemmant's Trail in my never-ending quest to improve on my Malaysian Partridge shots. Instead I was treated to the sight of a pair of Denis Healey eyebrows bobbing about in the gloom!





With a bit of illumination from the flash, the eyebrows could be seen to belong to a subadult male Lesser Shortwing, which was involved in a territorial face-off with another bird.



The other male was a bit older, though still exhibiting signs of immaturity in the brown fringes to the remiges. An adult male should look like this.



Elsewhere on the trail, this female or immature Red-headed Trogon was perched inconspicuously a few feet off the ground.



I tried to look down toward Bishop's Trail from the road above where I'd seen the pittas on the 20th, but with no success. This immature Dark (Large) Hawk-cuckoo did appear quietly in front of me though.



A pair of Streaked Wren-babblers foraged in the short vegetation next to the road, and seemed completely fearless.



On Bishop's Trail I came across a pair of squirrels foraging on the ground. I later identified them as Red-cheeked Squirrels.

I decided to leave by the 10 am gate down to the Gap to give myself a couple of hours birding before heading back home to Penang.

There was lots of bamboo in seed along the old road, but no sign of any of the bamboo specialities. Instead, a pair of Orange-breasted Trogons put on a good show!






















This is the relatively soberly-coloured female.






























































And the more flamboyantly-attired male!

I heard a Marbled Wren-babbler calling distantly in one of the gullies, but when I got to my favourite spot for observing them I found that a tree fall had opened up the ravine, allowing a lot of sunlight in, and the birds were conspicuously absent.



Some of the large trees were dropping seeds, which were spinning to the ground like miniature helicopters. This tree was not a dipterocarp, as dipterocarp seedlings have two wings, whereas this had three, but other than that, I'm not sure what species it was.



A Little Spiderhunter was feeding on the ornamental flowers near the guardpost at the lower entrance to the old road.



Forget the Twin Towers or any other of the architectural marvels of Malaysia's modern cities, or any number of theme parks - this is what I'd travel round the world to see - pristine Malaysian rainforest in all its magnificence.