3rd March 2008: Cameron Highlands

I had just a few hours before checking out and beginning the drive home. I settled myself at a roadside spot where there was a good selection of birds singing and waited.


First to show was this splendid male Lesser Shortwing. The male of this race (wrayi) looks completely different from the 'carolinae' race I photographed on Doi Inthanon in January

At the same spot, a Pygmy Wren Babbler began singing, and it eventually gave itself up by perching on an exposed branch in the undergrowth.


Half bird, half mouse! The last 'target bird' of the trip on my last day!

The trip down to Simpang Pulai was interspersed with various roadside diversions.


The first emergency stop was caused by several squadrons of Brown Needletails wheeling around in display flight - fabulous birds!

I made several fruitless inspections of bamboo clumps - I'm racking up the hours, and one day I WILL bump into Pin-tailed Parrotfinches - I hope!

The last stop was an old favourite - a haven for butterflies, and in particular, Rajah Brooke's Birdwing.


'Paranticopsis delessertii' or Malayan Zebra, drinking at a muddy pool.


'Cyrestis lutea', one of the Map-wing butterflies, one of my favourites!


The Common Caerulean (Jamides celeno) is a 'blue' that is practically white on the upper surface of the wings.


The best I could do of a Rajah Brooke's Birdwing. Constantly on the wing, these bird-sized buuterflies are stunning - especially when seen in their natural environment.



I'll finish with a big bee! It's worth clicking on this image to see the detail!

2nd March 2008: Cameron Highlands

Sun at last! After a few more shots of the obliging thrush first thing, it was up to the top of Brinchang again. Blue skies below can be deceiving though - the summit was still wrapped in cloud!


Every once in a while in the deep green forest there is a splash of vivid red - the so-called Lipstick plant or Aeschynanthus






















And a stunning orchid hidden amongst the dripping moss.


This unknown (to me!) agamid lizard was warming itself on the road near the summit.


A fine adult male Mugimaki Flycatcher was using the perimeter fence of the radio towers at the summit as a vantage point from which to hunt.


Normally denizens of the forest, a pair of Streaked Wren Babblers was feeding young in the tea plantation at the base of the mountain.


And while driving along the same road, I got this single lucky shot of a male White-tailed Robin feeding by the roadside.






Cameron is the best place I know in Malaysia to see Grey-faced Buzzard during the northern winter, and this visit I wasn't disappointed!


So one morning left, and two of my three 'target' species in the bag! Would tomorrow yield the third??

1st March 2008: Cameron Highlands

Any hobbits about? The mossy forest on top of Mount Brinchang


The view (when there eventually was one) looking down from the trail to Mount Irau.

I spent the first few hours of the day up in the mossy forest at the top of Mount Brinchang. Most of this was spent in semi-gloom and thick cloud, so, while birds were about, photographing them wasn't easy. Snowy-browed Flycatchers, White-tailed Robins and Mugimaki Flycatchers seemed quite abundant, and I found a single female Siberian Thrush feeding in a fruiting tree.


A Black Eagle appeared briefly out of the clouds. They always seem to me to have unfeasibly large wings!


Back down below, I spent some more time waiting for the thrush to put in appearance, and was rewarded instead by a pair of Slaty-backed Forktails. This one seems to be nursing an injured leg.


Enjoying a rare bit of sun!


White-tailed Robins are fairly abundant and easy to see, except when you're carrying a camera apparently! I got this dim and distant photo of a female as it perched on a wheelbarrow in a garden plot.

29th February: Cameron Highlands

Cameron Highlands is the most popular of Peninsular Malaysia's four highland destinations among general tourists, but is generally less visited by birders in favour of Fraser's Hill. Fraser's has more accessible intact montane habitat, whereas Cameron is more spread out and much more developed. Generally, birding at Fraser's is much easier, but Cameron has a few specialities that are easier to see than at Fraser's.


Cameron Highlands, famous for tea plantations...


...and giant self-plucking strawberries!


Cameron Highlands is also the place where Landrovers go when they die.


Actually, they don't really die, they get cannibalised and re-in-CAR-nated (groan!).

Anyway, back to the birds. Apart from a fairly unrealistic 'wish-list' of really difficult birds, my main goal was to try to photograph Malayan Whistling Thrush, White-tailed Robin and Pygmy Wren Babbler. These are three species that are usually easier to see at Cameron than Fraser's.

Within 15 minutes of checking into my hotel I was happily photographing the first of these targets.



One of Peninsular Malaysia's few endemic bird species, the Malayan Whistling Thrush has been rarely photographed. Formerly easy to see at Fraser's Hill, they have become difficult to see well there over recent years, with fleeting glimpses at dawn usually the best one can hope for. The main problem with this one was that it came too close to fit into the frame!



































It was amazing how the light could affect the apparent colour of the bird - it could appear black, brown or blue at different times.


The angular head, caused by the prominent supra-orbital ridge, and the hefty bill were noteworthy. None of the birds I saw had shiny blue lesser coverts, supposedly a feature of Malayan.



EDIT: These pictures are not of Malayan, but the poorly known 'dicrorhynchus' race of Blue Whistling Thrush. These pictures eventually led to the launching of the Whistling Thrush Project, which aimed to clarify identification criteria and field identification characteristics of the whistling-thrush taxa in Peninsular Malaysia.

16-17th February, 2008: Singapore Plover Trip

After a lie-in and a morning making snares we arrived at the plover site in the late afternoon, being delayed somewhat by cracking views of three Pied Harriers and a number of Oriental Pratincoles.





Here's an adult female Pied Harrier, showing the greyish bases to the primaries and pale underwing typical of this plumage.




This is a subadult male, with a few adult feathers coming through on the mantle, lesser coverts, face, rump and tail.

When we arrived at the sandspit, the tide was very low, and good numbers of waders were feeding on the exposed mud banks. We took this opportunity to set some snares along the spit where we hoped the plovers might move to roost at high tide. The flock of Grey Plovers did roost on top of the snares, and we could see them awkwardly lifting their feet, as if to avoid getting caught, which they did most successfully!

In late afternoon the wader ringing group from Sungei Buloh, headed up by James Gan and Ramakrishnan, arrived with a team of seasoned and willing helpers. In no time at all, they had set up a labyrinth of double-shelf nets all over the spit, in what we hoped would be an unavoidable combination as far as the plovers were concerned. While they were setting up the nets, a flock of Lesser Sand Plovers sat nearby, seemingly unperturbed. But, as soon as dusk fell, as if to mock us, they flew off! At dusk I removed the snares, afraid of what the ghost crabs might do in the dark to any bird caught in them.

Once again, despite the high tide, the birds steadfastly avoided the sandspit after dark. We wondered whether the predatory crabs might be the deterrent factor.


Once again, we caught a solitary Malaysian Plover - a first year female this time - and this bird was banded and leg-flagged with the Singapore colours - green above white.


Tagged and ready to go!


Around midnight we were surprised to find a Collared Kingfisher in one of the nets, especially as we hadn't heard or seen one in our time there.

Despite hourly checks of the nets, there were no more catches till just before dawn, when several flocks of Sand Plovers returned to the spit. We caught two Lesser Sand Plovers.


Just released, sporting Singapore leg-flags!


The day dawned bright and sunny, and there was quite a passage of Barn Swallows and swiftlets, as well as an arrival of Oriental Pratincoles and Pacific Golden Plovers.

At about 8, with the nets now fully visible, the "White-faced" Plover flock arrived and sat in front of the nearest net! We counted 14, which is the largest number seen at one time to date.



"White-faced" Plover and a mist-net - unfortunately not very close to each other!



Three "White-faced" Plovers (right) with two Kentish Plovers.


The "White-faced" Plovers seemed to like to sit in the hollows created by our feet - note the two birds in the foreground with just the heads visible.


A male showing a typically broad supercilium and isolated black eye in a white 'face'.

We might have felt a bit more aggrieved at not catching the plovers had we not caught sight of an even more exciting visitor among the newly arrived Pacific Golden Plovers...


Spot the odd one out - a fine spring-plumaged male Oriental Plover!


I believe this is only about the fifth time this species has been recorded in Singapore.


Photo by Lin Yangchen. Just the tonic you need after spending a night with the sand-flies on the beach!

It was barely nine o'clock, and we mused that we had already seen every plover species on the Singapore list that morning - can't be that bad!

Eventually it was time to pack up the nets and admit defeat with the "White-faced" Plovers. Despite our best efforts they had eluded us again, and we concluded that there wasn't any point in putting up nets on the spit the following night. Back to the drawing board!

As we packed up we were treated to a free preview of the Singapore Air Show, and watched in awe as an A380 Airbus, the largest passenger aircraft in the world, performed amazing stunts overhead.



Hope they don't do this when there are passengers inside!



On our way for breakfast, a shower and bed, we stopped to admire some Oriental Pratincoles in pristine plumage.


A fine male Red Turtle Dove - not a bird we see in Penang.