The CN Volunteers trip for 2010 to Fraser’s Hill was an early start with the bus moving off at 6:30am from Newton Food Centre. After breakfast and lunch stops on the way, we reached the Gap at 3:15pm, just in time to catch the “up” traffic. The 40-seater bus was not easy to manoeuvre round the tight bends that were built 90 years ago for much smaller vehicles. Our bus captain William made it look easy. Arriving at the iconic Clock Tower we were greeted by the bird chorus, cool air and our expert local guide Mr K. S. Durei waiting at the Shahzan Inn. After a quick check-in, we had a briefing on our program which was to kick off with a night walk starting at 8pm. The night walk along the Hemmant trail opened our eyes to nightlife of the forest. Huge toads, a fern that glows in the dark after it has died, trapdoor spiders, and tarantulas. The following morning after breakfast we had a Birdwatching Workshop on the basics of participating in a Bird Race. After our briefing our “mini” Bird Race got underway at 10am and was to last 24 hours until 10am Sunday. Teams were formed in 2’s or 3’s, our team was ourselves and Kok Seng. Most of us had already seen some of the more common residents, the Oriental Magpie Robin, Streaked Spiderhunter, Long-tailed Sibia and the beautiful Black-throated Sunbird. Our team started along Jln. Lady Maxwell down to Jln. Semantan and onto the Rompin Trail. While we recorded many birds, we also picked up some uninvited guests, namely leeches. Some of which were not discovered until later having lunch at The Smokehouse, when a couple were found nice and fat on the floor. After a short rest our team resumed the bird race at 4pm along Jln. Lady Guillemard and a short way on Jln. Girdle, but heavy rain cut our afternoon birding. The rain stopped when we met for a BBQ dinner at Punchak Inn and it was followed by a presentation on nature trips at Kenong Rimba Park by the Pahang Tourism office. Next morning after breakfast we met Kok Seng at 8am and headed for Jln Mager where we saw 3 species of Barbet near Kindersley Trail. As cut-off time was approaching we took a short cut down the trail, where Kok Seng picked up another leech but managed to dislodge it before it could start feeding. After the tally had been completed and Durei had judged everyone’s submission the results were announced. Our team managed to make 4th place with 22 birds which was better than we had hoped for. A “new” bird was seen by Gerard’s team, a Diard’s Trogon which they photographed. We left at noon for our long ride to Singapore, stopping for dinner at Jusco, Bukit Indah, 20 minutes from the 2nd Link. We had a great time and we thank everyone involved in organising the trip.
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