Fraser’s Hill 22-25 March 2011

As we were lucky on our previous trip, we thought we would push our luck with a quick follow up. As it turned out we hit the jackpot and got our first ever view of the Red-headed Trogon on our last morning, along the Jeriau Road.

Other birds seen on this 4 day trip.

The day before we had several interesting encounters, one of which was the very colourful Green Magpie.

Raptor Watch and more – Mar 13-15 2011

When we planned our trip to Port Dickson to experience the “Raptor Watch” organised by the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) little did we expect the 3-day trip would be  more than a stay at PD.

Starting  early on Sunday 13th at 5.30am we drove to Yishun to pick up Lioe and Annie and as soon as we crossed the Causeway, the rain started.   The weather brightened up as we arrived at 10.30 am at Ilham Resort which was where the 12th Raptor Watch week-end event was held (http://www.raptorwatch.org/).  The Resort’s ground was full of activity with  exhibitor’s booths and a stage. There was information on the migratory raptors counted and announcements of the raptors sighted approaching Tanjung Tuan.  There were lots of visitors and we met a few birding acquaintances and went to explore the booths and did some “shopping” of bird watching equipment, books and souvenirs.

  Very soon we heard over the public address that raptors were coming in and over the next few hours we saw many Oriental Honey Buzzards (OHB) and other Accipters flying in, hovering above as they group up before flying on their way north.  We went up the hill to the Lighthouse and met more birding friends and also had better views of the birds coming in.   It is truly remarkable that these birds can be sighted at  this “Rachado” site on their way home from the south.    Last year the count was 73,152 raptors recorded for 43 days and this year, the organisers will continue to count their arrival until the 3rd of April 2011 so watch their website for updates.

Being new to the area we asked the MNS members for nearby birding spots and were given direction to “Telapak Buruk” an hour’s drive beyond Seremban.   This place proved difficult to locate and we failed on this first attempt on Monday, so we explored the kampongs nearby and got to see a Little Grebe and 2 Button Quails.

  


We returned in the afternoon to Tg. Tuan and birded on the trail on the hill which then led us to the Mangrove near the Rachado Resort. 

On Tuesday after checking out early, we went to look for Telapak Buruk again and found the entrance leading up to this hill for the submontane birds.   It was cool as we ascended the hill and we heard lots of birds calling and chirping in the forest on both sides.  We stopped at various heights and got out to look for birds. 

It was a surprise that it was so far up, as when nearing the top the GPS showed 1,200 metre.  Near the top a few Teleco masts are installed, with a military guard house at the top.  

Towards noon we descended and drove on to Muar for a late lunch and also to explore Parit Jawa.  We arrived Parit Jawa’s jetty at 3pm, and at low tide.  The flock of  Lesser Adjutants at the river mouth were feeding on the mud flats and terns were flying up and down with quite a few other shore birds around, but they were hard to ID from the jetty.

   As Lioe knew the direction to the padi fields at Sungei Balang which was nearby we left to check out this spot.   At 4.30 pm we arrived and saw a Black Shouldered Kite and many birds out for their evening forage.  We had never seen so many Baya Weavers among the scrub land next to the padi fields and the Blue tailed Bee-eaters perched on the bare trees. Two Black-capped Kingfishers were close by, as we drove along the bunds we also saw White Breasted Waterhens, Chinese Pond Herons and a Purple Swamphen busy feeding.   It seemed too soon and it was time to leave as the sun went down.   It was a long day driving but worthwhile discovering these 2 new locations for future birding trips.

More Photos

Tg. Tuan Lighthouse    Tg. Tuan Mangrove    Kg.  Ulu Bendo    Telapak Buruk    Sg. Balang    Parit Jawa

Monday 7th March 2011- Morning Walk at SBG & Portsdown Road

Quick Trip to Panti –1 March 2011

An SMS from Lioe had us up early to Panti to meet up with his group.  We were the only 2 cars in the Bunker Trail that Tuesday 7 am.  While the weather was cool and overcast the bird population seems to be late in arousing from their slumber.   Early on the track Lioe spotted a dead Malayan civet which had a small graze wound on its front right leg.  On the ground there was only a tiny spot of blood on the soil so it was a mystery how it came to its end as it appeared young.

Lioe moved it off the track to avoid it being run over and sure enough we were soon disturbed by the rumble of 2 truckloads of lumber coming out, which surprised us as we thought logging had stopped. 

After 2 hours with little success on the main track we decided to move into the shrine track ahead of our friends which was a mistake.   We had missed the Scarlet-rumped Trogon which we would have love to see, it flew across in front of their car.   That means we must try Panti again.

Panti Album

Fraser’s Hill 21-24 Feb 2011

An even earlier wake-up call on Monday as we drove off from home at 5.50 am for the highlands.  There was almost no traffic towards the 2nd link and we cleared Malaysian Immigration at 6.20 am!  It was then an uneventful ride which brought us to the Gap at 12 noon.  We were the 2nd car in line.  Since we had an hour on hand we walked up to the hill side to check on the trees for birds.  Another birder was already there and we greeted each other but before we got to the introduction, a pretty bird caught our attention, it was the Crimson Breasted Flowerpecker.  We resumed our introduction and found that Mark is from MNS and was on his way to a workshop that MNS and the Tourism Office were conducting for the hotel staff on Conservation and the importance of birds to the tourist economy of Fraser’s Hill.  He was also expecting some other MNS members to attend the 2-day workshop.  We spotted a few more birds while waiting and Mark mentioned some places and birds to watch for.

He said he was going to look for the endemic Malayan Whistling Thrush near where we will be staying but he emphasised we must be early before dawn and we will need to use a hide or stay in our car.   No sooner it was 1.00 pm and the barrier was lifted for the up traffic (On this old one-lane road, odd hours reserved for the ascend and even hours to descend).   It was a 20 minute drive up the winding road and we arrived at Richmond House where we found we were the only occupants for the period.  The temperature was a nice cool 22 deg C perfect weather for walking about.  Although we heard that the week before it had rained heavily with some hill-slopes washed down, we were lucky there was only a drizzle early in the morning of Wednesday which did not stop us and other visitors from birding.   On this first late afternoon, a walk at Jelai Highland Resort was rewarded with  the Black-throated Sunbird, this being the only Sunbird found here.

  The Streaked Spiderhunter was also easily seen feeding on the flowers.  We were thrilled to see a large blue bird and it was the Large Niltava on this first walk.   We saw a few Mountain Bulbuls that afternoon and on other days as well.  Next morning at 6.30 am we were out on the road and in the dark we saw another car coming down from the Selangor side, we recognised it was Mark driving.  As he approached we asked if we could follow him and he indicated for us pull up on one of the lay-bys.  We waited for the Malayan Whistling Thrush that he said was extremely hard to see but would forage on Jalan Mager before daylight.  As we waited past 7.00 am we left Mark and headed for Jelai since the house-keeper had told us to come at 7.00 am for the birds in the car park.  We were not disappointed as there were many birds feeding on the seeds of the trees and also the dead insects on the ground.

   We went back again the next morning this time earlier and as dawn broke the birds were flying in.   In one of our walks along near the Methodist House we saw both the Greater and Lesser Yellow-nape Woodpecker and the Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo in the tall dense trees so images taken were not so clear.   At the various places we birded we would encounter the rather noisy Long-tailed Sibia and the Chestnut-capped Laughing Thrush and got to know their calls.  Even the lesser seen but more colourful Chestnut-crowned Laughing Thrush would also announce its presence.  We were lucky to see 9 new birds this trip.  For a couple of birds that we could not check from the guide book we had, we got their ID’s very quickly after posting the photo on the Bird Forum so thanks to quick response from the birding community we got all our photographs ID’d.   The lifers were : Siberian Thrush – male & female, Streaked Wren Babbler, White Browed Shrike Babbler – male & female, Mugimaki Flycatcher, Golden Babbler, Blue-winged Minla – male & female, Brown Shrike, Green Magpie and the Large Niltava – male & female.

  This is our 6th visit to Fraser’s Hill since our first trip in 2009 and is our most rewarding trip having seen such beautiful birds on our own.  While it was quiet and not many visitors around we also have Mark to thank who gave us clues where to go.  Durei   was  also helpful telling us where certain species can be found.  On our last morning as we were driving out, the Siberian Thrush both male and female were right there on the ground of the car park so we had some good parting shots of our visit.

  There are a couple of spots that we have no time to visit which we will check out on our next visit in 4 weeks time.

Fraser's Hill Album

Birdwatching at Dairy Farm - 20.2.2011

Last Sunday we got up early and were at Dairy Farm at 7.15 am to join Kim Chuah, NSS for bird watching.  Even at this early meeting time of 7.30 am there were more than 30 participants gathered to greet Kim Chuah and Wing Chong who assisted the walk.  He later spotted many of the birds we saw that morning.   The Greater Racket-tailed Drongo and Crow-billed Drongo being the first birds we saw.  The Scaly-Breasted Munia at the Education Centre kept the photographers clicking. 

We were then led on a trail to the Singapore Quarry and on the way the migratory Asian Brown Flycatcher and Tiger Strike were spotted.  We found we had a good workout as the walk to the Singapore Quarry was quite long.  On the way more birds were spotted but high in the trees.   On reaching the Singapore Quarry,  the Common Kingfisher was spotted.

This bird is not common but a migratory species.   There were also the Olive-winged Bulbul flying about the trees while the Little Grebes were diving into the water at the pond.  Later a full view of the Grey-headed Fish Eagle perched on a tree waiting to take flight became the centre of attraction. 

   With these birds capturing the attention of the participants no one noticed the time until the heat reminded us it was time to go.   With a return walk to the Carpark B, it was almost noon when the event finished and time for a well-deserved lunch and thanks to Kim Chuah & Wing Chong.

Dairy Farm Album

The Rabbit Arrives

In the last week of January we made a trip to Lake Kenyir Resort & Spa hoping to see the many different species of Hornbill. The drive was much less taxing than anticipated and we were lucky with light traffic for most of the run.  We chose the route via Segamat to Terengganu and exit the  N-S highway at Yong Peng, this part of the drive was slower but was the scenic part of the 8-hour drive to Tasik Kenyir.  At this time of year we had expected rain and were not “disappointed”, the rain coming in short showers every 30 minutes or so with brief dry periods between. We still managed to cover a lot of ground and saw 4 species of Hornbills and lots of garden birds. On a trip with Latiff guiding, we saw the Wallace’s and Blyth’s Hawk Eagles and the Crested Serpent Eagle on its regular perch on a lamp-post near the resort.  He also found the White-Bellied Woodpecker that he had seen the day before, with its red head bobbing up and down as it pecked on a tree trunk.

Our return trip included a weekend stopover with friends in KL who later joined us in Singapore over the CNY.

After a busy period over the CNY, visiting and celebrating with relatives and friends, we slowly returned to visiting the wilder side of Singapore. We visited Lorong Halus after reports of sightings of Jerdon’s Baza but we seemed to have missed the boat although that Friday we were not alone as several photographers with their tripods and long lenses had already stood watch for the fly-past that did not happen.  We left for Pasir Ris Park to check the activity there.

On one of our walks up Mount Faber we were surprised to see the dismantling of the two telecoms  towers near the Jewel Box.  One of the towers had served as the lighted “Christmas Tree” over Christmas and New Year,  making quite a sight at night, which we could see from our flat, we are glad we got a photograph of it.

Last Sunday we had a nice morning walk at Ubin up to “Pokka” Hill. On the way down we were lucky to spot an Indian Cuckoo perched above us.

Some more links to pictures from our walks in the past few days.

Telok Blangah Hill

Canopy Walk

Forest Walk

Pasir Ris Park