I'm a bird watcher, digiscoper, photographer and a licensed nature guide. If you are interested in bird watching and photography (of birds, butterflies, dragonflies, damselflies, and primates), I will be glad to be your guide here in Malaysia. Email me at nature2pixel@gmail.com
This morning, I guided 2 avid birders with their father to Bukit Tinggi. From KL to our birding destination, we stopped by for a plate of wantan noodle. First birding of the day was the highlight of the trip. It was a Helmeted Hornbill. Despite the thick mist, we could still identify this gentle giant in our Malaysian forest. We waited for quite some time hoping that it will make a 2nd appearance, but unfortunately, it didn't. We had a consolation in a Gold-whiskered Barbet perching in the open.
We continued our walk into the forest to look for our main target, Mountain Peacock-Pheasant. Well, it was already waiting for us. It stayed on for some few good minutes for everyone to get a good look, took photos and videos. Next up, we had 3 Dusky Broadbill and a single Silver-breasted Broadbill. We tried to look for more hornbills but the visibility did not improve. That makes our birding difficult. Along the walk outside the trail, we had Dark-sided Flycatcher, Asian Brown Flycatcher and Dark-necked Tailorbird.
The crowd has entered the garden, so we continued our walk and tried to avoid the day tourists. We had 3 Red-bearded Bee-eater, Sooty Barbet, Black-crested Bulbul, Cinerous Bulbul, Black-headed Bulbul, Bar-winged Flycatcher-Shrike and Whiskered Treeswift.
Received an email yesterday. Interesting result from recent studies about Peregrine Falcon. There are so many good readings about research of birds from overseas. Hope to read more interesting studies done in Malaysia because we do have some local and non-local ornithologists working out in the field in the country.
Took a short time going through some articles on birds and coffee farm. Now I realized there are really a lot of effort on this sustainable farming practice. I would like to share the following links with you. Enjoy the articles.
There is another interesting article about crows in Malaysia which stated that the House Crow over here is genetically similar to the ones in Sri Lanka. Some believe the bird hitchhiked ships and arrived in Malaysia. Meanwhile, Zoologist Dr Hafidzi Mohd Noor from UPM said that crows from Sri Lanka was introduced in Malaysia. It was introduced as a biological control to coffee plantation in Pulau Carey in 1902 by John Edward Valentine Carey. Read more here: https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2019/03/472669/crows-problem-epic-proportions
His voice is unmistakable! I have heard of his voice for so many years on television documentaries since my childhood. I am sure you can recognize his voice instantly! For today's post, I would like to talk about David Attenborough.
Over the years, we have seen so many naturalists making lots of wildlife documentaries. Everyone has their own unique personality / character. But whenever I think about a naturalist on TV, it would always be him, the one and only David Attenborough. I tried to watch almost every documentaries I can find featuring him. One of the most unforgettable and my favorite series is The Life of Birds. As a birder, I of course bought a copy of the DVD for my own collection.
David Attenborough joined BBC in 1952 and made remarkable journeys into the wilderness to film the wonders of nature. Such an incredibly strong passion for nature, even age could not stop him from sharing his knowledge to the world. I truly believe he has witnessed so many things in life more than anyone else and he have seen the changes to the natural world - good and bad.
My first visit to Fraser's Hill was in the 90s. I had to complete my university field practical hours, so I picked WWF Fraser's Hill. I was stationed here for 4 weeks. I had no idea it was so cold up here. Everything was cold (at least for ordinary Malaysian standard). But I am glad that I got the chance to experience how and what it was like in those days. Birds are practically everywhere and very approachable. If you walk into the trails, Large Niltava and Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush would be perching close to the trail. Plenty of Silver-eared Mesia.
Fraser's Hill was named after a Scottish, Louis James Fraser. The old story we know is that he went missing in the forest but the latest news I was told is that he actually went back to Europe where he met with an accident and died. If you want to read more about Louis Fraser, just click here to Wikipedia.
According to Pahang Tourism's website, it mentioned that the hill station is 1,524m above sea level. However, I believe this is the highest accessible point (by walking) of Fraser's Hill. It is generally around 1,200m above sea level. Up there it is generally between 19°C - 22°C.
The hill station is regarded as one of the prime birding destination in Peninsular Malaysia. Oversea birders have been visiting this place for many many years. There are about 250 bird species recorded here but frankly speaking you will probably get to see 100 species while some would require lots of patience and longer duration. It also depends on the season. During the migration period, you could expect some species passing by while some would remain as wintering visitor.
Normally, I would suggest at least 3 days 2 nights birding in Fraser's Hill but not everyone would be able to spend such amount of time. Day trip is doable but you will be missing the birding session in the morning and late afternoon since the drive from KL city center to the hill station is not 1.5 hours as stated in some of the websites or according to Google Maps. The road uphill is winding and narrow while the road between KL and Kuala Kubu Baru can be busy at times (especially holiday season / public holiday).
Lots of birds to be discovered here including Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush, Malayan Laughingthrush, Black Laughingthrush, Silver-eared Mesia, Long-tailed Sibia, Black-throated Sunbird, Streaked Spiderhunter, Large Niltava, Rufous-browed Flycatcher, Little Pied Flycatcher, Red-headed Trogon, Collared Owlet, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Large Cuckooshrike, Black-and-Crimson Oriole, Long-tailed Broadbill, Silver-breasted Broadbill, White-tailed Robin, Streaked Wren-babbler, Pygmy Cupwing (previously known as Pygmy Wren-babbler), Black-browed Barbet, Fire-tufted Barbet, Golden Babbler, Grey-throated Babbler, Buff-breasted Babbler, Malaysiam Partridge, and many more.
Watch the video above which I have compiled and to highlight some of the amazing birds up in the hill station. Apart from the birds, you can expect to see a few species of primates and wild boar too. Plenty of squirrels around while the cutest in Himalayan Striped Squirrel.
Lots of restaurants around there. Most would be serving local meals (Chinese, Malay and Indian) while there are a few that serve western food. For accommodation, try Shahzan Hotel, Puncak Inn or the more expensive Smokehouse. AirBnB is available in Silverpark while some bungalows are renting out the rooms.
Hope you get some ideas how Fraser's Hill would be for your birding trip to Fraser's Hill and what you can expect from there.
If you are interested to hire my service to guide you for birding in Fraser's Hill, just send me an email to nature2pixel@gmail.com or send a text message to me via WhatsApp at +60183632738.
An email received yesterday "How will the ☕ you drink help birds? Find out now"
I drink coffee at local coffee shop, not like those Starbucks or Coffee Beans. I am not crazy about coffee but occasionally I will order just the ordinary black coffee with sugar (no condensed milk added) and ice while on birding trips. Although, I don't believe the beans or the powder originate from shade-grown coffee plantation because it will be expensive for the coffee shop owner.
Almost all kind of farming or plantation over here in Malaysia is destructive, which means, farmer or big plantation companies will clear the forest before planting their crops. Quite unfortunately, sad but true. But after reading the text on the above link, personally I like the idea of shade grown farm. It really helps to keep the birds (and other wildlife) in their existing habitat. Really a win-win situation. I might be wrong or the writer could be half right. But I think there must be a thorough field study conducted on shade-grown coffee, otherwise how would the writer come out with the statement "more than 42 species of North American migratory songbirds that winter in coffee plantations, including orioles, warblers, and thrushes". Amazing!!!
I remember this trip very well. It was my first trip with Roger for 5 days. We covered Kuala Selangor, Fraser's Hill and Hulu Langat. His enthusiasm and passion for butterflies is amazing! I was impressed and soon, I started shooting and looking out for butterflies too. I did another trip with Roger in 2011 and will compile the photos soon.
Throughout the 5 days, we see more things - apart from birds and butterflies, we had sightings of water monitor, tarantula, trapdoor spider, colugo (YOU SHOULD LOOK AT HIS FACE! HE WAS SO AMAZED), and many primates.
Let's take a look at the video. I hope you enjoy this. There are more videos from my YouTube channel which showcases Birds in Malaysia, my Birding in Malaysia trips, and others. Subscribe to the channel and you will be notify when there is a new video uploaded to my channel. Thank you.
I have been thinking whether to start a new blog or use this blog to share my butterflies sightings & photographs. After a few days of thinking about this, I decided to stick on to this blog. Over the years, going out on birding trips and sometimes just around the neighborhood, I have been able to take photographs of butterflies of various sizes. I used to have a dedicated macro lens, but nowadays I only have a micro four thirds telephoto zoom lens to take all the shots, which I am quite happy about.
How can you benefit from this page? Many of my friends are curious whenever they see colorful butterflies in their garden or while they walk in the urban parks. Sometimes they tried to describe to me what they saw which I can't imagine. Some managed to get some photographs with their smartphone and that's helpful. Now, if I can have a page filled with photographs of the common butterflies in Peninsular Malaysia, it will truly help anyone who wanted to find out what they are looking at.
An early morning drive up to a highland resort near Kuala Lumpur after a tip-off from a birding friend yesterday. I was told that a tree in this highland is fruiting again. I was stunned because the last time I visited this tree was 3 months ago, how is it possible the tree fruits again so soon? Nonetheless, we just go ahead with the plan.
Before reaching the fruiting tree, we stopped by the roadside for a family of Southern Pig-tailed Macaque. We spent about 30 minutes here.
Upon arriving at the fruiting tree, we saw 3 species of Spiderhunters. 1 hour after that there isn't much action around. The other birds that came to the tree were Asian Glossy Starling and Blue-eared Barbet. I walked away from the tree and went to look for possible targets because I can hear Velvet-fronted Nuthatch calling nearby. I went closer to the source but I heard another familiar call.... it's a Red-bearded Bee-eater!!! That will be a highlight for the trip. Quickly we took out our camera but left out the tripod. Here we spent almost 20 minutes. It came so close at eye-level. Perfect ending to a morning trip away from the city.
Guided a family of 4 for a morning birding session up in Fraser's Hill. Since it was their first experience in birdwatching, I've provided each of them a 8x26 binocular which is light and very decent for beginners. If you are interested to buy a pair of binocular for your own use and curious to find out what bird species can be found in your neighborhood, you may contact me via WhatsApp at +60183632738.
The morning started from a drive at Telekom Loop towards the towards the town center. After we parked the car, we walked for about 2.5 hours along the road. This is the best route for beginners and easy to spot the birds too.
Some of the birds seen during the session include (but not limited to):
White-rumped Munia
Buff-breasted Babbler
Rufous-browed Flycatcher
Streaked Spiderhunter
Black-throated Sunbird
Large-billed Crow
Oriental Magpie Robin
Fire-tufted Barbet
Large Niltava
Mountain Bulbul
Oriental Honey Buzzard
Chestnut-crowned Warbler
Golden Babbler
Grey Wagtail
Long-tailed Sibia
Blue-winged Minla
Mountain Fulvetta
Mountain Tailorbird
Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush
Silver-eared Mesia
White-throated Fantail
White-tailed Robin
If you are curious about birdwatching or would like to participate in a beginner birdwatching session in Fraser's Hill, you may send me a message via WhatsApp at +60183642738. Early reservation is most recommended because I had to limit the number of participants to family of 4 due to the current situation.
From carrying those heavy Nikon DSLR gears, Nikon spotting scope, Nikon binocular, heavy tripod and video head and gimbal in those early years of birding, I have realized and admitted that I will not be able to carry the same weight as before. I have sold most of those equipment and donated some but still have the Nikon binocular, Kowa binocular and Leica binocular.
These days, I am happier with my current Panasonic Lumix G7 (sometimes with Olympus E-M1 Mark II) + 100-300mm II lens and Omicron 8x26 binocular. All fits into Hypergear waterproof sling bag. It even have space for a Kowa TSN-501 spotting scope.
Went out birding early to cover the residential neighborhood and also the nearest forest to my home.
The first bird of the day was a White-throated kingfisher. Pretty noisy before dawn. Next, there were Little Heron, Painted Stork, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Pink-necked Pigeon, and few others. Oh well, I was late for forest birding today because I decided to have brunch (breakfast+lunch). Upon arrival, I managed to get Rufescent Prinia, Rufous-collared Kingfisher, Crimson-winged Woodpecker, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, and many more.
However, this afternoon birding provided me the opportunity to see a few butterflies and insects.
We got out from KL at the break of dawn and arrived at our destination looking for Common Kingfisher. The destination, well, it's not exactly a place with high aesthetic value. Luckily my guest understand this and sometimes you can expect some good birds in unexpected location. But since my guest have been to this spot in the past, it does not matter to him. As long as he gets to see and photograph the bird.
Upon arrival at our destination, we waited for a little while. Took out the gears and I had to walked around scanning the perimeter as usual. Eventually, I heard the call of the target species. I ran over to the source and do another scanning with my binocular. B-I-N-G-O!!!
Before we get to see the Common Kingfisher, we had Collared Kingfisher, Stork-billed Kingfisher, White-throated Kingfisher and several other species. No sign of Black-capped Kingfisher.
I drove out from the house very early in the morning as usual to rush up to the hill station before sunrise. However, by the time I reach the spot to ascend the uphill road to Fraser's Hill, there is a tree blocking the road at 6am. Sigh...to make it worst, there is no phone signal. I was the first to arrived here. So no choice, I had to make a U turn to the nearest spot where I get better phone signal. I called the local police station to informed them about the situation. The police told me they will forward this info to Bomba. By 7am, help arrived. It took about 10 minutes to clear the road so that everyone can continue their journey uphill. It's still raining. By the time I reached Fraser's Hill, it was drizzling. I had a discussion with the guest and told him, we can continue as long as it isn't raining that hard. But after a few birding stop, the rain got heavier so we agreed to postponed the trip to another date.
Today, I invested in 4 new binoculars. Apart from my Kowa 8x42 and Leica 8x32 (still in Leica workshop) binoculars, I have been using this Omicron 8x26 on my birdwatching and photography trips. It's very light and compact. I think I have been it for for more than 6 months and frankly it's well worth the money!
Therefore, I dare to invest in 4 pairs of the same model because I can provide these binoculars to my guests whenever they need one during my birdwatching and sometimes photographers can look and enjoy the birds through binoculars too.
We drove up to the hill station very early morning with a stopover breakfast in KKB. Upon arrival in Fraser's Hill we started birding. Large Niltava, Rufous-browed Flycatcher, Streaked Wren-babbler, Pygmy Wren-babbler, Buff-breasted Babbler, Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush, Malayan Laughingthrush, Silver-eared Mesia, Blue-winged Minla and many others. But the best bird of the day for me would be the family of Malaysian Partridge. Good to see them again.
Mountain Peacock-pheasant...Red-bearded Bee-eater...Rail-babbler. Those are the main targets for today. We had 2 but never got any respond from MRB. Sigh.... Well, it's known to be a tough one. It has a nomadic behavior anyway. Ferruginous Partridge was calling very close but didn't show up.
Today, we went into a forest near Kuala Lumpur hoping to find new birds. Unfortunately, it was a very quiet morning. Although we saw several species of birds including babblers, broadbill and spiderhunters, we only had decent shot of a pair of Red-naped Trogon.
On the way home, we stopped by to buy a few containers of 'King of Fruits'.
Started with a pre-dawn birding in an urban park and found several Large-tailed Nightjar before we continued to a new spot for more lifers.
After a short breakfast with noodles and a cup of kopi O' Ping, we went into the forest park. Pretty nice environment, one of the cleanest forest I have ever since in 20 years in West Malaysia. Here, we found Blue-banded Kingfisher, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, White-bellied Erpornis, Striped Tit-babbler, Bamboo Woodpecker, Rufous Woodpecker, and many others but it's good to get an opportunity to see a White-crowned Forktail and Chestnut-naped Forktail . However, the only other lifer we got from this forest is a Rufous-chested Flycatcher. We left this forest before mid day and continue to the other side of the forest where we also made a quick stop. Found Grey-bellied Bulbul, Yellow-eared Spiderhunter, Orange-bellied Flowerpecker and Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker.
Next stop, we had a late lunch at my usual place in Bukit Tinggi. Darn it! It rained before we could continue our birding. Anyway, we drove slowly towards the city hoping that the rain clouds will be gone soon. Fortunately, the rain stopped. We walked into a forest trail and saw a few birds, nothing new until we got 3 Grey-headed Babbler nearby. With a little patience, we finally nailed this species after searching in several places on our previous trips. We returned to KL with 3 new species.
On another day trip, we went up to the highland after hearing about the flowering and seeding of bamboos along the major road uphill. We arrived early in the morning and upon getting out from the car, we had at least 3 Pin-tailed Parrotfinch right above the car! This species is usually seen when bamboo is flowering / seeding. We quickly drove to higher altitude. Need more lifers! Not too far into the trail, we waited for a bird wave and found new species in the form of Speckled Piculet and Marbled Wren-babbler. Heard the Pygmy Blue Flycatcher but could not locate it. Next, we nailed down a Collared Owlet, not really a new species but this time we had the frontal view. After lunch, the weather does not seem to allow us to do any more birding here so we drove down to where we got the parrotfinch this morning. But it rained heavily so we decided to call it a day! Another 3.5 new species.
5 months. It's been that long since the country borders were closed. All trips for this year are either cancelled or postponed. But with support from a KL based birder, I've arranged for a private trip to eastern part of Sabah.
We traveled to Sandakan and made this our base so that we can make changes to our itinerary as and when required. Upon landing in Sandakan Airport, we made our way to Rainforest Discovery Center to try our luck with Black-crowned Pitta and Blue-headed Pitta but only White-crowned Shama turned up. So, without wasting anymore time, we decided to get a quick bite before continue our journey to the highland and stay for a night.
The next day we went to a spot overlooking a valley shortly after breakfast. We got a few birds and then we drove to a feeding station for a Black-crowned Pitta. What was supposed to be a 1-2 hour session stretched to 6 hours before the 🌟 bird show up along with a White-crowned Shama and Fulvous-chested Jungle Flycatcher. Saw a Crested Jay and heard a Rufous-collared Kingfisher but not very cooperative. The weather was a factor why we choose to leave after getting the Pitta. We returned to RDC area for a night.
On the 3rd day, we had Robert showing us a few spot around the resort where we found White-bellied Woodpecker, Rufous Piculet, Chestnut-winged Babbler, Rhinoceros Hornbill, Stork-billed Kingfisher and glimpses of Hooded Pitta. Then, we moved on to Lahad Datu. Found the spot for our next target with the help of my local guest based here. The next day, we spent the entire day waiting for the Blue-banded Pitta but no a single glimpse of it. Only heard it once. An uncooperative (bornean) Banded Kingfisher was perching nearby but we tried for it without much success. At the end of the day, we discussed and decided to return to Sandakan to spend more time rather than staying here. It was a pretty good decision as we got Diard's Trogon, Red-naped Trogon, Buff-necked Woodpecker, Raffles's Malkoha, and others.
We came close on getting a Giant Pitta but we were short of time as we had to catch our flight home to Kuala Lumpur.
With this mini expedition, we know what we could expect from Sabah and what to plan for in my next visit.
"If any keen birders out there looking for a great weekend
escape in nature, be sure to check out Weng Chun birding guide. Just had an amazing
day out birding in Fraser’s Hill with no less than 26 new species spotted.
Ideal for families, small groups or individuals."
- Rex, South Africa / KL
Guided a family for a morning birdwatching session in Fraser's Hill recently. We started the morning from the carpark and walked along the usual road towards the spot for Red-headed Trogon. Along the way, we passed by a Bottle Brush tree which is a favorite for Long-tailed Sibia, Blue-winged Minla, Black-throated Sunbird and Streaked Spiderhunter. Further up the road, we found Mountain Fulvetta and White-throated Fantail. As we got closer to our destination, I saw several photographers grouping infront of the trail head. Without doubt, they must have spotted the Red-headed Trogon and then we saw a red spot near the photographer. Definitely a Trogon! Everyone enjoyed the view through the binocular. It was a male bird. Not too long after, a female bird showed up. WOW!
I heard the Greater Yellownape (woodpecker) nearby but couldn't locate it as everyone were too occupied with the Trogon.
After a few hours of walking, we took a short break. The 2nd part of the session, we had better luck with some colorful birds and there seems to be more activities going on the late morning. This include Black-eared Shrike-babbler, Silver-eared Mesia, Mountain Tailorbird, Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush, and others.
We ended the morning birdwatching with a family of 5 Malaysian Partridge (which we heard early morning but couldn't find). So, this is a great bird to finish off a great morning!
The birds that we saw during the morning session include (but not limited to)
1. Oriental Magpie Robin
2. Long-tailed Sibia
3. Streaked Spiderhunter
4. Blue-winged Minla
5. Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush
6. Red-headed Trogon
7. Streaked Wren-babbler
8. Rufous-browed Flycatcher
9. Large Niltava
10. Black-throated Sunbird
11. Pacific Swallow
12. Little Cuckoo Dove
13. Buff-breasted Babbler
14. Fire-tufted Barbet
15. Mountain Fulvetta
16. Black-eared Shrike-babbler
17. Silver-eared Mesia
18. Fire-breasted Flowerpecker
19. Mountain Tailorbird
20. Lesser Shortwing
21. White-rumped Munia
22. Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo
23. Mountain Bulbul
24. Grey-chinned Minivet
25. Pygmy Cupwing (previously known as Pygmy Wren-babbler)
26. White-throated Fantail
27. Malaysian Partridge
Mammals List:
1. Dusky Leaf Monkey / Spectacled Leaf Monkey
2. Western Striped Squirrel / Himalayan Striped Squirrel
Licensed Guide specialized in birdwatching and photography tour in Peninsular Malaysia.
Birdwatching and Photography Trips
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Butterflies of Peninsular Malaysia
Collection of photographs for reference.
Notable Plants While Birding
There will be some interesting flora that will definitely catch your attention while going out on a birdwatching trip with me. I am in the midst of compiling all the plants, please return to this website for updates. Thank you.
Insects, Reptiles & Primates
You will see other interesting insects, reptiles and primates during your birding adventure with me. Here are some of the photos I have extract from my image bank.
I'm a bird watcher, digiscoper, photographer and a licensed nature guide. Welcome to my 'A Malaysian Birder' blog. I will post my bird sightings and photographs on this blog.
I started bird watching while studying in university. After graduating with a degree in forestry specializing in parks and recreation management, I have been attached to the parks and gardens industry. My past work experiences involve conducting environmental education program, bird watching and many more.
When I go out to the field, I will usually have my Kowa 10x32 BDXD binocular, iPhone and Kowa TSN-501 spotting scope with me. This is the lightest setup for me as I prefer to go light these days. Although sometimes, I will (and I need to) take out my Nikon 10x42 Monarch binocular, Nikon ED82 spotting scope, Nikon1 V1 setup for specific targets.
Bird Watching Tours
There are quite a number of birding groups from Australia, United States and United Kingdom that come over to Malaysia annually visiting the traditional key sites that include Kuala Selangor, Fraser's Hill and Taman Negara. There is not doubt that the 3 sites are the preferred birding sites in Peninsular Malaysia. So if you are coming over for birding and intend to hire a guide, you can send me an email at nature2pixel@gmail.com and go over to posting section to view photos and summary of trip reports with testimonials from past clients.
Besides following the traditional route, I also customized trip according to clients needs, preference and interests. So there are some local patches that I can introduce to all bird watchers, digiscopers and photographers.
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Bird Video
I am also interested to take video of birds. Here are some of my favorite videos for your viewing. Video taken with Nikon1 V1 attached to a Sigma 500mm f4.5 and most of the time iPhone SE through the spotting scope. Editing is done on smartphone Power Director for Android device and I also like the iMovie on iPhone. Enjoy.
