Today, I went out to Kuala Selangor with Andreas for half-a-day but eventually we spent longer time in the mangrove. The morning drive was not too bad, generally not many cars on the road especially during the fasting month. But since the travel restriction is still enforced, many people have no other places to visit and I noticed more people in the park compared to all my visits in the past 10-20 years. 

Anyway, upon arrival at the park, we were greeted by a troop of Long-tailed Macaque at the front gate and car park. We took our gears out from the car and walked slowly into the trail. A few big trees fell and that allows more sunlight penetration to the forest floor. I was hoping to show Andreas the other species of primate - Selangor Silvered Langur. No sign of it yet but we saw more Long-tailed Macaque. We continued walking and stop whenever we spotted something nearby. Inside the mangrove section, I think we saw more birds and Andreas found other subjects to photograph. After spending 2 hours in here, we made our way back towards the car park and finally we saw a small group of Selangor Silvered Langur but we could not get good photo. There will be another time in the future.

Some of the highlights are shown in the video below. This include Laced Woodpecker, Grey Heron, Crested Serpent Eagle, Greater Flameback, and Chestnut-bellied Malkoha.

 

Strange enough for today. There are not many mosquitoes along the path through the secondary vegetation. I wonder....

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An early drive to the coastal mudflat for a wader watching session. It's been a long time since I go out for waders. I just want a change in environment, so I took the chance to see how the place has changed. Nothing much. It's still the same look all around, unlike in the inland forest which are mostly cleared for housing and other purpose. 

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Travel is still restricted. We can't cross over to Pahang, Negeri Sembilan or Perak. But we still managed to get improved shots of Rufous-collared Kingfisher but most importantly we got our target species today.

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It's been more than 1 year since lockdown due to Covid-19. I need to return to the forest as often as possible to check the condition of the birding sites. I'm glad that the crowd favorite Rufous-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher is back after a long absence. The other highlights for today is a Rufous-collared Kingfisher, Checker-throated Woodpecker and Orange-backed Woodpecker. 

I stayed in the forest from early morning until the weather turns bad. Took a short break with Nescafe, bread and instant noodle. 

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Still confined within Selangor and KL, we try to locate the Black-and-Red Broadbill in the morning and we were rewarded with good views and ample opportunities for photography. We quickly leave the site as soon as we know the crowd is coming into the area. We stopped at the Blue-winged Pitta spot before mid-day break. We end the day with great view of a Brown Boobook.

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Today, it's another 'hunting' trip but instead of woodpeckers, we had put the broadbill as the targets. Since we already had Black-and-Yellow, Black-and-Red, Banded, Silver-breasted, and Dusky, we just need a Green but Bip wanted to improve on his Black-and-Red Broadbill. Dipped on the Green. We found a pair of Black-and-Red but we couldn't get the ideal shots. Soon after, we drove and arrived near KL for Blue-winged Pitta. There was a Grey-capped Woodpecker but it was moving too fast and most of the time very obscure.

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We went back again to hunt for Laced Woodpecker and this time we had better views, better photos and there were male and female! Brilliant!

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Once in a while, I do meet some of the local bird photographers in the field for some uncommon species. Here we were looking for Oriental / Himalayan Cuckoo. Unfortunately until today, we still unable to positively identify this bird since no one has ever record or hear it calling.

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Laced Woodpecker and several other targets were lined up for today's trip which I called it a Woodpecker Trip.

From a brief discussion with Bip, I got an idea what he wanted and I know exactly where to go and how to find the targets. We spent half a day in the coastal mangrove before we retreat to KL.

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It's good to be back up in the hill station. I brought my guest to Fraser's Hill for an overnight birding trip.

We make use of all the time available for birding, so we made several stops along the way. Weather was not the best but still we enjoy every single birds we encountered for the whole trip. 

Some of the birds that we managed to find were Silver-breasted Broadbill, Malaysian Partridge, Malayan Laughingthrush, Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush, Rufous-browed Flycatcher, Large Niltava, Pygmy Cupwing, Bay Woodpecker, Brown Wood Owl, Grey Nightjar, and many more.

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Birding in the forest can be rewarding. Sometimes you get lots of birds while sometimes you get less birds but quality birds, birds that you have wanted to get for a long time. For me, I just want to go out and enjoy birding regardless the numbers are high or low. Most important at the end of the day, I see happy faces among the birders that I go out with. Today is not an exception.

Green Broadbill - Captured from Video (Panasonic Lumix G7 + Panasonic 100-300mm II)

Green Broadbill - Captured from Video (Panasonic Lumix G7 + Panasonic 100-300mm II)

In the morning, while waiting for the birders to arrive, I had good views of Rufous-collared Kingfisher, Little Spiderhunter, Rufous-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher, Grey-throated Babbler, Rufous-tailed Tailorbird, Pin Striped Tit-babbler, and Silver-breasted Broadbill. After meeting up with the birders, nailed a Buff-necked Woodpecker and Grey-breasted Spiderhunter, we drove further into the forest to look for the elusive Blue-banded Kingfisher but we dipped on this one. We tried for Silver-breasted Broadbill too, and unfortunately unable to reconnect with this species. We had a good view of an obliging male Dark-throated Oriole. There was a Chestnut-naped Forktail however, it didn't provide us any chance to getting a photo. Need to return for another trip. Shortly after mid-day, (well, we even skipped lunch), we heard Green Broadbill calling. Fantastic! It perched high up in the tree canopy. Then, I realized there were actually 2 birds! Both male. Eventually both of them, came down low. Very low. Point blank! Back to the stream, we spent some time waiting and scanning, still no sign of the kingfisher. Finally, we went to look for Silver-breasted Broadbill again at 2 spots. Dipped! 

Ok. Called it a day at almost 4pm.    

 

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Sometimes, you noticed some birds are named after a person. But who are they? Are you curious? Let's go through a few:

Charles Hose (1863-1929) English civil servant in Sarawak 1884-1907, naturalist, ethnologist (Calyptomena, syn. Cyornis rufigastra, syn. Dicaeum cruentatum nigrimentum, subsp. Hydrornis caeruleus, Oriolus).  The species or subspecies is as hosei or hosii. 

John Whitehead (1860-1899) British explorer, collector in Borneo 1885-1888, the Philippines 1893-1896, and Hainan 1899 (Aerodramus, Calyptomena, syn. Dicaeum haematostictum, subsp. Dicrurus leucophaeus (ex Buchanga palawanensis Whitehead, 1890), Harpactes, syn. Leptocoma sperata henkei, subsp. Lophura nycthemera, syn. Nisaetus nipalensis, syn. Pachycephala grisola plateni, subsp. Prioniturus discurus, Sitta, syn. Strix seloputo wiepkeni, syn. Trichastoma bicolor, subsp. Turdus poliocephalus, subsp. Turnix sylvaticus, Urocissa, Urosphena, subsp. Zosterops montanus, Zosterornis). The species or subspecies is written as whiteheadi.

Christina Brown Countess of Dalhousie (1786-1839) Scottish plant- and fern-collector, wife of George Ramsay 9th Earl of Dalhousie, Commander in Chief, East Indies (syn. Aegolius acadicus, Psarisomus). The species is written as dalhousiae or dalhousiana or dalhousiei. Look for the latin name of Long-tailed Broadbill.

Lionel Walter 2nd Baron Rothschild of Tring (1868-1937) English ornithologist (syn. Amazona barbadensis, subsp. Arachnothera longirostra, Astrapia, Bangsia, subsp. Bostrychia olivacea, subsp. Buteo buteo, syn. Camaroptera superciliaris, syn. Casuarius unappendiculatus, subsp. Charmosyna pulchella, syn. Cochoa viridis, Crithagra, Cypseloides, syn. Daphoenositta chrysoptera striata, syn. Diomedea exulans, syn. Diphyllodes magnificus, syn. Eos bornea, subsp. Fregata magnificens, subsp. Geospiza scandens, subsp. Geotrygon saphirina, syn. Granatina ianthinogaster, syn. Gygis alba candida, Heliangelus x Eriocnemis, syn. Hemitriccus zosterops, subsp. Heteromyias armiti, syn. Irediparra gallinacea, Leucopsar, syn. Micropsitta pusio, subsp. Muscicapa sibirica, subsp. Nucifraga caryocatactes, ‡syn. Pachyornis elephantopus, syn. Phaethon rubricauda, syn. Phalacrocorax onslowi, subsp. Phasianus colchicus, syn. Pitta sordida, subsp. Pomatorhinus superciliaris, subsp. Psilopogon lagrandieri, syn. Rhea americana albescens, syn. Rhea americana intermedia, syn. Sericulus chrysocephalus, subsp. Serilophus lunatus, syn. Stipiturus malachurus westernensis, syn. Sylvia melanocephala momus, syn. Tanysiptera nympha, subsp. Zosterops minor) (see rothschildii). The species is written as rothschildi. Look for the latin name of Silver-breasted Broadbill. 

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It's been a while since my last post on this blog. Well, the travel restriction is still enforced at the moment in Malaysia, fortunately now we can drive around within the state of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. That's a relieve. 

This video was capture few months ago from a site not too far from home. It's a Buffy Fish Owl, one of the most commonly sighted nocturnal species during a standard birding tour around Peninsular Malaysia.

To view more birds of malaysia videos, please click on the following link to visit my Youtube channel. Appreciate a lot if you could subscribe to the channel too.

https://www.youtube.com/c/BirdinginMalaysia/

#malaysianbirder #bird #owl #birding #birdwatching #birdphotography #birdingtour #birdguide

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

Coffee Made in the Shade Can Be More Profitable, Thanks to Birds
October 1, 2019
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/coffee-made-in-the-shade-can-be-more-profitable-thanks-to-birds/

Birds, Coffee, and Natural Ecosystems

Amanda Rodewald studies the ecology of coffee farms and birds’ habitats in Central and South America, with an eye on preserving biodiversity.

https://research.cornell.edu/news-features/birds-coffee-and-natural-ecosystems

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

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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. 

He has been to Borneo and he even helped to highlight on the bridge project over Kinabatangan River which was eventually abandoned. Read the article here: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/21/attenborough-guardian-headline-halts-borneo-bridge

Learn about this fascinating figure. Check him out on Google and YouTube. Watch his documentaries.  

Here are some links for a start:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Life_of_Birds#DVD_and_book

https://borneoproject.org/tag/david-attenborough/

https://www.npr.org/2018/12/25/680079474/sir-david-attenboroughs-field-recordings-from-across-the-planet

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/nine-astonishing-ways-david-attenborough-shaped-your-world/z4k2kmn 

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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.

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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!!!

If you can't see the link, here it is: Drink Coffee That's Good for Birds

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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.

  

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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. 

Click HERE ---->>>   https://malaysianbirder.blogspot.com/p/butterflies-of-peninsular-malaysia.html

You can also visit my Facebook album "Butterflies & Moths of Peninsular Malaysia"

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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.

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