I have been waiting for this trip to commence ever since it was confirmed with Cindy many months ago. Although I was not expecting so many guests, I though should accept it as a challenge and do my best to fulfill everyone's expectation of a birding trip to Peninsular Malaysia. And it turned out to be a pretty successful trip.
We started the trip with a pre-dawn walk near the hotel for Savannah Nightjar and Large-tailed Nightjar, which were a success just before sunrise. After a breakfast in the hotel, we traveled to the coastal side hoping to catch the endangered Lesser Adjutant. Unfortunately, we were unable to add it onto our list but we managed Yellow-bellied Prinia, Dollarbird, Crested Serpent Eagle, Crested Goshawk and a few others. Next, we proceed towards our hotel in Kuala Selangor for an afternoon siesta. We resumed birding shortly and added Oriental Pied Hornbill, Ashy Tailorbird, Pygmy Woodpecker, Collared Kingfisher, Golden-bellied Gerygone, Pink-necked Pigeon, Pied Triller, and many more. At night, we went searching for the nocturnal species and added Buffy Fish Owl.
On our 2nd birding day, we birded Kuala Selangor Nature Park. We done pretty well in this area and gotten our main targets Mangrove Whistler, Mangrove Blue Flycatcher and Cinereous Tit. Of course, there were other birds in our morning session here. In the afternoon, we moved on to a more cooling environment for birding - Fraser's Hill!
We spent 3 nights up on this hill station. A truly wonderful experience and temperature for all in this group. We started birding even before sun rises and ended each day with a night session. Let's see, some of the highlights we recorded include (but not limited to) Red-headed Trogon, Malayan Partridge, Malayan Laughingthrush, Silver-eared Mesia, Large Niltava, Pygmy Flycatcher, Rufous-browed Flycatcher, White-tailed Robin, Pygmy Cupwing, Blyth's Shrike-babbler, Grey-throated Babbler, Golden Babbler, Buff-breasted Babbler, Yellow-bellied Warbler, Gold-whiskered Barbet, Blue-eared Barbet, Black-browed Barbet, Fire-tufted Barbet, Common Green Magpie, Mountain Imperial Pigeon, Greater Yellownape, Lesser Yellownape, Blue Nuthatch and so much more. The bird waves were really amazing for us too.
Our next destination after Fraser's Hill, is none other than the famous Taman Negara dubbed one of the oldest rainforest in the world. We spent 4 nights here and recorded many good species including the critically endangered Helmeted Hornbill. We walked the trails and go on boat rides throughout the period. Weather could be better, we were struggling at some points during the walks but always rewarded with good birds at the end of the day. Among the highlights during the period are Blue-banded Kingfisher, Banded Kingfisher, Stork-billed Kingfisher, Greeen Broadbill, Black-and-Yellow Broadbill, Black-and-Red Broadbill, Banded Broadbill, Sunda Scops Owl, Crested Partridge, Malayan Peacock Pheasant, Moustached Babbler, Scaly-crowned Babbler, White-chested Babbler, Abbott's Babbler, Black-capped Babbler, Pin-striped Tit-babbler, Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot, Thick-billed Pigeon and Little Green Pigeon.
Bird of the trip for me....Large Frogmouth. We tried several nights in Taman Negara and finally got it with a few guests who were willing to wake up early to hunt for it. We made use of the available hours in the morning and rewarded with Malaysian Blue Flycatcher, Tickell's Blue Flycatcher, Yellow-vented Flowerpecker, Orange-bellied Flowerpecker, Ruby-cheeked Sunbird, Red-throated Sunbird, Spectacled Spiderhunter, Blyth's Paradise Flycatcher, Bronzed Drongo, Straw-headed Bulbul, Wrinkled Hornbill (again!), Rhinoceros Hornbill, Black-naped Monarch, Scarlet-rumped Trogon,
We departed from Taman Negara after lunch and made a brief stop in Lanchang before continue to Bukit Tinggi, our final birding stop. We added Sooty-capped Babbler, Short-tailed Babbler, Black-capped Babbler, Rufous-tailed Tailorbird, Cream-vented Bulbul, Black-headed Bulbul, Hairy-backed Bulbul, Grey-cheeked Bulbul, Buff-vented Bulbul, Rufescent Prinia, Little Spiderhunter,
On our final day, we nailed the 2 main targets - Mountain Peacock Pheasant and Ferruginous Partridge but we also managed to include Scaly-breasted Bulbul, Bushy-crested Hornbill and few others.
Apart from the birds, we also had a fairly good wildlife sightings including Long-tailed Macaque, Pig-tailed Macaque, Silver Leaf Monkey, Dusky Langur, White-thighed Surili, Plaintain Squirrel, Red-cheeked Squirrel, Grey-bellied Squirrel, Red-bellied Squirrel, Western Striped Squirrel and others.
