A great birding trip with Roland and Nini. Lots of laughter and fun during our 8 days birding. Some targets showed up instantly while some took much longer but also some misses too. Still, we get pretty good list for the trip.
For this trip, Roland had informed me that he wanted to get better photographs of hornbill and kingfisher. I planned out an itinerary to suit his targets and add a few other popular photography targets too. We covered the coastal of Selangor, Putrajaya and then moved further inland into the lowland forest of Hulu Langat, Krau, Kuala Tahan and the highland of Bukit Tinggi as well as Fraser's Hill. A trip to Peninsular Malaysia MUST include Fraser's Hill.
After 4 days of birding, we managed 6 species of hornbills (White-crowned, Rhinoceros, Great, Black, Oriental Pied and Helmeted). No matter how hard we tried for the next few days, we were unable to add any new hornbill species sighting to add to our trip list. The best we got was a call of Bushy-crested Hornbill. Can't complain much, it has been a great birding for me and them. 4 owls for the entire trip including the not so common sighting of Brown Wood Owl and Mountain Scops Owl. And yes! both of them had tons of photos of the owls (i hope). We worked really hard for it.
We also saw and photographed 6 species of kingfishers (White-throated, Stork-billed, Collared, Rufous-backed, Rufous-collared and Banded). No sign of the Blue-eared and Blue-banded though, and we were not anywhere near the habitat for Ruddy and Brown-winged. :D
It was surprising to see this Rufous-collared Kingfisher at a good close distance and eye-level. It was very cooperative and stayed for a long time for Roland, Nini and myself to observe and admire it.
Photo taken with iPhone SE, Kowa TSN-IP5, and Kowa TSN501.
And no forgeting the 2 most popular Trogon in Peninsular Malaysia, none other than the Scarlet-rumped Trogon in the lowland forest and Red-headed Trogon on the highland.
The photo on the right showing a Scarlet-rumped Trogon taken with iPhone SE, Kowa TSN-IP5, and Kowa TSN501.
It was surprising to see this Rufous-collared Kingfisher at a good close distance and eye-level. It was very cooperative and stayed for a long time for Roland, Nini and myself to observe and admire it.
Photo taken with iPhone SE, Kowa TSN-IP5, and Kowa TSN501.
And no forgeting the 2 most popular Trogon in Peninsular Malaysia, none other than the Scarlet-rumped Trogon in the lowland forest and Red-headed Trogon on the highland.
The photo on the right showing a Scarlet-rumped Trogon taken with iPhone SE, Kowa TSN-IP5, and Kowa TSN501.
All these 9 photos showing Mountain Imperial Pigeon, Red-bearded Bee-eater, Banded Kingfisher, Crested Serpent Eagle, Red-headed Trogon, Black-and-Yellow Broadbill, Malayan Peacock Pheasant, Oriental Honey Buzzard and Banded Pitta were taken with iPhone SE, Kowa TSN-IP5, and either Kowa TSN501 spotting scope or Kowa BDXD 10x32 binocular.
We were driving around a small area surrounded by oil palm and there it was a juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle. Good thing there is not much traffic along this stretch of road. We were able to stopped the car and take photographs of the raptor.
At the location for Rufous-backed Kingfisher. Roland decided to stayed on this spot because this is the best angle to shoot the kingfisher despite that Nini found a leech here. Ok, by now you should have guessed that why Nini is not sitting here.
We met Susan Myers and Greg Greene led by a friend of mine at Taman Negara.
A birder from Netherlands joined us for Chestnut-winged Babbler. There was a Blue-winged Pitta nearby too.
Nini goes after the Blue-winged Pitta!
It finally showed up after a lengthy wait! Patience, patience, patience....but time is very crucial.
Complete our target for Malayan Peacock Pheasant in Taman Negara, we took the short river crossing on a boat. It was a hot day indeed!
We spent a late morning at this location of an abandoned hotel in the hill station. It rained for a minute then it stopped and we got good lighting but maybe Nini felt it was better to shoot from inside the car while Roland prefers to sit out in the open. We had a good show put up by Silver-eared Mesia, Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush, Fire-tufted Barbet, Long-tailed Sibia and the friendly squirrels too.
Nini was tired, so she had the afternoon OFF while Roland continue birding with me in a quiet afternoon.
Nini need a massage, but the only massage available in Fraser's Hill, is this massage chair at Shahzan Inn hotel lobby.
On the way down from Fraser's Hill, we had Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike and Grey-chinned Minivet. New for the trip, so they both jumped out from the car and spent a few minutes waiting for the birds to give us a good view. Reaching KL, we had a short session going through the photographs taken by Roland and Nini. Label them one by one before we end this trip. Another good trip! Well done to both of them.
