Had a day off today. In the morning I was trying to reply to all the emails and finalizing some of the logistics for upcoming trips. I know I need to go out birding on my own today, just a casual one - maybe go out to look for the Mangrove Pitta nearby KL. It has been a long time since the previous spot was destroyed by sand mining activity. But I'm really glad the species still survive at a different spot in this area. Not easy to see it but after trying for a good 15 minutes, it showed up on a higher branch of a tree next to my car. Quickly took out the beloved spotting scope and start taking photos and videos with the iPhone. 

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Met up with Betty and Steven in Fraser's Hill for a 3 days 2 nights birding. It was not their first birding trip in the hill station but their previous trips were limited to the area near their accommodation. Betty and Steven arrived 2 days earlier, so they managed to see and identify 38 species on their own. That really put a lot of pressure on me to show them the harder to find species here. As usual, I tried my best to get as many species as possible in this short period. Well, after 3 days of birding, I say we did pretty well with lots of opportunities for them to take photographs. Some of the highlights are (but not limited to) Red-headed Trogon, Long-tailed Broadbill, Collared Owlet, Malaysian Partridge, Malayan Laughingthrush, Black Laughingthrush, White-tailed Robin, Lesser Shortwing, Lesser Yellownape, Greater Yellownape, Bay Woodpecker, Fire-tufted Barbet and Black-browed Barbet. 

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Thanks to Mr Lee, today I went out with Anita for a day birding in Bukit Tinggi and Hulu Langat. Many good species but we didn't see or hear any hornbill in both location, strange but that's birding. We spent the morning in Bukit Tinggi for Mountain Peacock-pheasant but we also managed to secured good views and photographs of Orange-headed Thrush, Silver-breasted Broadbill, Little Cuckoo-dove, Siberian Blue Robin, White-rumped Shama, Orange-bellied Flowerpecker and Whiskered Treeswift. No sign of Ferruginous Partridge though. 

In the afternoon, we went to look for Rufous-backed Kingfisher and we rewarded with the adult kingfisher feeding its fledgling. There were also Grey-headed Babbler, Horsfield's Babbler, Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, Rufous-winged Philentoma, Grey-breasted Spiderhunter and others. 

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Today was a short trip for my local guest to a lowland forest away from KL which is roughly 2 hours journey. The main purpose is to take photographs of new species for his photo collection. We were very excited to get the opportunity to witness a nesting of Large Frogmouth. Ok, we did not post any of the nesting photos until we got the news that the chick had fledged. I considered this a successful nesting. Good news right? Apart from the usual suspects of babblers and bulbuls, we also managed to get a Buff-necked Woodpecker.

On the way back to KL, we stopped by for .......

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This weekend of 9th and 10th March, I took a bird photographer to some of the birding spots for a rewarding photography session. 

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I received a last minute assignment from Mr Lee. Thank you so much that this trip fill up my one of my available dates for March. Ross came for a short holiday and only allocate 1 day for birding. So, to make use of the available time, we went birding in Hulu Langat and Shah Alam, which is within Kuala Lumpur area.

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Today I guided Ann and Greg from USA to 2 birding sites in Selangor. In the morning, it was the hot open field in the coastal area of Klang then we proceed to the hot and humid lowland forest of Shah Alam.

At the first site, we had Common Flameback, Javan Myna, Common Myna, White-vented Myna, Collared Kingfisher, White-throated Kingfisher, Brahminy Kite, Crested Serpent Eagle, Black-shouldered Kite, Zebra Dove, Spotted Dove, Pink-necked Pigeon, Common Sandpiper, Painted Stork, Lesser Adjutant, Savannah Nightjar, Zitting Cisticola, Red-wattled Lapwing, Lesser Coucal, Brown Shrike, Long-tailed Shrike, and others. 

In the afternoon, our main targets were Blue-winged Pitta and Hooded Pitta. Oh yes, we definitely nailed these two star birds along with a few other species. 

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One of the best birding sites in Peninsular Malaysia. It doesn't matter if you are a birdwatcher or a bird photographer, this place is a "MUST-VISIT". A day trip is a bit too rush, I would personally recommend at least 3 days 2 nights, but a 5 days 4 nights would allow time to do a more relaxing birding while enjoying the hill station. Some birders even stayed for 6 nights!!!

Fraser's Hill is averagely 1,200m (3,900ft) above sea level. Distance from Kuala Lumpur is about 100km (62 miles) but since the road going up is winding and partly 1 lane, the journey should take no less than 2 hours. However, we will probably be reaching the hill station later than that because we will do some opportunistic birding and toilet stop along the way. :D 

Bring along a jacket. Although, temperatures usually between 22 - 28°C (71.6 - 82.4°F) during the day, at night and early morning it ranges between 16°C to 20°C (60.8 - 68°F). Please take note, sometimes it can be misty when we go out birding in the morning and evening, so it is never perfect weather. Weather is unpredictable up here, although the off-wet season is usually April - September. Frankly, that's the reason I recommend at least 3 days 2 nights to 5 days 4 nights staying up here.

Food? Plenty of choices. Local malay, chinese, indian and western food available but do not expect fancy restaurant. Alcoholic beverage (beer) is only available at selected restaurants.

Let's go to the best part of Fraser's Hill. It's the birds diversity of course!!! Click HERE to read more about the Birds of Bukit Fraser or you can fill up the contact form below and we will get in touch with you immediately. Alternatively, you can send me messages via WhatsApp at +60166494733

Happy BIRDING!!!

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I received Alison's email not too long ago. She requested for a day trip in Kuala Selangor and fortunately, I do not have any booking on the date she mentioned. Both of them did not expect how hot and humid the weather here in Peninsular Malaysia, especially in Kuala Selangor. Initially I told them we will only be spending a short time in the mangrove reserve but we only got back to the car at the hottest time of the day. After a short break and lunch, we resume our birding late in the afternoon in the paddy field.

It was quite a successful birding in the mangrove, ticking off those mangrove specialties. It was awesome birding with this couple from Scotland. I hope they will enjoy birding in Fraser's Hill and Taman Negara on their own.

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"Thank you so much for a wonderfully enjoyable day yesterday. I very much enjoyed meeting you and every aspect of the day. You are very skilled, showed me so many birds, it was a relaxed and easy paced day, you were generous and interesting, and I sincerely hope that my wife Carol will be able to join us for another outing in the future. I have both some wonderful memories of the day as well as some great photos. Many happy hours on photoshop ahead!! I hope you can send me a list of the birds we saw, there were so many, many of them new to me, many very difficult to see without your expert help. It was great to see 2 Pittas, as well as Barbets, Falconet, Spiderhunters, Flycatchers and of course the star pair of Rufous-backed Kingfishers. For me, it was also great to see Greater racket-tailed Drongo." - Ross, UK

After concluded an 11-days trip with Carsten yesterday, I rest for a few hours before picking up Ross from his hotel in KL. It is just a day trip, but he did managed to see lots of new birds and getting some incredible shots for his collection.

We started the day in Shah Alam with the notable Blue-winged Pitta and Hooded Pitta. Among other birds we saw were  2 species of hornbills, 3 species of Woodpeckers, 3 species of Spiderhunters and the cartoon-looking Black-and-Yellow Broadbill.

Over in the afternoon, we had a slow and relaxing birding in Hulu Langat. Patience is required most of the time but we didn't wait long for our first target to appear. A Rufous-backed Kingfisher was already waiting for us. Next, we added Grey-headed Babbler, Grey-throated Babbler, Siberian Blue Robin, Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, and few others.

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This is one of the most exhausting but enjoyable trips that I have done. Lots of exciting species which were listed by Carsten 2 years ago. We have been communicating for many months and we added the best site in the world for Rail-babbler. Where is the best site? Southern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The best site but does not necessarily mean the easiest site.

For 11 days, we traveled for almost 2,000km to cover as many grounds as possible for his target species. We covered the traditional key sites - Fraser's Hill and Taman Negara, as well as other local birding spots, very rewarding birding indeed.

Apart from the birds, we also look for as many mammals as possible.

Lucky to find a nesting Large Frogmouth

A Great Slaty Woodpecker is a welcoming sight in the morning

We waited for the Crested Fireback to show up from the hide.

It came out finally

This Clouded Monitor looks like a Malayan Water Monitor except that its nostril is located in the middle between its eye and snout. Meanwhile, the nostril of a water monitor is nearer to the tip of its snout.

Three-striped Ground Squirrel

Slender-billed Crow

Prevost Squirrel

 

Shrew-faced Ground Squirrel

Ferruginous Babbler

Grey-cheeked Bulbul

Short-tailed Babbler

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This is my 2nd time guiding David. Previous trip, we spent time in the famous hill station, Fraser's Hill. This time we went to Shah Alam, Bukit Tinggi and Krau forest to get other species, most of the ones we got on this trip are new. Definitely a great trip for David!!! I enjoyed this trip like any other trips that I have done since I started guiding many years ago.

The highlights for this trip include Mountain Peacock Pheasant, Ferruginous Partridge, Siberian Blue Robin, Hooded Pitta, Black-and-Yellow Broadbill, and many more.

Not forgetting, a family of Siamang was very vocal, calling loud from the tree. Had a great Siamang concert.

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