Another birding day with Izuan. Weather was not the ideal but it was definitely much better than the one we had in December last year. We started the day with White-tailed Robin, a male Red-headed Trogon, Large Niltava and a Rufous-browed Flycatcher. I would say, it was a pretty good birding day as we bumped into several bird waves which covered Mountain Fulvetta, Silver-eared Mesia, White-throated Fantail, Blue Nuthatch, Streaked Spiderhunter, Fire-tufted Barbet, Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo, Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush, Black-throated Sunbird, and even a Chestnut-backed Scimitar-babbler! We tried for the Malayan Partridge and Malayan Laughingthrush, dipped on the former but had nice views of the latter. Izuan decided to called it a day after seeing the Long-tailed Broadbill.  

 

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Another birding adventure with Dr Kuan after a day rest at home. This time, we started our day with a visit to Hulu Langat forest for the Silver-breasted Broadbill which we missed 2 days before. From early morning, we waited until 11am for the pair of Broadbill to show up. We also had our views of the White-bellied Woodpecker in the nest and Black-thighed Falconet, one of the smallest raptors in the world. 

Right after our lunch break, we headed up to the hill station. Yes. Fraser's Hill again! Although we saw many variety of species but still no sign of our targets. Oh well, at least Dr Kuan saw the Grey Nightjar which is a new species for him (but it was not included in the target list he gave me). In the evening, the weather turned unfavorable for birding. Cold and misty. The following night, we got our view of a Brown Wood Owl on lamp post. 

On 25th Feb morning, we only spent a short 2 hours looking for our target. After a long search, we managed to hear it calling from a distance. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be cooperative enough and with the rain started to pour, we decided to leave the hill station and try our luck at the Gap. Looks like the rain keep following us everywhere. It didn't give us much time to look for birds. We continued our journey back to KL. 

  

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A friendly Red-throated Barbet show up in front of us long enough for observe and take photos during our 6-days birding trip.

The first quarter of this year has been encouraging for me as a guide. Enquiries received and concluded a few trips. Let's hope things will get better from here onwards.

This is my first trip with Dr Kuan for year 2022. AGAIN, he passed me a list of target species while I planned our the route and itinerary to get as many possible species. We covered a few lowland forest, ex tin mining area, limestone cave and paddy fields. 

One of the most wanted species for this trip is a Streak-breasted Woodpecker.

Taman Negeri Bukit Panchor. Our first visit to this state park but we didn't have much luck here. 

We end our trip with a visit to the forest in Hulu Langat.

 

We visited Air Hitam Dalam Education Forest twice. There are less big trees now but we were still able to find our targets.  

The ex tin mining area in the state of Perak is well known for Grey-headed Swamphen and may share the same habitat with Black-backed Swamphen.

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With request from a regular guest based in Kuala Lumpur, I planned out the trip to cover a few target species found in the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia. Most photographers have visited the place for the most wanted Malayan Banded Pitta which some consider the most beautiful pitta in Peninsular Malaysia, so it is not a surprise that my guest want to get this species too. 

We started our journey after lunch. Initially I wanted to make 1 birding stop before reaching our destination, however, the weather was not ideal therefore, we decided to do it on our return trip to Kuala Lumpur. Overnight in Alor Setar.

After breakfast, we drove into the forest for our target species. Nailed it almost immediately! Malayan Banded Pitta - checked! Chinese Blue Flycatcher - checked! while the rest of the species seen here are not new for my guest. These include Green-backed Flycatcher, Puff-throated Babbler, Short-tailed Babbler, Grey-cheeked Bulbul, and Orange-headed Thrush.

The next day, we spent the morning back in the forest for White-crowned Hornbill and another round with Malayan Banded Pitta. We left the forest and drove down south where we stopped for Sunda Scops Owl. Not really easy as it was a busy day at the site. After a short session, we continue our drive back to KL. 

 

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Today is my first guiding assignment after CNY. It was just a morning birding but eventually we conclude the session past 12pm. Spent a bit more time with a Blue-eared Kingfisher.

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