Bird Watching @ Fraser's Hill - March 2012 - Pt II

This is a continuation from the first part when we left Jelai Resort and went straight to Pine Tree Trail.

Here is the view from Pine Tree trail. From this place one could see the valley below as well as any big birds which may fly across.

Here is the smiling Mark Winter in front of the Pine Tree trail. He certaintly doesn't look a bit like a British Secret Agent, does he? There were not many birds here although we heard a few bird calls which i was not able to id them. We walked down to just about two hundred meters into the trail and then decided to turn back. Mark however did saw a large Niltava as well as a white throated fantail from the road side.

From Pine Tree trail we drove down to a more familiar trail - the Bishop Trail.

Today we saw just a few birds here and this Large-Billed Crow was one of them.

As they were little bird activities here so we decided to walk down to Hemmant Trail.

This was the only bird we saw at this trail - a Rufous-Browed Flycatcher. We had great views of this bird as it perched quite near to the trail, showing us how it catches crickets along the way. We had to leave this trail as it rained like cats and dogs for an hour.

After having our lunch in the middle of the torrential rain, we drove to our next destination - the Telekom Loop ! We reached the place at about 14.00hrs and today this place was certaintly packed with birds.

The first bird we saw was this female Mugimaki Flycatcher which was spotted by my partner - Mark Winter. We spotted the two wing bars which separates it from other species. The female was more friendly as it allows us a few moments to observe her as compared to the male.

And this fellow is the male. Both were silent and the male was exceptionally skittish. Was lucky to get this image.

We also saw this lone CSE flying overhead and some were seen thermaling.

This is a White-Browed Shrike Babbler.

This is a Little Pied Flycatcher.

This was my lifer for today - a Black-Eared Shrike Babbler. A highly mobile bird. This was just a record shot.

This is a common Fire-Tufted Barbet. Look how well it camouflage itself. It was located from the buzzing sound it make earlier as well as the flaps of its wing.

This i believe is a female Black-Throated Sunbird. From this bird onwards, there were waves after waves of birds coming in. At one time there were about 10 - 15 birds swarming around us in an eating frenzy. This was certaintly not a bird wave but a bird tsunami!

This bird makes up the most in the bird wave - a Mountain Fulvetta.

This Black-Browed Barbet was also seen eating some fruits in the bird wave.

These are Grey-Chinned Minivet (male) which flew in to join the bird wave. It does not have the two wing patches or what some call isolated red on tertials and secondaries of a scarlet.

Accompanied by this female Minivet (looks like a Grey-Chinned to me as well). These were the only minivets seen in the bird wave.

This Black & Crimson Oriole was also spotted amongst the bird wave.

So was this Lesser Racket-Tailed Drongo without its racket tail. Here is an extract taken from a local bird forum on the difference between lesser & greater racket tails:

"for racket-tails, first by size, they are quite different, hence the name, you may be able to estimate the size only if you have enough experience with them. second, by habitat, the Greater is lowland, dont proceed highland, the Lesser is highland species, may meet in intermediate altitudes, you will find Greater Racket-tailed when you travel down to Gap Rest House. third, most useful feature is tail shape, without the rackets, the Greater is forked, the Lesser is squared (the only squared tail species in Malaysia) forth, bulge on the forehead, bigger in West Malaysian Greaters and smaller, forming a straighter line, creating a triangular head shape in Lessers".

Then came along this Golden Babbler (i think) in the bird wave.

We did not see Silver-Eared Mesias up at Jelai but they certaintly did make an appearance in this bird wave.

Finally a bird which we were not able to id from the bird wave. Looks more like a female flycatcher of some kind.

It was a great departing party which the birds threw in for us. Looks like the month of March is also a good time to go bird watching in Fraser's Hill. I will certaintly be back !