Malaysia's Premier Birding Site - Part 2

After having seen the splendid Mugimaki up close, we went to Telekom Loop where we met up with a group from Thailand. These guys seem to know the place quite well as they were able to locate the residence of the elusive Pygmy Wren Babbler. We saw two this time.

Pygmy Wren Babbler / Pygmy Cupwing - Pale Morph

Previously there were only two morphs i.e the dark morph and the pale morph then it was called "lesser scaly breasted wren babbler" and now i was made to understand that it is called a "Pygmy Cupwing". All these names must be the work of an overworked ornithologist who probably likes to eat cupcakes.

Golden Babbler

Fire-Tufted Barbet

Rufous-Browed Flycatcher

Mountain Fulvetta

Chestnut-Crowned Laughingthrush

Stripped squirrels seem to be quite a familiar sight in the hills over at Peninsular Malaysia.

Sunda or Oriental Cuckoo? - juvenile

The cuckoo could have just swallow this little Chestnut-Crowned Warbler.  A quick look at the literature out there shows that the genus Cuculus is now split into three separate species i.e. i) C. lepidus (Sunda) , ii) C. saturatus (Himalayan) and iii) C. optatus (Oriental)  -  describing Sunda Cuckoo as having a more blackish tail with white spots and thicker black bars while our local birding experts (Khoo Swee Seng & Dave) confirmed that "Sunda" is our resident Oriental especially the one found in Fraser's Hill. Meanwhile according to Allen J & Pearson field guide (2012), chestnut-crowned warbler is a commonly known brood host and this photo helps to confirmed the statement.

The juvenile cuckoo calls are different than the adult. Its calls (which were more like calling for food) are high-pitched and continuous.

Some cuckoo birds especially juveniles can sometimes make one become cuckoo just to id them but nevertheless its another splendid looking bird. A similar juvenile Sunda Cuckoo was spotted by Dave Bakewell at Cameroon Highlands in 2009. Here you could also see the orange gape at the based of its bill.

Mountain Bulbul

We had a great time as always in Fraser's Hill and it proves that anytime is a good time for birding at this hill.

Malaysia's Premier Birding Site - Part 1

This year i decided to skip Raptor Watch at Tanjung Tuan and drove straight up to Fraser's Hill. Met a couple of international birders/photographers from Thailand and Japan. We had splendid views of some birds although most of them were quite common up here.

Little Cuckoo Dove

Mugimaki Flycatcher - male

Javan Cuckooshrike - Male

Javan Cuckooshrike - female

Lesser Racket-Tailed Drongo

At a glance you may think that this could be a bronze drongo but alas it was just a Lesser Racket-Tailed Drongo without its streamers.

You can see Nihon san is smiling here as he has just "shot" his fellow namesake country bird - the Mugimaki Flycatcher.

Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush

Some books have named this bird "Spectacled Laughingthrush" but its scientific name remained the same at the moment i.e. "Garrulax mitratus"

Silver-eared Mesia

International birders/photographers have taken probably a few thousand shots of this bird alone. A beautiful bird from front to back. A good subject to test your photography skills as it is quite friendly as well.

Little Pied Flycatcher - male

Little Pied Flycatcher - female

A female Little Pied Flycatcher after taking a hot bath.

Streaked Spiderhunter

Orange-Bellied Leafbird - male

You can find more photos and information from this trip in part 2.

Bukit Tinggi Birds - Mar 2013

I have planned to try my luck at Awana OPH but it seems that the gate may be closed to public for an unforeseeable long time. So i went straight to Bukit Tinggi which was just a further 5 km away. This time i saw more birds although most of them are quite common.

The first bird seen was a Blyth's Hawk Eagle. Saw it as i was driving up. Look how close it flew near the road.

Pale Blue Flycatcher

Black Eagle

As i was climbing up, i saw this eagle circling above a tree top and trying to grab something.

Then i realised that the eagle was trying to catch these little stripped squirrels. There were plenty of them here.

No animal will move an inch once they see this eagle circling below the canopy but these little fellows (stripped squirrels) were faster and smarter - running down the tree trunks like crazy people.

Finally the eagle gave up and flew away. Although it may not be fully reported but a Penang birder (Chow Wai Mun) last saw this eagle here way back in 2009 (as per BiW records) 

Black-Browed Barbet

Its blue cheek gave away its id.

Siamang - adult

Monkeys (in this case a gibbon) do have a pot belly as well.

Siamang - juvenile

It was not walking but actually moving and dangling on the branch in a typical ape-style.



Orange-Breasted Trogon - male

 Perhaps one of the star birds here. Although it was quite near but it tried not to be too exposed in the open. Must thank the resident caretaker for searching this bird for me although we also dipped on a potential lifer (a flycatcher) which a group of Singaporean did saw it a day before. Nevertheless what is more important for me is that i have also managed to record this trogon's calls. 

Buff-Rumped Woodpecker - male

We saw two but only this male was seen trying to make a nest hole. His "wife" was probably watching him nearby.

According to the resident caretaker, he has seen spiderhunters got trapped in these webs and falconets will grab them from it.

Asian Brown Flycatcher

Silver-Breasted Broadbill - female

Perhaps the most common bird which you can find at this place.

Here is another common bird:

Black-and-yellow Broadbill

This was the first time i have seen this broadbill here. The resident caretaker was equally delighted as he has not seen them making a nest at this place. It looks like the female is doing all the heavy workload in this case.

Red-Billed Malkoha

Ashy Bulbul



A White-Bellied Yuhina. Some books have named it as White-Bellied Erpornis.

Yellow-Bellied Warbler

Grey-Rumped Treeswift-male

There were also other swifts at this place. I believe the swifts below are Asian Palm Swifts

Dave Bakewell (2012) reported (in his blog) that what used to be one species has now been split into 3 i.e. i) Artic Warbler (P. borealis), ii) Kamchatka Leaf Warbler (P. examinandus) and iii) Japanese Leaf Warbler (P. xanthodryas). Well for time being i will just id this bird as an "Artic Warbler".

Other birds which we have seen and heard at this place are as follows:

i) Red-bearded Bee Eater (1) - heard calls only.

ii) Rhino Hornbill (2) - heard and seen.

iii) Scarlet Minivet (2) - heard and seen.

iv)  Ochraceous Bulbul (5) - head and seen.

v) Stripped Throated Bulbul (1) - seen.

vi) Stripped-Tit Babbler (1) - seen.

vii) Streaked Spiderhunter (3) - heard and seen.

viii) Grey-breasted Spiderhunter (1) - heard and seen.

xi) Drongo Cuckoo (1) - perched

x) Unidentified Flycatcher (1)