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.
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| 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.
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| Golden Babbler |
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| Fire-Tufted Barbet |
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| Rufous-Browed Flycatcher |
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| Mountain Fulvetta |
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| Chestnut-Crowned Laughingthrush |
Stripped squirrels seem to be quite a familiar sight in the hills over at Peninsular Malaysia.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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