Birds of Fraser's Hill, Malaysia

Fraser's Hill is one of the famous tourist destinations in Malaysia. It is famous because it hosts the renowned Annual International Bird Race and its a very Important Bird Area (IBA). Situated in the state of Pahang, West Peninsular Malaysia, it has an altitude of about 1500m above sea level and close to about 270 species of local and migratory birds. Its like a huge bird park up there. If travelling from KL from the old trunk road, the journey would take you about two hours, passing through several small towns namely Rawang, Serendah, Ulu Yam, Rasa, Batang Kali and Kuala Kubu Bharu. As you reached Kuala Kubu Bharu town, you will turn right and use the Kuala Lipis old road whizzing through some scenic mountain roads before reaching the foot of Fraser's Hill. The roads in Fraser's Hill are narrow and winding so precautions are needed when driving as there could be on-coming cars and land slides. Although the roads going up and coming down from Fraser's Hill are one way streets the recommended driving speed up there should be about 30 - 40km. Here are some of its pictures and birds seen:

One of the best place to watch birds up-close is to head to Jelai Highlands Resort. One can see lots of Silver-Eared Mesia, Long-Tailed Sibia and Chestnut-Capped Laughingthrush eating pieces of bread placed by the resort's staff. 

This is a Long-Tailed Sibia

This is a colorful male Silver-Eared Mesia. It can be found almost at every corner of Fraser's Hill.

This male Oriental Magpie Robin looks really well fed as compared to its friends in KL.

The first trail i entered was Hemmant's Trail. Today this trail was really quiet. Saw only a pair of White-Throated Fantail and one Asian Brown Flycatcher.

An Asian Brown Flycatcher. The color of its primary coverts are more intense.

Today (Oct 2011) this is the happening trail. It is located just about 100m away from Hemmant's trail. Saw my first Malayan Hill Partridge (3 of them) running around. Not a single shot turn up clear even with flash.

A Streaked Spiderhunter. Saw quite a lot of them in this trail.

This is another common bird in Fraser's Hill - a Long-Tailed Sibia.

A lovely Black & Crimson Oriole.

The next stop after a quick lunch is Jeriau Waterfall. The waterfall is about 8km from the town and it yielded more birds along the road side. Here are some of them:

This is an illusive Black Laughingthrush.

This is a female Grey-Chinned Minivet.

...and this is a male Grey-Chinned Minivet.

A beautiful Mountain Bulbul.

This is a female Asian Paradise Flycatcher.

This was a Lesser Yellownape - Male

After having visited Jeriau Waterfall, i headed to my final destination, the Telekom Loop. Since it was just a 30 minutes pit-stop, there were only a few birds seen which among others was a Black-Browed Barbet appearing along the road side together with a female Black-Throated Sunbird. Then finally i had a lone "Rufous-Browed Flycatcher seen foraging as well.

Birding in Hutan Lipur Lentang

Hutan Lipur Lentang is a recreational forest just about 40 minutes drive from Kuala Lumpur. Situated in the state of Pahang, this lowland forest has more trails than Sungai Tekala or Gabai recreational forest in Hulu Langat. Unfortunately there are not many fruiting trees here so most birds are observed generally hawking for insects. Here are some of the interesting birds which i saw:

These are Grey Wagtails. Although its already 7.45am but the place still very dark. These birds may look very social in nature but it has always kept its distance from me. These birds were winter visitors over here.

This is a Grey-Headed Canary Flycatcher singing its heart out. Its calls were louder than the sound of the nearby waterfall.

This is a silhouette of a Greater Racket-tailed Drongo.

Although it has passed 9.20am but in the jungle its still very dark. Some white spots can be seen on its feathers.

This fellow could probably be a juvenile Greater Racket-tailed Drongo.

Its not everyday that you will see a woodpecker coming down to the ground to forage for food let alone this Banded Woodpecker !

She is probably looking for some worms to eat.

Always a delight to see - this is a male Asian Fairy Bluebird.

This is a female Greater Green Leafbird - can be id from the tinge of yellow at its throat and a faint yellow ring around its eyes.

This is a Little Spiderhunder.

Not too bad a place for birding but can be crowded with people on weekends.

Asian Fairy Bluebird (Irena puella)

Asian Fairy Bluebird is a beautiful bird. Male has sapphire-blue feathers on its back while its front from neck to belly region are predominantly black. Despite its deep rich blue feathers, it may be difficult to spot these birds in the jungle.  According to Wikipedia, Asian Fairy Bluebird are close relatives to ioras and leafbirds.  It can be seen in plantations, rural kampungs and forest up to 1900m but more often at regions around  850m - 1200m. Locally named as "burung dendang gajah" is a fully protected bird. Although listed as "least concern" by Birdlife International,  you won't be able to see this bird in all trails or all the time. Here are some of its pictures (all are males) which i have managed to shoot when it came down from its usual canopy home for its morning breakfast of wild berries...

If it stays put this way it will be difficult to spot this bird in a dark forest due to its jet-black frontal feathers.

Unless it moves to show its blue shinning feathers.

This is another male lurking nearby.

A simply magnificent bird.

Asian Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis)

Asian Glossy Starling or previously named as Philippine Glossy Starling are one of the most common birds one could see in parks, gardens, plantations etc - especially where there are fruit trees. If there is a ripe papaya, a flock could finish it within a few hours. A flock of about 50 birds were seen recently at Templer's Park (Aug 2011) , feasting themself on ripe berries on a tree.

This is a juvenile grabbing itself a ripe berry.

This fellow is an adult looking at which berries to pick.

This is probably a sub-adult.

An adult deciding which of the two hungry mouths to feed!

A juvenile and a sub-adult together

Another sub-adult fluffing its feathers.

Common Flameback (Dinopium javanense)

Common Flameback woodpecker or previously named "common goldenback" is a woodpecker said to be widely distributed in Asian region (Bangladesh, India, China, Indonesia, Singapore, Borneo, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam). Its habitats ranges from lowland forest up to 800 m, rural gardens, plantations and mangroves. Despite that and although IUCN has listed it as "least concern", you would not be able to see it in every trail. It is a fully protected bird under the local law (Act 76/72) and locally called "belatok pinang muda".  Here are some of its photos taken recently in Kuala Selangor Nature Park (KSNP):

The pictures above are male Common Flamebacks. Male has red crown while female ones have black crown. There are 3 quick ways to differentiate between a Common Flameback and a Greater Flameback in the field. Here are the 3 distinguish features:

This first thing which you should look is behind its neck. Common Flamebacks have an all black hindneck while a greater flameback has whitish circles in the centre of its hindneck.

The second thing which you should spot is just below its red crown. A greater flameback has a thick black line below its crown. In this picture, you can't see any any thick black line below its crown side.

The third thing which you could spot is to see its bill. Greater flamebacks are said to have longer bills than this one.

Birding in Templer's Park

As today was a public holiday in the state of Selangor, i did some birding with a birder from Scotland (Tim Bromilow). It is supposed to be a reserve forest and its just about 20 minutes away from KL. Its one of those birding trips where you will see more mammals than birds. In addition, some of the trails were really in the bad shape (overgrown shrubs and fallen trees everywhere) which rendered some to be unpassable. Then there was an abandoned black magic altar which makes the trail a bit spooky. To top it up i have 6 leech bites ( 4 on the legs, one on the hand and one on the stomach!). The only consolation from this trip was this female Scarlet-Rumped Trogon.

and this Grey-Bellied Bulbul

This is a Gold-Whiskered Bulbul - a common resident in Templer's Park.

This is a Large-billed Crow flying by. A huge bird with wide wing span.

These are some of the many squirrels we saw on the trail.