Birding Fraser Hill 2023-Part Three

After Bird Race, I decided to extend my stay at Fraser Hill for more relaxing photo section to join another 3 friends just arrive from Singapore. I moved from Shahzan Inn to MCM Nature Discovery Villa, An unique accommodation specially set up for naturalists, bird watchers and photographers located deep inside the rain forest on the telecom loop. I believe I made the right choice, as I have some beautiful encounters with birds, insects and other wildlife during my stay at MCM (run by Stephen from Stephen’s Place) . 

One of my favourite birds spotted along the Telekom Loop was Red-billed. I have no chance to see a live stick insect during my stay at Fraser Hill, instead found it struggling to escape from a bird's catch. On the 1st walking along the telecom loop, I found it flying around a few tall trees far far away, got a few blur shots. My luck came on another misty day while walking around the telecom loop again, we had a beautiful encounter with 3 Red-billed Malkoha, one of them having a big stick insect for early dinner. They were foraging high up the trees in the thick forest...

 

The Red-billed Malkoha (Zanclostomus javanicus) is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. This is a nest-building species and does not parasitize other nests like some cuckoos. It is found in primary and mature secondary rainforest from low elevations up to 1200 m.  Wikepedia

While searching for the red-billed Malkoha, from distance I saw this swallow like tiny bird, only from the camera lens realize this is my lifer star bird: A black-thighed falconet, it is one of the smallest raptors in the world…Half an hour spent, watching 3 of them on power line, one was taking its lunch, a big insect? Too far to get clearer photos.

 Black-thighed falconet 

There are many more other birds we spotted along the telecom loop. Like Pied shrike-babbler, Himalayan or Sunda Cuckoo, some eagles in flight, lesser coucal (too bade i am not fast enough to capture their photos).  Orange-bellied leafbird, red-headed trogon, Mountain Imperial Pigeon, large Cuckooshrike, Sultan Tit etc.

   

Pied shrike-babbler, Male is dark above and white below, Only see its grey white feather when taking photos from under the tree branches where it perched, I got another back side shot which captured its bold yellow wing panel. Photos taken in front of Hemmant Trail.  

Pied shrike-babbler female 

I got a few shots of Female bird on telecom loop. The female is duller than the male, with grayish upperparts and olive-yellow wings. They were hopping around in the forest, catching prey from branches and leaf cluster, very active bird.

  

Mountain Bulbul and Stripe-throated Bulbul

Stripe-throated Bulbul 

MCM have a very big garden, the moth trap attracted some birds in the morning, most common birds are Mountain Bulbul and Stripe-throated Bulbul, We also spotted Black-throated Sunbird, Spider hunter, Sultan Tit, Cuckooshrike, Munia etc, Orange-bellied leafbird and Mountain Imperial Pigeon spotted from sky cabin too...And the most interesting bird to me is the Swiftlet!

 

I was told this is Plume-toed Swiftlet (Collocalia affinis) 毛趾金丝燕, not the Edible-nest Swiftlet, which the white nest is made of saliva and used to make bird's nest soup. They are very interesting birds which we saw them every day but I never have chance to get a clear shot. 

Except the little one which we found on the ground on one of the early morning.

The roosting place of them is at a small man-made “cave” which I think was a garage previously, located down the slope before going up to the Stephen's Place. The cave has a grilled gate, hundreds of birds buzzing around, fly in and out at a very high speed, maybe to prevent knocking themselves on the metal bars? While I standing in front of the gate looking inside the "cave" some birds flying out almost touched my face. Looking into this smelly so-called "cave", noticed some birds circling anti clockwise, round and round, there are many nests attached to the ceiling too, I believe this is their nesting place as well. Took a few record shots…

Another highlight of the Telekom Loop was the Red-headed Trogon (Harpactes erythrocephalus), an attractive but shy bird who likes to perch surreptitiously high up in the trees.

...And this cuckoo in front of Stephen’s house

The fruiting berry tree at the entrance of Stephen’s Place is not in season, otherwise we will see more birds. Well I will come back here again for sure.

Birding Fraser Hill June 2023-Part Two

There is no single site where you are guaranteed to see something at Fraser Hill, but there are some places for sure you will encounter more wildlife. My favorite walk at Fraser Hill is the whole stretch of the path from in front of the entrance to Hemmant Trail, passing beautiful Whittington bungalow and Muar Cottage to Cicely (Kuantan) on a hill slope. The view towards the downhill of the rainforest is fantastic. This is a best place where you can appreciate the cool mountain air and the jungle, at the same time a best place to encounter many birds during the bird waves. 

Next good location is at road side in between the entrance of Hemmant Trail and Bishop Trail. Apparently the birds here are so used to human, they will just appear whenever human turn up. There is a drain culvert which I think this is a feeding place. Birds are most seen here: chestnut-capped laughingthrush, Ruofus Browed Flycatcher, White tailed Robin, common Magpie Robin, Pied shrike-babbler, Fire-tufted Barbet and Black-browed Barbet. 

Fire-tufted Barbet

Red-headed Trogon

One of the most colorful birds I spotted around this area is the Red-headed Trogon. There are twice, both morning and evening time, these birds were seen perched quietly on the tree branch, turning its head like a model on a catwalk, put up a magnificent show for all its adoring fans below...The head, neck and upper breast of an adult male is crimson red, it has a brown back, and barred black-and-white wings. Female has a more faded-red belly and a brown head. Both sexes, when seen from below, have a sharply contrasting and graduated black-and-white tail pattern. I am really happy to be able to uncheck this beauty during this trip. 

Large Niltava Male

Large Niltava (Niltava grandis) is another colourful and very active birds can be spotted along this path. Male bird has very bright electric purplish-blue above and very dark blue below. 

Large Niltava Female

Female is dark brown with rusty tones in the wings and some blue patch on the neck. The deep blue plumage of this bird get so much attention of mine, I cant refuse clicking again and again of this beauty. I have not been able to get male and female bird in one frame, that will be the reasons for going back to Fraser Hill in the future. 

White-tailed Robin Male

White-tailed Robin Female

Male White-tailed Robin is similar to Large Niltava but with smaller-headed and larger-bodied and has a wider tail with two bright white patches on it. White-tailed Robin seem more shy, Inhabits dense forests, sometime can be difficult to spot in thick foliage. 

 

Here, we are happy to witness a couple of Mountain pigeons too. They were collecting the material for building their home, they low perched long enough for some photos taken. 

Around this area, we also found the nesting location of the Long-tailed broadbill. This is a forest bird that lives on insects, It is found in the Himalayas and extending east through South-East Asia and the Malay Peninsula to Sumatra and Borneo. Long-tailed Broadbills can be found throughout the Fraser's Hill forests.....always heard its rasping squalling call of two syllable.

Long-tailed Broadbill

This bird is also called the “Elvis Bird” as the head looks like Elvis Presley’s haircut,  favorited by the iconic rock n roller star of the 1950s. It is just such an amazing experience in watching this bird chilling around in the jungle, bring food, flying in and out of its nest... Though I didn't get to see my another target-Silver Breasted Broadbill, this long-tailed broadbill is a consolation, shouldn't ask for more.   

Birding in the field is subject to luck...My luck for this trip is not not bad. I have spotted total 50 species of birds, though most of them are just record shots. For the target birds of this trip, I didn’t spot (or get a nice shot) my other 3 in my list: Blue Nuthatch, Green Magpie, Green-billed Malkoha, and the shaped like an egg bird-Pygmy Cupwing, which we call it “小𠧧蛋”. We went there a few times during the first three days at its so called “regular playground”, not far from Bishop Trail, but no show, instead we get entertained by those small, cute birds: Rufous-browed Flycatcher, Buff-breasted babbler and Lesser Shortwing. Here are some of the photos from the trip. Next post will be including the birds spotted on telecom loop. 

Rufous-browed Flycatcher, common bird at Fraser Hill, but really is a Beauty.

 

Lesser Shortwing, small ground-hugging bird

Lesser Shortwing female 

Lesser Shortwing male

Buff-breasted babbler

Black-browed Barbet feeding on wild fruit

 
Fire-tufted Barbet and Black-browed Barbet

Fire-tufted Barbet

Birding Fraser Hill June 2023-Part One

We arrive at Fraser Hill just one day before Bird Race to avoid the crowd. I am happy have made this right decision. We have some quiet time to walk around the area, and got some nice shots. One of the happy shots is this woodpecker species: Lesser Yellownape 

We wanted to drive down to the Jeriau Waterfall in our plan, as the road leading to the waterfall entrance proofed quite productive, but it is closed for maintainer work. We end up spending some time near Smokehouse (Jalan Jeriau), had some fun looking for green magpies and Sultan Tit.

Grey-chinned Minivets male 

Gary-chinned Minivet, another colourful songbird at Fraser Hill, they are often seen  in small hyperactive groups. Male bird  have very bright orange belly and female in yellow. We have encountered a few times of this bird in large flocks, I still not able to get a clear shot of the female. 

Grey-chinned Minivets Female and Common Green Magpies 

When we just parked the car, I immediately saw a few of Common Green Magpies, got a backside shot before they are disappeared. We came across a small bird wave with the usual birds as well as Grey-chinned Minivets, long tailed sibias, a few tamed chestnut Laughingthrush, and other usual species. A pair of black throated sunbird was singing around the flowering trees there too. 

Black-throated Sunbird 

Rufous-browed Flycatcher

While looking for our main target of this trip-Sultan Tit, we saw something colorful moving around the bare tree trunk, then we saw this Lesser yellownape, one of the 16 species of woodpecker recorded at Fraser Hill. Listed as a threatened species, it is nevertheless widely distributed throughout its range. We were lucky to capture its beauty during our trip. 

Lesser Yellownape 

On the 2nd visit to the area, we had an afternoon English tea at Ye Olde Smokehouse. After relaxing and enjoying the delicious scones served with strawberry jam and whipped cottage cream with a cup of coffee, we went for our hunt again. 

Sultan Tit

We did find a few of Sultan Tit came in a bird wave. They mixed with other birds make the photograph a bit challenging. Sultan Tit has a eye catching black and yellow combination, coal-black with a bright yellow belly and sharply upswept crest. We have searching this bird since 1st day came to Fraser Hill, it tends to stick to the canopy, where it readily associates with other species in mixed flocks. Very vocal, often heard its squeaky, shrill calls, like repeated high-pitched whistles. Another time I saw them in front of Hemmant Trail, same situation: high perch, thick foliage. 

One of the best luck came when I moved to stay at MCM, that was a raining day, we have to sit around the tree house to enjoy the scenery of the jungle forest, suddenly a few of them flew in, gave me a few minutes of chance to get a shot. I have to use high ISO to get a clear shot due to dim lighting after rain, still very happy to capture one of my lifers during this trip. 

Mountain Imperial Pigeon 

While searching for Sultan Tit again at Muar Cottage area, we saw the Mountain Imperial Pigeon and Trogon too. It is a lucky found of this mountain imperial pigeon, as they spend most of their time up high in the canopies. This low perched pair is going to build a new home, given us a good chance of photography. Beside Mountain Imperial Pigeon, I also spotted the other two common Pigeons in Fraser's Hill: Little Cuckoo Dove and Green Pigeons, though I didn't get a nice shot of both. 

Mountain Imperial Pigeon and Little Cuckoo Dove

Little Cuckoo-Dove, it’s reddish brown feather very beautiful, got a record shot in front of Pine Resort. There are beautiful birds which I missed the capture, the reason for going back again and again 😂 

Silver-eared Misia

Mountain Fulvettas 

Long-tailed Sibias 

Maybe I should mention the old Jelai Highland Resort in this post. That is a feeding point for many photographers to get their wonderful shots. The resort like many others in Fraser Hill already abandoned and left to rot with no one care to take over. Chestnut Laughingthrush This year I saw little here except for Long-tailed Sibias, Streaked Spiderhunters, a few tamed Chestnut Laughingthrush, Silver-eared misia. Mountain Fulvettas and as always Fire-tufted Barbets call were heard nearby but no show. 

Chestnut Laughingthrush

There are 3 laughingthrush which include Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush (also known as Spectacled Laughingthrush), Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush (also known as Malayan Laughingthrush) and Black Laughingthrush (which I have no luck to meet one).

Malayan Laughingthrush

A large Cuckooshrike, which I misstaken as a “crow”😂 

 

Another record shot: Orange-bellied Leafbird. The gray hazy sky made the capture very difficult. 

Dark-necked Tailorbird

Asian Glossy Starling

The fun part for birding in Fraser Hill is encountering Bird waves. It can be at anywhere, there is no single site where you are guaranteed to see something. A totally quiet stretch of road path can be transformed into a frenzy of more than 30 birds comprising many different species. All birds arrive at almost the same time, I am always struggling to get a nice shot of my favorite bird, and lost focus of it  in the deep foliage...But well, there are memory, or photos, of something amazing left too, at least recorded in this blog...Some of the photos shared here, and more for the next post.