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).
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.
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