(Pictures are at the bottom of the page, right after the birdlist.)

Even though I have lived in Thailand for so long I have still had very limited experience with birding in Malaysia. Mainly visited Panti forest reserve in Johor while in Singapore.

This time I headed for Fraser's Hill in central Malaysia. I was graciously picked up by Dr. Manjeet Singh at the airport. Manjeet took me for a delicious Indian lunch and then proceeded to drive me all the way to Fraser's Hill. Otherwise it would have taken a long time with public transportation. Fraser's Hill is an old hill station established by the British. At 1500m elevation it provides refreshing temperatures (average 18-23 C). The place has lots of paved roads and a few trails. It offers good montane birding and holds a few species not found in Thailand. The forest is mostly untouched, lush and bountiful.
I spent 2 full days walking up and down the hilly roads (good for those old legs) and came up with 8 new species seen. Most exciting were Blue Nuthatch,
Fire-tufted Barbet, Black Laughingthrush and Malaysian Whistling Thrush.

I took a taxi from FH to Taman Negara. There is public transportation but it is slow and would have taken too much of my time.
Taman Negara is in the lowlands and a huge National Park. At headquarters is an upscale resort mainly catering to tourists coming in on organized tours from Europe. Way too pricy for me. However across the river from the park is a little village with several budget resorts. Durian Resort is family run, clean and great value for money. Recommended.

The park holds some very attractive colorful species. As usual the lowland rainforest is very hard to work through. I walked on an average 15 km/day during the 3 days I was there but only came up with 4 new species. Had a long drawn out battle with a Garnet Pitta in which I eventually prevailed. Fantastic looking bird and my 10th Pitta. Other very nice birds were Crested Partridges (seen several times), Banded Pitta, Crested Fireback, Large Wren Babbler, Javan Cuckoo-Shrike and many smaller Babblers. The swamp loop was easily the most productive area that I visited.
The forest in the Blau and Yong hide area is simply superb. It was quiet the morning I visited but must hold a lot. Tall, large trees all over with a fairly 'open' understorey.


I brought my camera along and managed a few shots. These were all taken with the Canon 350D and 400mm F5.6 with built in flash. Three days of birding was clearly not enough for Taman Negara. I'd say atleast a week up to 10 days for real in dept birding.

Peter


Birds seen at Frasers's Hill
(not inclusive of birds heard)

1. Crested Serpent-Eagle
2. Blyth's Hawk Eagle
3. Wedge-tailed Pigeon
4. Mountain Imperial Pigeon
5. Little Cuckoo Dove
6. Glossy Swiftlet
7. House Swift
8. Fire-tufted Barbet
9. Black-browed Barbet
10. Pacific Swallow
11. Black-winged Flycatcher-Shrike
12. Malaysian Cuckoo-Shrike
13. Orange-bellied Leafbird
14. Black-crested Bulbul
15. Stripe-throated Bulbul
16. Ochraceous Bulbul 17. Mountain Bulbul
18. Bronzed Drongo
19. Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo
20. Asian Fairy Bluebird
21. Green Magpie
22. Blue Nuthatch
23. Golden Babbler
24. Grey-throated Babbler
25. Black Laughingthrush
26. Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush
27. Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush
28. Silver-eared Mesia
29. Black-eared Shrike-Babbler
30. Blue-winged Minla
31. Mountain Fulvetta
32. Long-tailed Sibia
33. White-bellied Yuhinna
34. Oriental Magpie Robin
35. Slaty-backed Forktail
36. Malayan Whistling Thrush
37. Common Tailorbird
38. Dark-necked Tailorbird
39. Verditer Flycatcher
40. Rufous-browed Flycatcher
41. Little Pied Flycatcher
42. Large Niltava
43. White-throated Fantail
44. Maroon-breasted Flycatcher
45. Grey Wagtail
46. Black-throated Sunbird
47. Little Spiderhunter
48. Streaked Spiderhunter
49. Buff-bellied Flowerpecker
50. Everett's White-eye
51. White-rumped Munia





Taman Negara


1. Black-thighed Falconet
2. Crested Wood-Partridge
3. Crested Fireback
4. Little Green Pigeon
5. Blue-crowned Hanging-Parrot
6. Banded Bay Cuckoo
7. Raffle's Malkhoa
8. White-throated Kingfisher
9. Pied Hornbill
10. Great Hornbill
11. Checquer-throated Woodpecker
12. Buff-necked Woodpecker
13. Grey-Buff Woodpecker
14. Maroon Woodpecker
15. Rufous Woodpecker
16. Black-yellow Broadbill
17. Garnet Pitta
18. Blue-winged Pitta
19. Banded Pitta
20. Pacific Swallow
21. Lesser Green Leafbird
22. Bar-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike
23. Grey-bellied Bulbul
24. Stripe-throated Bulbul
25. Yellow-vented Bulbul
26. Red-eyed Bulbul
27. Spectacled Bulbul
28. Grey-cheeked Bulbul
29. Hairy-backed Bulbul
30. Buff-vented Bulbul
31. Bronzed Drongo
32. Greater Racket-tailed Drongo
33. Black-naped Oriole
34. Crested Jay
35. Black-capped Babbler
36. White-chested Babbler
37. Abbott's Babbler
38. Moustached Babbler
39. Rufous-crowned Babbler
40. Large Wren-Babbler
41. Striped Wren-Babbler
42. Black-throated Babbler
43. Sooty-headed Babbler
44. Chestnut-winged Babbler
45. Oriental Magpie Robin
46. White-rumped Shama
47. Chestnut-naped Forktail
48. Common Tailorbird
49. Dark-necked Tailorbird
50. Rufous-tailed Tailorbird
51. Rufous-winged Flycatcher
52. Glossy Starling
53. Common Myna
54. Spectacled Spiderhunter
55. Grey-breasted Spiderhunter
56. Yellow-eared Spiderhunter
57. Crimson-breasted Flowerpecker
58. Eurasian Tree-Sparrow
59. Scaly-breasted Munia