Malaysia birding diary

Bill & Doreen Stair, April 11 - May 14, 2001

The continuing saga of our year-long, theoretically low budget, RTW birding trip... A couple of weeks on Peninsular Malaysia and then two more in Borneo in search of Bornean endemics and Sundan specialties. Malaysia has to be one of the easiest countries in South Easy Asia to get around - everyone seems to speak English, and the public transport network is cheap and easy. Unfortunately, everything else is relatively expensive, so prices came as something of a shock after Thailand. Any attempt to economize by buying foodstuffs and consuming them in your room should take into consideration the large, cheerful and fearless rats that inhabit the national parks.

Fraser's Hill

This hill station is easy to reach by public transport from Kuala Lumpur, and once there you can easily walk to all the birding locations. Accommodation isn't particularly cheap, and the filthy Puncak Inn is a must-to-avoid; better, but more expensive, is the Quest Resort. The Bishop's trail was good, but very leechy and, as usual in dense forest birding, the birds were often hard to see. (Bring your own DEET spray for clothing, you can't get it here). We had better luck along the roads - the road down to the Gap is very good, and there was a good fruiting tree near Ye Olde Smokehouse.

Roadside highlights: a Black Laughingthrush near the entrance to the Bishop's trail, a pair of Blue Nuthatches on the way to the Gap, the Fire-tufted Barbet near the Smokehouse, and the Collared Owlet being buzzed by a very brave Black-throated Sunbird on the way to High Pines.

Birds seen at Fraser's Hill: Blyth's Hawk-Eagle, Glossy Swiftlet, House Swift, Mountain Imperial-Pigeon, Little Cuckoo-Dove, Rock Dove, Lesser Yellownape, Black-browed & Fire-tufted Barbets, Collared Owlet, Long-tailed Broadbill, Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Grey-chinned Minivet, Green Magpie, Large-billed Crow, Javan Cuckooshrike,  White-throated Fantail, Asian Paradise, Little Pied, Pygmy Blue &  Rufous-browed Flycatchers, Large Niltava, Lesser Shortwing, Oriental Magpie Robin, Blue Nuthatch, Pacific Swallow, Dusky Crag-Martin, Mountain Bulbul, Yellow-bellied Warbler, Mountain Tailorbird, Chestnut-crowned, Chestnut-capped & Black Laughingthrushes, Grey-throated & Golden Babblers, White-browed & Black-eared Shrike-Babblers, Blue-winged Minla, Silver-eared Mesia, Mountain Fulvetta, Long-tailed Sibia, Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, Black-throated Sunbird, Streaked Spiderhunter.

4/19 - 4/24/01

Taman Negara

Possible to get here in one day from Fraser's Hill if you get a taxi to next town east (the name escapes me) and then bus it to Jerantut, where you can get a boat the rest of the way.  The last boat leaves at 2:00 p.m., but staying overnight in Jerantut would give you the chance to stock up on supplies - the Taman Negara resort is outrageously expensive, and the cheaper accommodation on the wrong side of the river is still pretty steep.  The floating restaurants are OK, however, and camping at the resort is probably the best option.

The Taman Negara resort area supports an amazing number of excellent birds - in a fruiting tree behind our room (near the restaurant) we saw eleven species of bulbul at the same time. Unfortunately, the trails are quite badly maintained, and after the cool temperatures of Fraser's Hill it was pretty hard going. Consequently, we tended to bird quite close to the resort area. No doubt more intrepid birders will find greater numbers of rarities than we managed to do. The canopy walkway reduced me to a nervous wreck, but we did see a Rhinoceros Hornbill flying over one of the lookout points, so it must have been worth it.

Birds seen at Taman Negara: Crested Fireback, Common Sandpiper, Buff-necked Woodpecker, White-throated Kingfisher, Blue-throated Bee-eater, Oriental Pied, Black, Rhinoceros and Helmeted Hornbills, Blue-crowned Hanging-Parrot, Thick-billed & Little Green-Pigeons, Crested Serpent-Eagle, Black-thighed Falconet, Raffles' Malkoha, Greater Coucal, Grey-rumped Treeswift, Silver-rumped Needletail, Fork-tailed Swift, Asian Fairy Bluebird, Blue-winged & Greater Green Leafbirds, Black-and-red Broadbill, Brown & Tiger Shrikes, Asian Paradise & Yellow-rumped Flycatchers (quite late), Lesser & Greater Racket-tailed Drongos, Oriental Magpie Robin, White-rumped Shama, Slender-billed Crow, Common Woodshrike, Common & Hill Mynas, Pacific Swallow, Black-headed, Yellow-vented, Stripe-throated, Cream-vented, Buff-vented, Yellow-bellied, Puff-backed, Olive-winged, Grey-bellied, Red-eyed, Spectacled, Streaked & Grey-cheeked Bulbuls, Common Tailorbird, Scaly-crowned White-chested & Abbot's Babblers, Striped Tit-Babbler, Orange-bellied, Yellow-vented & Crimson-breasted Flowerpeckers, Brown-throated Sunbird, Spectacled, Grey-breasted & Long-billed Spiderhunters, Eurasian Tree Sparrow.

4/29 - 5/1/01

Palau Manukan, Borneo

This island is just twenty minutes from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah's state capital (where on the river you can see Whiskered Terns, White-bellied Sea Eagles and Brahminy Kites). Once again, accommodation is expensive, but at least here it's pretty good - and rat-free. Trails seem to be non-existent, but Tabon Scrubfowl can be found on the paved jogging path, White-breasted Woodswallows fly overhead, and Pied Trillers forage in the trees by the cabins. No sign of the frigatebirds, though.

Birds seen on and around Palau Manukan: Pacific Reef-Egret, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Tabon Scrubfowl, Common Sandpiper, Whiskered Tern, Green Imperial & Pink-necked Pigeons, Emerald Dove, White-throated Needletail, Collared Kingfisher, Yellow-vented, Olive-winged & Red-eyed Bulbuls, Dark-necked Tailorbird, Arctic Warbler, Pied Fantail, Mangrove Blue Flycatcher, Asian Glossy Starling, Oriental Magpie Robin, Pied Triller, White-breasted Woodswallow, Brown-throated, Ruby-cheeked & Olive-backed Sunbirds, Dusky Munia, Eurasian Tree Sparrow.

5/2 - 5/4, 5/8 - 5/10/01

Mount Kinabalu NP, Borneo

This was perhaps our favorite birding location in Malaysia. The trails are excellent and the temperature is perfect (a bit too much rain, though). Accommodation is cheaper here, but book well in advance. Alternatively, you could save money by staying in the dormitories. Like anywhere in Asia (or in this case the Greater Sundas), you can run into a mixed flock at any time, or walk on a trail for hours without seeing anything; but the roadsides are always packed with great birds, including very common endemics like Chestnut-crested Yuhinas..

Some highlights: the Golden-naped Barbet and the incredibly friendly Mountain Wren-Babbler on the silau-silau trail, the Temminck's Babbler by the road up to the power station, and the Dark-sided Flowerpecker that lived outside our cabin.

Birds seen at Mount Kinabalu: Glossy Swiftlet, Little Cuckoo-Dove, Golden-naped Barbet, Sunda Cuckooshrike, Bornean Treepie, Short-tailed Magpie, Bornean Whistler, White-crowned Forktail, Grey-throated Minivet, Bar-winged Flycatcher-Shrike, Spangled Drongo, Black and Crimson Oriole, Snowy-browed, Little Pied & Indigo Flycatchers, White-throated Fantail, Sunda Whistling-Thrush, Ochraceous Bulbul, Mountain Leaf, Mountain Bush & Yellow-breasted Warblers, Mountain Tailorbird, Black-capped White-eye, Chestnut-capped, Black & Sunda Laughingthrushes, Grey-throated & Temminck's Babblers, Mountain Wren-Babbler, Chestnut-crested Yuhinas, Dark-sided Flowerpecker, Scarlet Sunbird, 

5/5 - 5/8/01

Poring Hot Springs, Borneo

We seemed to be here during a long weekend, so the result was somewhat akin to birding Great Adventure on Memorial Day. However, once you get past the pools and start climbing the trail to Langanan waterfall, the people fade away and you start finding the birds. The resort itself was totally booked up, so we stayed half a mile away, and the roadside to the park entrance was also excellent, (Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker, for example). Not to mention an young female Orang Utan, undoubtedly a highlight of our whole trip.

Some other birding highlights: The Diard's Trogon near Kipungit waterfall, the Hodgson's Hawk-Cuckoo loudly calling from eight feet in front of us, and the Straw-headed Bulbuls seen from the porch at the Poring Lodge.

Birds seen at and around Poring Hot Springs: Purple Heron, Buff-rumped Woodpecker, Hodgson's Hawk-Cuckoo, Greater Coucal, Raffles' Malkoha, Diard's Trogon, Spotted Dove, Black and Red Broadbill, Bronzed & Spangled Drongos, Black-winged Flycatcher-Shrike, White-crowned Shama, Common Iora, Asian Fairy Bluebird, Greater Green Leafbird, Grey-cheeked, Hairy-backed, Black-headed, Red-eyed, Yellow-vented & Straw-headed Bulbuls, Oriental Magpie Robin, Asian Paradise & Grey-headed Canary-Flycatchers, Pied Fantail, Pacific Swallow, Yellow-bellied Prinia, Yellow-bellied Warbler, Rufous-tailed Tailorbird, Black-capped Babbler, Chestnut-crested & White-bellied Yuhinas, Brown Fulvetta, Orange-bellied & Yellow-rumped Flowerpeckers, Crimson, Ruby-cheeked & Purple-naped Sunbirds, Long-billed Spiderhunter, Dusky Munia.