avengerpenguins

14th April 2009
 

The dawn chorus at De Palma Inn was pretty good, with Orioles and Koels supplemented by kingfishers and plenty of less easily recognisable species. In the “monkey tree” were a couple of different woodpeckers, one of which was Grey-headed and lots of macaques, many of which were jumping onto the roofs of nearby chalets.

 

A short distance down the road was a religious shrine on a rock overlooking a small pond. From here we finally managed to identify the swiftlets that had been causing us a few difficulties as Germain’s. These were numerous in the area. A Black-naped Oriole showed well  as did both male and female Olive-backed Sunbirds.

 

Breakfast had been paid for and was taken and then we were off for the day, with a reasonably early start in Taman Alam being preceded by just a few more monkey photos and a short stop to identify a Brown Shrike just over the back fence of the hotel grounds, a few White-bellied Munias in the same area and a Collared Fantail and a small flock of Chestnut-rumped Babblers in the “monkey tree”. Another woodpecker at the same location was frustratingly elusive and only looked like a species that was well out of range.

 

Taman Alam was pretty in the morning sunshine and we arrived just before a large and rather noisy school party. We opted to head left after the bridge in the hope of exploring the mangroves via a couple of boardwalks. Two large Water Monitors startled us as they fell out of a tree just as we were walking past it but we soon forgot our surprise as we tried to get a decent view of a small flock of Scaly-breasted Munias. White-rumped Munias a little further along made it three Munia species in an hour.

 

A young Canadian couple, Geoff and Laura who we recognised from the previous evening’s boat trip caught up with us and we walked along together for a while before stopping at one of the rather pleasant hides by the water’s edge for a little shade and a drink. We got reasonable views of what was to become the most familiar large raptor apart from Brahminy Kite, Crested Serpent Eagle from this hide along with several herons and passerines. A Lesser Adjutant drifted over and we sat in the relative cool of the shelter just chatting about travel (the Canadians had been in South East Asia for many weeks, having visited Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand) and picking off a variety of bird species from different families. A check on our provisions showed that we didn’t have much water between us and it was beginning to get very warm with a relentless sun beating down, so we agreed to walk the Mangrove Boardwalk and then retreat to a restaurant somewhere to get some lunch.
 

There were a few birds seen from the boardwalk but the largest numbers were from the platform at the end, with plenty of distant and unidentifiable waders and terns, even with the aid of the telescope. White-winged Tern was the only bird that we could identify with confidence and the haze meant that we could agree that there were at least three different sizes of wader.

 

Geoff and Laura didn’t have their own transport, so we took them on the short drive around Melwati Hill before heading for the Chinese Kampong where we’d lunched the previous day. We chose a different restaurant, simply for a different view and ordered what seemed like enough food - which in the event turned out to be sufficient for a small coach party. We got good views of a Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker on the timbers of the next building whilst we were eating.

 

After lunch we dropped Laura and Geoff off at their hotel, having agreed to pick them up later so that they could take us to a restaurant that they knew for dinner and headed back to Taman Alam for a final session (it had been a long lunch). There were lots of macaques around the entrance and many of the younger ones were jumping out of the trees into a large puddle where they seemed to be having lots of fun. There was enough daylight left for us to attempt a full circuit of the main reserve so we set off in the opposite direction to the morning’s walk after we’d crossed the bridge. 

 

A bird that we at first thought was a bittern turned out to be a rather shy Little Heron. There were lots of Monitors about and plenty to keep us interested. The Mangrove Boardwalk was transformed because it was now high tide and what had been mud in the morning was now inundated. The whole boardwalk earlier on had been over “dry” land and now it was over water.

 

Geoff and Laura were ready at the agreed time and we headed out of town along the road towards KL for a few kilometres to find the Mahaa Maju curry house. This place served up an excellent meal on banana leaves instead of plates - these are really just the appetizers served up before the selection of main courses arrived and we left feeling that we might not want to eat again for a week. The meal cost 28 Ringgits which made it the best value of the whole fortnight, at less than £6 for the four of us, including soft drinks.

Not many tourists come this way, apparently, and the tables were turned on us a few minutes later when we called in at a shop to get some drinks (the restaurant did not serve beer) for a late night ‘picnic’. A group of gentlemen at the rear of the shop who were playing cards were delighted and amused to see foreigners there and insisted on getting some photos of us and sharing their whisky (only CC drinks whisky and he was driving, but fortunately it was heavily watered down). Our most prized purchase was a can of Kickapoo Joy Juice which we could not resist. The best description that we can think of is that it is perhaps a touch on the sweet side for most western tastes.

Braving the bugs, we then went back to the De Palma in and found a picnic table where we sat and compared photos and travel tales to the accompaniment of a couple of Large-tailed Nightjars, one of which eventually flew close enough to the lights to give us a brief view.
 

 

15th April 2009
 

Time to move on again so after breakfast we checked that the monkeys at Melwati Hill were ok (they were) and then headed off for our next stop, the highland village and former Hill Station, Bukit Fraser (Fraser’s Hill) where we had a booking for a couple of nights in the renowned Smokehouse hotel. Rather than turning south on the main road towards KL and the motorways we decided that we’d take a slower route across country and headed north instead. Although the road parallels the coast it is a few kilometres inland so after we’d been on the road for a while we tried a few left turns to see where they took us. The first one ended up at a dense mangrove swamp filled with macaques, where we flushed what we first thought was a large mustelid but on reflection must have been a Malay Palm Civet.

A little further on, the road ended at a bank overlooking mudflats so we got the ‘scope out and found a bit of shade under a tree (it was hot) and started looking for birds. JD saw a mongoose crossing the path but it had disappeared into the undergrowth before CC was on to it, only to reappear a few minutes later and further along the track along the top of the bank. This was a Small Asian Mongoose.

 

Terns were quite numerous and just as hard to identify as those at Kuala Selangor but some of the waders here were much closer and so we started to examine some of them. Redshank was easy on call alone and was one of the most abundant waders here. One of several Greenshanks in a loose group looked rather pale and brought up the possibility of Nordmann’s Greenshank but we were only using one scope and lost it in the change over. Some of the terns settled on a piece of driftwood further down the track, so we moved a bit closer to them and soon realised that they were all Whiskered Terns.

 

Getting back on track we found our way back to the main road and discovered that we had been at/near a place called Sungei Besar, where the turnoff for was about 100m south of the fairly major junction for Tanjung Malin. Probably any road heading towards the coast in this area will get you near the mudflats.
 

Looking at the map, the Tanjung Malin road seemed a decent direction to take for Bukit Fraser but we didn’t get far along here before stopping to look at the flooded padi which held loads of birds. A Black-shouldered Kite sat nicely for photos but we were more excited by several Chinese Pond Herons just opposite where we had parked.  Numerous White-winged Terns flew over the flooded fields and there was an abundance of herons of several different species on both sides of the road. There were plenty of Brown Shrikes on overhead wires and we rather wished that we could have a little more time in this area, but it was stiflingly hot and the road was quite busy with several mopeds with up to 4 people aboard. 
 

Further inland, the padi gave way to extensive oil palm plantations. We’d noticed before that in low lying areas, many plantations seemed very wet with many trees standing in pools of water. In this area, the floods had come over the road and we were faced with a stretch of flooding that went on for 100s of metres. A saloon car was cautiously making its way in our direction. It didn’t seem to have more clearance than our hire car so, moaning about the fact that our 4x4 would have been better for this and not wanting to have to do the long drive back, we set off. The water seemed very deep in places and we weren’t particularly reassured when we passed a car that had broken down part way through. Even better, whilst we were still in the flood, the low fuel light came on, giving us something else to worry about. We were somewhat relieved when the road started to rise a little, to the point that we could actually see it under the water and as we rounded a bend we saw that it was only a few tens of metres to dry road. We tested the brakes, picked up speed and almost inevitably came to another flood within a matter of seconds. This was, fortunately, not as extensive as the first one, being only a few hundred metres long, the first having been at least half a kilometre, although it felt like more. There were about 5 more flooded sections and we somehow got through them all. When we were confident that we were through the worst of it we had a look at the map and found to our dismay that the nearest settlement of any size was about 50 kilometres away. CC has never done such conservative driving. The further away from the coast we got, the sparser the traffic was, so at every opportunity the car was put into neutral to freewheel down even gentle gradients. We went through several small villages but didn’t see anything that suggested that we might be able to refuel until we finally reached a main road and saw a very welcome petrol station sign. We managed to put over 40 litres in, which is over the specified capacity for the vehicle, so we must have been very close to completely running dry when we nervously made the right turn across the heavy traffic and onto the forecourt.

 

Up to a few years ago, Bukit Fraser was reached by a single narrow road which is controlled so that, during daytime, traffic is allowed in only one direction, with the switch coming on the hour. A new road was built to allow two-directional traffic but this was quickly closed by a major landslip so now when you get to The Gap, at the bottom of the Bukit Fraser road you might need to wait. We were lucky, getting to the bottom of the road about 5 minutes before the change over, which happens at 20 to the hour, to allow traffic coming in the other direction to clear the route, so we didn’t need to wait and within 15 minutes we arrived in Bukit Fraser, after a brief pause to try to get a photo of a small group of Pig-tailed Macaques that were crossing the road as we drove up. These were the only representatives of this species that we saw during the whole trip, but the photos were not very satisfactory.

 

The Smokehouse is not the easiest place to find and we drove a round a bit before realising that there were brown signpost for it, as opposed to white for most places. Hint - if you’re going to The Smokehouse, go left at the clock tower as you arrive in the village. We didn’t. It’s worth finding, because it’s possibly the best place in the area to stay and it’s certainly quirky. A lot of effort has been put in to making the place look as English as possible, which, given the surroundings is rather unusual. Amongst birders, The Smokehouse is known for its cream teas and its bird table. Cream tea is part of the package for guests and we were told that we could have it as soon as we wanted, so we left our luggage in a pile at the end of the 4-poster bed and found a table with a view of the birds.

 

Several species visit either the table or the shrubs and bushes and most were new to us. Silver-eared Mesias, Long-tailed Sibias, and Spectacled (Chestnut-capped) Laughingthrushes were present most of the time. A Streaked Spiderhunter visited frequently, apparently on a circuit that included several of The Smokehouse’s bushes and a few Black-throated Sunbirds paid fleeting visits. The cream tea was delicious, in particular the home-made scones and jam. We can think of worse ways to waste half an hour.
 

Heading back to the room to get a few things for a late afternoon walk we heard a commotion in the trees behind the hotel and at first thought that we were seeing gibbons but a check of the field guide showed that this was actually a small party of White-thighed Langurs, our fourth monkey species of the day and the second new one for us. 

 

There are numerous well-marked trails around Bukit Fraser but we weren’t too sure about starting out on one late in the afternoon with rain threatening so we went for a stroll down the road to The Gap, hoping that we might find a few more montane species.

 

It started to rain a bit as we set off down the road and bird activity was limited. A blue flycatcher defied identification but a Raffles Malkoha was not so difficult. It was along this stretch of road that we first realised that the Malaysian forests are the noisiest forests we’ve been in, with thousands of cicadas in the trees seemingly coordinating to make an incredible racket, causing us to raise our voices to be heard. A Mountain Bulbul was located a short distance down the slope and a Little Pied Flycatcher sat out in the open and gave us prolonged views. The call of Mountain Tailorbird is quite easy to learn because some of the phrases (not all) sound like a rendition of “Whistle while you work” - to us, at least. A shrike low down at the roadside in the gathering gloom allowed us to take lots of photographs with the flash. It seemed unperturbed by the bright lights but given the number of thunderstorms in the region, this is perhaps not surprising. It was only when we examined the photos (most were awful) that we discovered that this was actually a Tiger Shrike.

 

We couldn’t resist trying a meal at The Smokehouse, even though it was, by local standards, rather expensive. We had Garlic Mushrooms, and Smoked Duck with Asparagus followed by Devilled Chicken and Beef Stew. The food was good and the staff were attentive. After dinner we went for a walk down the hill, to listen for owls and nightjars. We didn’t hear any but we did see a few fireflies.
 

 

16th April 2009
 

One of the specialities of Bukit Fraser is Malayan Whistling Thrush and the time to see this secretive bird is just before sunrise, when they can often be seen under street lights, presumably collecting bugs that have stunned themselves on the light and fallen into the road. It was still properly dark when we set off in the car down the hill towards the Jeriau Falls but despite approaching every artificial light with care we didn’t have a glimpse of anything that looked like a Whistling Thrush. We did find an Orange-headed Thrush, familiar from our Goa trip in 2006, on the road down near the entrance to the falls. A biggish bird on a roadside sign had us puzzled for a while, thinking that it might be a cuckoo-shrike but it was virtually all dark and it dropped behind the sign and went out of sight. It was only later when we sat with the field guide that we worked out that it had been one of our target species, Dollarbird.

 

Giving up on Whistling Thrushes and with an hour to go before breakfast we returned to The Gap road for another Raffles Malkoha, with the Hoopoe-like call of Himalayan Cuckoo standing out amongst the bird-song. A couple of fly-by Barred Cuckoo Doves were surprisingly easy to identify in the morning sunlight. Several passerines were harder to identify but notes were taken and then we returned to the hotel for breakfast on the patio during which we were able to add Glossy Swiftlet to the list. There were lots of these around.

 

A couple of British birders came marching up the hill from the direction of the falls and we exchanged greetings and asked if they’d had any luck. They told us about a forktail along the stream by the path to the falls so our next move was not hard to determine. Mountain Fulvetta and Yellow-bellied Warbler and Grey-throated Babbler were picked out from the field guide using the notes taken during the morning’s walk.

 

We parked again by the entrance to the falls and were immediately struck by both the heat and the incredible songs/calls of gibbons further up the valley. We started to walk along the track to the falls and quickly found a pair of delightful Slaty-backed Forktails behaving much like Grey Wagtails in the UK, flying off down the stream each time we got reasonably close to them.

 

The falls were pretty enough but hardly dramatic and bird activity had dropped off by the time we got down to them. However there were several spectacular butterflies about, many of which were settling on a small mound of rubbish behind the small changing huts. A skink was enjoying the sun on the edge of the concrete steps down to the falls.

 

To our surprise it was about time for lunch so we found a café in the village and ordered a few odds and ends, with cold drinks being what we really needed. We watched a Blue-winged Leafbird in a tree opposite the café for several minutes. 

 

We’d shelled out for leech socks before we came away so we thought we’d better go somewhere that there were leeches to get our moneys worth, so after lunch we found our way to the start of the Bishop’s Trail. We weren’t disappointed because we found our first leeches only a few metres along the trail. They’re small but quite scary and surprisingly fast. Presumably they locate their hosts either by heat sensitive or reaction to movement/vibration because as soon as you walk close to them they “stand up” on one end whilst the other end scans around frantically like a searchlight hunting for an enemy bomber before hurtling off in the direction they decide is best.

The Bishop’s Trail, like many in the area is usually described as ‘not recommended when wet’ and we could see why. It’s easy enough to follow but pretty steep in parts and the combination of fallen leaves and the dried mud surface of the path could be make it quite precarious during or shortly after rain. The presence of fixed ropes on some of the steeper or more difficult sections was a help, though. A few hundred metres into the trail we heard a terrific commotion ahead and two Wild Boar came hurtling down the hillside just in front of us, crossed the path and continued at an alarming pace down the very steep hillside and out of sight. We never found out what had startled them. There weren’t too many birds about and we actually did a lot better along the road, walking back to the car from the trail exit (the trail is about a mile long), especially in the area around Wavertree Cottage, where Mountain Bulbul, Golden Babbler, Large Niltava and Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo were present, along with a number of other species.

 

Time for cream tea at The Smokehouse again, and just as good as the first time, after which we stopped in at the Tourist Information centre where we bumped into renowned local birdwatcher, Mr. Durai who seemed quite amazed by all the good birds that we hadn’t seen. He recommended the area around the entrance to the waterfalls for Silver-breasted Broadbill so we headed back down there for the third time in the day. No luck with the Broadbill, but some compensation in the shape of a beautiful venomous snake, a Speckled-bellied Keelback.

 

With the day drawing to a close, we thought we’d take a walk down the new road, perhaps as far as the landslip. Good views of drongos and some more Mountain Fulvettas and more incredible cicada calls but easily the star prize was a Red-headed Trogon.

We went into the village for dinner where we had a brilliant meal at the Hillview Restaurant for about a quarter of the price of dinner the previous night, then after admiring a couple of very large and presumably nocturnal butterflies (are there nocturnal butterflies?)  we took the car and drove slowly around the Telekom Loop. We counted 4 different nightjars, mostly flushed off the road, but none were calling so we couldn’t identify any of them.
 

 

17th April 2009
 

Another early start saw us back near the top of The Gap road and searching for Whistling Thrushes, again without success. This was followed by another circuit around the Telekom Loop which was more productive with great views and good numbers of birds. A possible Whistling Thrush species defied our efforts to identify it but a Large Cuckoo Shrike was much easier. Buff-breasted Babblers were seen in a couple of spots and a pair of Scarlet Minivets were active in the canopy.

 

The day was getting warm and bright by the time we got back for breakfast and after this we packed and loaded the car in order to head off for our next destination, Taman Negara.

We timed our arrival at the top of The Gap road well and didn’t have to wait to be allowed down. There’s no ATM in Bukit Fraser and the credit card machine in The Smokehouse was hors de combat and we were getting very low on cash. The road to Kuala Tembeling, the place from which the boats to Kuala Tahan, main tourist entrance to Taman Negara leave had several towns marked so we figured that we’d find something suitable on the way.

 

Shortly after reaching the main road we saw some movement in the trees and were pleased that we’d stopped because we had come across a small group of Dusky Langurs, the only ones of the trip.

Raub looked big enough for banks but the heat when we left the car was a bit of a shock after an hour or so in the air-con. Three ATMs were tried but none of them liked our cards so we went inside the 3rd and they directed us to the HSBC at the other end of town. There was no problem getting cash out from this bank but we were hot and bothered by the time we got back to the car having spent about an hour rushing around looking for a suitable cash machine.

 

Boats to Kuala Tahan only leave twice a day and we knew that we were running short of time when we got to Kuala Lipis. We made the mistake of heading in to the town centre when we probably should have stayed on the road that by-passes it, wasting a few more precious minutes but we eventually found Taman Negara signs and drove as fast as was sensible to the boat dock at Kuala Tembeling. 

 

There’s a large car park here and tickets can be obtained from the obvious offices nearby. We paid for our return trip (an open return was available for a few extra Ringgits), hauled our bags down the steps and after a short delay we were off down the Tahan River towards Kuala Tahan in one of the fast, low lying flat bottomed boats that are one of the main methods of transport in the area.  
 

It’s quite a long trip, from 2.5 to 3.5 hours, depending upon strength of currents and water depths and as the boat is moving quite quickly there are limited chances for wildlife observation. It’s also not all that comfortable. You sit on the floor with your back up against a removable bulkhead and not much opportunity to change position. The views are pretty, though.

 

Red-wattled Plovers were one of the most noticeable bird species along the river, with one or two pairs on many of the small, shingly islands and in the air, Bee-eaters were the most numerous.

 

On arrival at Kuala Tahan village the boats pull in at one of the floating restaurants where an employee gives you a few hints about getting to your chosen accommodation and describes some of the excursions available. The Mutiara Resort is where the National Park Office is and is one of very few places to stay that is on the “right” side of the river for the reserve. There are plenty of places on the other bank but to get to Taman Negara you have to get a boat across and can’t get into the reserve until after about 8 a.m. The Mutiara Resort is more expensive than most but it wasn’t a hard choice to make so we found a water taxi and paid the 1 Ringgit each for the short crossing.

The steps up from the dock are steep and we reached reception feeling very hot and sweaty. They had plenty of rooms available and offered to show us two different types of chalets. Despite the first and more expensive one having really good air-con, we chose the older, cheaper one because it was up against the top of the river bank and nearer to a trail into the forest.

 

Having checked in, we slung our bags somewhere out of the way and JD had a quick look out of the back door where she was able to get a quick blurred photo of a Wild Boar that was relieving itself and was rather surprised to see us. Certainly not the best photo in the world, but the closest we got to one of these powerful animals.

 

There are trails into the forest signposted and we followed one signed for a nearby hide. There wasn’t much activity as it was getting quite late and so we made our way back to the chalet, showered and took a boat back across the river for dinner in one of the floating restaurants, making sure that we got a seat on the edge so that we could watch out for a Bat Hawk, this being a renowned locality for that species. We didn’t see one but the food was again really good. There was a large and scary-looking bug on the steps back to the resort and an owl calling in the trees near our chalet. We’d brought head torches with us and tried to find it but only succeeded in revealing thousands of spiders lurking in the long grass. Wherever you shone the light, there were numerous small eyes looking back at you.

There were also lots of bugs in the room, so we went to sleep with the light furthest away from the bed left switched on, figuring that it would keep them down that end. It worked. Sort of.
 

 

18th April 2009
 

It was straight down to the hide before sunrise in the hope of seeing a bit of nocturnal wildlife on its way to bed for the day. Any early Common Tailorbird of the maculicollis subspecies was fly catching from the lawns in resort.
 

The hide is two stories high and overlooks an open damp area with long grass and a few isolated trees, surrounded by dense forest. There were two people there when we arrived, maintaining proper hide etiquette for an early morning and keeping quiet and moving about slowly. A Red Muntjac walked cautiously across the clearing whilst a family of Red Jungle Fowl came out of forest at the far side and a Great Hornbill drifted overhead in a stately way. Better still was our first ever broadbill, a Black-and-Red that was using the tree in the middle of the clearing as a lookout post. A couple of squirrels moved noisily through the trees around the hide but it was still too dark to stand a chance of identifying them.

 

We walked back to the resort for breakfast chatting to the couple who we had shared the hide with, two more Canadians, Janet and Bob. They had arrived by car at the same time as us the previous day and said that they were planning to take a boat trip up the river to a well known swimming and beauty spot so we agreed to join them and share the costs, as we had no plans for the next day.

 

Breakfast was a buffet with loads of choice from a number of different cultures and not at all bad. After filling up we set off to walk the well signposted Swamp Loop trail.  We started to hear the calls of Great Argus whilst on this trail, although they were clearly some distance away. We felt that we could hear 4 or maybe 5 different birds. Greater Racket-tailed Drongo and White-rumped Shama were noted along the trail and a female flycatcher of indeterminate species was also seen, but not much else.
 

A stop at the resort shop to pick up some drinking water was followed by a lounge about on the seats outside, watching the opportunist Long-tailed Macaques and failing to identify an interesting looking thrush-sized bird hopping about at ground level. The shop is quite expensive by Malaysian standards but operates an excellent policy of putting a sticker on the wrapping of just about everything it sells and giving you a 1 Ringgit deposit back if you return the packaging/bottle/wrapper. This seems to work because we didn’t see any litter in or near the resort.

 

A fruiting tree between the shop and the restaurant had good numbers of birds. Black-hooded Oriole was easy, Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker took a bit more work but a probable female Asian Fairy Bluebird had to remain probable.

 

A round-trip from the resort, along the river and then up a nearby hill, Bukit Teresek, eventually coming out at the Canopy Walk before descending to the resort again was next on our list. This trail passes through the display ground of a male Great Argus so we set off in some anticipation. By this time the day was beginning to get very hot indeed. The path is easy to follow but properly steep in many places (fixed ropes are provided) and there seem to be more roots underfoot that earth. It’s quite strenuous so visitors from less challenging places should allow more time than you might for a similar walk at home.

 

The path starts next to the National Park office and crosses a grassy field (camp site?) before entering the forest. There were certainly birds about in this area, where the path follows the course of the river, and a few buttrflies and bugs, including this handsome Leaf Insect that was missing a limb.
 

There’s a slight detour, with boardwalks and steps down to a shallow pool filled with small fish. Not far from the pool we got a good close up of a very fluffy-backed Fluffy-backed Tit-Babbler. Robson describes the elongated plumes as “rarely visible in field” but that was not the case with this individual. One bird song that we’d been hearing in the forest on and off since early morning was that of Rufous-crowned Babbler. The songs seem very variable and Scharringa has no less than 6 different examples but for sheer mournful beauty none of them come close to the songs we were hearing in Taman Negara. Sadly despite hearing lots we didn’t get a definite sighting of this species. A quick view of a White-eye was presumably Everett’s because Robson states that Oriental is not found in forest habitats in Malaysia.

The Great Argus’s display territory was easy enough to identify, having been swept clean of debris by the enormous tail, but the bird was nowhere to be seen and no amount of “Ooh wow!”s could bring it out of hiding.  Compensation was soon to be had when we turned a ridiculously long tail hanging from a branch high in the canopy into a Helmeted Hornbill.

 

It was about this time that CC started to feel rather fatigued. The heat was intense and the humidity very high and frequent drinks of water weren’t helping much. We looked at the bottles and were surprised to find that it was actually distilled water, with the label offering the benefits of “reverse osmosis”. This presumably means the removal of essential salts from the blood stream. We were a long way up a steep slope and almost certainly more than half way around, but given the fact that there was obviously more slope ahead with no obvious “top” CC was all for heading back the way we’d come. Fortunately one of our silly purchases in the shop had been a can of a local energy drink, so we shared this and the beneficial effects of what was probably little more than heavily sweetened fizzy water were immediate. JD said that she thought the top would be quite close, climbed a further few metres and announced that the way looked easier so we carried on. As we only had distilled water to drink, which we decided to avoid, the last spur path to the top of the hill was ignored and we continued down the hill arriving back at the resort a couple of kilometres later and heading straight to the bar where we enjoyed several very welcome drinks.

 

A check of the shop’s chillers proved that they did have real water as well as the distilled stuff, so we were more careful when buying drinks after that.

 

Stocked up with pop and water, we headed back to the room to find quite a lot of bird activity out the back, so we set up the ‘scope, poured ourselves some drinks and sat on the verandah. Blue-throated Bee-eaters, a Brown Shrike and a Blue-winged leaf bird were all species that we had seen before but a large Bulbul bringing food to a nest caught our eye and we were soon getting great scope views of a Stripe-throated Bulbul. A Tiger Shrike hopped out onto the cables supporting the telegraph pole and we noticed that instead of the while breast and belly described in the book this bird was a rich, buttery golden yellow. It wasn’t a trick of the light because it was quite overcast at the time, but this was a striking bird.

 

Night-time 4x4 ‘wildlife safaris’ are on offer just about everywhere, so we headed down to one of the floating restaurants, booked ourselves on one and had another excellent but Bat Hawk free meal whilst the sun went down. We’ve been on some excellent night drives in southern Africa but this was an entirely different affair. The vehicles were pick-ups and everybody sat in the back (apart from the unlucky couple who got to sit on the roof of the cab) which meant that nearly everybody was facing inwards. There were two vehicles and these offered just enough room for all the customers except one. The guides suggested that JD and CC might go in separate vehicles but we refused, because seeing different wildlife rather defeated the point of travelling together. In the end everybody squeezed in with CC sitting with one leg over the back and a foot resting on the spare wheel.

 

The drive takes you on rough tracks through palm plantations, sometimes at high speeds. We didn’t see much, although what we did see was pretty good, with a Leopard Cat and an attractive and compact Malay Civet. The only birds were a Barn Owl and a roosting Common Tailorbird. On the drive back along the main road a larger animal dashed across the road ahead of the pick-up to disappear into the bushes. Although we only got a brief view of it and couldn’t see the head at all it is difficult to imagine that this could have been anything other than a Binturong.

 

19th April 2009

 

As per our arrangements, we met Bob and Jan for breakfast, after a session in the hide (three Wild Boar and a Muntjac with small antlers) and then headed down to the jetty to meet our boat. The price for the trip for the four of us to the cataract was about £8 per person. The trip was pleasant and we picked out a white morph Asian Paradise Flycatcher and another Black-and-red Broadbill as we sped upstream.

 

More exciting (for CC at least) was a small group of primates in the top of a tree high above one of the river banks. These could only have been White-handed Gibbons which meant that CC had caught up with JD as she had been certain that she had seen one briefly from the boat from Kuala Tembeling.

 

The boat pulled up at a pebble beach near Lata Berkoh, from where we walked for a kilometre or so to find the swimming area (this is easy to recognise because there’s a sign saying “danger, no swimming”). En route we had almost walked into a Diard’s Trogon on a branch above the path.

 

Several Whiskered Treeswifts were obvious in a tall tree just above the cataract but much more exciting was a fly over Rhinoceros Hornbill, making three large hornbill species in two days for us. However the water was very tempting so we ignored the warning sign and found a safe way in. The water was pleasantly warm and the best fun was to be had by immersing yourself in a small waterfall where the river squeezed between a couple of large boulders.   

After our swim we returned to the boat, passing a Blue-necked Keelback snake on the way, to find that hordes of butterflies including plenty of Common Jays were fluttering around the remains of a camp fire, presumably finding trace minerals that had been dissolved in recent rains. 

 

Once out into the current the boat’s engine was turned off and we drifted silently and slowly down the river. A Straw-headed Bulbul sat prominently in a bush overhanging the water 

 

On our return to the resort we set up the ‘scope at the back of room 73 and sat with Bob and Jan to see what might be about. Most of the birds seen the day before put in an appearance, except for the Tiger Shrike, but new additions were Oriental Turtle Dove, White-rumped Shama and best of all a Greater Coucal that was foraging on the ground at the end of the block for about 10 minutes.

Head torches were included in our luggage so after dinner (still no Bat Hawk) we set off to look for whatever might be about. Three pairs of eyes in front of the hide were probably Muntjac but we had to look closer to confirm that the multitude of reflections coming back from the grass were not dew drops but the eyes of thousands of spiders. Two Collared Scops Owls were calling in the grounds of Mutiara Resort and at least two Great Argus could be heard.