My last proper visit to west Malaysia was in 2018, where we went for the famous Mountain Peacock Pheasant at Bukit Tinggi. Ever since then the Malayan Peacock Pheasant have always been in my scope, When the released birds around Kuala Tahan disappeared during the last few years, there have not been any reliable sighting for this species. Recently, a pair have been coming to a feeding station regularly at Sungai Relau in Taman Negara, so I contacted Liew (who is extremely busy), and to my pleasant surprise he got a three-day opening in late August for me! So, I gave him a few targets and he came up with a custom itinerary around West Malaysia based on the birds available at this season. I unfortunately twisted my ankle just a week before the trip, while Hoiling twisted her's during our Bali visit. Luckily (despite the circumstances), both of us recovered well enough to continue with this trip, we just had to walk a little bit slower...
Day 1 - Kuala Lumpur to Sungai Renau
Hoiling and I flew into KLIA2 on the early evening flight and we checked in at the Tune Hotel next to KLIA2 terminal at around 11pm. Liew suggested to meet us at 2:30am, so that only gave us a few short hours to rest our eyes. Liew arrived bang on time outside our hotel at 2:30am, and we drove 4 hours north towards Merapoh. We had a hearty breakfast at Merapoh of a local dish Nasi Kerabu, the blue rice was a result of the natural colouring from the flower of the butterfly-pea.
We arrived at the park entrance of Sungai Relau of Taman Negara at around 7:30am. To get into the trail we are required to be guided by a local guide from Merapoh authorised by the forestry department. Merapoh used to be a gold-mining town prior to WWII. Today mostly people work in the palm oil industry. The area is also known for the karst landscape and diverse cave systems.
We birded around the car park as we waited for the guide. The fruiting fig trees there was quite productive and gave me a lifer in form of a few Buff-vented Bulbuls, a species I have previously "seen" in Borneo before they split that into Charlotte's Bulbul. They were seen together with a few Stripe-throated Bulbuls.
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| Buff-vented Bulbul |
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| Stripe-throated Bulbul |
A few beautiful Red-throated Barbets came through, probably one of the most colourful barbet species. Asian Fairy-Bluebirds had their fair share of figs. There were also a few Little Pigeons around.
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| Red-throated Barbet |
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| Asian Fairy-Bluebird - female |
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| Little Green Pigeon - female |
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| Little Green Pigeon - male |
Our local guide Mat arrived at 8am, and we went to the Garnet Pitta stakeout first, as the Pitta is said to be easier in the morning. A pair of Short-tailed Babbler and White-rumped Shamas were a permanent fixture at this site, a Ferruginous Babbler and a scruffy looking Grey-cheeked Bulbul occasionally came through.
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| White-rumped Shama - male |
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| Short-tailed Babbler |
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| Ferruginous Babbler |
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| Grey-cheeked Bulbul |
For the next two hours or so we waited for the Garnet Pitta, which was being very vocal nearby, but kept its distance. Suddenly, a Pitta hopped up to the log, but it was not a Garnet Pitta, but a male Malayan Banded Pitta! I did not expect to see this species here at all, so it came as a nice surprise for me, and a lifer at that! It posed quite nicely for a minute or so before disappearing back into the forest.
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| Malayan Banded Pitta |
A female Green Broadbill came through and gave brief views. The lighting was terrible, and it remained quite high up. A few Yellow-bellied Bulbuls also made an appearance. Seeing that the Garnet Pitta was a no show, we decided to try our luck over at the Malayan Peacock Pheasant stakeout. Along the way we heard a Striped Wren Babbler singing, it came closer but never materialized. We had brief views of a Sunda Scimitar-Babbler as well, which stayed very high up.
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| Green Broadbill - female |
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| Yellow-bellied Bulbul |
We arrived at the pheasant stakeout, two Singaporean birders informed us there was a Great Argus present earlier, but this male was in moult so it lacked the long tail feathers. Having seen a fully feathered male in Sabah, we kept our focus on the main prize. Luckily for us, we didn’t have to wait that long and a male Malayan Peacock Pheasant slowly walked out from the dense undergrowth and onto the “main stage”. It did not disappoint. With bright blue ocellus covering its body, the bird was mesmerising as ever. This is my 7th Peacock Pheasant species, only the Bornean Peacock Pheasant remains!
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| Malayan Peacock Pheasant |
With this major target in the bag, we decided to head out for lunch at Gua Musang. Along the way to the park entrance we added a Yellow-crowned Barbet together with another Red-throated Barbet. A tiny Black-thighed Falconet was spotted at the car park, sitting on top a dead tree as expected.
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| Yellow-crowned Barbet |
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| Red-throated Barbet |
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| Black-thighed Falconet |
After lunch we decided to wait for the Garnet Pitta again. A Finsch’s Bulbul showed quite well, which was a lifer for me. It is generally considered a scarce species throughout much of its natural range. Even a pair of Scarlet-rumped Trogons came by, with the female showed quite nicely.
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| Finsch's Bulbul |
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| Scarlet-rumped Trogon - male |
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| Scarlet-rumped Trogon - female |
Since the Garnet Pitta at the stakeout did not want to show, Liew decided to try and find another nearby. And soon he located another individual on the other side of the track. With a bit of effort we saw a bird with bright red cap hopped out into view! The Garnet Pitta showed as well as a wild Pitta could. It hopped up in full view for a few seconds and hopped back into the background. To see one outside of the usual stakeout felt special. And with that it was a clean sweep on our first day targets! Two new Pittas for me!
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| Garnet Pitta - happy we got view of a wild bird! |
Day 2 - Sungai Relau, Pulau Indah, Tanjung Karang
Our second morning began much like our first. We had a nice breakfast near our hotel and headed to the park entrance at 7:30am. There was a light drizzle in the morning, but the fruiting fig tree was again filled with birds, with Sooty Barbets, Grey-bellied Bulbuls, Asian Fairy-Bluebirds, Thick-billed Green Pigeons, and Little Green Pigeons, just to name a few.
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| Sooty Barbet |
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| Grey-bellied Bulbul |
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| Asian Fairy-Bluebird - male |
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| Thick-billed Green Pigeon - male |
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| Little Green Pigeon |
Nearby, Liew found us a White-chested Babbler, and a Black-and-Red Broadbill showed briefly. A Prevost's Squirrel was seen on the same tree as the Broadbill, the Thai-Malay Peninsula race is perhaps among the most colourful squirrel there is.
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| White-chested Babbler |
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| Black-and-Red Broadbill |
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| Prevost's Squirrel |
Our local guide was Nasa that morning, who arrived at around 8am, and we made our way into the reserve. Along the way we added a distant dark morph Changeable Hawk-Eagle.
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| Changeable Hawk-Eagle - dark morph |
A male Green Broadbill came in and gave great views, although this is the most widespread of the Calyptomena broadbills, any close encounter with this species will certainly make any birder's day! Like its much larger cousin the Whitehead's Broadbill, the neon green plumage is truly amazing to see.
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| Green Broadbill - male |
Our target of the morning was the Cinnamon-rumped Trogon, a generally scarce species of trogon in Malaysia and indeed throughout South East Asia. We tried a stretch of road, hoping one would call nearby. Liew finally heard the Trogon nearby, and it was close! However, it stayed out of view in the dense foliage, and no matter how hard we tried looking we just couldn't see it. Suddenly, a bright red bird with black head flew out towards us and shot straight into the forest behind. It was a male Cinnamon-rumped Trogon! It continued to call and eventually flew out and perched briefly with its back towards me. The rump was clearly the same colour with the mantle, which was a distinctive feature separating this species with the similar Scarlet-rumped Trogon. I got fairly good perched views, but it flew off before I could get my camera on the bird. No matter how hard we kept trying, it just wouldn't show again. It was a shame that I couldn't get a photo of this rare species, but I was happy that I had a good diagnostic view.
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| Cinnamon-rumped Trogon - I had brief perched views of its back towards me |
Nearby, a Blue-winged Leafbird juvenile came through, and we added a few Rufous-crowned Babblers. A Moustached Babbler also called nearby but didn't want to come in.
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| Blue-winged Leafbird - juvenile |
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| Rufous-crowned Babbler |
Our final bird was not a lifer for me, but certainly a bird I was happy to see again: a Puff-backed Bulbul. This is a relatively uncommon and scarce species of bulbul that is now listed as Near Threatened due to ongoing habitat loss. I have seen this species only once at RDC, and it was a very distant view, so it was nice to see one up close.
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| Puff-backed Bulbul |
Despite the lack of photo for the Cinnamon-rumped Trogon, we did clean-up on all our target species at Sungai Relau. After a wonderful lunch at Restoran 126, and a celebratory "XO" (a durian), we headed towards Pulau Indah for the Mangrove Pitta.
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| Restoran 126 |
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| Durian - King of Fruits! |
Liew also took us to Pulau Indah in 2018 for the Mangrove Pitta, but we had a rather sad experience, as the mangrove area we were suppose to visit was destroyed prior to our arrival. To this day the mangroves at Pulau Indah continues to be threatened by development at the neighbouring port, and the destruction is ongoing. On this visit, we got incredible views of two adults with a juvenile bird along the edge of the mangroves, all showing really well. This is perhaps one of the most unique pitta. As a mangrove specialist, it feeds mainly on molluscs, insects, and crabs.
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| Destruction of the mangroves at Pulau Indah |
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| Mangrove Pitta - second adult |
A juvenile Mangrove Blue Flycatcher was also present, along with a very confiding Ashy Tailorbird. It is sad to see this area sidelined in the development plan, and it will be more difficult to find these special birds in the future.
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| Mangrove Blue Flycatcher - juvenile |
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| Ashy Tailorbird |
After this short visit, we went back up north towards Tanjung Karang, an area of paddyfields north of Kuala Lumpur. Along the edge of the peat-swamp forest, Liew showed us the Dusky Eagle Owl. It didn't take that long before one flew up to the trees on the opposite side of the river. This was the last of the large owls of Malaysia that I needed, and a wonderful addition to my life list! They have an incredible deep throaty croak.
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| Peat-swamp forest |
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| Dusky Eagle Owl |
Along the river, flocks of Pink-necked Green Pigeons flew by, there were also a large congregation of Edible-nest Swiftlet, dipping into the water. I managed a few good shots when the sun was still bright enough to capture these fast-moving birds.
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| Pink-necked Green Pigeon |
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| Edible-nest Swiftlet |
As we waited till dusk, another Dusky Eagle Owl flew up to the trees, but it was much further away. We also heard the call of Barred Eagle Owl and Collared Scops Owl. It took a while before the Malaysian Eared Nightjars started flying, it was already quite dark by the time they took flight, but we still managed a few record shots.
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| Dusky Eagle Owl |
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| Malaysian Eared Nightjar |
On our way out we scanned the trees and pillars hoping to find Spotted Wood Owls, we ended up with a few Eastern Barn Owls instead, but it was still nice to see so many in one place. We got back to our hotel in Kuala Lumpur by 11pm.
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| Eastern Barn Owl |
Day 3 - Chongkak
Our final day was spent at Chongkak Park & Resort, Liew also came here with us last time, as this was one of the easiest-to-access birding locations near Kuala Lumpur. Despite being close to the city, we still had to start early to avoid the heavy traffic. After another hearty breakfast, we drove to the park entrance. Our main target here is the Malaysian Blue-banded Kingfisher, which can sometimes be seen at the kingfisher stakeout.
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| Kingfisher stakeout |
No Kingfisher came in the first few hours of waiting, although a Plain Sunbird, Purple-naped Spiderhunter, and Little Spiderhunter came through periodically. A Grey-cheeked Bulbul was also present.
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| Plain Sunbird |
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| Purple-naped Spiderhunter |
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| Little Spiderhunter |
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| Grey-cheeked Bulbul |
A pair of confiding White-bellied Woodpeckers kept pecking away on a dead tree stump nearby, looking for grubs and other tasty insects living inside. Although I have seen this species many times, it was still nice to see them so well. According to Liew, White-bellied Woodpeckers are considerably less common here compare to Sabah, so it is actually quite a good bird locally.
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| White-bellied Woodpecker - female |
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| White-bellied Woodpecker - male |
One of the most surprising drop-in was perhaps a Jambu Fruit Dove! It was likely drinking down by the stream and I spotted it as it flew up to the trees. Although it lacked the creamy white belly of an adult male, the head was very much purplish red, seeing most illustrations of female lack any colours on the head, I do wonder if this could be a young male? Or maybe some adult females actually have purplish head instead.
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| Jambu Fruit Dove - female or juvenile male? |
Seeing that no kingfishers were coming in, we decided to go for a walk along the stream nearby, hopefully to catch a glimpse of a Chestnut-naped Forktail. The first good bird we encountered was a Malayan Black Magpie, formerly conspecific with the Bornean Black Magpie as a single species, they have white on the wings where the Bornean is completely black. We managed a decent view of the bird.
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| Stream flowing through Chongkak |
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| Malayan Black Magpie |
Liew spotted a pair of Chestnut-naped Forktail very far ahead along the stream, I got onto them with my binoculars, they were mostly black and white as with all forktails, but with a slightly rufous crown, and a slightly shorter built. This is likely one of the scarcest of the forktails in Malaysia, but they are also extremely shy, so I only managed a look through my binoculars and didn't get a photo record. A pair of Rhinoceros Hornbills came through briefly, and Liew showed us an old nest of the Dusky Broadbill.
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| Rhinoceros Hornbill |
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| Dusky Broadbill nest |
A Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker decided to come down low to feed on some flowers. This common species was surprisingly a lifer for me! They had eluded me on every trip to Sabah and Malaysia before this. We got excellent views of this cute bird.
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| Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker - a long awaited lifer! |
After a quick lunch, we headed to another area to hopefully try for Malaysian Rail Babbler, although Liew was not very confident about this - they had not been seen at the site for the last two months. This is most unfortunate, as they are suppose to be active in August, but that's just how birds are sometimes, you can never be sure. We tried a few spots to see if any were calling nearby, but we heard nothing. Only an Orange-bellied Flowerpecker kept me occupied.
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| Orange-bellied Flowerpecker - male |
For the rest of the afternoon, we decided it was probably best that we waited back at the kingfisher stakeout, in case the Malaysian Blue-banded Kingfisher decided to drop in. We had not seen a single kingfisher there up to this point, so it was nice when finally a Rufous-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher arrived, showing off nicely. Liew stated that a birder saw the Blue-banded Kingfisher three days ago, although he was there for the Rufous-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher. This all feels too familiar...
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| Rufous-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher |
Even a Blue-eared Kingfisher decided to drop in...a fairly common species throughout much of its range, it is still a stunning looking kingfisher.
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| Blue-eared Kingfisher - juvenile |
We only added a Spectacled Bulbul and a distant Diard's Trogon after that. Despite our patience, the Blue-banded kingfisher simply did not want to show up. A Malayan Crested Lizard and a Common Sun Skink rounded up the stakeout.
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| Spectacled Bulbul |
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| Diard's Trogon |
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| Malayan Crested Lizard |
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| Common Sun Skink |
Finally, we gave a fruiting tree nearby a try, hoping some miracle might happen. Unfortunately, no birds were there, we were however greeted by a few White-thighed Surilis.
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| White-thighed Surili |
And that concluded our three days of birding around West Malaysia! All in all I thought we did fairly well, considering we nailed all our main targets up in Sungai Relau and a few more along the way, despite our efforts at Chongkak the Kingfisher just didn't want to show, but that's all down to luck really. Liew informed me two days after I got back to Hong Kong that the Blue-banded Kingfisher showed up again. I am sure I will be back to try for it some other time.
While it was great that we ended up with most of our targets, seeing places like Pulau Indah coming under pressure continues to sadden me. It seems inevitable that the whole area with the Mangrove Pittas will be gone within the next year or so, while it is likely they will move onto other suitable mangrove area, the destruction of the current mangrove means there are simply less suitable habitat for the Pittas to breed in, directly impacting on the population in the area.
We ended up with 131 species in three days, and plenty of lifers for me. Huge thanks to Liew for sparing a few days to help me get a few more lifers! He is honestly one of, if not the best bird guide I know! His ability to keep tabs on the wide range of species, many of which under constant disturbance, is hard to beat. Anyone birding with him can certainly feel his passion for birds. Hopefully we will get to bird again in the near future.
Full trip list: https://ebird.org/tripreport/405884
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