Last 1st of February 2013 i went up to the Fraser's Hill after more than two months of absence from there due to my busy work schedules just to see what i had been missing. They say come March or April the place will start to get pretty busy with new migrant species passing through or staying around for a while before moving on to their destinations.
Unfortunately, i did not notice any increase in the number of new species as expected instead it was the opposite. I did get a few species like the orange-bellied Leafbird, White-eye Everrette, Fire-tufted Barbet and Yellow vented Bulbul. So while i was sitting around with my son Amin (an avid birder also), one nice American gentlemen birder stopped by and said hello and we ended up with a good half an hour chat on birding and sharing our experiences not only on the Fraser's Hill but elsewhere too. This Mr.Malcolm White from New York, USA, apparently is widely traveled birder who had been to so many countries around the world and currently spending some time in Thailand. He had just arrived from Thailand and was a first timer on the Fraser's Hill. Since i have more experience on birding in the Fraser's Hill area i gave him a few tips where to look for certain species and the trails that are scattered all over the hill. I was shocked when he told me that he had just come out of the Bishop Trail alone, something i would not be brave enough to do on my own due to the meandering 1.5km had led 5 Singaporean lost a few years back. There were found 20 over kilometers downhill by a search party.
Anyway, my new friend here showed me a copy of a book called "Birds of Southeast Asia" by Craig Robson. It is a great guide book with superb hand painted illustrations of various species and sub-species and variation of birds found in the Southeast Asia with descriptions on their characteristics, habitats and distributions. The size of the book make it easy to lump it in a backpack when going birding and it is not that heavy either. One thing for sure it is a great reference for birders to distinguish various birds especially when the differences in between them might be just a few stripes or dots or tinge of colors at the back of the heads or the tip of the wings. I append the image of the book covers below for reference for those interested to get a copy of the book:
The cost of the book is US35.00 however i am not sure whether it is available in the bookstores in Malaysia, you might want to google it on the net. I am lucky that Malcom is kind enough to let me keep the book when he left Malaysia for Thailand since he said he did not need it anymore. It is such a great book that i think all serious birders out there should get one as a reference.
Thanks Malcolm, i appreciate it very much.
