Hello.
After last Saturday Kuala Selangor Nature Park trip i decided to go to the Berjaya Hill in Pahang to fulfill my promise to my little one, to take her to the Rabbit Farm to see her rabbit which she donated to the farm. It was quite late in the afternoon around 3.30p.m when we reached there with a slight rain, so we decided to split up. My wife and kids went to the farm while i took a tour van to the Japanese Village higher up in the mountain.
My birding time was cut short due to a drizzle and i had to take shelter for almost half an hour under a pagoda, sort of. My previous trips to this place was not so successful with just a few species like Brown Barbet, Stripe-throated Bulbul, Scally-breasted Munia, White-rumped Munia, Whiskered Tree Swift, and Oriental Magpie-robin to show for.
This time i had a bit more luck. Upon reaching the Japanese Village after a tiring walk uphill i was welcome by a Tiger Shrike and a few juvenile Stripe-throated Bulbuls in the bush right in front of the shop.
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| Tiger Shrike |
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| Stripe-throated Bulbul |
After a few shots i heard a wave of birds near the entrance of the Nursery and managed to photograph a Grey-chinned Minivet.
I walked further to the left of the Nursey toward a closed dead-end road and saw a Malaysian Hawk Cuckoo perching on a tree looking at me, i have not got this one yet what a find.
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| Malaysian Hawk Cuckoo |
I was encouraged by the event so far so i took a risk to enter the closed road anyway, because i figured it was closed for the vehicles not a two-footed birder. The end of the road got a lot of heavy construction machinery to repair the failed slopes, so no go for me there.
My initial target was to look for a Silver Broadbill which had a hanging nest on a palm tree on the side of the road from my previous trip. However, the nest was gone so was the bird. But on the way back i saw a bird which has eluded me for so so long perching on a branch, an Orange-breasted Trogon. What a pretty bird it was. The risk that i took for trespassing paid off, i was very happy because i consider this bird as an A-Grade species for a birder to have.
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| Orange-breasted Trogon |
I was so focused on birding that i forgot that i missed the last tour van to take tourist down from the hill at 5.30p.m. The other few tourists has their own vehicles to get down, so i had no choice but to walk downhill all by myself, a one kilometer steep road downhill.
Sometimes people say in chaos there is an opportunity. Half way down i noticed something big perching on a very tall dead tree. I looked through my Canon 70-300mm zoom lens..walaaa...the bird i missed on the previous trip was right in my sight, a huge Great Hornbill. I could not believe my luck. I took a few quick burst shots before it flew away to another tree even closer to where i was. It turned out there was another one on that tree, a female, less colorful but still majestic.
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| Great Hornbill |
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| Great Hornbill |
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| Female Great Hornbill |
After a few shots, i proceeded downhill as the light is falling and i did not want to walk in the dark. I saw a bird flew from a tree to a bush and it turned out to be a Green-billed Malkoha. After a few snaps i saw a guard came walking downhill and told me that the area will be closed to everyone before 7.00p.m. Since we only had about 15 minutes to get down i had to stop my birding session for the day.
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| Green-billed Malkoha |
I was quite tired, had muscle pains all over but it was worth it. The birding session was only two and a half hours but i got myself a Tiger Shrike, Stripe-throated Bulbuls, a Grey-chinned Minivet, a Malaysian Hawk Cuckoo,an Orange-breasted Trogon, a pair of Great Hornbills and a Green-billed Malkoha. It must have been my lucky day, i am an extremely happy birder.
Till next time, happy birding.
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