Paul Birding

“My day with Cheong was very rewarding and enjoyable. Immediately upon arriving at our first site we saw a Blue-eared Kingfisher! A great start to a great day. Cheong really knows his birds and where to find them. I really wish I had had more time to spend with Cheong in Malaysia. Thanks again Cheong!” - Paul, Arizona, USA

Paul was in town yesterday and it was a pleasure to have accompanied him to the forest in Hulu Langat for a bird watching session. It was Paul’s first trip to this part of the world and each species is a lifer for him. We started our day early in Hulu Langat with an initial stop before entering the forest. We were rewarded with an excellent view of the Blue-eared Kingfisherperching over the river. We found the Magpie Robin  that was singing high up on a tree while a couple of Pacific Swallow. A 4WD passed by and stopped next to us. They invited us to a spot to see raptor nesting. We obliged and followed them. Arriving at scene, the nest was found but no raptor(s) were sighted. Here, we managed to see a pair of Common Iora, 3 Stripe-throated Bulbul, 1 Orange-bellied Flowerpecker, 1 Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker, and a pair of Rufescent Prinia. We continued our birding on the road, we stopped the car when a single call of broadbill was heard. True enough a Black-and-red Broadbill appeared in front of us - giving us an excellent view for almost 30 seconds. Paul managed to get a shot with his camera. Upon reaching the ‘car park’ and taking a few steps along the forest edge, we heard woodpecker, very close. It took us less than a minute of looking around to find the Crimson-winged Woodpecker. Again, a Black-and-red Broadbill showed itself just above the woodpecker. Now, inside the forest, we had some great findings and also thanks to a local bird watcher-turned photographer, who share her luck in finding the birds. Some of the species sighted include Dusky Broadbill, Banded Broadbill, Chestnut-breasted Malkoha, Raffles’ Malkoha, Plain Sunbird, Purple-naped Sunbird, Black-naped Monarch, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, and Dark-sided Flycatcher. The calls of Rufous-backed Kingfisher zipping through the forest were heard several times and although we knew where to find them easily, we could not even get a glimpse of it as we thought it would be wiser to spend more time looking for more species. Our wise decision rewarded us with 2 excellent species of trogons - a pair of Scarlet-rumped Trogon and an unconfirmed bigger-sized trogon (either a red-napped or Diard’s trogon as it was flying over us!). And as we were walking out from the forest, Paul spotted something moving in front on the ground. It was the Emerald Dove!!! We saw it twice on this trip. Our birding was cut short by 2 hours when it started to rain. *sigh* Otherwise we could have enjoy the forest and birds a little longer.

Apart from birds, we managed to see 3 primates - Long-tailed Macaque, Pig-tailed Macaque and Siamang (hanging up on the tree and feeding on berries while we were looking at the Banded Broadbill).

We hope Paul enjoy this trip and have a nice holiday in Southeast Asia. All the best.