Merapoh: Day 6

It's been a long time since the last post! I've become really busy recently and didn't even have time for birding. Finally, I've got enough time and mood to update this blog, so here we are, March 17, our first full day birding in Merapoh. We started very early in the morning. It was around 7am and the sun hasn't come up yet, when I walked out of the room and saw a variant male Black Hornbill (Anthracoceros malayanus) feeding in a fruiting fig tree just in front of the house! I quickly grabbed my gear and tried to shoot it despite the very low light. I guessed it was the same bird I photographed the day before. The bird hanged around for a while, and even came down to the eye-level branches to pick up fruits, before flying out into the forest. It's really difficult to watch hornbills closely like that in Thailand, so I was really impressed.

Variant male Black Hornbill (Anthracoceros malayanus)

Immature male Lesser Green Leafbird (Chloropsis cyanopogon)

Male Brown Barbet (Caloramphus fuliginosus tertius)

Puff-backed Bulbul (Pycnonotus eutilotus)

The fruiting tree was actually very productive! We saw many flocks of Brown Barbets and Asian Glossy Starlings, and of course, lots of bulbuls. A few Lesser Green Leafbirds were also joining the feast, as well as a large and colourful Gold-whiskered Barbet which briefly appeared along with a group of the smaller Brown Barbets. As for the bulbuls, there were many Buff-vented Bulbuls, some Red-eyed, Spectacled and Streaked Bulbuls and a pair of Puff-backed Bulbuls (Pycnonotus eutilotus), undoubtedly the most interesting one. I've always wondered why it's got the name puff-backed and I finally got a chance to witness it myself while the birds were resting on the nearby tree. The feathers on their back were really puffy! Very interesting!

Chestnut-winged Babbler (Stachyris erythroptera)

Yellow-bellied Bulbul (Alophoixus phaeocephalus)

A singing pair of Chestnut-winged Babblers (Stachyris erythroptera)

After enjoying the morning feast at the fruiting fig tree in front of our house, I decided to walk along the road leading into the forest. The very first bird I saw was a pair of tiny, yet colourful, Chestnut-winged Babblers (Stachyris erythroptera). They were moving under the dense ferns, but responded very well to the playback. After getting some good shots, I stopped using the tape to prevent the birds from gaining more stress. Other birds around the area included many Hairy-backed Bulbuls, Yellow-bellied Bulbuls and a few skittish Grey-cheeked Bulbuls (Alophoixus bres tephrogenys).

Male and female Scarlet-rumped Trogon (Harpactes duvaucelii)

Male Grey-And-Buff Woodpecker (Hemicircus concretus sordidus)

However, the real peak time of the day began when the sun finally shown up above the canopy. I spotted a shy female Scarlet-rumped Trogon (Harpactes duvaucelii) joining in a flock of bulbuls. It was surely my first lifer of the day! The female bird was later accompanied by the very brightly coloured male, which came perching just in front of me! Its extremely bright scarlet red plumage stood out very clearly among the dark green setting of the rainforest. With that colour, you just can't hide very well. There were many other birds that I couldn't get any pics around as well, including the colourful Raffle's Malkohas, Chestnut-breasted Malkohas, Black-naped Monarchs, Blue-winged Leafbirds and many species of babblers. As I was walking back to have lunch, I luckily came across a tiny male Grey-And-Buff Woodpecker (Hemicircus concretus sordidus) feeding on the lower branches just by the roadside. Other people later found it feeding its young fledgling on the next day.

Male Green Broadbill (Calyptomena viridis caudacuta)

And a female

Ictinogomphus decoratus

Sunbathing Stripe-throated Bulbuls (Pycnonotus finlaysoni)

Flying Dragons (Draco sp.)

Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis)

After lunch I had a lazy afternoon due to the heat and rain. I revisited the place where the trogons were found in the morning, but failed to see any. Instead, a small flock of Green Broadbills (Calyptomena viridis caudacuta) put on a pretty nice show. The males have bright emerald green plumage, which stood out even among the leaves. Females have a bit duller greenish plumage. Too bad they were all staying a bit too high up in the trees, so it was really difficult to get a good shot. I then walked out to check the large fruiting tree where the family of Rhinoceros Hornbills visited the day before. There were lots of small birds feeding in the tree, including a few Thick-billed Green Pigeons, a male Purple-backed Starling, Asian Fairy-Bluebirds, and many Greater Green Leafbirds. I also enjoyed watching a pair of Stripe-throated Bulbuls (Pycnonotus finlaysoni) sunbathing on an electrical wire nearby. After dinner, we went out looking for the famous Large Frogmouth at the bridge behind our house. The bird responded to the playback, but wasn't cooperative enough for us to get a decent shot, so we just had to return back to the house. I then joined Mei Ling, Siew Peng and Mr Mark on a night drive through the palm oil plantation. It was unbelievably productive as we counted 4 Leopard Cats (Prionailurus bengalensis), a few more Common Palm Civets and Wild Boars.

Fraser's Hill - Merapoh: Day 5

The morning of March 16 saw us packing our bags, getting ready to say goodbye to Jelai Hotel and Fraser's Hill. It was another misty morning and there were not as many birds in front of the hotel as the previous days because the lights in front of the hotel were not turned on during the night before. We slowly transferred our luggage to the cars. After finishing all my stuff, I walked around the hotel taking photos of birds for the last time before leaving. We had to leave Fraser's Hill before 11 o'clock, in order to reach Merapoh before sunset. While taking photos of birds in front of the hotel, Mam came and told us that there's a male Lesser Yellownape (Picus chlorolophus) sleeping on a tree trunk just behind the hotel, so we all went to watch it. It turned out that there's another female sleeping in the same tree as well. Both of them were perching motionlessly for so many minutes, before waking up as we seemed to be moving around too much. On a large tree behind the hotel, there was also a big group of sleeping White-thighed Surilis. I counted 11 but there could be more. Apart from the yellownapes and surilis, there was also a Mountain Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula badia) calling its loud mournful call from the top of an exposed branch behind the surilis' tree. We finally said goodbye to Jelai Hotel around 10 and went downhill to the clock tower, where we had a brief stop to take photos with it. It's such a beautiful landmark that everyone who visits Fraser's Hill has to take photos with. Around the clock tower, we also found a pair of Javan Cuckooshrikes and many Silver-eared Mesias that came to pick up moths and insects which were attracted by street lights at night. Just before leaving, I also got some better shots of the exotic Fire-tufted Barbet which generously came down to a lower branch for a few seconds before returning to the treetop.

The famous Fraser's Hill's clock tower

White-thighed Surilis (Presbytis siamensis)

Male Lesser Yellownape (Picus chlorolophus)

And the female

The Bird Interpretive Centre (left) and the feeding area in front of Jelai Hotel (right)

Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus remifer peracensis)

Male Javan Cuckooshrike (Coracina javensis)

Fire-tufted Barbet (Psilopogon pyrolophus)

We decided to go down by using the New Road, so we can also bird along the way. There were House Swallows and Glossy Swiftlets flying almost everywhere. We found a female dark morph Oriental Honey-Buzzard (Pernis ptilorhyncus) perching on a distant bare tree, as well as a scarce and huge male Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis) flying by while we briefly stopped at the fruiting fig tree where we saw a pair of Rhinoceros Hornbills the other day. We came across a flock of more than 10 Dusky Langurs (Trachypithecus obscurus) sitting altogether on a single branch, but as soon as we stopped to grab some pictures, most of them quickly fled away leaving only 2 of them sitting dizzily on the branch. A pair of Blyth's Hawk-Eagles (Spizaetus alboniger) was also seen soaring in circles far down the hill below, and a pair of Bronzed Drongos (Dicrurus aeneus) was seen carrying nesting materials. We then left the cool montane weather of Fraser's Hill and returned to the hot and sunny and humid weather of lowlands again around half past 11. Our next destination, Raub.

Dusky Langurs (Trachypithecus obscurus)

Male Whiskered Treeswift (Hemiprocne comata)

Raub is a small city on the way from Fraser's Hill to Merapoh. We stopped there for a quick lunch in an Indian restaurant. The food tasted really good. After lunch we went to a supermarket to buy some more instant food, water and snacks 'cause in Merapoh we wouldn't get the same comfort as in Fraser's Hill. Along the way before reaching Raub, we also had a brief stop for a pair of Grey-rumped Treeswifts (Hemiprocne longipennis) and a beautiful male Whiskered Treeswift (Hemiprocne comata) which were perching just by the roadside. There was also a distant Dollarbird (Eurystomus orientalis) and a small flock of Jungle Mynas (Acridotheres fuscus torquatus). A worker who was cutting grasses on the roadside approached us and told us that there's a hornbill's nest which can be viewed from the roadside about 1-2 kilometres back. Even though how much we wanted to go back and see the nest, we just had to move on otherwise we wouldn't be able to make it in time.

The entrance to our birding paradise in Merapoh

Sungai Relau (Sungai means river)

Variant male Black Hornbill (Anthracoceros malayanus)

Adult Asian Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis)

Prevost's Squirrel (Callosciurus prevostii)

Male Rhinoceros Hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) with a juvenile male

Female bill kissing with the male and the juvenile male observing

We finally arrived at Merapoh around 4pm and were welcomed by the heavy rain. Luckily, the rain stopped shortly after we finished moving our luggage into the house. Here we were joined by even more Malaysian birders including Dr Chan Kai Soon and his wife, Mr Ooi Beng Yean, Dr Neoh and Siew Peng his daughter and Mr Lean Yeng Loon. As soon as the rain stopped, I grabbed my camera and went out with my father. Birding in Merapoh is easy, as there is only one main road for birding. The road is normally prohibited from cars, so it becomes very convenient for birders to walk along the road. However, it was already dark inside the jungle, so I walked out to the campground. As I was walking out, I heard the extremely loud call of the Rhinoceros Hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros), the call which I haven't heard for almost a decade since my last trip to Hala Bala in southern Thailand. I then spotted 3 of them moving in the large fig tree just near the entrance. I found out that the tree was fruiting and there's also another variant male Black Hornbill feeding inside. The Black Hornbill (Anthracoceros malayanus) is one of the rarest hornbills in Thailand and I've only seen it once in Borneo. Here in Merapoh, it seems to be the most numerous one! I was so excited to find that there were about 3 Prevost's Squirrels (Callosciurus prevostii) visiting the fruiting tree as well. This beautiful squirrel is extremely rare in Thailand and I missed it while visiting the Phru Toh Daeng swamp forest in Narathiwat Province almost 10 years ago. I saw a high water tower just behind the fruiting tree, so I went up there and found it amazing to take photos of birds and animals just at the eye level! However, no one allowed me to go up there again since there were several huge bee hives on that tower. After coming down, the Rhinoceros Hornbill family revisited the fruiting tree and stayed there until dark. It was just amazing to be able to watch and photograph these large and iconic birds at close range. The male shows crimson red iris, while the female has white iris. I had a really good time taking photos of them until I couldn't press the shutter release button anymore as it was almost completely dark. It was such a memorable first day for the second half of the trip!