Fraser's Hill, March 2012
Greetings,
I have just returned from a trip to Malaysia with three friends from the States. This was their first visit to southeast Asia so I was their "guide" who helped them find birds and other animals. All of the guys are retired biologists who worked for the US government.
Our itinerary included Taman Negara, Mt. Kinabalu/Poring/Rafflesia Centre in Sabah, Kubah and Permai in Sarawak, Kuala Selangor and finally Fraser's Hill. We had a wonderful time and saw a good variety of animals. The entire trip proceeded smoothly and we had no problems at all with the internet bookings.
This will be the first of a number of posts. I decided to begin with Fraser's Hill since I've heard rumours that some of you may be heading that way before long. The weather at Fraser's was mixed this year with a couple of nice, sunny days but also a couple of cool, wet days that were not good for most animals. Butterfly diversity and density was much lower this year than last July.
Here are a few shots of Fraser's Hill and the surrounding habitat. This area is one of my favourite sites in Malaysia and is always a fun place to visit. My friends loved the large and colourful birds found on the hill. We did not encounter anything unusual but had good looks at Red-headed Trogons, Fire-tufted Barbets, Long-tailed Broadbill, Silver-breasted Broadbill, Silver-eared Mesia, Verditer Flycatcher, Hill Blue Flycatchers, Blue Nuthatches, Black-and-Crimson Orioles and many others.
Ted's photo of the clock tower.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...rasershill.jpg
This is Ted's photo of the Pekan Bunglo where we stayed. The owners are the same but they changed management companies. Now, there is someone at reception everyday and they have an excellent cook on site. Of course, the cost has gone up since last July.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ekanBunglo.jpg
Typical habitat along the Telekom Loop road:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...00/habitat.jpg
Jeriau Falls area, a great place to photograph puddling butterflies:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...0/habitat2.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...riauFalls2.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...eriauFalls.jpg
There was a nice lookout about halfway down the new road to the Gap. We stopped there for birding but I also put out shrimp paste bait. This attracted some interesting species on our second visit (a sunny day).
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...0/habitat7.jpg
Habitat near the Gap.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...edhornbill.jpg
