Birding at Genting Highlands, Malaysia (1 Viewer)

I spent the last weekend (25-27 Aug) doing some birding at Genting Highlands.

Only spent the morning of 25 Aug birding on the summit of Genting Highlands Resort near the telecom tower. As it rained early morning and also very misty, I only started birding at around 9 am. Bird activity were limited then and also sighted the following:

1. Javan Cuckooshrike
2. Black-throated Sunbird
3. White-bellied (Glossy) Swiftlet
4. Crested Serpent Eagle (perching at hillslope overlooking the Genting Skyway cable car)

Spent the next two mornings (26 & 27 Aug) birding at the short stretch of jungle trail (about 300m) near the Awana Genting Highlands Golf and Country Resort. Species sighted include (lifer denoted by * and migrant denoted by #):

1. Olive-winged Bulbul
2. Stripe-throated Bulbul
3. Black-crested Bulbul
4. Ochraceous Bulbul
5. Asian Glossy Starling
6. Oriental Magpie Robin
7. Streaked Spiderhunter
8. Common Tailorbird
9. Dark-necked Tailorbird
10. Rufescent Prinia*
11. Collared Owlet*
12. Oriental Bay Owlet*
13. Malayan Whistling Thrush*
14. Blue Whistling Thrush*
15. Blue-winged Leafbird
16. Orange-bellied Leafbird
17. Pacific Swallow
18. Black Eagle*
19. Rhinoceros Hornbill
20. Green-billed Malkoha*
21. Little Cuckoo Dove
22. Black-browed Barbet
23. Bar-winged Flycatcher Shrike
24. Grey-chinned Minivet
25. Sultan Tit
26. Grey-throated Babbler
27. Striped Tit Babbler
28. Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush
29. Mountain Fulvetta
30. Long-tailed Sibia
31. White-bellied Erponis
32. Chestnut-crowned Warbler
33. Yellow-bellied Warbler
34. Arctic Warbler#
35. Yellow-browed Warbler*#
36. Verditer Flycatcher
37. Little Pied Flycatcher
38. Hill Blue Flycatcher*
39. Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher
40. Grey Wagtail#
41. Orange-bellied Flowerpecker
42. Everett's White-eye
43. Scaly-breasted Munia
44. Golden Babbler

Overall, sighted 48 species including 9 lifers o

Some quality birds there - Oriental Bay Owl is high on my wish list.

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK said:

Some quality birds there - Oriental Bay Owl is high on my wish list.

Cheers
Mike

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That one stands out for me too Mike! I've only managed to hear one before.

The most interesting sighting from there is Malayan Whistling Thrush - did you manage any photos or a description of it? A recent study by Dave Bakewell has shown that the only recent records are from Fraser's Hill, all other records have been misidentified Blue...

Well done on the Bay Owl!

James

James Eaton said:

The most interesting sighting from there is Malayan Whistling Thrush - did you manage any photos or a description of it? A recent study by Dave Bakewell has shown that the only recent records are from Fraser's Hill, all other records have been misidentified Blue...

Well done on the Bay Owl!

James

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A couple of local photographers that frequent the Awana intake area (Alagan and Adrian if I'm not mistaken) have photos of what I think is quite definitely a Malayan Whistling Thrush - more slender bill and overall smaller apparent size. I think I may have seen them there a few years ago, but the lighting back then was poor.

Oh, interesting... do you have a link to the photos? Would be great to take a peek...

James will know the details more I'm sure, but I think there's sometimes confusion, eg in the Cameron Highlands, with a small resident form of Blue Whistling Thrush that even has a call similar to Malayan??

Sorry for missing the subsequent comments on my birding trip in 2012.

I first saw a pair of Blue Whistling Thrush early morning on that day at the Awana stretch. About 15-20 minutes later, a darker looking bird showed up. The size is noticeably smaller than the Blue Whistling Thrush but the plummage is much darker (resembling that of a myna in color but wonder whether it was due to the poor lighting) and the color of the bill appeared rather pale (ivory color). It is a whistlng thrush and definitely not a Crested Myna based on my description o.

I will be visiting Genting again on July 5-7, 2014 and will spend the whole day at Awana on July 6. Hope to reconnect with that thrush again. I am bringing along my digiscoping setup and wonder whether I could get any shot if it appears in view of the bad lighting there

Don't forget to cover Ulu Kali. I might be up there on Jul 7 morning if my plan to go to Bukit Tinggi falls through. Bring tons of mealworms if you go there.

Hor Kee said:

Don't forget to cover Ulu Kali. I might be up there on Jul 7 morning if my plan to go to Bukit Tinggi falls through. Bring tons of mealworms if you go there.

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Are you referring to the telecom tower trail up the highlands? I will bird there on the afternoon of July 5 (Saturday) and the morning of July 7 (Monday). Hope to bump into you there I will be birding on foot - so will be pretty siong for me

Wow congrats on the Malayan Whistling Thrush - great to see they are not confined to Fraser Hill !

SeeToh said:

Are you referring to the telecom tower trail up the highlands? I will bird there on the afternoon of July 5 (Saturday) and the morning of July 7 (Monday). Hope to bump into you there I will be birding on foot - so will be pretty siong for me

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Hi SeeToh

Recently had a very good trip to Fraser, planning to go Genting from singapore by bus and would be staying at First world wanted to check with you how you managed to go from hotel to birding spots you mentioned above Awana and telecom loop.

If you can share how you managed to visit birding spots and also which are the spots which I could cover over 3 days.

Thanks

Suraj, I was with him on the last day i.e.e Jul 7. Before that, he walked from the hotel all the way to the radar station. Takes about 45 minutes. You might want to start walking by 6am if you want to get the early birds there. I picked him up from the hotel lobby on Jul 7 with my car and it was much faster.