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Fraser Hill, Cameron HLs or Taman Negara ? (1 Viewer)

Frogfish

Well-known member
I've just started planning a trip at the end of March to one of these locations (is it a good time to visit ? Rains ? Migration ?).

I will have 6-8 days (not yet confirmed) but to make the trip palatable to my wife I've suggested she and her friend/mother stay and have fun in KL/Singapore whilst I send 5-6 days birding. I know FH is the closest but which is the best and/or highest density of different bird species?

Any advice re. transport/accommodation also gratefully received !

I have made a number of trips to Sabah (so am well used to birding in rain-forests), including twice in 2013, so would like slightly different birds but as a photographer colourful or spectacular birds are naturally my preference :D

Trogons, Pittas, Broadbills, Barbets, Hornbills, Sunbirds, Kingfishers, Raptors and so on, you get the idea :t:

Any advice welcome !

Thanks
Kevin
 
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Never been birding at the sites in Peninsular Malaysia, so I can't really help there. As to where to send your wife, not sure what she's into.

If she's a shopper, Singapore is probably the place. Either one has some culture, but KL is more different from Shanghai than Singapore is (since Singapore is overwhelmingly Chinese). But I'm not sure either city can keep her occupied for 6 days.

If she's a beach person, why not Penang? It's a little further from the key birding locations, but if you have a car, it's no big deal.
 
Never been birding at the sites in Peninsular Malaysia, so I can't really help there. As to where to send your wife, not sure what she's into.

If she's a shopper, Singapore is probably the place. Either one has some culture, but KL is more different from Shanghai than Singapore is (since Singapore is overwhelmingly Chinese). But I'm not sure either city can keep her occupied for 6 days.

If she's a beach person, why not Penang? It's a little further from the key birding locations, but if you have a car, it's no big deal.

Thanks Jeff. The cities are great for her and her friend/mother, lots to keep them occupied, that isn't my problem, that bits solved ;) And Chinese is widely spoken in Malaysia (although my wife speaks fluent English too). I think you know the Chinese don't like the sun - my wife would be horrified at the thought :D Hope you're keeping well my friend - no recurrences ?
 
Yes, March is a good time to head to the mountains. It is very dry right now and there were few birds in Fraser's Hill (FH) in early February. Although it may be rainy, during intervening periods there would be quite a few good birds including migrants desperately fattening up for the long journey home.

There is no public transport to FH. You'll have to hire a taxi there and back. Not exactly the cheapest option. Or hire a guide with transport. I can recommend one or two for you if needed.

If you want to both spend time with your non-birding wife and get great birds at the same time, an even closer hill resort to Kuala Lumpur is Genting Highlands. There are coaches linking it from the airports or from KL Sentral. They take only about 1 hour to get up there. Right at the peak, there's a theme park, hotels and casino with plenty of shopping options (although more expensive somewhat than in KL). That should keep your family occupied. For birding, go out pre-dawn to the radar station at Ulu Kali. Its about 45 mins walk to the end of the road that starts from the ring road of the Genting Highlands resort. The radar station's lights attract a good number of upper montane species of birds at dawn. A bit off the beaten birding track but worth it IMHO.

Or go to Kuala Tahan in Taman Negara. Vans of various tour companies ply the KL-Kuala Tahan route with reasonable regularity. About 3 hours drive by van from KL.

Once again, bear in mind that there's a chance of rain in March.
 
Thanks Hor Kee - excellent information ! I'll be leaving the others in KL so they can easily go down to Singapore too. Good restaurants, shopping and sight-seeing will keep everyone happy for the week.

Regards bird species, which of all those locations is going to give me the best chance of hitting my target birds (list above) ? I'm guessing it's TN ?

Cheers
Kevin
 
Thanks Jeff. The cities are great for her and her friend/mother, lots to keep them occupied, that isn't my problem, that bits solved ;) And Chinese is widely spoken in Malaysia (although my wife speaks fluent English too). I think you know the Chinese don't like the sun - my wife would be horrified at the thought :D Hope you're keeping well my friend - no recurrences ?

I'm doing well. No recurrences, fortunately. Thanks for asking.

I figured since your wife married a laowai she might have some peculiar hobbies but I forgot you also mentioned her mother. 3:)

When I was there in the late 90's, all the Malaysian Chinese I encountered were predominantly non-Mandarin speaking (Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese). My US-born co-worker spoke Cantonese with the locals, and the local gang spoke Hokkien. But it looks like Mandarin is gaining prominence (according to Wikipedia). So I think she'll do OK. In Singapore, OTOH, Mandarin is the Chinese dialect of choice, with the occasional "La!" tossed in for emphasis (although they do that with English, too).
 
Some of your target species are present at both Fraser's Hill and Taman Negara, but there are more of them at the latter. However, birding is substantially easier at Fraser's Hill. Here's a list, if it makes your decision easier. Note that I was only there in August 2013, and birds may be more/less vocal in March.

Trogons:
Taman Negara: Scarlet-rumped, Diard's, and Red-naped are all somewhat common if you know the songs. Cinnamon-rumped is rare, but I saw one near the Blau Hide last summer. There's a pair of Orange-breasted Trogons on Bukit Teresek.

Fraser's Hill: Red-headed is fairly common at the top, and you are likely to encounter Orange-breasted by walking the old road down to the bottom.

Pittas:
Taman Negara: Malayan Banded and Garnet Pittas were fairly common by voice in August. Banded is responsive to playback, but you have to walk in for Garnet. I also heard a Giant Pitta on the Kumbang trail. I think Blue-winged and Hooded Pittas should be there in March.
Fraser's Hill: Rusty-naped Pitta is there but can be difficult. I saw an adult and a juvenile by walking very slowly on the Bishop Trail just after dawn. I think others have seen Blue-winged Pitta there in season.

Broadbills:
Taman Negara: Green, Black-and-Red, Banded, and Black-and-yellow are fairly common to common. I saw a group of Dusky Broadbills once.

Fraser's Hill: I heard/saw Long-tailed Broadbill on the Telekom Loop and the New Road. I heard either Banded or Black-and-yellow on the Old Road. Others have seen Silver-breasted Broadbill at the Gap.

Barbets
Taman Negara: Lots of species, but they are difficult to see unless you find a good fruiting tree.
Fraser's Hill: Lots of species here, too. Most species that occur at Taman Negara are easier to see at the lower parts of Fraser's Hill. Also, Black-browed and the stunning Fire-tufted are at the top.

Hornbills
Taman Negara: Lots of species, but they are very shy as they are hunted by the Orang Asli. I heard many, but only saw Rhinoceros and Black.
Fraser's Hill: Great Hornbill is seen pretty often by walking the Old and New roads. Others have seen Wreathed, Rhinoceros, Bushy-crested, and even Helmeted Hornbill on the lower parts of the road and at the Gap.

Kingfishers
Taman Negara: Banded Kingfisher was singing every day in August. I heard two Rufous-collared Kingfishers and saw one on the Kumbang Trail. Also, I encountered a couple Oriental Dwarf Kingfishers along small creeks in the forest. Blue-eared, Blue-banded, and Stork-billed Kingfishers can be seen along the rivers (i.e. Lubuk Simpon).

Fraser's Hill: I didn't see any Kingfishers here, but others have seen Banded.
 
Hor Kee - if you think that is a viable option (both locations) then I'll try for a total of 2 days at FH (p.m. / full day / a.m) and 3 full days at TN. Leaving 2 days (a.m. KL to FH / p.m. FH to TN and 1 day return TN to KL) for the logistics.

Excellent information Ben - thank you !

Birds - There are some of those I've seen on trips to Sabah (most, not all, of the Hornbills and the TN Trogons for example) so I'll concentrate on the remaining Trogons / Pittas and Broadbills (and try to find fruiting trees for the Barbets) though I'd be very happy to see any of them again ;)
 
Personally, I'd pick one site and spend the whole time there. There's more than enough birds (including difficult birds that take time) at either site for a week. Ten days at Taman Negara didn't feel like enough!
 
I have done trips to FH and TN in March (a week each). Both have their merits, with Fraser's being less hard work.

One trick we found was to spend late afternoons down at The Gap where you can get good views over the forest - using a scope here we saw lots of Hornbills heading to their roosts, including two Helmeteds and a small party of White-crowneds.
 
Hor Kee - if you think that is a viable option (both locations) then I'll try for a total of 2 days at FH (p.m. / full day / a.m) and 3 full days at TN. Leaving 2 days (a.m. KL to FH / p.m. FH to TN and 1 day return TN to KL) for the logistics.

Excellent information Ben - thank you !

Birds - There are some of those I've seen on trips to Sabah (most, not all, of the Hornbills and the TN Trogons for example) so I'll concentrate on the remaining Trogons / Pittas and Broadbills (and try to find fruiting trees for the Barbets) though I'd be very happy to see any of them again ;)

I wouldn't try both locations as others have said easy to spend 5 days at either and want (much) more! FH definitely a lot easier birding wise and also given your photography desires likely to get more great shots - as has been said more species at TN but a lot in common and visibility etc for shots will be easier at FH.
 
I'm doing well. No recurrences, fortunately. Thanks for asking.

I figured since your wife married a laowai she might have some peculiar hobbies but I forgot you also mentioned her mother. 3:)

When I was there in the late 90's, all the Malaysian Chinese I encountered were predominantly non-Mandarin speaking (Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese). My US-born co-worker spoke Cantonese with the locals, and the local gang spoke Hokkien. But it looks like Mandarin is gaining prominence (according to Wikipedia). So I think she'll do OK. In Singapore, OTOH, Mandarin is the Chinese dialect of choice, with the occasional "La!" tossed in for emphasis (although they do that with English, too).

Well said la.o:D
 
When I was there in the late 90's, all the Malaysian Chinese I encountered were predominantly non-Mandarin speaking (Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese). My US-born co-worker spoke Cantonese with the locals, and the local gang spoke Hokkien. But it looks like Mandarin is gaining prominence (according to Wikipedia). So I think she'll do OK. In Singapore, OTOH, Mandarin is the Chinese dialect of choice, with the occasional "La!" tossed in for emphasis (although they do that with English, too).

Yes Mandarin becoming more prominent - but and a big one in Malaysia of course no Chinese language really encouraged (but not as actively put down as in Indonesia) it is pretty much tied to cultural background (and you don't mention Fukien which dialectically not sure personally how far differs from the ones you mention since all from the chinese sth east coast) but young Chinese descent people want to know Mandarin. In Singapore the mandatory Mother Tongue rules of the last couple of decades mean anyone 'Chinese' must be fluent in Mandarin as part of their schooling irrelevant of their historical language/dialect (sorry but they're not dialects despite gov directives).

The English comment re "la" and Singaporean English is simple - Singlish (or with variations english in any of Singapore/Malaysia/Indonesia in descending precedence) is due to the fact of applying general 'chinese' grammar to english but in Singapore it's pulling together not just english but multiple chinese languages and Tamil into the picture depending on the most approprate word for Singapore.

This all means I can drive an hour across the causeway and what is commonly known in Singapore by everyone irrespective of race and dialects and need to translate to the relevant 'dialect' of the person I'm talking to.

BTW going back to the full original post I'm also laowai and married a mainlander when living in Shanghai - admittedly one from Xinjiang so whilst Han maybe suspect to some - and they can get used to this part of the world :) Just expect some comments about how back home thing are better :eek!:
 
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Singapore is currently swamped with Blue-winged Pittas. There are seen in many locations.

I have also seen a Hooded Pitta on March 2.

Most ridiculous of all, there is a super friendly Mangrove Pitta at Singapore Botanic Gardens whose photos can be seen all over Flickr. Probably an escapee.

The current star of the birding scene in Singapore is a juvenile Band-bellied Crake which is also super friendly.

Refer to my gallery images.
 
I really appreciate the continuing additions to this thread - all good info. Totally gripped by those fantastic Pitta shots in your gallery SeeToh !

My Malaysia trip plans may have to be pushed back to the Autumn migration if I can not make it this Spring (April) as I now have a week's trip to Gaoligongshan in Yunnan this month and a family trip to Spain to confirm for either April or May (if it's May then I am hopeful I'll still be able to fit this trip into April).

I'm assuming the best months will be March & April ? When does the Autumn migration passage in Peninsular Malaysia commence ?

Anyone know anything about Bukit Tinggi ? This was mentioned to me as another potential site ?
 
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