Info Wanted for Bukit Tinggi and Genting Highlands (1 Viewer)

[Barbets48]

I will be making a trip to Kuala Lumpur in the coming month and would like to do a day trip of birding to a place within easy reach of the city. Would love to go to Fraser's Hill but the distance and time necessary is too much for this visit. I'm open to the possibility of a local guide which would definitely help for ID, but cost could be prohibitive.

I've found a good amount of info in terms of bird species possible at Bukit Tinggi and Genting Highlands, but I have some logistical questions I'd appreciate help with. At this point, I'd most likely plan to be taking a private car to one or both of these locations, probably driving up early in the morning and spending most of the day birding.

1. If I am not spending the night at one of the hotels, are the areas free to come and bird for outside birders? My understanding is that Bukit Tinggi has some gates along the road which may not open to the public until later in the morning for those not staying at the hotels (are they open access later in the day)? How about Genting Highlands? Would birding along the Pump house Trail or the area by the Radar Station (Gunung Ulu Kali) be possible just by driving in and parking along the road, and then walking the trails? Would those areas be accessible very early in the morning?

2. If I needed to, what might be the rough cost for paying for a car with driver from Kuala Lumpur to Genting for the whole day?

3. Given the choice between birding the Genting area or Bukit Tinggi, which would be preferable in terms of bird species possible and ease of birding without a guide? I can see that Mountain Peacock-Pheasant is a specialty of Bukit Tinggi.

Thanks for any tips you can give,

Mike

 

[Barbets48]

I will be making a trip to Kuala Lumpur in the coming month and would like to do a day trip of birding to a place within easy reach of the city. Would love to go to Fraser's Hill but the distance and time necessary is too much for this visit. I'm open to the possibility of a local guide which would definitely help for ID, but cost could be prohibitive.

I've found a good amount of info in terms of bird species possible at Bukit Tinggi and Genting Highlands, but I have some logistical questions I'd appreciate help with. At this point, I'd most likely plan to be taking a private car to one or both of these locations, probably driving up early in the morning and spending most of the day birding.

1. If I am not spending the night at one of the hotels, are the areas free to come and bird for outside birders? My understanding is that Bukit Tinggi has some gates along the road which may not open to the public until later in the morning for those not staying at the hotels (are they open access later in the day)? How about Genting Highlands? Would birding along the Pump house Trail or the area by the Radar Station (Gunung Ulu Kali) be possible just by driving in and parking along the road, and then walking the trails? Would those areas be accessible very early in the morning?

2. If I needed to, what might be the rough cost for paying for a car with driver from Kuala Lumpur to Genting for the whole day?

3. Given the choice between birding the Genting area or Bukit Tinggi, which would be preferable in terms of bird species possible and ease of birding without a guide? I can see that Mountain Peacock-Pheasant is a specialty of Bukit Tinggi.

Thanks for any tips you can give,

Mike

As a follow up to my own post for others' future reference, here is some info I found. It seems that the Genting Highlands' public access to trails is limited or over. So I ended up visiting Bukit Tinggi. Shortly after leaving the highway for the turnoff to Bukit Tinggi there is a gate with guards. We arrived before sunrise and the guards radioed to the resort (Colmar Tropicale) that we were coming to bird. A second guard station further up did the same. No major problem at all. The fee for birding in the Japanese garden is roughly 12 RM per person, and you pay it at the Colmar Tropicale reception area. Process of paying and the guards opening the gate to the Japanese Garden took a little longer than hoped, but was pretty easy.

A great contact for the area is Adrian Lim who was very generous in sharing information about where the feeding area for Peacock-Pheasant is (What's App contact: +60 12-339 9980, previously posted by others in the forum).

Mike

 

[birdgeek2]

As a follow up to my own post for others' future reference, here is some info I found. It seems that the Genting Highlands' public access to trails is limited or over. So I ended up visiting Bukit Tinggi. Shortly after leaving the highway for the turnoff to Bukit Tinggi there is a gate with guards. We arrived before sunrise and the guards radioed to the resort (Colmar Tropicale) that we were coming to bird. A second guard station further up did the same. No major problem at all. The fee for birding in the Japanese garden is roughly 12 RM per person, and you pay it at the Colmar Tropicale reception area. Process of paying and the guards opening the gate to the Japanese Garden took a little longer than hoped, but was pretty easy.

A great contact for the area is Adrian Lim who was very generous in sharing information about where the feeding area for Peacock-Pheasant is (What's App contact: +60 12-339 9980, previously posted by others in the forum).

Mike

Thanks for this. Would you be able to please clarify - you didn't need to book a room at all, the guards let you through anyway?

Thanks,

Kiran

 

[temmie]

Thanks for this. Would you be able to please clarify - you didn't need to book a room at all, the guards let you through anyway?

Thanks,

Kiran

I reckon they do so during office hours / daylight hours, but not so much when you would arrive in the dark.

 

[Barbets48]

Thanks for this. Would you be able to please clarify - you didn't need to book a room at all, the guards let you through anyway?

Thanks,

Kiran

As a follow up, I have been up to the Japanese garden as recently as December and you do NOT need to spend the night to bird. However, birders seem to recently have had different experiences about when the guards will open the gates for the Japanese Garden to birders. Official opening is not until 9:30am I think and one person was told to wait until then. In December they let me drive up to the garden at around 8:45 when I arrived. I see recent (March) checklists on eBird that start at 7:00 and 7:30 am, though uncertain whether those folks drove up to the Japanese Garden or were allowed in on foot.
Hope that helps a little

 

[AveryBartels]

As a follow up, I have been up to the Japanese garden as recently as December and you do NOT need to spend the night to bird. However, birders seem to recently have had different experiences about when the guards will open the gates for the Japanese Garden to birders. Official opening is not until 9:30am I think and one person was told to wait until then. In December they let me drive up to the garden at around 8:45 when I arrived. I see recent (March) checklists on eBird that start at 7:00 and 7:30 am, though uncertain whether those folks drove up to the Japanese Garden or were allowed in on foot.
Hope that helps a little

At least some of those March ebird lists were mine. I stayed at the Colmar Tropicale and walked up in the early mornings. I think if you're on foot there isn't any issue with going in past the gates (?) though they were ungairded at the hour I passed them. Also, no real need to enter the actual Japanese Garden proper, just follow the road that skirts around the edge of the garden. The road ends and the track to the Peacock-pheasant hide just carries on directly from the end of the road.

I did get escorted out of the vicinity of the Japanese Garden in the evening by the guard, as that whole area is closed at 5pm. Walking down to the Colmar, the same guard and a cheerful fellow stopped (around 6pm) and requested that I be out of the next gate (closest to Colmar Tropical, maybe 2km below Japanese Garden) before dark.