Thanks
Thanks to all that offered advice on birding in Malaysia.
Some feedback:
The Mountain PP obliged at Bukit Tinggi as per instructions.
At Fraser's there are now many bird photographers of the type that do not own binoculars! The Partridge site was like attending a football match, get there early for the best seats. Some were using playback excessively, and at great volume, other photographers, to be fair, were not happy with this either. At one point a fight almost broke out between different groups. The Partridges were very shy and never settled to feed during my visits and once I had seen them well I couldn't face going back. Avoid weekends at Fraser's. I was given a location for Cutia which proved fruitful.
The Gap: Bamboo Woodpecker at 0.9 Km on road up in big bamboo clumps. Marbled Wren Babblers calling around 2km up. Saw a pair after a few attempts but they keep very well hidden.
Panti Forest: Rail-Babbler finally gave itself up along a side trail off the vehicle track (wide road in places). Grey-breasted Babbler was also seen well. Time was very limited here but the birding was generally good.
Singapore Botanical Gardens: Red-legged Crake seen well along the Heliconia Walk near Symphony lake.
Taman Negara: I connected with Olive-backed Woodpecker at Tabing Hide and Blue-banded Kingfisher and Blyth's Frogmouth at Lubok Simpon. Large Frogmouth called close to Tahan Hide at dusk but other night birding was unproductive or rained off.
TN was busy with tourists, a lot more than in 1998. The new boardwalks are noisy and, in places, dangerous to walk on as they are poorly maintained. The heat and humidity was energy sapping and combined with a mild dose of food poisoning made for very uncomfortable birding conditions. Maybe it was the time of year or the weather conditions or even me but the trails around the resort were a lot less productive than in March 1998. I saw no ground birds whatsoever in 5 days birding. I did hear Great Argus along the Riverside trail but they were some way off and 3 Blue-winged Pittas calling on the Swamp Loop did not want to show either. In '98 (11 night stay and I did go to Kumbang a few times) I saw: 6 (2 groups) Great Argus, 27 Crested Fireback, 3 Malaysian PP, 9 Crested Partridge, Banded Pitta, Garnet Pitta, BW Pitta and 2 Hooded Pittas!
TN was disappointing and I was glad to leave. On a positive note, and as Steve Babbs has already stated, Kuala Tahan is awash with alcohol. Well, you can buy it from a shop in the village and the café next door allows you to drink it there if you have ordered their food; my girlfriend would not have endured 5 nights otherwise!
Retrospectively, I wish I had got away from the HQ trail system more and stayed out in some of the hides but my gf was having none of it.
Next time I will try the other gate and spend a lot more time out at night.
Cheers,
Paul