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Taman Nagara & Fraser Hill : Malaysia (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Frogfish
- Start date
Day 6 : - 29th April 2014
Costly Mistakes !
Having met another birder, Ian, a doctor and a very nice guy from NZ, the previous day we had discussed our experiences so far, walked the Loop and had an excellent dinner at one of the floating restaurants for the price of a bowl of peanuts at Mutiara (well maybe not exactly, in my mind it seems the longer I delay writing down the details the cheaper it becomes).
Today we had arranged to meet up at breakfast at around 07.00 and then trek the rather less traveled trails to the Blau & Yong hides and back, around 13kms, on the advice of a Park Ranger.
This was a mistake, what we should have done, as I realised after a conversation with another Ranger at the Park HQ, was take a boat up to the drop-off point close to the hides (about 60 RM), then walked back along the trail to the Mutiara. We would have then have been able to check out the hides at our leisure and not worry about the length of the trail and carrying enough water (I took 3 litres = 3 kgs for this day). Ian had not taken enough the previous day which had been a very uncomfortable experience for him (the heat and high humidity inside the rainforest means you tend to drink more, just for you to then sweat it out) !
These aren't long distances but when you are birding and following trails that are often more exposed roots than trails, have to clamber under or over fallen trees obstructing the path and, more especially on this trail, climb substantial inclines, at up to 60 degrees, then you probably need to allow roughly 1 hour per kilometre. Hikers are substantially faster than birders so the approximate return times given by the Park are no guide for us !
Ian and I had tramped roughly 2 hours, or a little less, along the trail when we encountered a seriously tough 45-60 degree incline that went on for at least 100m. There are a series of mini-plateaus that have you thinking you are almost there, only to see the next 30m leg above you when you reach your interim target !
There is a continuous line of knotted ropes to assist you on the climb but with ca. 10 kgs on my backpack (inc. the 3 kgs water in a camelbak) and another 8 kgs of camera/lens combo on the monopod balanced over my shoulder (to say nothing of the extra kgs of padding around my waist), this was a seriously strength sapping climb (esp. after yesterday's 20k hike) !
This took us 20 mins to go this 100m (well mainly me, as Ian, fit and unencumbered by camera gear, could fairly 'sprint' up - OK maybe not sprint but probably 10 mins tops would have done it) and when after we found another incline/decline 10 mins further on that was it for me.
Not knowing how many more of these were to come, strength drained from the last one and with birds few and far between (Ian asked if it was only he that was having trouble spotting birds, when I said it was indeed difficult we deduced that this rainforest birding was indeed 'tough' !) I decided that it would be propitious to about turn at that point.
Ian was confident he could complete the trail so continued on alone and we somehow missed each other back at Mutiara as Ian left the next morning to drive to Fraser Hill. Later he emailed me to tell me that the trail was very tough, that he had fallen making the (often wadable, but not really that day with all the rain we were having) river crossing and in so doing had brought about a premature end to the lives of both his phone & camera, and that when he eventually rolled back into camp (Mutiara) it was very late, he was dead-on-his-feet and a hot shower and bed were calling !
I was able to take my time on the hike back down the trail, after Ian and I had gone our separate ways, but it was still tough going down that 100m decline, twice slipping over on my backside but luckily holding onto the guide-rope kept me from damaging anything except my pride (my body long ago having accepted I will always put camera & lens before life & limbs). It took me 5 hours to complete the abbreviated hike in both directions.
Arriving back at the Mutiara I went back to the chalet to refresh and having showered, drunk some cool water (there are no fridges in the rooms but cold bottled water is available from the Mutiara General Store or from it's neighbour, the Park HQ (at a 50% discount over the store !) and changed clothes I decided that the Tabin Hide (2 mins walk), the Loop and mini-Loop (5 mins to get there and 1-2 hours to bird) and the grounds of the Mutiara would see me through to dark without exerting too much further energy.
There are numerous large trees and shrubs in the grounds and I was able to pick up some good birds from a gentle stroll. Bee-eaters, Asian Fairy Bluebird, Black & Yellow Broadbill (in a fruiting fig tree where Ian had seen Blue Hanging Parrots the day before), Everett's White-eye, Common Tailorbird & Sunbirds kept me entertained and a small troupe of long-tailed macaques sauntered through, baby in tow, determined it seemed to eat all of the pretty yellow flowers bordering the pathways.
The Tabin Hide was quiet but the Black-thighed Falconet was back and at dusk there was a rustling in the bushes in front and three Wild Pigs emerged from the scrub, bound in the direction of the Mutiara. They passed right underneath the hide, though were difficult to see in the head-high grass, and disappeared without entering the grounds, probably deterred by the sounds of human voices drifting over from the camp.
With just enough light remaining for a quick circuit of The Loop, it held a fine surprise in the form of a splendid Crested Serpent Eagle that swooped in to within 15m of me at just above head height .. however it was only there for a couple of seconds, as I stood frozen - camera pointed in the opposite direction, before possibly spotting me and taking off quickly disappeared into the deepening gloom.
Overall a rather disappointing result for the day though I was pleased with the number of Woodpeckers being seen.
23 Species
Babbler, Rufous-crowned #
Bee-eater, Blue-throated
Bluebird, Asian Fairy
Broadbill, Black & Red
Broadbill, Black & Yellow
Bulbul, Black-headed
Bulbul, TBC
Bulbul, TBC
Eagle, Crested Serpent
Falconet, Black-thighed
Magpie-Robin, Oriental
Pigeon, Green (spp)
Sharma, White-rumped
Sparrow, Tree
Spider-hunter, Long-billed
Swiftlet, Germain's
Swift, Whiskered
Sunbird, Purple-naped
Tailorbird, Common
White-eye, Everett's #
Woodpecker, Banded #
Woodpecker, Crimson-winged #
Woodpecker, Laced #
Gibbon, White-faced (heard not seen)
Squirrel, Plaintail
Wild Pigs, (3)
Leeches #7 & 8 (neck and leg)
I've attached a few shots of the trails and the constant stepping over, or tripping up on, massive tree roots, below. Unfortunately what these iPhone pictures don't give a sense of is the steepness of the inclines .... in fact they look rather flat but I can assure you that some are at least 60 degrees, or more !
Costly Mistakes !
Having met another birder, Ian, a doctor and a very nice guy from NZ, the previous day we had discussed our experiences so far, walked the Loop and had an excellent dinner at one of the floating restaurants for the price of a bowl of peanuts at Mutiara (well maybe not exactly, in my mind it seems the longer I delay writing down the details the cheaper it becomes).
Today we had arranged to meet up at breakfast at around 07.00 and then trek the rather less traveled trails to the Blau & Yong hides and back, around 13kms, on the advice of a Park Ranger.
This was a mistake, what we should have done, as I realised after a conversation with another Ranger at the Park HQ, was take a boat up to the drop-off point close to the hides (about 60 RM), then walked back along the trail to the Mutiara. We would have then have been able to check out the hides at our leisure and not worry about the length of the trail and carrying enough water (I took 3 litres = 3 kgs for this day). Ian had not taken enough the previous day which had been a very uncomfortable experience for him (the heat and high humidity inside the rainforest means you tend to drink more, just for you to then sweat it out) !
These aren't long distances but when you are birding and following trails that are often more exposed roots than trails, have to clamber under or over fallen trees obstructing the path and, more especially on this trail, climb substantial inclines, at up to 60 degrees, then you probably need to allow roughly 1 hour per kilometre. Hikers are substantially faster than birders so the approximate return times given by the Park are no guide for us !
Ian and I had tramped roughly 2 hours, or a little less, along the trail when we encountered a seriously tough 45-60 degree incline that went on for at least 100m. There are a series of mini-plateaus that have you thinking you are almost there, only to see the next 30m leg above you when you reach your interim target !
There is a continuous line of knotted ropes to assist you on the climb but with ca. 10 kgs on my backpack (inc. the 3 kgs water in a camelbak) and another 8 kgs of camera/lens combo on the monopod balanced over my shoulder (to say nothing of the extra kgs of padding around my waist), this was a seriously strength sapping climb (esp. after yesterday's 20k hike) !
This took us 20 mins to go this 100m (well mainly me, as Ian, fit and unencumbered by camera gear, could fairly 'sprint' up - OK maybe not sprint but probably 10 mins tops would have done it) and when after we found another incline/decline 10 mins further on that was it for me.
Not knowing how many more of these were to come, strength drained from the last one and with birds few and far between (Ian asked if it was only he that was having trouble spotting birds, when I said it was indeed difficult we deduced that this rainforest birding was indeed 'tough' !) I decided that it would be propitious to about turn at that point.
Ian was confident he could complete the trail so continued on alone and we somehow missed each other back at Mutiara as Ian left the next morning to drive to Fraser Hill. Later he emailed me to tell me that the trail was very tough, that he had fallen making the (often wadable, but not really that day with all the rain we were having) river crossing and in so doing had brought about a premature end to the lives of both his phone & camera, and that when he eventually rolled back into camp (Mutiara) it was very late, he was dead-on-his-feet and a hot shower and bed were calling !
I was able to take my time on the hike back down the trail, after Ian and I had gone our separate ways, but it was still tough going down that 100m decline, twice slipping over on my backside but luckily holding onto the guide-rope kept me from damaging anything except my pride (my body long ago having accepted I will always put camera & lens before life & limbs). It took me 5 hours to complete the abbreviated hike in both directions.
Arriving back at the Mutiara I went back to the chalet to refresh and having showered, drunk some cool water (there are no fridges in the rooms but cold bottled water is available from the Mutiara General Store or from it's neighbour, the Park HQ (at a 50% discount over the store !) and changed clothes I decided that the Tabin Hide (2 mins walk), the Loop and mini-Loop (5 mins to get there and 1-2 hours to bird) and the grounds of the Mutiara would see me through to dark without exerting too much further energy.
There are numerous large trees and shrubs in the grounds and I was able to pick up some good birds from a gentle stroll. Bee-eaters, Asian Fairy Bluebird, Black & Yellow Broadbill (in a fruiting fig tree where Ian had seen Blue Hanging Parrots the day before), Everett's White-eye, Common Tailorbird & Sunbirds kept me entertained and a small troupe of long-tailed macaques sauntered through, baby in tow, determined it seemed to eat all of the pretty yellow flowers bordering the pathways.
The Tabin Hide was quiet but the Black-thighed Falconet was back and at dusk there was a rustling in the bushes in front and three Wild Pigs emerged from the scrub, bound in the direction of the Mutiara. They passed right underneath the hide, though were difficult to see in the head-high grass, and disappeared without entering the grounds, probably deterred by the sounds of human voices drifting over from the camp.
With just enough light remaining for a quick circuit of The Loop, it held a fine surprise in the form of a splendid Crested Serpent Eagle that swooped in to within 15m of me at just above head height .. however it was only there for a couple of seconds, as I stood frozen - camera pointed in the opposite direction, before possibly spotting me and taking off quickly disappeared into the deepening gloom.
Overall a rather disappointing result for the day though I was pleased with the number of Woodpeckers being seen.
23 Species
Babbler, Rufous-crowned #
Bee-eater, Blue-throated
Bluebird, Asian Fairy
Broadbill, Black & Red
Broadbill, Black & Yellow
Bulbul, Black-headed
Bulbul, TBC
Bulbul, TBC
Eagle, Crested Serpent
Falconet, Black-thighed
Magpie-Robin, Oriental
Pigeon, Green (spp)
Sharma, White-rumped
Sparrow, Tree
Spider-hunter, Long-billed
Swiftlet, Germain's
Swift, Whiskered
Sunbird, Purple-naped
Tailorbird, Common
White-eye, Everett's #
Woodpecker, Banded #
Woodpecker, Crimson-winged #
Woodpecker, Laced #
Gibbon, White-faced (heard not seen)
Squirrel, Plaintail
Wild Pigs, (3)
Leeches #7 & 8 (neck and leg)
I've attached a few shots of the trails and the constant stepping over, or tripping up on, massive tree roots, below. Unfortunately what these iPhone pictures don't give a sense of is the steepness of the inclines .... in fact they look rather flat but I can assure you that some are at least 60 degrees, or more !
Attachments
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Some more shots of the trails in the Taman Nagara Rainforest - once you get off the boardwalks it is like this all the time. This is an ancient forest, the world's oldest, 130 million years old. Take a look below at a sign found at the Park Rangers reception, it's a very poor iPhone shot but gives details of the incredible number of species to be found in this forest.
Notice the ropes in some of the shots - that's because these are very steep inclines - up to 60 degrees or more in places. The reason the ropes are 'on-the-floor' is, because of the steepness, that's where your hands are !
Notice the ropes in some of the shots - that's because these are very steep inclines - up to 60 degrees or more in places. The reason the ropes are 'on-the-floor' is, because of the steepness, that's where your hands are !
Attachments
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Chlidonias
Well-known member
is it really 13km to and from the Blau and Yong hides? I went to those ones way back in 2006 and I don't remember it being that far. I do remember the steep parts of the trail and the, er, lack of birds though!
Yes I took the distances from the Rangers' maps Israel so I think they are pretty good guesses.
The mountain climbing and lack of birds really stands out though
halftwo
Wird Batcher
Thank you !a very interesting trip report u have here....enjoy it alot. hope you had lots of fun birding in Malaysia.
I did indeed, thanks Weng Chun :t:
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Day 7 - 30th April 2014 :
The Winning Trail
Early morning I was out on the trail that runs parallel to the river, this is really an excellent trail, not as 'rooty' as the other forest trails I'd been on, though still plenty of them, but with good breaks in the close-knit forest trees enabling better views and there are far more birds.
Though I checked every bend in the path, and there are many, I was unable to hit up any chickens (especially the Fireback that was supposedly 'commonly seen' on this trail early morning), or more importantly pittas. One of my prime targets for the trip.
At one stage early on I was interrupted by the sounds of a woman screaming at her partner, in German, and soon she was storming along the boardwalk towards me, with just a nod in my direction the obviously distressed lady motored past. Her brow-beaten spouse/boyfriend passed by me a looong 5 mins later .... though there was no way he would catch up with her, dawdling along as he was, and indeed 10 mins later he went past me again .. this time in the direction of the Mutiara though. Of her I saw nary sight nor sound all day and can only wonder what became of her and hope she found her way safely back.
Soon after a couple of attractive young ladies passed by, suitably dressed for day in the jungle in sandals, very short shorts, baggy open blouses ... and not carrying ANY water at all. One could only shake one's head in bewilderment. Moments later there was scream on the path ahead and I hurriedly jogged along to find one of the young ladies had been stung on her chest and was quite distressed. I offered her some water and some insect bite gel from my pack, this soothed the angry-looking affected area and enabled them to continue, nervously, on their way.
Soon after a fly committed seppuku by dive-bombing directly into my eye. This was really unpleasant as I just couldn't remove it and my eye was swelling quickly and the fly irritated and made the eye very sore - luckily those two young ladies had become very thirsty and were now on their way back to the Mutiara.
The drop-dead-gorgeous one agreed to my entreaty to use her fingernail to extract the little blighter ! As she positioned her face within inches of mine to find the fly her jokes about such a degree of intimacy without a proper introduction elicited a nervous laugh .... from me. I'm not sure if she had noticed the increase in my breathing rate, blood pressure and my pounding heart !
As I continued down the trail my eye (with luck the left one and not the right, used for the camera viewfinder) had almost closed, making spotting and taking photos far more of a task than was comfortable. However with the birding on this trail the best of any trail out of the Mutiara so far I was reticent to turn around and head back. Eventually though, about 3 hours down the trail, that is what I had to do and so started on the 3 hour walk back.
Before going to find the First Aid centre, and then go across the river to the NKS desk to book my tickets and have dinner at the same floating restaurant, I decide not to waste this good birding time and from 17.00 to 18.30 I wandered around the resort, checking out it's many trees and shrubs and spotting a number of species already on the Day List.
'Hit rate' (i.e. Birds identifiable or photographed) on the trails was an incredibly frustrating, IDing 1 : 15 birds 'seen'. The flyovers were usually in a very small 'window' of under a second due to the foliage and many birds fly into the high canopy (trees up to 75-80m high) and are never seen again, or could not be ID'd (small birds) from that distance, and a few were skulkers that found it easy to just disappear in the heavy, deep vegetation.
I'm sure this could be a lot better with more eyes (sometimes there are indeed negatives to birding/traveling alone) and if I was more clued up on at least the common bird calls instead of just learning those damn Pittas as I did, but didn't tick or even hear then at least I wouldn't have wasted too much time on what were soon to become the more common birds.
From the hide (TN), on the roads (FH) or within the Mutiara resort (TN) this 'hit-rate' increased to something far more acceptable being more like 1 : 2.
26 Species (inc. 7 not yet ID'd in & below the list).
Broadbill, Black & Red
Broadbill, Black and Yellow
Bulbul, TBC
Bulbul, TBC
Bulbul, Red-eyed
Bulbul, Stripe-throated
Drongo, Lesser Racquet-tailed
Kingfisher, Rufous-backed
Magpie-Robin, Oriental
Malkoha, Raffle's
Myna, Javan
Pigeon, Thick-billed
Sharma, White-rumped
Sparrow, Tree
Spider-hunter, Long-billed
Swiftlet, Germain's
Swift, Whiskered
Sunbird, Purple-naped
Woodpecker, Buff-rumped
Woodpecker, RED 5095
The numbers next to birds, below and above, are for me to remember to find them in the thousands of unprocessed shots I have accumulated over the past year !
TBC : red-above/White or buff underparts #5267, #5230 Black hood/yellow underneath/black bill, #5239 ; #5231-powerful bill & weird stubby tail ; #5199.
Squirrel, Plaintail
Macaque, Pig-tailed
Lizard, Monitor
Lizard, Unknown (relatively large, Blue & White)
The Winning Trail
Early morning I was out on the trail that runs parallel to the river, this is really an excellent trail, not as 'rooty' as the other forest trails I'd been on, though still plenty of them, but with good breaks in the close-knit forest trees enabling better views and there are far more birds.
Though I checked every bend in the path, and there are many, I was unable to hit up any chickens (especially the Fireback that was supposedly 'commonly seen' on this trail early morning), or more importantly pittas. One of my prime targets for the trip.
At one stage early on I was interrupted by the sounds of a woman screaming at her partner, in German, and soon she was storming along the boardwalk towards me, with just a nod in my direction the obviously distressed lady motored past. Her brow-beaten spouse/boyfriend passed by me a looong 5 mins later .... though there was no way he would catch up with her, dawdling along as he was, and indeed 10 mins later he went past me again .. this time in the direction of the Mutiara though. Of her I saw nary sight nor sound all day and can only wonder what became of her and hope she found her way safely back.
Soon after a couple of attractive young ladies passed by, suitably dressed for day in the jungle in sandals, very short shorts, baggy open blouses ... and not carrying ANY water at all. One could only shake one's head in bewilderment. Moments later there was scream on the path ahead and I hurriedly jogged along to find one of the young ladies had been stung on her chest and was quite distressed. I offered her some water and some insect bite gel from my pack, this soothed the angry-looking affected area and enabled them to continue, nervously, on their way.
Soon after a fly committed seppuku by dive-bombing directly into my eye. This was really unpleasant as I just couldn't remove it and my eye was swelling quickly and the fly irritated and made the eye very sore - luckily those two young ladies had become very thirsty and were now on their way back to the Mutiara.
The drop-dead-gorgeous one agreed to my entreaty to use her fingernail to extract the little blighter ! As she positioned her face within inches of mine to find the fly her jokes about such a degree of intimacy without a proper introduction elicited a nervous laugh .... from me. I'm not sure if she had noticed the increase in my breathing rate, blood pressure and my pounding heart !
As I continued down the trail my eye (with luck the left one and not the right, used for the camera viewfinder) had almost closed, making spotting and taking photos far more of a task than was comfortable. However with the birding on this trail the best of any trail out of the Mutiara so far I was reticent to turn around and head back. Eventually though, about 3 hours down the trail, that is what I had to do and so started on the 3 hour walk back.
Before going to find the First Aid centre, and then go across the river to the NKS desk to book my tickets and have dinner at the same floating restaurant, I decide not to waste this good birding time and from 17.00 to 18.30 I wandered around the resort, checking out it's many trees and shrubs and spotting a number of species already on the Day List.
'Hit rate' (i.e. Birds identifiable or photographed) on the trails was an incredibly frustrating, IDing 1 : 15 birds 'seen'. The flyovers were usually in a very small 'window' of under a second due to the foliage and many birds fly into the high canopy (trees up to 75-80m high) and are never seen again, or could not be ID'd (small birds) from that distance, and a few were skulkers that found it easy to just disappear in the heavy, deep vegetation.
I'm sure this could be a lot better with more eyes (sometimes there are indeed negatives to birding/traveling alone) and if I was more clued up on at least the common bird calls instead of just learning those damn Pittas as I did, but didn't tick or even hear
then at least I wouldn't have wasted too much time on what were soon to become the more common birds. From the hide (TN), on the roads (FH) or within the Mutiara resort (TN) this 'hit-rate' increased to something far more acceptable being more like 1 : 2.
26 Species (inc. 7 not yet ID'd in & below the list).
Broadbill, Black & Red
Broadbill, Black and Yellow
Bulbul, TBC
Bulbul, TBC
Bulbul, Red-eyed
Bulbul, Stripe-throated
Drongo, Lesser Racquet-tailed
Kingfisher, Rufous-backed
Magpie-Robin, Oriental
Malkoha, Raffle's
Myna, Javan
Pigeon, Thick-billed
Sharma, White-rumped
Sparrow, Tree
Spider-hunter, Long-billed
Swiftlet, Germain's
Swift, Whiskered
Sunbird, Purple-naped
Woodpecker, Buff-rumped
Woodpecker, RED 5095
The numbers next to birds, below and above, are for me to remember to find them in the thousands of unprocessed shots I have accumulated over the past year !
TBC : red-above/White or buff underparts #5267, #5230 Black hood/yellow underneath/black bill, #5239 ; #5231-powerful bill & weird stubby tail ; #5199.
Squirrel, Plaintail
Macaque, Pig-tailed
Lizard, Monitor
Lizard, Unknown (relatively large, Blue & White)
Day 8 - 1st May 2014 :
Passage to China
So inevitably here we are on the final day of my trip and yesterday I had to decide how I was going to get to the airport in KL. I had not had many birds usually found close to water on the trip and I knew from my experiences in Sabah that river journeys are a good way to pick up raptors, kingfishers, bee-eaters, herons and hornbills and possibly monkeys too. So, in an effort to plump up the trip list, and for the experience ( I always love travel on water) I decided on the 35RM boat (book at the NKS office located on one of the floating restaurants - not at the Mutiara which overcharges for everything) - which would leave at 09.00 in the morning, instead of spending the morning on another trail and then taking an expensive taxi the whole way back to KL.
Whilst checking out of the Mutiara they had taken my luggage from the hut and deposited it directly onto the dockside for me, then it was another 1RM ferry ride to the floating restaurant where the NKS have a desk set up and I promptly ordered 2 more ice-cold Lime Juices (it was already 32C at 08.30) whilst I waited for the boat.
This turned out to be a very good idea as I sat and lazily scanned the far side of the river, and the skies, for activity whilst sipping on the Lime Juice. A babbler/warbler was indistinguishable at that distance (about 60-70m across) but very recognisable was first a pair of Blue-throated Bee-eaters, which were followed by a solitary Red-Bearded Bee-eater and then finally coasting in to land close to the river's edge and rummage around in a bush that clearly held great interest to him, a Greater Coucal. Having seen the Lesser variety in Shanghai I was rather taken aback at how much bigger the Greater seemed to be !
The journey on the boat down to Tembeling was interesting and there was indeed some good birds to be had, though not as many as on, for example, the Kinabatangan in Sabah, which could also be put down to our noisy boat engine and that of another boat which we caught up with but then stayed in its wake. There are also more inhabitants along the banks of this river, obviously a detrimental factor.
There were more bee-eaters, two eagles, a buzzard and most surprisingly (to me!) a Little Heron. Other birds were too small and far away to recognise but I did grab a handful of shots to aid recognition when back home in front of the computer screen.
On arrival at Tembeling Jetty, at 11.15, I was told by the shuttle bus driver (5RM to Jerantut) that I'd need a taxi to KL and he called someone he knew over from the office located close by. He consulted his 'boss', a Chinese guy, who said 350RM (the cost written on the taxi board listed the price to KL as 240RM but I had been forewarned that there was a 100RM surcharge added for taxis to either airport).
"Sorry, too much for me" I apologised and walked away, however before I had covered half the 50m back to the shuttle bus to Jerantut, Mr Fix-It called me back and said he had an unofficial way to get down to the price I was willing to pay (250RM), they would tell their 'boss' I was going to KL instead of the airport. So deal done I paid over the 250 and was duly handed a receipt in return.
Optionally you can take the very much cheaper (28RM) NKS run bus to KL (Chinatown) and sort out a metro or shuttle bus or taxi to the airport from there but I had nearly 40kgs in luggage to lug around and didn't want to cut it too fine. The bus option is much cheaper though and probably takes about 6 hours in total.
My transport was actually a small airport shuttle bus (8 seater) but that was fine, good AC, comfy seats and plenty of space to stretch out and sleep on the 4 hours to the KLCT airport (there is now a new airport just newly opened especially for the budget airlines, dominated by the huge Air Asia fleet of course), if a little bumpier than a car would have been, as some of the roads close to TN are not very well maintained.
Leaving at 12.00 we arrived at 16.15 (including a 15mins supermarket stop to stock up on presents for my wife and office staff (dried foodstuffs, naturally), drinks and snacks at far below airport prices)
Air Asia made me pay 50RM for being 1.9kg over their 25kg limit for Business Class (which they call Premium), the presents I'd bought and my trekking boots being the culprits. I suppose I could have swapped my comfy trainers for my trekking boots but couldn't be bothered at that stage.
As seems to be usual with AA we boarded nice and early, and this time it was good to be away on time (19.25). The flight was good, Premium class comfy (again I took advantage of, and enjoyed, the near horizontal sleeper) and we arrived back in Shanghai right on time at 02.00.
30 mins later I'd cleared Luggage Retrieval and Immigration, so queued 5 mins for a taxi and arrived home at 03.30, stroked the sleepy dog and flopped into a lovely cold bed (the wife was away in her home town for the May-Day public holiday).
The trip was great, the birds interesting, and I love Malaysia and it's people .... but it was good to be home, able to relax, and maybe tomorrow start thinking about 'where to next'
17 Species
Bee-eater, Blue-throated
Bee-eater, Chestnut-headed
Bee-eater, Red-bearded
Bulbul, TBC
Buzzard, Common (probable)
Coucal, Greater #
Eagle, Changeable Hawk
Egret, Little
Heron, Little #
Hornbill, Black #
Magpie-Robin, Oriental
Malkoha, TBC
Myna, Javan
Pigeon, Green (sp. TBC)
Sparrow, Tree
Swiftlet, Germain's
Swift, Whiskered
Negatives
The lack of chickens and pittas were a PITA on this trip.
The jungle interior is a tough slog and the numbers of birds seen was very limited.
Taxi costs can be high.
Missing out on the Black Gibbons.
If you have an aversion to flying insects you will hate TN - it wan't an issue for me !
Taman Nagara especially was the toughest conditions I've ever experienced for decent bird photography and I came back very disappointed in the quality of my work.
It's difficult to get from FH to TN without proper planning and arrangements.
Pros
I'm very glad I chose to do both FH and TN. They are wildly different and, although I lost nearly a day to the extra travel involved, the experience and the added variety of bird species was well worth it.
With proper planning it's not an overly expensive trip.
People, food (esp. on the floating restaurants at TN) and sites are exceptional.
Conclusion
In TN I had neglected the river-sides and as the last morning in the restaurant proved, there were a lot of birds to pick up. I should have given the river more time.
In FH I would make time to do both the Old and New Roads. The Old for the Black Gibbons early morning and the New for birds.
Would I go again ? Absolutely Yes, indeed ! Except next time I'll be better organised as regards trails, boats, season/weather and transport (I'll hire a car). 10 days would be perfect to cover locations both reasonably well.
Passage to China
So inevitably here we are on the final day of my trip and yesterday I had to decide how I was going to get to the airport in KL. I had not had many birds usually found close to water on the trip and I knew from my experiences in Sabah that river journeys are a good way to pick up raptors, kingfishers, bee-eaters, herons and hornbills and possibly monkeys too. So, in an effort to plump up the trip list, and for the experience ( I always love travel on water) I decided on the 35RM boat (book at the NKS office located on one of the floating restaurants - not at the Mutiara which overcharges for everything) - which would leave at 09.00 in the morning, instead of spending the morning on another trail and then taking an expensive taxi the whole way back to KL.
Whilst checking out of the Mutiara they had taken my luggage from the hut and deposited it directly onto the dockside for me, then it was another 1RM ferry ride to the floating restaurant where the NKS have a desk set up and I promptly ordered 2 more ice-cold Lime Juices (it was already 32C at 08.30) whilst I waited for the boat.
This turned out to be a very good idea as I sat and lazily scanned the far side of the river, and the skies, for activity whilst sipping on the Lime Juice. A babbler/warbler was indistinguishable at that distance (about 60-70m across) but very recognisable was first a pair of Blue-throated Bee-eaters, which were followed by a solitary Red-Bearded Bee-eater and then finally coasting in to land close to the river's edge and rummage around in a bush that clearly held great interest to him, a Greater Coucal. Having seen the Lesser variety in Shanghai I was rather taken aback at how much bigger the Greater seemed to be !
The journey on the boat down to Tembeling was interesting and there was indeed some good birds to be had, though not as many as on, for example, the Kinabatangan in Sabah, which could also be put down to our noisy boat engine and that of another boat which we caught up with but then stayed in its wake. There are also more inhabitants along the banks of this river, obviously a detrimental factor.
There were more bee-eaters, two eagles, a buzzard and most surprisingly (to me!) a Little Heron. Other birds were too small and far away to recognise but I did grab a handful of shots to aid recognition when back home in front of the computer screen.
On arrival at Tembeling Jetty, at 11.15, I was told by the shuttle bus driver (5RM to Jerantut) that I'd need a taxi to KL and he called someone he knew over from the office located close by. He consulted his 'boss', a Chinese guy, who said 350RM (the cost written on the taxi board listed the price to KL as 240RM but I had been forewarned that there was a 100RM surcharge added for taxis to either airport).
"Sorry, too much for me" I apologised and walked away, however before I had covered half the 50m back to the shuttle bus to Jerantut, Mr Fix-It called me back and said he had an unofficial way to get down to the price I was willing to pay (250RM), they would tell their 'boss' I was going to KL instead of the airport. So deal done I paid over the 250 and was duly handed a receipt in return.
Optionally you can take the very much cheaper (28RM) NKS run bus to KL (Chinatown) and sort out a metro or shuttle bus or taxi to the airport from there but I had nearly 40kgs in luggage to lug around and didn't want to cut it too fine. The bus option is much cheaper though and probably takes about 6 hours in total.
My transport was actually a small airport shuttle bus (8 seater) but that was fine, good AC, comfy seats and plenty of space to stretch out and sleep on the 4 hours to the KLCT airport (there is now a new airport just newly opened especially for the budget airlines, dominated by the huge Air Asia fleet of course), if a little bumpier than a car would have been, as some of the roads close to TN are not very well maintained.
Leaving at 12.00 we arrived at 16.15 (including a 15mins supermarket stop to stock up on presents for my wife and office staff (dried foodstuffs, naturally), drinks and snacks at far below airport prices)
Air Asia made me pay 50RM for being 1.9kg over their 25kg limit for Business Class (which they call Premium), the presents I'd bought and my trekking boots being the culprits. I suppose I could have swapped my comfy trainers for my trekking boots but couldn't be bothered at that stage.
As seems to be usual with AA we boarded nice and early, and this time it was good to be away on time (19.25). The flight was good, Premium class comfy (again I took advantage of, and enjoyed, the near horizontal sleeper) and we arrived back in Shanghai right on time at 02.00.
30 mins later I'd cleared Luggage Retrieval and Immigration, so queued 5 mins for a taxi and arrived home at 03.30, stroked the sleepy dog and flopped into a lovely cold bed (the wife was away in her home town for the May-Day public holiday).
The trip was great, the birds interesting, and I love Malaysia and it's people .... but it was good to be home, able to relax, and maybe tomorrow start thinking about 'where to next'
17 Species
Bee-eater, Blue-throated
Bee-eater, Chestnut-headed
Bee-eater, Red-bearded
Bulbul, TBC
Buzzard, Common (probable)
Coucal, Greater #
Eagle, Changeable Hawk
Egret, Little
Heron, Little #
Hornbill, Black #
Magpie-Robin, Oriental
Malkoha, TBC
Myna, Javan
Pigeon, Green (sp. TBC)
Sparrow, Tree
Swiftlet, Germain's
Swift, Whiskered
Negatives
The lack of chickens and pittas were a PITA on this trip.
The jungle interior is a tough slog and the numbers of birds seen was very limited.
Taxi costs can be high.
Missing out on the Black Gibbons.
If you have an aversion to flying insects you will hate TN - it wan't an issue for me !
Taman Nagara especially was the toughest conditions I've ever experienced for decent bird photography and I came back very disappointed in the quality of my work.
It's difficult to get from FH to TN without proper planning and arrangements.
Pros
I'm very glad I chose to do both FH and TN. They are wildly different and, although I lost nearly a day to the extra travel involved, the experience and the added variety of bird species was well worth it.
With proper planning it's not an overly expensive trip.
People, food (esp. on the floating restaurants at TN) and sites are exceptional.
Conclusion
In TN I had neglected the river-sides and as the last morning in the restaurant proved, there were a lot of birds to pick up. I should have given the river more time.
In FH I would make time to do both the Old and New Roads. The Old for the Black Gibbons early morning and the New for birds.
Would I go again ? Absolutely Yes, indeed ! Except next time I'll be better organised as regards trails, boats, season/weather and transport (I'll hire a car). 10 days would be perfect to cover locations both reasonably well.
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No mate. Left it too late this migration season. Seems from a surgery carried out that they are to be found on our favourite island too
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