Birding in Panti Forest, Peninsular Malaysia
15 to 17 April 2015
Peter Marsh
The Plan
I, like many birders, am chasing the intermediate goal of seeing a
representative of every bird family. I chose a trip to the Panti Forest in
southern Peninsular Malaysia to seek the Rail Babbler, the only member of the
family Eupetidae. While this was the prime target of the trip I was, of course,
open to the enjoyment of any and all birds encountered on the trip.
Logistics
I flew from my home in Sydney to Singapore by Qantas on points. I stayed
overnight at the Hotel 81 Chinatown, chosen because it was relatively
economical while being in a convenient place to be picked up and dropped off by
my guide Con Foley. The hotel was fine for the short time I was resident but
the rooms are ridiculously small and would be unpleasant for a longer stay.
Con Foley is an American who has lived in Singapore for many years. He has had
a close association with the Panti Forest for over a decade. His trip there
with me was his 396th trip to the Forest, he told me. I had seen good
references to his guiding prowess on the ‘net and admired his photography at
his web site http://confoley.com/ . He turned out to be very good company, a
fund of knowledge about the Forest and its avifauna as well as being a very
versatile mimic of the bird calls. I can thoroughly recommend his services to
anyone wanting guiding to the birds of the Forest. Con picked me up in the
China town area of Singapore and returned me there in his comfortable 4X4.
I engaged Con to guide me for 3 days starting pre-dawn on day 1 in Singapore
and returning at around 4pm on day 3. We stayed for 2 nights at the Rest Inn
Hotel in Kota Tinggi, the town closest to the Forest. The hotel was very
inexpensive but very comfortable. We ate at restaurants in the town for lunch
and dinner and bought breakfast provisions in a supermarket. Meals were
Malaysian for lunch and Chinese for dinner as only the Chinese served beer!
Food was delicious and cheap.
At the end of this trip I stayed the night in Singapore. The following morning
I took an early morning flight on Silk Air to Manado on the Indonesian island
of Sulawesi
The Birding
We drove straight to the Forest from Singapore on day 1 and were there just on
dawn. We tried for the Brown Hawk-owl and Blyth’s Frogmouth without success. We
then picked up a bunch of Flowerpeckers and Bulbuls before getting into the
main game and looking for the Rail Babbler. Con advised that there are around
10 territories for the Rail Babbler in the Forest that are readily accessible.
On the second territory we got a response to a played call. We followed the
call into the forest and were close to the bird for the best part of an hour
but it did not show itself despite coming within 30 m or so of us. While
waiting we did get distracted for a little, as one would, by a calling pair of
Banded Pitta that were seen well. After that first ray of hope we visited all
the other territories without any sign of a Rail Babbler. The Forest seemed
very dry. Whether it was due to this, or other causes, Con reflected that the
birds were very unresponsive. While looking for the Rail Babbler we were not
oblivious to other species and the list gradually climbed.
Our second day started as the first had with the exception that Con managed to
call in a Brown Hawk-owl. Then to work surveying the territories for Rail
Babbler. We did not get a single response during the morning despite surveying
all territories. We decided toi take a break and drove to Le Grandeur Palm
Resort at Senai, about an hours drive from the Forest to try for Barred
Eagle-owl. The birds are known to roost here, in fact they regularly nest in a
planter box on the verandah of the presidential suite of the resort. We duly
found a young bird roosting in a tree beside the resort and retired to lunch in
the restaurant of the resort. Upon returning to the forest we concentrated on
sighting a trio of Broadbills, Black-and–Red, Banded and Black-and-Yellow, the
latter two species having active nests. We also came across Elephant tracks
beside a stream where they had not been the previous day.
Our third day again started well before dawn. Rather than try again for the
Frogmouth we went to the old sand mine sight and picked up Savannah Nightjar
before again doing the rounds of the Rail Babbler territories. We were on our
8th territory and holding little hope of an RB when Con heard a very faint
response to his playback. We were soon close to the bird and after a few
minutes it appeared through the undergrowth and proceeded to slowly and
seemingly quite calmly circumnavigate our position. The bird called
occasionally as it did its stately walk around us puffing up its blue
cheek-pouches as it did so. We were both stoked to see the bird after mentally
writing off our chances. We notched up a few more species after that before
heading for lunch in Kota Tinggi and the end of the trip in Singapore.
The 3 days were focused on finding the Rail Babbler and I am sure we would have
notched up more species in total if that had not been so. Interestingly the
only rain we had fell just as we were watching the Rail Babbler. Was the bird
stimulated to call by imminent rain or was it pure coincidence? Whatever it was
wonderful to add another family to the family list and 31 new species to my
life list.
Birds Seen
Crested Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela)
Changeable Hawk-eagle (Nisaetus cirrhatus)
Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus)
Spotted Dove (Spilopelia chinensis)
Common Emerald Dove (Chalcophaps indica)
Little Green Pigeon (Treron olax)
Pink-necked Green Pigeon (Treron vernans)
Chestnut-breasted Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus curvirostris)
Violet Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx xanthorhynchus)
Barred Eagle-owl (Bubo sumatranus)
Brown Hawk-owl (Ninox scutulata)
Savanna Nightjar (Caprimulgus affinis)
Scarlet-rumped Trogon (Harpactes duvaucelii)
Oriental Dollarbird (Eurystomus orientalis)
Banded Kingfisher (Lacedo pulchella)
Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher (Ceyx erithaca)
Red-bearded Bee-eater (Nyctyornis amictus)
Blue-throated Bee-eater (Merops viridis)
Rhinoceros Hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros)
Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris)
Wreathed Hornbill (Rhyticeros undulatus)
Red-crowned Barbet (Megalaima rafflesii)
Grey-and-buff Woodpecker (Hemicircus concretus)
White-bellied Woodpecker (Dryocopus javensis)
Crimson-winged Woodpecker (Picus puniceus)
Black-and-red Broadbill (Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchos)
Banded Broadbill (Eurylaimus javanicus)
Black-and-yellow Broadbill (Eurylaimus ochromalus)
Malayan Banded Pitta (Hydrornis irena)
Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis)
Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus)
Asian Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi)
House Crow (Corvus splendens)
Rail-babbler (Eupetes macrocerus)
Black-headed Bulbul (Pycnonotus atriceps)
Grey-bellied Bulbul [sp] (Pycnonotus cyaniventris)
Puff-backed Bulbul (Pycnonotus eutilotus)
Yellow-vented Bulbul [sp] (Pycnonotus goiavier)
Olive-winged Bulbul [sp] (Pycnonotus plumosus)
Cream-vented Bulbul [sp] (Pycnonotus simplex)
Yellow-bellied Bulbul [sp] (Alophoixus phaeocephalus)
Buff-vented Bulbul [sp] (Iole olivacea)
Barn Swallow [sp] (Hirundo rustica)
Pacific Swallow [sp] (Hirundo tahitica)
Rufous-tailed Tailorbird [sp] (Orthotomus sericeus)
Pin-striped Tit-babbler [sp] (Macronus gularis)
Fluffy-backed Tit-babbler [sp] (Macronus ptilosus)
Sooty-capped Babbler (Malacopteron affine)
White-chested Babbler [sp] (Trichastoma rostratum)
Javan Myna (Acridotheres javanicus)
Common Myna [sp] (Acridotheres tristis)
Rufous-tailed Shama (Copsychus pyrropygus)
White-rumped Shama [sp] (Copsychus malabaricus)
Pale Blue Flycatcher [sp] (Cyornis unicolor)
Grey-chested Jungle Flycatcher (Cyornis umbratilis)
Blue-winged Leafbird [sp] (Chloropsis cochinchinensis)
Crimson-breasted Flowerpecker [sp] (Prionochilus percussus)
Orange-bellied Flowerpecker [sp] (Dicaeum trigonostigma)
Eurasian Tree Sparrow [sp] (Passer montanus)
Baya Weaver [sp] (Ploceus philippinus)
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