birding-aus
I returned to Kuala Selangor Taman Alam (Nature Park) on 28 February, about
two months after I had been in December, and spent about four hours there.
The Lesser Adjutants were nowhere to be seen as were the few waders I had
seen on the last visit. But the compensation was a small flock of Black
Bazas flitting through the forest. I spent some time on the mangrove
boardwalk waiting in vain for the Great Tits to appear, but did get good
views of a rather dull Mangrove Whistler, but again only a glimpse of the
Mangrove Blue Flycatcher. (It has just been announced that the Selangor
River will be dammed upstream for water supply purposes. This is expected
to upset the balance of fresh and salt water for the mangroves at Kuala
Selangor and hence the firefly watching and probably the birdwatching at
Taman Alam. The Malaysian Nature Society is wading in with both fists but
without much chance of stopping the dam.)
In the heat of the afternoon I continued northwards to the PBLS Ricefields
at Sekinchan, mentioned in Bransbury's "A Birdwatcher's Guide to Malaysia".
I was here for almost three hours driving around the wet and dry ponds as
one does for example at Werribee. There were many Oriental Pratincoles,
White-winged Terns, some Pacific Golden Plover and Wood Sandpiper and one
Pintail (?) Snipe, out in the open with the waders. A juvenile Greater
Spotted Eagle was in the middle of a dry field and White-breasted
Woodswallow on the wires. I also saw Eastern Marsh Harrier and am about
99% sure of the sighting of a male, juvenile Pied Harrier which had quite a
different "jizz" and size to the other harrier.
I returned also to Bukit Fraser for the third time and had three days there
during the week which was much quieter than the weekend. At The Gap I saw
Sultan Tit, Black-bellied Malkoha, Verditer Flycatcher, Maroon Woodpecker
and Black Laughing Thrush which had confused me so much on my first visit.
I spent a morning on the Telekom Loop and had excellent views of the two
local Barbets and the Blue Nuthatch, all of which are not described in
Lekagul and Round. Also not illustrated, but seen this time was the
Mountain Leaf Warbler. A male Red-headed Trogon, my first trogon, was very
accommodating as he sat for 10 minutes on a nearby wire.
Mr Durai suggested that I do the top of the "new" road - I had spent some
time there before when it was foggy. It was a little disappointing as
before except for Red-bearded Beeeater and Hill Blue Flycatcher. I also
saw two Hornbills flying some distance away and took them to be Rhinoceros.
I went to the Garbage Tip three times, and the smell did not get any
better. On the third visit, my patience was rewarded with the briefest
glimpse of the local Siberian Thrush.
Mr Durai seems to recommend only the Telekom Loop, New Road and Garbage
Tip, saying that the Bishop's Trail is not what it was when John Bransbury
wrote the book. Mr Durai is now on E-mail at and says
he is happy to give advice on where to watch and on accommodation as
Fraser's Hill.
Another repeat visit was to F.R.I.M. at Kepong in the suburbs of Kuala
Lumpur. This was another Sunday, with thousands of locals also there,
pretending to get fit. In spite of the noise and disturbance, I had
"crippling" views of a Black Hornbill and a flock of 5 Black Magpies.
Other species of note were Hill Myna, Gold-whiskered Barbet,
Chestnut-breasted Malkoha and Velvet-fronted Nuthatch. I also saw another
Yellow-throated Marten. I would recommend F.R.I.M. to anyone with a
morning to spare in KL.
Regards,
Gil Langfield
Melbourne, Australia
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