Itinerary:

We flew to Kuala Lumpur on Malaysian Airlines (MAS) direct for $A790 return, this included something called a "Stopover Deal" so we could stay the first night at the 4 star Continental Hotel for $A22 each (worth it for the breakfast alone). We visited four sites (five if you count Fraser’s Hill and The Gap as separate locations) over 23 days. This encompassed three habitat types - mangrove/woodland, lowland rainforest and montane/submontane forest. All the places we visited are within easy reach of Kuala Lumpur. Obviously there are many other sites in Peninsular Malaysia worth visiting, including Endau-Rompin and Kuala Gula, however we found Kuala Selangor, Fraser’s Hill/The Gap and Taman Negara in particular to be extremely rich in diversity.

It is possible to get to any of the better known sites by the excellent bus network in Peninsular Malaysia. Taxis are also an option, due to the fact that petrol in Malaysia is incredibly cheap the taxis are quite affordable. There is also a rail system but this is a bit more restrictive as there are only a couple of lines. Finally car rental is also a distinct possibility, though more expensive. The road rules and manners are much the same as in Australia (if slightly more manic!) and driving is relatively easy. The roads are excellent.

Accommodation:

We stayed in mid-range accommodation at all sites paying an average of 60 Ringgit a night for two, except at Taman Negara where we stayed in the hostel which was about 40 Ringgit a night each, which is ridiculously overpriced (as is the whole resort), and at Pasoh where we stayed at the headquarters. A hostel for birders is planned at Fraser’s Hill apparently. For more details see site accounts. A full range of accommodation is available at most sites.

Site Accounts:

Kuala Selangor Nature Park

This park is run by the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) and consists of about 200 hectares of mangrove woodland and a large lagoon. The park manager is Mr. Rasainthiran, or Rajan for short, he lives on site and is extremely helpful and knowledgeable. The phone number is 03 889 2294, fax 03 889 4311. We stayed at the park chalets which were nothing flash but perfectly comfortable with a bathroom. There are cheaper huts with shared bathroom facilities. A small shop sells water, snacks and a great range of natural history books. The town of Kuala Selangor is a 10 minute walk from the park and has a number of shops including two excellent restaurants. The Waterfall Restaurant is good but a bit more expensive than the 99 Restaurant, which is cheap and excellent with fabulous fresh juices and delicious Nasi Lemak.

We found most areas to be productive for birds, a number of hides are scattered around the park. An area outside the park called Bukit Melawati, a hill where the lighthouse is located, was also excellent although it is a popular spot with the locals so it can get rather noisy. There is a fabulous view of the Melaka Straits from here. We spotlit the Spotted Wood-owls at dawn on Bukit Melawati in the picnic area on the very top of the hill. They went to roost in some pines on the lighthouse side of the picnic area. The mangrove boardwalks in the park were being repaired when we were there but you can enter anyway. Unfortunately we couldn’t get out to the mudflats though.

 The Gap

This is the area at the bottom of Fraser’s Hill with an altitude of 825 metres and a rather different avifauna to Fraser’s Hill itself. The only place to stay is The Gap Resthouse, which is a fabulous old place left over from the colonial era, it is starting to become a bit rundown however. The rooms are very large with huge baths and meals are served in the lounge. Birding is mainly done along the roads either heading towards Raub, Kubu Bahru or Fraser’s Hill. At the moment there is a one-way road to FH, which alternates between upgoing and downcoming traffic, but another road, is being constructed to make a loop. This will be finished by 1998 I imagine. This may affect birding in the area although there is plenty of traffic already which can get a bit irritating after a while. That said, the birding around here is very good. The site for Slaty-backed Forktail is a small, very clear, rapidly flowing stream about a kilometre down the road towards Raub. It is the only stream like it, so you can’t miss it. Climb down into the culvert and try to make yourself invisible behind something and wait. Another birder here also saw Chestnut-naped Forktail.

The most direct way of getting to The Gap and Fraser's Hill seems to be to catch the bus from Pudu Raya Bus Station to Kubu Bahru which leaves hourly from Bay 21, try to catch the express bus which leaves less often. You buy the ticket on the bus. At Kubu Bahru catch the 1230 bus to Fraser’s Hill, this will drop you off at The Gap if you ask. (There is also a bus that leaves Kubu Bahru at 0800).You need to catch a 1000 or earlier bus from KL to make the FH bus. The fares are so ridiculously cheap they are hardly worth mentioning.

  Fraser’s Hill

During the colonial era the British would go to Fraser’s Hill in order to escape the heat of the lowlands. The atmosphere is still one of laid back relaxation and the pace of life is much more sedate than down in the lowlands. The climate is considerably cooler and less humid, in the evening you will probably need a jumper. The altitude here is 1300m, so the avifauna differs markedly from that at The Gap. On our first visit we stayed at a guesthouse called Seri Berkit which was built at the end of World War 1 for recuperating (British) soldiers by the Red Cross. The rooms are cavernous but again a bit rundown. The only problem was that without transport it’s rather a long walk to get to any of the trails. For the second visit we stayed at the Puncak Inn in the centre of the village which was very convenient though the same price for a much, much smaller room. As for food, the Mountain View Restaurant below the Puncak Inn was excellent, though expensive by Malaysia standards. We found the other restaurants in this block to be very so-so; alternatively the eating place in front of the mosque, especially the one on the right, was cheap and tasty (great Nasi Goreng).

The legendary Nash has long gone from Malaysia but a gentleman by the name of Durai, who works at the Puncak Inn is a keen birder who keeps a log book for birders to fill in, which is very useful. He can tell you the best spots to go birding and will accompany you if he has time. He also gives birders a discount at the inn.

We found the best spots to be the Telekom Loop, Bishop’s Trail, the trail in front of the mosque and the old zoo. The much-lauded rubbish tip was just that, although we did see Chestnut-winged Cuckoo here. In a total of 9 days at Fraser’s Hill and The Gap we saw at least one new species every day. I can’t recommend the area highly enough, the only problem being cars!Try looking for the endemic Malaysian Whistling-thrush at the first creek about 100m down from the gatehouse on the road at dawn. You MUST get there before dawn. We glimpsed the silhouette but it is extremely flighty and we were about 5 minutes too late. We tried again twice without success.

Peninsular Malaysia’s largest national park (it used to be the only one but Endau-Rompin has been declared a national park at last, thanks to the MNS), covers a huge area of 4300 km˛ of lowland rainforest and including West Malaysia’s highest mountain, Gunung Tahan. The birding here is brilliant and probably warrants a 2 week stay, if you have that sort of time-the more the better! Access to the park is by motorised canoe (sampan) down the Sungai Tembeling departing from Tembeling Jetty near Jerantut. The trip takes about 3 hours and costs 19 Ringgit each. Blue-throated Bee-eater, Common Sandpiper, Black-capped Kingfisher, Common Kingfisher and so no were easily seen, we saw a large flock of Great Hornbill also. Black-and-red Broadbill and Small-clawed Otters are also regularly seen. The morning boat is probably best for birds (there are morning and afternoon departures). There is a variety of choices as far as accommodation is concerned -at Kuala Tahan there is 5 star chalet accommodation, a hostel and a campsite with full facilities-all of which are expensive for what you get. If you choose the hostel tell them you are birders and therefore don’t want breakfast (available from 0730 to 1000 which is useless), this should bring the price down. Camping is obviously the cheapest option but very hot, means you have to carry more luggage and on weekends can get very crowded. Hostel accommodation is now available on the other side of the river outside the park. Snacks and water are available at a small shop-again expensive. Beer is also overpriced so BYO if you must! The resort restaurant is exorbitant and the four floating restaurants are much better value. Wait at the dock and someone will pick you up in a sampan, the two on either end seemed the cleanest and most popular.

We had 6 days in TN-not long enough so we concentrated on the trails around the resort. The Tahan Trail and Jenet Muda trail were easily the best, the Tembeling Trail was hopeless when we were there. The trail to Bukit Teresek was also good. We took a boat up to Lata Berkoh (the cascades) and got the driver to cut the engine on the return trip, this is highly recommended especially from February to June in order to see Masked Finfoot. Try to get the first boat of the morning while it is still tranquil. Book this at the ranger’s office specifying your interest in birds, it costs 80 Ringgit per boat and carries 4 people or less. Staying at one of the many hides in the park would also be recommended if you have the time. However we were warned by some local birders that they are popular with partying students so it might be an idea to gather a group of like-minded naturalists if you are to have any chance of seeing nocturnal mammals or of doing any birding in the early morning. The rangers at Taman Negara are of no assistance whatsoever with regard to birding, so try to find some other birders or study up beforehand.

The site for the Great Argus is on the Jenet Muda trail; enter the trail from the Tahan Trail and travel about a kilometre up (and down) the trail until you cross the second creek. (The signpost claims that the Jenet Muda Trail is 800m long, this is incorrect - it is at least 3km long). Walk up the steep bank until you see a clearing on the right. Just after this sit down somewhere and wait until you hear the "Oh Wow" call of the bird then creep forward and the bird will either be sitting on it’s display post or walking across/near the path. Obviously early morning is recommended.

 Pasoh Forest Reserve

This small forest reserve of lowland swamp forest is administered by the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). Covering an area of about 600 hectares, it is totally surrounded by oil palm plantations so that it is now a virtual island. We stayed at the park headquarters, at a cost of 40 Ringgit a night, which was rather expensive given the acrobatic rats (that obviously find pillows a lovely, tasty treat), the filthy facilities and the generator that failed on the second night. It used to be a lot cheaper apparently but FRIM appear to want to discourage people from staying there. You must bring in all your own food and hang it up out of reach of the climbing forest-rats. Don’t forget to take some mozzie coils. It is necessary to obtain prior permission to enter the reserve. The birding is extremely slow and more akin to birdsearching than birdwatching! That said, we did see some very good birds here although in retrospect I would recommend more time at TN over this spot. I have a sneaking suspicion that diversity is going through the floor as time passes, given the size and isolation of the reserve. Apparently it is no longer possible to gain access to the canopy tower, we certainly had no luck. The best places to bird seemed to be the clearing around the headquarters, the arboretum (infested with mozzies), and the trail heading up to the old canopy tower (a map can be found in Bransbury).

We heard and glimpsed Banded Pitta but no luck! At the time we were in Malaysia there was a drought so the pittas were (probably) breeding late but the place to look is just after the second boardwalk on the left. There was no water in any of these swamps, except the creek which may account for the slow birding. Our search for nocturnal birds was disappointing, we heard Bay Owl once at a distance, Collared Scops-owl and Javan Frogmouth were calling everywhere but were being rather recalcitrant, a glimpse of the frogmouth was the only reward for our efforts. Again climatic conditions may explain this.

 References used:

The field guides we used were The Birds of Thailand by Philip D. Round and Boonsong Lekagul and The Birds of Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali by John MacKinnon & Karen Phillips. Neither of these books covers all the birds of Malaysia but used together should be sufficient. There are a number of Malaysian races that differ considerably from the descriptions in these guides (e.g. Blue-winged Minla, Lesser Shortwing). The Birds of South-east Asia by Ben King is the definitive book for the region but the illustrations are awful and the layout makes it very difficult to use in the field. It does however give fuller descriptions of most regional variations. Other books we found useful were A Birdwatcher’s Guide to Malaysia by John Bransbury, The Rough Guide to Malaysia and Mammals of South East Asia by Earl of Cranbrook.

NOTE:

Local maps can be obtained at all the sites except Pasoh but most are of dubious quality. The map they give you at Taman Negara is especially useless! Bransbury’s maps are reasonable although the one for TN is restricted to the resort area, the Rough Guide map is more useful for areas further afield. The Rough Guide map for Fraser’s Hill may also be clearer and more useful.

I’ve used some Malaysian words in this report and the species account:

              Sungai = river

              Burung = bird

              Gua = cave

             Bunbun = (bird or mammal) hide

Malaysia Bird List and Mammal List