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Day 3 |
Day 3 (Saturday, 25th March)
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Following a hearty curry breakfast at 7am, we had
the full day in front of us to explore the forest tracks. We set off to look
for the entrance to the Bukit Teresek trail at the eastern end of the resort,
but ended up loitering at this location for about an hour, due to the constant
avian traffic here. The taller trees to the rear held birds such as Chinese
Pond-heron, a strange visage when perched about 30m up, a small flock of
Daurian Starlings, numerous Blue-crowned Hanging-parrots, and a Golden-throated
Barbet perched directly overhead. Some Green-pigeons were unfortunately too
brief for identification. Chestnut-breasted Malkohas were a constant feature
throughout the hour, and we had fun trying to sort out the swifts overhead.
With occasional good views, we eventually spotted the white vents of
needletails, and then tried to pick out the colours on the back. Most seemed to
have the dark back of Brown-backed Needletail. Following the Malkohas to the
river boundary, we found a single Asian Fairy-bluebird, leading to superb
views of Crimson-winged Woodpecker. As yesterday, Bulbuls were common, adding
Olive-winged to the growing list. A juvenile Cuckoo next to the river defied
identification, being of the Banded Bay / Plaintive persuasion. A Coppersmith
Barbet added to the earlier Golden-throated, which by coincidence was perched
in the same tree.
Just as we were about to proceed to the forest, a
group of 15 or so tourists with guide were milling around the entrance gate.
Potential disaster! However, we leapfrogged past them, and immediately stirred
up an Abbott's Babbler. We followed the course of the river for over 1½km until
we reached the canopy walkway. It was a fairly intensive trudge to this
point, and all we had to show for our efforts was a pair of Brown Fulvettas.
Dark forest birding at its most difficult! The intention was then to traverse
the canopy walkway, offering the potential of a new habitat for wildlife, but
we were immediately put off by the crowds gathered and the amount of noise they
were making, and so we cut off towards Buket Teresek. The initial climb was
quite steep, and up until the junction with the Jenut Muda trail was festooned
with noisy tourists.
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Trail to Bukit Teresek |
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The decision to then take the Jenut Muda trail
proved to be an instant success. We encountered our first bird wave after only
about 50m, which was initiated by Spotted Fantails and White-bellied Yuhina. It
was also found to contain Asian Paradise-flycatchers, Large Woodshrike, and
Arctic Warbler. We feasted on this for 15 minutes, walked a little further, and
discovered Black-naped Monarch and Blue-winged Leafbird. It was hot and humid
throughout, but some high potential semi open areas interspersed the darker
canopy covered forest. Half way along the trail, we encountered a group of 2-3
large Woodpeckers, and one of the pecking birds was seen to be Orange-backed.
The other 2 were Crimson-winged. A group of 2 male and 2 female Crested
Firebacks then appeared on the path in front of us, seemingly totally
unperturbed by our presence. More Blue-winged Leafbirds preceded a small group
of Ferruginous Babblers next to a stream. Another benefit of this trail was
that it was almost humanless, apart from one lone hiker who passed by late on.
We eventually reached the junction with the Bumbun Tabing trail, deciding to
take a break from the undulating and tree root festooned paths to sit by the
river for a short time, made all the more pleasant by feeding Tickell's
Blue-flycatcher. |
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Orange-backed Woodpecker |
Common Flameback |
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Tahan River - swimming area |
Bumbun Tabing trail |
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Tickell's Blue-flycatcher |
Abbott's Babbler |
The long walk to the Bumbun Tabing hide was
scrapped for the ease of the Bumbun Tahan hide, located adjacent to the resort.
This was held back a little due to a Spiderhunter rush, with initial
Grey-breasted followed by a stationary Little, a male Orange-bellied
Flowerpecker, and unidentified female sunbird. Just behind was the impressive
sight of Long-billed Spiderhunter feeding briefly. Another stop had to be made
for our first Dollarbird. The Bumbun Tahan hide is only a 50m boardwalk away
from the resort cabins, and is a two storey concrete hide looking on to a
single tree positioned in the centre of a large clearing in the forest. Over
the next couple of hours, quite a few impressive species were unearthed. Black-headed
& Yellow-vented Bulbuls were the predominant resident, with Asian
Fairy-bluebird almost as common (up to 7-8 at any one time). More impressive
visitors to the tree included an Oriental Pied Hornbill feeding on the fruits,
a handful of Thick-billed Green-pigeons, and a single White-breasted
Kingfisher. 2 Black-and-red Broadbills together added to the first earlier in
the day, with Hill Mynas regular visitors. From the edge of the jungle, we were
surprisingly happy with the arrival of a chicken in the guise of wild Red
Junglefowl.
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View from the Bumbun Tahan hide |
Black-headed Bulbul |
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Oriental Pied-hornbill |
Red Junglefowl |
We dragged ourselves away from the hide at 5pm, to
cover the western end of the resort until dark. As time progressed, the clouds
approached and the thunder began, but the rain staved off allowing us enough
time for a stab at some extra birds. Looking over the river, the Blue-throated
Bee-eaters which had been seen from the boat on arrival were landing on the
wires across the water. The lack of tail streamers confused matters a little,
but all were of this species. While studying them, a Spotted Dove flew in, and
a Hornbill passed overhead. Perhaps best addition to the Bulbul tally was a
pair of Straw-headed, which landed near us enough for a good examination of
this scarce species. Following them led us on to a pair of mating Black-bellied
Malkohas, and retreating to the front of the cabins we discovered a single
female Dark-necked Tailorbird and 3-4 Black-naped Orioles constantly calling
from the treetops. |
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Day 3 |
