Date:
Weather:
Locality:

29-31 July 2016.
Hot. Partially cloudy. Mostly dry.
Bukit Tinggi and Taman Negara.

Mountain Peacock-Pheasant

Crested Fireback

Diard's Trogon

Orange-backed Woodpecker

Buff-necked Woodpecker

29 Jul. Took Air Asia from Chiang Mai to Kuala Lumpur, arriving on time early afternoon. However, upon arrival was disappointed to find a sea of people in the immigration hall, with queues exiting the hall and streaming down the corridors. It took a full three hours to clear immigration - an absolute disgrace, with the waiting time longer than the two and a half hours it had taken to fly to Malaysia. The source of the problem was unclear, but clearly more immigration desks and officials were required. An internet search revealed that such queues had been a feature here for the last three weeks. Fortunately meeting Richard was not scheduled till early the next morning, so the massive delay didn't effect our schedule. Relieved to see the baggage still on the carousel after three hours of going around. Early evening pick-up of the pre-arranged car, and an overnight at the adjacent Tune Hotel, being very convenient and meeting requirements.

30 Jul. As success with the peacock-pheasant was more likely early morning, met up with Richard around 05:40 and headed the 90 minutes to Bukit Tinggi. Access was complicated by barriers and checkpoints, and we were forced into a 10 minute detour to visit the Tropicale Hotel to obtain the necessary access tickets. Although the top of the mountain does not open officially until 10:00 security let us through around 07:30. A short walk into the forest at the summit was immediately rewarded with a couple of Mountain Peacock-Pheasant on the trail. In a further couple of hours here they passed through the area three times and despite the poor light some reasonable photos were obtained. Other species around the summit were Sultan Tit, Orange-breasted Trogon, Barred Cuckoo-Dove, Scaly-breasted Bulbul and a calling Helmeted Hornbill. A major surprise was a pair of vocal Ferruginous Partridge, tracked down but unfortunately seen by only one of us.

Having secured the peacock-pheasant so readily we stopped by the Tropicale for coffee and breakfast before continuing on the two and a half hours to Taman Negara, at Kuala Tahan, where we checked into the local Xcape Resort. A very hot afternoon, though we crossed the river to spend the remainder of the day on the forest trails. Given the dry conditions unsurprisingly we struggled to find any species of interest - the best being a possible Cinnamon-rumped Trogon heard. Late afternoon we visited a small area of seeding bamboo near the village recording Great Slaty Woodpecker and Black-thighed Falconet.

31 Jul. Following brief heavy rain the previous evening conditions were foggy and overcast at first light. We started with the short drive back to check out the seeding bamboo, but again met with the same lack of any Pin-tailed Parrotfinch. A quick breakfast at the Xcape and back across the the river and headed onto the trails. Both Malayan Crested Fireback and Great Argus near the resort, apparently becoming habituated, but once again pretty quiet in the forest, though we did encounter a few species of interest such as Red-naped Trogon, Chestnut-rumped Babbler, Orange-backed Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Bulbul, Large Wren-Babbler and Puple-naped Spiderhunter.

Around 15:00 we left for the five hour return drive to the airport. Being Sunday afternoon, traffic was heavier than expected and it took us near to five and half hours to complete the 300 kilometres. Flights home thankfully without the immigration queues.