birding...

2001 [May] - Bill & Doreen Stair

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Fraser's Hill - This hill station is easy to reach by public transport from Kuala Lumpur, and once there you can easily walk to all the birding locations. Accommodation isn't particularly cheap, and the filthy Puncak Inn is a must-to-avoid; better, but more expensive, is the Quest Resort. The Bishop's trail was good, but very leechy and, as usual in dense forest birding, the birds were often hard to see. (Bring your own DEET spray for clothing, you can't get it here). We had better luck along the roads - the road down to the Gap is very good, and there was a good fruiting tree near Ye Olde Smokehouse. Roadside highlights: a Black Laughingthrush near the entrance to the Bishop's trail, a pair of Blue Nuthatches on the way to the Gap, the Fire-tufted Barbet near the Smokehouse, and the Collared Owlet being buzzed by a very brave Black-throated Sunbird on the way to High Pines...

2001 [May] - Moira and Graeme Wallace

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The trip was fairly successful recording 335 species seen and 15 heard. On occasion, and in particular at Danum Valley, we had to work pretty hard to achieve this but overall a trip list that included 21 of the 33 realistic Bornean endemics, Gurney`s Pitta and a species count that included a further 5 Pittas, 7 Broadbills, 6 Hornbills, 15 Woodpeckers and 10 Barbets was ample reward...

2004 [August] - Simon Harrap

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The 2010 Birdquest to the Malay Peninsula continued our long run of successful trips to this classic birding destination, and we recorded 265 species. At Kuala Selangor we found Mangrove Whistler and Mangrove Blue Flycatcher, had great views of Mangrove Pitta, and enjoyed both Barred Eagle-Owl and Buffy Fish-Owl....

2004 [March] - Adam Riley

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Annotated list...

2005 [March] - David Hoddinott

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Our trip total of 382 species in 18 days reflects the immense birding potential of Peninsula Malaysia & Borneo. Whilst the focus of the tour was certainly the rich assemblage of Bornean endemics and tropical South East Asian birds, we did not neglect the amazing diversity of mammals that occur here...

2006 [March] - David Shackleford

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Our incredible trip total of 415 bird species encountered in 19 days reflects the immense birding potential of Peninsula Malaysia & Borneo. Whilst the focus of our tour was certainly the rich assemblage of Bornean endemics and tropical Southeast Asian birds, we certainly did not neglect the amazing diversity of mammals that occur in the region and we recorded an astounding 54 species...

2007 [February] - David Shackelford

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We began our adventure leaving the hustling metropolis of Kuala Lumpur, passing by monumental architectural sites such as the national Mosque and the glittering Twin Towers. Within little time we were picking up widespread Southeast Asian birds such as Crested Serpent-Eagle, Red Junglefowl, and the scarce Darien Starling before arriving on the west coast of lowland Peninsular Malaysia. Exploration of the mangroves in Taman Alam Nature Reserve produced a wide variety of wildlife sightings including Silvered Leaf Monkey, some massive Water Monitors, Indian Cuckoo, Tiger Shrike, Sunda and Laced Woodpeckers, the uncommon Crow-billed Drongo, and beautiful migrant Black-capped Kingfisher...

2007 [January] - Cheong Weng Chun - Kuala Selangor & Fraser’s Hill

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This is a 2-days exploration (and the first for this year) together with endemicguides from 25-26 January 2007. We had Frank from New York to bird with us for 3 days. But I had to cut short the trip and came back home in Kajang - leaving Town Centre, Fraser’s Hill at 7.07pm and reach my home at 9.33pm...

2007 [July] - Simon Woolley

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Our first trip to SE Asia, and a hill- and forest-birding spectacular, with stacks of amazing birds, from trogons and broadbills, to Crested Fireback, Bat Hawk, Malaysian Whistling-thrush, Malaysian Partridge, Great Slaty Woodpecker, Blyth's Hawk-eagle and Slaty-backed Forktail.

2008 [August] - Keith Valentine

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Many of the most sought-after birding gems that Malaysia and the Sabah region of Borneo has to offer were on show during this superb tour of the area. The birding began in earnest when we made a short roadside stop en route to Fraser’s Hill where we were thrilled to find White- browed Crake, Barred Buttonquail, Lesser Coucal and Oriental Dollarbird...

2008 [June] - Sam Woods

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This tour turned out to be the first Malay Peninsula birding for everyone in the group, and for most was also their very first taste of the delights of southeast Asian birding. By taking in the coastal habitats around the chilled out town of Kuala Selangor, the montane forests on Bukit Fraser, and birding the steamy lowland jungles of Taman Negara, they got a great introduction to the many fascinating families and birds of this rich Asian country...

2008 [March] - Keith Valentine

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Our memorable exploration of this charming region began in the extraordinary first world metropolis of Kuala Lumpur with a backdrop that included the much adorned Twin Towers. We struck out for the coastal city of Kuala Selangor however good birding along the route meant that we were stopping regularly picking up widespread Southeast Asian birds such as Crested Serpent-Eagle and Red Junglefowl. We also racked up Black Baza, Long-tailed Parakeet, Brown-backed Needletail and the regal Stork-billed Kingfisher. In the afternoon we birded the coastal bush and mangroves in Taman Alam Nature Reserve which produced a good variety of sightings that included Silvered Leaf Monkey, Ruddy-breasted Crake, Pink-necked Pigeon, Lineated Barbet, Sunda and Laced Woodpeckers, Common and Greater Flamebacks, beautiful Black-capped and Collared Kingfishers, Pied Triller, scarce Mangrove Blue-Flycatcher, Golden-bellied Gerygone and Ruby-cheeked Sunbird. Our night excursion was exceptional as we enjoyed walk away views of one of Asia’s most seldom encounter owl species, the stunning Barred Eagle-Owl. We also enjoyed some great views of Large-tailed Nightjar...

2009 [August] - Eustace Barnes

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A spectacular trip on which we found many beautiful and spectacular species, including 7 Broadbills, 4 Pittas, 8 Hornbills and 7 Trogons. These species were accompanied by numerous Barbets, Woodpeckers, Kingfishers, Bee-eaters and Jays which all combined to give too many highlights to recount. Indeed we resorted to designating the worst ten species rather the top ten. Red-eyed Bulbul came out bottom...

2009 [December] - John van der Woude

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This was a combined trip to Peninsular Malaysia and South Annam, Vietnam. We had booked a cheap flight Amsterdam - Kuala Lumpur and first spent a few days at Fraser's Hill in Malaysia, to get used to the birds in this Oriental region again...

2009 [June] - Lim Kim Seng

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...Bunker Track, Panti Forest Reserve at 10h15, after a short roti canai stopover. We spent time at the shrine area and birded till 13h00. Highlight was a stunning Rufous-backed Kingfisher perched close and a pair of White-crowned Forktail in addition to the usual crowd of bulbuls and babblers...

2009 [March] - Fraser Gear

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On our first morning in Malaysia we began our journey from Kuala Lumpur to the coastal town of Kuala Selangor. A roadside stop on the way produced a fine selection of birds. A highlight of this stop was fine views Grey-headed Fish Eagle – a species not encountered again on the tour. Pink- necked and Thick-billed Green Pigeon rested on the tree tops, flocks of Daurian Starlings flew overhead and we had great looks at a pair of the striking Black Baza...

2010 [August] - Simon Harrap

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The 2010 Birdquest to the Malay Peninsula continued our long run of successful trips to this classic birding destination, and we recorded 265 species. At Kuala Selangor we found Mangrove Whistler and Mangrove Blue Flycatcher, had great views of Mangrove Pitta, and enjoyed both Barred Eagle- Owl and Buffy Fish-Owl...

2010 [March] - Frank Lambert

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On our first morning in peninsular Malaysia, we birded near the airport before heading towards the coastal town of Kuala Selangor. Around the airport we found a few open country species, such as Pink-necked Green Pigeon, Asian Koel, Black-naped Oriole, White-breasted Waterhen and three species of winter visitors; Black Baza, Brown Shrike and Purple-backed Starling...