Activities Report Mar 2000 Newsletter
Birding in Maxwell Hill (21-22 Jan.2000)
Mr Ooi Beng Yean led a group of seven birders
to bird in Maxwell Hill during the Thaipusam holidays. We went in three
different vehicles which eventually met at the foot hill early in the morning.
After coffee, we went up to the Bukit Hijau Rest house, dropped our things
there and started birding. The morning birding session was done mainly
above the rest house area and it was quiet. In the evening, we had much
better luck. Several pairs of hornbills flew past the rest house, low and
in
good light so we could confidently identify some of them as Wreathed
Hornbills with our bins. Three Bushy-crested Hornbills came and moved from
tree to tree. Before our excitement could settle, two pairs of Wreathed
Hornbills actually landed in the distant trees behind the rest house. They
appeared to be taking a short rest before continuing their flight as they
were flying against fairly strong winds. We had a good look at them through
the scope (definitely not Plain-pouched Hornbills) and I could video them
too. In between, we were entertained by a family of Dusky Leaf monkeys
feeding and the caretaker's radio blasting out Indian music! He was preparing
a big dinner for us.
We leisurely had our dinner and sat
in the hall chatting. When it was dark enough, I took out my spotlight
and went recce around the rest house. I found a pair of bright red eyes
near a palm tree below the rest house. With the scope, Ooi and some of
us had enough view of the bird to be fairly confident that it was a Grey
Nightjar, a lifer for our trip leader and most of us. After the bird had
left, I found another pair of eyes with the spotlight. This time, it was
a Giant Spotted Squirrel, also on top of a tree just next to the rest house.
It was happily feeding on the leaves, oblivious to the glamour of
the spotlight and glided away only after I switched off my spotlight.
The following morning, we birded mainly
along the road below the rest house. Just before we walked down, a Rhinoceros
Hornbill was found perched far in the valley below the rest house. Everyone
had a chance to view the majestic bird in Ooi's scope. I videoed it too.
We met Kim Chye and Swee Yian who were showing their friend around the
hill resort. There were several bird waves, including one which was terminated
abruptly by a large bird dashing through the trees. This was probably an
instance of raptors attacking bird waves, a phenomenon which was also observed
by Dr. Neoh Chin Boon in Maxwell Hill on other occasions. In fact, during
another attack, Ooi actually managed to scope the raptor. This time, we
concluded that the attacker was a juvenile Rufous-bellied Eagle which we
had seen circling over the rest house earlier. We also saw a few sulky
Pig-tailed Macaques.
In the afternoon, some of us rested
in the rest house while others walked up the trail. They were rewarded
by the sighting of the Pygmy Wren-babbler sunbathing beside the road. By
4.00 p.m., we had to take the jeep downhill. We took a detour to the Burmese
pool area, only to find that it was just as busy with bird calls as well.
The Large Woodshrike, Yellow-eared Spiderhunter, Minivets, sunbirds et
al. kept us from walking far into the trail. When we eventually walked
further in, we
found a Rufous Woodpecker on our way out. It remained perched until
we thought it was too late and had to head back to Ipoh. On the way out,
we were further tempted to stay longer by the calls of many woodpeckers.
At least three more Banded Woodpeckers were sighted. By the time we actually
started our way back, it was already about 7.00 pm.
In conclusion, we had another wonderful
trip. The Bukit Hijau rest house area seems to be a good place to watch
hornbills and the Burmese pool area is definite worth a repeat visit in
future.
(Report by Dr. Chan Kai Soon)
Back to Mar 2000 Newsletter
index
[
Back to MNS Perak Home ]
Created on 15th Mar 2000