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)

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Created on 15th Mar 2000