Taman Negara 07-10Sep07

From Con

The road to Nusa Camp is about 8km long. It took a full hour to drive in, the road was that bad. It has gotten much worse than last year. You were correct to turn around, you would not make it. Heavily rutted and deep channels cut by rain water. Don't really need 4WD, but do need ground clearance. Even the RAV4 was tricky. Better to have the ground clearance of a truck.

We didn't see much. Rino Hornbill, Crow, flowerpeckers, yellow-vented bulbul. I did see one Common Sandpiper!!!, along the sandy banks of the Kuala Tembeling.

This is twice I've been to Nusa Camp and both times it was rather birdless, even though it is got a good reputation from some of the old time birders. By the way, I should add that at Nusa Camp in the tall grasses at the river edge, I got a good sighting of a White-rumped Munia.

I think next time I'll go to Kuala Trenggan. The trick is to notice the River Taxi signs, and the departures and arrivals times. There are regular arrivals and departures and prices. For example, it's only RM20 from Kuala Tahan to Kuala Trenggan. It's only RM10 to the cave.

Grey-cheeked Bulbul

Puff-backed Bulbul

From GC

Spent a few days in Taman Negara Kuala Tahan earlier this month. Saw and heard 80+ species. Those which are of greater interest or lifers for me are highlighted in bold in the list.

Bird of the trip was a male Banded Pitta seen on the last morning.

Other key birds were: Crested Fireback, Bar-Bellied Cuckoo-Shrike, Green Broadbill, Diard’s Trogon, Crested Jay, Black-Backed Kingfisher. Also, managed to see the skulking Rufous-crowned Babbler.

Mammals included Lesser Mousedeer, Muntjac, Sambar Deer, Wild Boar, Horse-tailed Squirrel. Reptiles included Malayan Bridled Snake and Brown Kukri Snake.

I think it's worth saying that it is sufficient to stay on the flat areas, next time anyway :->
The only reason to do any climbing is for a better chance of seeing the ARGUS.

Bird List for Taman Negara 7-10 Sep 2007

1 Great Argus, heard
2 Banded Pitta, male
3 Garnet Pitta, heard
4 Crested Fireback, 2 males with a family in tow
5 Common Sandpiper
6 Changeable Hawk-Eagle, heard
7 Buffy Fish-Owl seen from Tahan Hide at night
8 Collared Scops-Owl, heard
9 Malaysian-Eared Nightjar, heard
10 Oriental Pied Hornbill
11 Rhinoceros Hornbill x 5
12 Diard’s Trogon, male
13 Red-Naped Trogon, heard
14 Green Broadbill, 1 pair and another male
15 Dusky Broadbill, x 3
16 Banded Broadbill
17 Black And Yellow Broadbill, heard
18 Gold-Whiskered Barbet, heard
19 Blue-Eared Barbet, heard
20 Great Slaty Woodpecker, heard
21 Orange-Backed Woodpecker
22 Crimson-Winged Woodpecker
23 Maroon Woodpecker
24 Rufous Woodpecker
25 Buff-Necked Woodpecker
26 Rufous Piculet
27 Black-Backed Kingfisher across Tahan river, on trail to Ear Cave
28 Raffles’s Malkoha
29 Chestnut-Breasted Malkoha
30 Black-Bellied Malkoha
31 Little Bronze Cuckoo
32 Greater Coucal, heard
33 Large-billed Crow
34 Crested Jay, x 2
35 Black Magpie, x 2
36 Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo
37 Asian Fairy Bluebird
38 Black-Naped Oriole
39 Emerald Dove
40 White-Crowned Forktail
41 Chestnut-naped Forktail
42 Red-Bearded Bee-Eater, heard
43 Dollarbird
44 Bar-Bellied Cuckoo-Shrike, 1 pair
45 Large Wood-Shrike
46 Tiger Shrike, Juvenile
47 Striped Throated Bulbul
48 Straw-Headed Bulbul
49 Hairy-Backed Bulbul
50 Buff-Vented Bulbul
51 Yellow-Vented Bulbul
52 Olive-Winged Bulbul
53 Grey-Cheeked Bulbul
54 Red-Eyed Bulbul
55 Puff-Backed Bulbul
56 Common Iora
57 Green Iora
58 Rufous-Crowned Babbler
59 Abbott’s Babbler
60 Chestnut-Winged Babbler
61 Horsfield’s Babbler
62 Sooty-Capped Babbler
63 Black-Capped Babbler
64 Moustached Babbler, heard
65 Striped Tit-Babbler
66 White-Rumped Shama
67 Oriental Magpie Robin
68 Rufous-Winged Philentoma, 1 pair
69 Blue-Winged Leafbird
70 White-Bellied Yuhina
71 Grey-Headed Flycatcher
72 Black-Winged Flycatcher-Shrike
73 Common Tailorbird
74 Dark-Necked Tailorbird
75 Rufous-Tailed Tailorbird, heard
76 Ashy Tailorbird
77 Hill Myna
78 Little Spiderhunter
79 Brown-Throated Sunbird
80 Purple-naped Sunbird
81 Yellow-Vented Flowerpecker
82 Orange-bellied Flowerpecker
83 Eurasian Tree-Sparrow
84 White-rumped Munia

Encounter with the Banded Pitta

We saw the Banded Pitta at 0937 hrs and it was totally silent and rather unresponsive. It didn't help that there were quite a lot of trekkers coming through. Unfortunately the bird was mostly blocked by vegetation.

Before the Pitta, we added 2 Crested Jays, 2 Black Magpies and an unidentified and silent cuckoo along the trail to tree number 13.

We went back to Park HQ side and saw a Black-backed KF and a Rufous Piculet at the bamboo stand 80m into the trail.

Kuala Trenggan should be quieter and better. I've just been told that the place that we saw the Banded Pitta is a known spot for that bird. So it should be worth trying for the bird on your next trip.

Here's the Crested Jay. In the field, it looks all black. With the pic, the wings turn out to be brown instead.

This birdy gave itself away with it's call. The male's a lot more shy.

Worth the trip across the other river.

Signature bird of Taman Negara.

Other birds:

Saw 6 of these (Common Barking Deer), plus a Sambar Deer on 1 night. The guides reported seeing a Tiger on one night while I was there! This one was seen during the day.

I think I was rather lucky to see the lesser mousedeer on 2 different days at 2 different locations. This one was feeding at the forest edge at the camping site.

Horse-tailed Squirrel

Saw this juvenile Brown Kukri Snake Oligodon purpurascens at the Bukit Teresek Trail, around 150m above sea level on hilly terrain. I think the snake was about 30cm long.

Danny has this to add

An unconfirmed bird was a suspected Gould's  Frogmouth seen twice in flight at night off Tahan Hide. It had relatively long brown tail (nightjars have spade tails and grey/black above), brown above and paler/buffy below (effect of our torchlight). 2nd sighting was response to GC's tapeback.