Panti 23Jun18

From KH

Today, Con, Danny, Rob Arnold and I went to Panti after a long hiatus. One of our targets today was the blue morph Rufous-winged Philentoma, and sure enough he was around, so was his mate.

A nearby tree seemed to be a woodpecker magnet. We had a couple of White-bellied Woodpeckers, a banded Woodpecker and a Buff-rumped Woodpecker, all visiting it!

At another spot, Checker-throated Woodpeckers showed well, so did a male Red-naped Trogon.

A couple of bulbuls - Black-headed Bulbul and juvenile Buff-vented Bulbul.

Can you tell this is a White-bellied Erpornis?

And this, a Moustached Babbler?

A faraway Dark-throated Oriole didn't make things easy either.

Luckily, the female Blue-winged Leafbird and male Orange-bellied Flowerpecker were more forthcoming, mainly due to the roadside fruit.

1. 1 Crested Partridge - Heard
2. 1 Great Argus - Heard
3. 1 Red Junglefowl
4. 1 Changeable Hawk-Eagle - Pale
5. 3 Spotted Dove
6. 2 Asian Emerald Dove - Heard
7. 2 Little Green-Pigeon
8. 2 Chestnut-bellied Malkoha
9. 1 Violet Cuckoo
10. 1 Plaintive Cuckoo - Heard
11. 1 Blyth's Frogmouth - Heard
12. 10 dark swiftlet sp.
13. 2 Whiskered Treeswift
14. 1 Red-naped Trogon - Male
15. 1 Diard's Trogon - Male
16. 2 Scarlet-rumped Trogon - Heard
17. 1 Rufous-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher - Heard
18. 1 White-throated Kingfisher
19. 2 Rufous-collared Kingfisher
20. 1 Red-bearded Bee-eater - Heard
21. 1 Blue-throated Bee-eater
22. 5 Sooty Barbet
23. 2 Blue-eared Barbet
24. 3 Red-crowned Barbet
25. 2 Yellow-crowned Barbet - Heard
26. 2 White-bellied Woodpecker
27. 1 Banded Woodpecker
28. 5 Checker-throated Woodpecker
29. 2 Buff-rumped Woodpecker
30. 1 Blue-crowned Hanging-Parrot
31. 1 Banded Broadbill - Heard
32. 1 Golden-bellied Gerygone - Heard
33. 2 Rufous-winged Philentoma
34. 1 Green Iora - Heard
35. 1 Lesser Cuckooshrike
36. 4 White-bellied Erpornis
37. 2 Dark-throated Oriole
38. 2 Greater Racket-tailed Drongo
39. 1 Black-naped Monarch - Heard
40. 1 Blyth's Paradise-Flycatcher
41. 1 Malaysian Rail-babbler - Heard
42. 5 Black-headed Bulbul
43. 2 Yellow-vented Bulbul
44. 1 Olive-winged Bulbul
45. 2 Red-eyed Bulbul
46. 1 Hairy-backed Bulbul
47. 1 Yellow-bellied Bulbul
48. 1 Buff-vented Bulbul
49. 1 Streaked Bulbul
50. 2 Dark-necked Tailorbird
51. 1 Yellow-bellied Prinia
52. 2 Pin-striped Tit-Babbler
53. 1 Chestnut-rumped Babbler - Heard
54. 1 Gray-headed Babbler
55. 1 Moustached Babbler
56. 1 Sooty-capped Babbler - Heard
57. 1 Black-capped Babbler - Heard
58. 1 Horsfield's Babbler - Heard
59. 1 Asian Fairy-bluebird - Male
60. 2 Oriental Magpie-Robin
61. 2 White-rumped Shama
62. 1 White-crowned Forktail
63. 1 Common Hill Myna - Heard
64. 2 Javan Myna
65. 1 Greater Green Leafbird - Female
66. 1 Lesser Green Leafbird - Male
67. 1 Blue-winged Leafbird - Female
68. 1 Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker
69. 3 Orange-bellied Flowerpecker
70. 2 Little Spiderhunter
71. 1 Paddyfield Pipit

Panti 25May18

From Con

Chestnut-backed Scimitar-babbler near corner or Bunker and Temple Trail. It was calling and we picked it up fairly quickly. My first on Bunker. There was one on 270 years ago but I didn’t really see it.

Panti 18May18

Con and Danny went Panti today, and Con got this Slender-billed Crow.

Panti 13Apr18

From Con

Two good birds at Panti today.

Blue morph Rufous-winged Philentoma. Second time I have seen blue morph in same spot. Not where we saw before but near Temple Trail. Last time was 25 August 2017. Exact same spot.

A pair of Grey-breasted Babblers. Only my second time photographing this species. Not so close today, but a pair did turn up!!

Panti 02Mar18

From GC

went to Panti today with Con and had an adult hybrid Great-Rhino Hornbill !

A female based on its white iris.

It was with an adult male Rhino Hornbill.

The only other known Great-Rhino hybrids are 1 chick each in 2004 & 2008 in Thailand.

So, this should be the first for Malaysia.

Have fun spotting the intermediate characteristics !

Panti 25Aug17

From Con

There is nothing like a Scarlet-rumped Trogon to brighten up your day!

Full list in eBird.

Panti 12Aug17

From Con

Slow, quiet, then started to rain at 10:00 am. Full list in eBird.

Panti 22Jul17

From Con

Finsch's Bulbul (Alophoixus finschii) if seen well can not be confused with any other bulbul with it's bright pale yellow throat or "beard". Uncommon, but will come down to the roadside shrubs like Koster's Curse (Clidemia hirta) as this one did.

Male Red-naped trogon

Panti 10Jun17

From Con

Crossing the border was slow this morning @ 45 minutes delay. Just after Hutan Lipur Panti while Danny and KH were still asleep, I spotted a wild Asian Elephant ambling alongside busy Hwy 3 @ 6:15am. I shouted "elephant" and pulled off at the first turn I could find, assembled my camera, and we were rewarded as this young male elephant continued this journey coming right in front of us. He trumpeted once, pivoted and turned around and disappeared off the highway.

Bird list in eBird.

Panti 02Jun17

From Con

Nice pair of White crowned Hornbills today at Panti Forest. Zero gravel trucks. Zero oil palm trucks. Pleasantly few vehicles. I took an acquaintance from the States.

Bird list in eBird.

Panti 13May17

Con and Danny went Panti today. The list below is reproduced from eBird.

1. 1 Changeable Hawk-Eagle
2. 3 Red-wattled Lapwing
3. 1 Spotted Dove
4. 2 Asian Emerald Dove
5. 5 Little Green-Pigeon
6. 2 Raffles's Malkoha
7. 1 Banded Bay Cuckoo
8. 3 Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo
9. 1 Malaysian Hawk-Cuckoo
10. 3 Malaysian Nightjar
11. 10 swiftlet sp.
12. 2 Gray-rumped Treeswift
13. 2 Whiskered Treeswift
14. 1 Scarlet-rumped Trogon
15. 2 Black Hornbill
16. 1 Oriental Pied-Hornbill
17. 2 Blue-eared Barbet
18. 1 Red-crowned Barbet
19. 1 Banded Woodpecker
20. 2 Crimson-winged Woodpecker
21. 2 Checker-throated Woodpecker
22. 1 Buff-rumped Woodpecker
23. 2 Buff-necked Woodpecker
24. 1 Maroon Woodpecker
25. 2 Banded Broadbill
26. 1 Golden-bellied Gerygone
27. 1 Large Woodshrike
28. 1 Rufous-winged Philentoma
29. 2 Dark-throated Oriole
30. 4 Greater Racket-tailed Drongo
31. 2 Black-naped Monarch
32. 1 Malaysian Rail-babbler
33. 1 Pacific Swallow
34. 2 Velvet-fronted Nuthatch
35. 2 Yellow-vented Bulbul
36. 3 Cream-vented Bulbul
37. 2 Hairy-backed Bulbul
38. 2 Yellow-bellied Bulbul
39. 1 Buff-vented Bulbul
40. 6 Rufous-tailed Tailorbird
41. 1 Yellow-bellied Prinia
42. 10 Pin-striped Tit-Babbler
43. 1 Black-throated Babbler
44. 2 Chestnut-rumped Babbler
45. 1 Gray-headed Babbler
46. 1 Sooty-capped Babbler
47. 3 Black-capped Babbler
48. 1 Short-tailed Babbler
49. 1 White-chested Babbler
50. 4 Horsfield's Babbler
51. 1 Asian Fairy-bluebird
52. 1 White-rumped Shama
53. 2 Pale Blue-Flycatcher
54. 1 Gray-chested Jungle-Flycatcher
55. 2 Rufous-chested Flycatcher
56. 2 Javan Myna
57. 2 Blue-winged Leafbird
58. 3 Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker
59. 1 Crimson-breasted Flowerpecker
60. 6 Orange-bellied Flowerpecker
61. 1 Plain Sunbird

Panti 08Apr17

Con and Danny went Panti today.

From Con

Brown Wood Owl.

Panti 06Apr17

From Con

A Malaysian Eared-nightjar perching high before dawn. This behavior is completely undocumented. But now have photos.

Panti 01Apr17

From JS

After more than a year, it is nice to be back birding at what used to be our weekend haunt. Panti has definitely changed since we last went birding together. There is a new super-wide road cutting through the forest. There are a lot of truck traffic. There are less bird activities.

Due to a jam at the checkpoint, we reached Panti after dawn. The first stop as a brief tour of the entrance to Elephant trail. We wanted to count the number of birds crossing the super-wide road. There was none. Easy.

Next, we drove to the small swamp with a couple of tiup-tiup trees. No rare flowerpeckers. But the male Blyth's paradise flycatcher was singing readily with its probable mate hanging around in the vicinity. There is a high chance that nesting is taking place at that spot. The only question is where is the nest. For the record, the Silver-rumped Needletails and Grey-rumped Treeswifts were seen at this spot.

At a spot 5m beyond the 5km stream, we found a pair of Spectacled Bulbuls and a feeding Spectacled Spiderhunter. The spiderhunter was an interesting fellow because it could have the whole tree of red flowers to itself but it still wanted to advertise the buffet.

With few birds showing, we decided to check out the trails and the Woodpecker trail came to mind. Upon entering, we flushed a flock of feeding Pink-necked Green Pigeon. True to the name of the trail, we saw woodpeckers. A pair of Olive-backed Woodpeckers kept us entertained until the swarm of leeches became unbearable.

Moving on, we went to check out the deciduous straggling fig near the second stream. Unfortunately, it was not figging. We did see one Black and Oriental Pied Hornbills. Today was beginning to feel like a day out for the Ruby-cheeked Sunbird. There was a male hanging around the last few leaves of the deciduous straggling fig. The best bird so far was the booming call of the Short-toed Coucal, heard in the vicinity.

On our return journey, we stopped at Temple trail. The temple had expanded and so did the population of the bats. The trail was really quiet. Only when we were about to leave did we see a pair of Buff-rumped Woodpecker.

With a bit of time left before noon, we decided to take a look at the Dip Trail. Less than fifty meters into the trail, we had a mini-birdwave consisting of one Spectacled Bulbul, one Chestnut-winged Babbler, one Sooty-capped Babbler, one Buff-rumped Woodpecker and one Arctic Warbler. Apart from a pair of Fluffy-backed Tit-babblers and a small party of Pin-Striped Tit-Babblers, the babblers were not showing and not calling until now. Back at the entrance of the trail, we found our rarest bird of the trip in another mini-birdwave, a blue morph Rufous-winged Philentoma. It was together with a family of Chestnut-winged Babblers, another philentoma with the typical plumage, a Crimson-breasted Flowerpecker, an immature Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker (spotting a small orange crown patch with little yellow on the breast) and Hairy-backed Bulbuls. What a farewell!

Blue morph Rufous-winged Philentoma ©Con Foley

Although we have been birding for more than a decade at Panti over hundreds of trips, we were still able to find something new... Amazing!

1. Crested Serpent-Eagle 1
2. Changeable Hawk-Eagle 2
3. Asian Emerald Dove 2
4. Little Green-Pigeon 3
5. Pink-necked Pigeon 5
6. Short-toed Coucal (H) 1 Heard
7. Chestnut-bellied Malkoha 3
8. Violet Cuckoo (H)
9. Plaintive Cuckoo (H)
10. Fork-tailed/Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo (H)
11. Malaysian Hawk-Cuckoo (H)
12. Indian Cuckoo (H)
13. Silver-rumped Needletail 2
14. Brown-backed Needletail 1
15. Germain's Swiftlet 20
16. House Swift 1
17. Gray-rumped Treeswift 2
18. Whiskered Treeswift 2
19. Red-naped Trogon (H)
20. Diard's Trogon (H)
21. Black Hornbill 1
22. Oriental Pied-Hornbill 1
23. Rufous-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher (H)
24. Banded Kingfisher (H)
25. Red-bearded Bee-eater (H)
26. Blue-throated Bee-eater 1
27. Blue-eared Barbet (H)
28. White-bellied Woodpecker (H)
29. Banded Woodpecker (H)
30. Crimson-winged Woodpecker (H)
31. Olive-backed Woodpecker 2
32. Buff-rumped Woodpecker 3
33. Buff-necked Woodpecker 1
34. Gray-and-buff Woodpecker 1
35. Blue-crowned Hanging-Parrot 1
36. Banded Broadbill (H)
37. Black-and-yellow Broadbill (H)
38. Golden-bellied Gerygone (H)
39. Large Woodshrike (H)
40. Black-winged Flycatcher-shrike 1
41. Rufous-winged Philentoma 4
42. Green Iora 3
43. Lesser Cuckooshrike (H)
44. White-bellied Erpornis 7
45. Dark-throated Oriole (H)
46. Greater Racket-tailed Drongo 1
47. Amur Paradise-Flycatcher 2
48. Blyth's Paradise-Flycatcher 2
49. Malaysian Rail-babbler (H)
50. Gray-bellied Bulbul 3
51. Olive-winged Bulbul 1
52. Cream-vented Bulbul 1
53. Spectacled Bulbul 3
54. Hairy-backed Bulbul 16
55. Yellow-bellied Bulbul 2
56. Buff-vented Bulbul 2
57. Arctic/Kamchatka Leaf/Japanese Leaf Warbler 1
58. Common Tailorbird (H)
59. Rufous-tailed Tailorbird 1
60. Yellow-bellied Prinia (H)
61. Pin-striped Tit-Babbler 2
62. Fluffy-backed Tit-Babbler 2
63. Chestnut-winged Babbler 3
64. Moustached Babbler (H)
65. Sooty-capped Babbler 1
66. Black-capped Babbler (H)
67. White-chested Babbler (H)
68. Dark-sided Flycatcher 1
69. White-rumped Shama (H)
70. Pale Blue-Flycatcher (H)
71. White-crowned Forktail (H)
72. Lesser Green Leafbird 1
73. Blue-winged Leafbird 7
74. Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker 1
75. Crimson-breasted Flowerpecker 1
76. Orange-bellied Flowerpecker (H)
77. Ruby-cheeked Sunbird 5
78. Spectacled Spiderhunter 1
79. spiderhunter sp. 2

Panti 10Mar17

From Con

Frilled tree frog (Kurixalus appendiculatus)

Panti, Fraser's Hill 22-28Sep16

From Con

Panti

24 Sep: White-crowned hornbill near second yellow sign

Male Buff-rumped woodpecker ©Con Foley

Fraser's Hill

25 Sep: I finally saw the Collared owlet in Malaysia on Telecom Loop. Also recorded call of the owlet.
26 Sep: Best bird for today: a pair of Large scimitar babbler
27 Sep: Today Malaysian whistling thrush, Bamboo woodpecker and Bay woodpecker all seen. Got my first Slow loris!

Panti 13-17Sep16

From Con

13 Sep: Some of the better birds this morning: Grey-breasted babbler, Rail babbler, Rufous-chested flycatcher, Pale blue flycatcher.

15 Sep: Some of the better birds from today: Brown wood owl, Brown hawk owl, Blyth's frogmouth, Malaysian eared nightjar, White-necked babbler.

White-handed gibbon ©Con Foley

Oriental honey buzzard ©Con Foley

17 Sep: Brown hawk owl calling at 10 am on its own!

Panti 24-25Aug16

From Con

White-crowned Hornbill calling several times on 24 Aug, but won't come.

Got Brown Wood-owl in Panti!

I got all 6 of us on a Rail-babbler!

Panti 30Jul16

From Con

Unable to read a calendar, this Black-and-Red Broadbill thinks nesting season is now!

Panti 07-08Jul16

From Con

Spent the past two days with Gerard Gorman author of Woodpeckers of the World and friends. Here's one of the nicer woodies we got during that time, male Crimson-winged Woodpecker.

Rufous Woodpecker (male) from Panti Forest.

The Asian Paradise Flycatchers are still there in wonderful breeding plumage. They've been there over a month now. Must be some type of irruption of this species, there are a number of birds, both males and females. They start calling even before dawn!

Also heard a Helmeted Hornbill on Thu early morning. Great Slaty Woodpeckers were back at the second stream.

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Panti 3-5Jul16

From Con

Three species of hornbills: White-crowned, Bushy-crested, Rhino. Lots of Rail Babblers, 4 pairs calling. Banded Pitta. No trucks.