Fraser's Hill to Stephen's Place, 9/12/16

Decided to try out some of the well known areas around Fraser's Hill.  Stephen kindly drove me to the start of the popular Hemmant Trail.  Looked like beautiful habitat through tall forest.  But it was located just below a mosque and the worship service was being broadcast over a very loud speaker so that the whole town could hear even if they didn't attend.  Not only was it painfully loud while I tried to find birds, but the singer could not carry a tune in a bucket.  So I would up wasting time in some nice habitat as I saw very little.  At the bottom of the trail, I ran into the road that circles the golf course.  It was more productive.  Finally got a good shot of a Little Cuckoo-Dove.

Also my only Little Spiderhunter of the trip.  I think the ones I have seen in the Philippines have been split off.  Hard to keep up with this stuff.

White-rumped Munia in the tall grass along the gold course was a new one for me.

More Long-tailed Sibias.

Bird photography has become quite popular among the affluent in Southeast Asia.  An no more so than in Malaysia.  These are people with expensive cameras and little bird knowledge so they have learned a way to cheat and get great shots.  They put out meal worms at regular spots so that the birds become accustomed to being fed and photographed.  Fortunately for me, I stumbled onto one of these feeding spots and got some great birds.  First was a pair of Large Nitalvas who posed nicely.

At this point I had not realized why these birds were so brazen.  But then a normally skulking Streaked Wren-Babbler came strutting out and I caught on.  They were wanting to be fed.  I didn't have any meal worms but I had a camera so I just started shooting.

Gee, I had to stop and take a breath!  And then pops out a couple of Rufous-browed Flycatchers.  All of the members of the genus Ficedula are little jewels and this species is much sought after at Fraser's Hill.

And one more skulker joined the group, the Buff-breasted Babbler.  There was one that would come out in the early morning hours at Stephen's Place but I could not get any shots.  This one showed off in atypical babbler fashion.

Then I came to a cross roads and figured which way would lead me back to the Telecom Loop.  This sign was supposed to tell me something but I don't know what.  

A bit father I found a bird that had me scratching my head.  The little bit of blue on the neck was the give away.  It was a spotted juvenile Large Nitalva.  The young of the Old World flycatchers are spotted much like out young thrushes are.

I got my best photo of a Mountain Bulbul.

And then another skulker, a Mountain Tailorbird.  I've seen this one before,  I think in Borneo.

There were more Mountain Fulvettas. 

Gray-throated Babbler is another pretty common skulker that I had seen previously  in Borneo.

Another cool Ficedula flycatcher is the dainty Little Pied Flycatcher which I first saw years ago on Luzon.

I finally made my way back to Stephen's Place.  This is truly a beautiful birder's paradise.  I hope it's spared the development that is plaguing the other hill stations.

But Fraser's Hill also is under attack so it may just be a matter of time..