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Chasing 3000 - Malaysia

Sep 2
25 min read

9/2/2026 - 9/8/2026


After a week in Singapore, we were heading to Malaysia. We had looked at several options for this year's trip. This was not one of them. In the end, we procrastinated a bit too long and needed an "easy" option. We discussed a number of things and then Singapore rose to the top of the list. The birding there looked easy and new. The city was rich with options for Carmen to explore. We had never been to this part of the world. It was also tantalizingly close to Malaysia. Malaysia is home to one of my most-wanted birds - the Malaysian Rail-Babbler. The bird is unique and represents the only species in its family. It is also hard to see. The reports coming from Panti Forest (one of the best places to see the bird) mostly show no sightings or heard-only sightings for the bird. We will have our work cut out for us.


We settled on doing a week in Singapore and a week in Malaysia. While we were on our own in Singapore, we are traveling with Junglewalla Tours in Malaysia. Their site lists a tour of southern Malaysia that visits Panti Forest and seemed perfect for us. This tour is far from the most popular tour in Malaysia. World-famous Fraser's Hill near Kuala Lumpur would hold that spot. We were the first to request this tour in some time, apparently. The tour would start with a host of guides in Panti. We would then work our way west to visit some rice fields near the cost, and finally move north to the forest near Jelebu. Our bird guides during this time will be Ashraf (for the first half of the tour) and Ashwin (for the second half). These two run the Birdwatching Asia blog and would prove to be very competent guides. For the first half, we also had Sharool (who provided local knowledge for Panti and drove) and Irshad (who helped with logistics).


I am normally not so conscious of what my life list number is. I keep a list and check it after trips, but I do not obsess over it. This year, I felt reasonably close to hitting 3,000, though, and I was keeping tabs. I am not sure I enjoyed this aspect of it. Keeping tabs on my count seemed to cut into the enjoyment of the experience a little. There was always a little extra pressure that I had to find the next bird. Now, there was the specter of failure associated with birding. I started the trip needing 135 new species to get to 3,000. By the time we got to Malaysia, I needed 88 more species. It seemed like it would be close. Spoiler - it was, but I fell 9 short. In the end, it does not matter that much. I was somewhat relieved when I got to the point where I realized it would not happen. It just took that little bit of pressure off, and I could go back to worrying about the bird in front of me. This is supposed to be for fun, right?


I thought I would do another "things to know before you go" list for Malaysia. We came in via the bridge from Singapore, and that eased things a lot.

  • Safety - We were constantly with a guide and in smaller towns/rural areas. So, I cannot speak for the safety of the larger cities. What I can tell you is that we felt safe everywhere we went. The people were friendly and curious. Maybe overly curious at times. Ashraf commented on how much attention we drew while trying to bird some areas. On the other hand, a very nice woman (who taught me that Malaysian women do not shake hands with men; so do not offer your hand like I did) waved Carmen down and introduced herself. She had noticed Carmen wandering in the sun while we were birding the rice fields and wanted to give her a large sun hat. It was super nice, and the woman was very happy to have helped. It became our lucky hat for the rest of the trip. Personally, I loved everything about it.

  • Entry - Like most places, Malaysia requires the completion of an entry card. I do not know that it was every checked, but it is free and quick to fill out.

  • Meds - We were informed that Malaysia is also very strict about the medications coming into the country. Junglewalla's next client had a number of health issues, and they were going to have to help with getting the client through customs with all their medications. Given that we transferred in from Singapore, I think we got an easy pass on this check.

  • Bathrooms - While all of our hotels featured western toilets, they are more dependent upon bidets. If you are not comfortable with this, you might want to pack your own paper.

  • Food - We were actually shunted away from typical Malaysian food. It is not overly vegetarian friendly (according to our guides), and it features a lot of seafood. Since Carmen is vegetarian and allergic to seafood, we got steered towards more western-friendly options. This was a bit unfortunate, but it at least gave Carmen some options. Having said this, Malaysia is a melting pot of cultures and offers many Indian and Thai options, as well. We had just overly stressed Carmen's preferences and were given the safest options for most meals. What we had was good, and we never had any issues with the food and drink in the country.

  • Leeches - In the US, we typically think of leeches as aquatic pests - more disgusting than harmful. In Southeast Asia, leeches also roam the forest floors. You will want leech socks. These are densely woven socks that you pull up over your pant legs. It keeps the leeches from crawling up you pants. We bought tight-fitting knee-length gaiters, and that seemed to work well. It is not a perfect system. Some leeches fall out of the trees and onto you. Ashraf pulled a couple off of him. Based on the small bloodspot in our bed one morning, we apparently missed one that had fallen on us.

  • Heat - The heat here was better that Singapore. The temps were a few degrees cooler. The humidity was noticeably less. I did not suffer here the way I did in Singapore. On the other hand, I had packed better clothes for this part of the trip and was wearing actual hiking tees and pants that breathe and wick moisture.

  • Packing - This item should have been on the Singapore list, but I overlooked it. I went to lace my hiking boots in Singapore and immediately snapped a lace. It was a good portion of the lace that had snapped off, and it would have been a problem to re-lace the boots with what was left. Luckily, I pack spares. It is one of those things I pack every trip and never use. Much like the first aid kit. Much like the roll of toilet paper. They never get used, but I keep packing them. Most of these things (except the first aid kit) came in handy this trip. They are things you hope you do not need, but it is good to have them with you for when you do.


So, about that trip. Overall, it was a good trip. I had fun birding with the guides. Carmen loved the info about the flora and fauna that she got from Sharool and Irshad. We put in a lot of effort and saw a lot. We spent most our time in Malaysia birding dense forested areas. This is a challenge in a lot of ways. The birds are typically high. The density of foliage makes it easy for birds to hide. Lighting is usually difficult. We were not birding parks (like Singapore) or any kind of feeder setup. Things were further complicated by my desire to see the rail-babbler; not just hear it. We spent a lot of time focusing on seeing this one bird.


This tour was a trip in three parts.


Panti Forest -

We had transferred to a hotel in Johor Bahru the day before the tour. This morning, we met Irshad in the hotel lobby and quickly loaded into the van, where we met Ashraf and Sharool. Sharool is a bit of a character and high-energy. He is constantly on the move. His local knowledge is excellent. He helps run the camera trap system in the area. Panti is one of the last refuges for the Sumatran Tiger, and he was lamenting how the local government had recently trapped the male tiger in Panti and was relocating it. Apparently, there is a dairy farm in the middle of the forest, and the tiger found the cows an easy meal. There was a lot of concern about what this would mean for the female tigers in the forest. One male's territory can cover up to four females. Hopefully a new male moves into the area. I have mixed feelings about not seeing a tiger while there.


We got into Panti Forest about an hour after sunrise and headed directly for the rail-babbler stake-out. It is quite literally a stake-out; as there were stakes with colored ribbons marking the length of the trail. We spent most of the morning here. Waiting. Listening. We eventually heard a rail-babbler, but it was quite distant. The bird was slowly moving closer, and we slowly moved deeper into the forest. Eventually, it stopped calling, and we lost track of the bird. We moved on and did some birding elsewhere; mostly picking up birds feeding in some fruiting bushes: Blue-winged and Lesser Green Leafbirds, five species of bulbul (Hairy-backed, Buff-vented, Cream-vented, Olive-winged, and Yellow-bellied) and both Orange-bellied and Yellow-breasted Flowerpeckers. All of these are fairly common birds to find here. We managed some less common birds: Raffle's Malkoha, Plain Sunbird, and Gray-breasted Spiderhunter.


The afternoon was fairly similar to the morning, but we focused less on the rail-babbler and were able to pick up quite a few new species. We were birding from a visitors' center location that actually connected via a path to the road we birded in the morning. This used to be the go-to spot for Blythe's Frogmouth. One used to roost in the parking lot. They recently repaved the area, and the bird has not been seen since. We added a few new bulbuls (they have a lot of different species here) to the list here: Black-headed, Gray-breasted, Spectacled, and Red-eyed. We got brief but good looks at the Crimson-breasted Flowerpecker, and we saw both the Banded Broadbill and Black-and-yellow Broadbill. If you just looked at an image of the broadbills, you might swear they are AI generated. The highlight of the afternoon came not long before sunset.


We had ran across another birder that was playing for Red-bearded Bee-eater. We talked to him for a bit and then walked down the trail a bit. Not too far along the path, we suddenly heard a very loud call from nearby. Malaysian Rail-Babbler. The call of this bird is hard to tell exactly where it is coming from. We could just tell it was close. What ensued was a lot of back and forth, "are you playing for it?" type questions between us and the other birder. The answer was a distinct no. We did not have a way into the forest from where we were at. A ditch and thick shrubs were in the way. We walked to a thinner area and waited, watched, and hoped. Finally, Ashraf spotted the bird. I got good binoc views. Ashraf yelled to shoot the bird, but I really just wanted to make sure I saw it well. The combination of the low light and trying to shoot through the bushes probably would not have worked out well. I wanted to spend the brief time we had with the bird enjoying the view. I am overjoyed that I got to see this bird. I would have another whole day to hopefully photograph it.


We fast-walked the trail to the road after this encounter. We had to be out before dark. The forest requires a special permit to be there after dark, and there are hefty fines if you do not have one. Sharool met us at the end of the trail with the van, and we called it a successful day.


The next morning started well. A large fruiting tree had pulled in a large number of birds. Of course, they were all very high up. Sooty Barbet and Malayan Black Magpie were the highlights here, but we had a number of birds moving in the trees. We checked the rail-babbler spots, but they were quiet. A pair of White-handed Gibbon were calling territory from opposite sides of the road, and we spent a while enjoying the antics.


Crested Partridge were also calling, and we tried to track them down. We followed an old elephant track, but the birds stopped calling once we got into the forest. Afterwards, we headed toward the dairy farm. Sharool indicated the area was good for Pig-tailed Macaque, and Carmen was eager to see one. We picked up a few new birds (Greater Coucal, Blue-throated Bee-eater, Large-billed Crow, and Rufous-winged Philentoma) in the area, but it was pretty slow birding overall. We struck out on the macaque. The morning heated up quickly, and the birding dried up just as quickly. We struggled out a few new birds and then called it for the morning.


The afternoon was even slower. At the close of the day, we had some decent luck with woodpeckers and added Banded, Checker-throated, and Gray-and-buff Woodpecker to the list. We were walking a trail with Ashraf when he heard a Rhinoceros Hornbill calling. We ran back out to the road but could not locate them. It was getting close to dark; so, we went ahead and called it a day. The timing worked out well. We were driving down the highway back to Kota Tingga (the town where we were staying) when two large birds flew slowly across the road in front of us. They were a pair of Black Hornbill, and it was a really cool sighting to close out the day.


We would be leaving this area in the morning and starting our drive to the coastal city of Maur. As we were driving back to town, Ashraf asked if I was upset that I did not get to photograph the rail-babbler. I am not upset. Disappointed? Sure. As I explained to him, I did not expect to even see the bird. We had birded all the same areas today, and we barely heard one. Seeing one was a win. So, while I would have loved photos, I am happy to have seen the bird. Maybe if I ever get around to visiting Fraser's Hill, I can focus on getting photos that trip. In the meantime, I will call it a win.


Ashraf had also made a comment about enjoying all of my photos of flowerpeckers, leafbirds, and bulbuls. He was not really wrong about that. I walked out of Panti with pretty much flowerpeckers, leafbirds, and bulbuls to share.


Rice Fields -

Up next was some far-easier birding. We were going to visit several rice fields near the coast before heading to our hotel in Maur. Along the way, it became overly apparent just how much palm oil is produced in Malaysia. We had seen several large plantations around Kota Tinggi and the forest. Driving across country, there were miles and miles (okay, kilometers and kilometers) of palm oil trees. Rubber tree plantations are interspersed in areas, but these are slowly being converted to palm oil. Every plot of land that can be planted is slowly being converted, and there is no end in sight. The world at large is highly dependent upon palm oil. If the ingredients list on your food/whatever list palm or any other palm-like word (palmitate, palmitic acid, etc.) or stearic acid or even just "vegetable oil", it has palm in it. Food, make-up, and cleaning agents all heavily rely on palm. The alternatives to using palm oil are not overly clear. Whether is is palm trees or a different oil-seed crop, it will take up land somewhere.


Palm oil plantations are good for one thing. They feed a lot of rodents, and this attracts owls. In the pre-dawn light, we had a Spotted Wood-Owl sitting on the power lines in front of a palm oil plantation. It is a small win.


We got to our first rice field around 8:45 AM. Just outside the area, we had a small flock of Rufous Woodpecker perched in the tops some palms. A little further down the road, we had a Dollarbird. Siamese Pied Starling are listed as an exotic/escapee (so they do not count) in eBird but are apparently more common north of here. We birded a canal in the area before heading out onto the roads around the fields. We had a very cooperative Cinnamon Bittern. Purple Swamphen has been split into Gray-headed and Black-backed, and we had both in the canal, as well. It was here that Carmen picked up her lucky hat.


Venturing out onto the roads, we had good numbers of Baya Weaver. We got our first looks at all four munia species found here: Scaly-breasted, White-rumped, Chestnut, and White-headed. Asian Openbill are found here. Ashwin (who we would meet the next morning) explained that it was not until a few years ago that the openbills started appearing in this part of Malaysia. The rice farmers were not happy about it, at first. I guess they assumed the birds were damaging the crops. According to Ashwin, the fields where the openbill frequent have to use far less sprays to control the snail populations in the fields. So, it is really a win for the farmers. Overall, the farmers here are not overly bird friendly. While it is illegal, some still hang mist nets to trap birds feeding in the fields. We saw some nets with several species hanging in them.


This type of pressure on the birds makes them skittish, and that made getting shots difficult. We found some good north-south roads and slowly drove them with the van doors open; trying to get close to feeding flocks of munia and other birds for photos. We were somewhat successful, but the birds were too afraid of the approaching car and usually flew when they realized we were watching them. We birded for a bit and scored a nice fly-by Watercock. I would have loved a shot of the bird, but it was quite shy and bolted for cover immediately after landing.


After getting checked into the hotel and having lunch, we headed back out for the afternoon. We would be doing some night birding after dark. The afternoon fields were dry and harvested; so, we had a completely different set of birds. Lesser Adjutant, Pacific Golden-Plover, and Red-wattled Lapwings patrolled the fields. We had distant, hazy scope views of what looked like an Oriental Pratincole, but, when we got to the road closer to where it was, we could not relocate it. Black-winged and Brahminy Kites were flying about. An owl box hosted an Eastern Barn Owl (a recent split of Barn Owl into Eastern and Western made this a new bird). Lots of Baya Weaver and some munia were still around. We had our first Red Collared-Dove here, too.


We waited near a small restaurant for it to get dark. There were silly-looking Dusky Langur hanging out nearby along with the usual Long-tailed Macaque. This kept Carmen entertained while I tried to get photos of the Yellow-bellied Prinia. We had spotted a large wild boar chomping its way through some young rice not far away, and we had to keep an eye out in case it made its way toward us.


Soon enough, it was dusk and the night birds started moving. Streams of Black-crowned Night-Heron flew over us. A small group of Savannah Nightjar swooped overhead, too. There were quite a variety of bats working the fields, and we spotted a Large-tailed Nightjar flying among the trees opposite the fields. As we were driving, Ashraf and Sharool spotted an owl ahead of us. We got out and managed to find a Barn Owl feeding on a large rat. This would be the only owl sighting of the night. We drove around and checked a number of areas without luck.


One interesting thing we ran across was a large concrete building with little cup-shaped objects dotting the walls. These were nesting sites for the White-nest Swiftlet, formerly known as the Edible-nest Swiftlet. As the name implies, the nests can be collected and eaten. The swifts give a weird, rapid-beat clicking call. The sound of many of them roosting on the walls of the building and the calls echoing off the building was a bit eerie. We finished up the night drive and headed back.

We met Ashwin in the morning and said our goodbyes to everyone else. They had worked hard, and I had enjoyed birding with Ashraf. Sharool had kept Carment entertained with talk of the animals and flora of the area. Irshad did, as well, and he also made sure things went smoothly. We had a great experience with them.


Ashwin would be driving us to Jelebu. We were going to hit another rice field along the way. At first, I was not overly excited about it, but we ended up picking up some really nice birds. Initially, it was a lot of the usual suspects, but we were actually hunting for crake. You have to watch the small separations between plots of tall rice. Carmen called out a bird on here side as we drove along, and Ashwin backed up to look. The bird turned out to be an immature White-breasted Waterhen. Behind it, though, was another smaller bird. It took a while to get the ID worked out. It was distant and kept its back to us. While watching it ("it" turned out to be a White-browed Crake), a Red-legged Crake walked out of the rice on one side and into the other. Two crakes in one stop was pretty nice. We had a number of Barn Swallow here and our first and only Great Egret, too. I have not looked into this, but I would be hard-pressed to name two species with a wider natural distribution than these two birds. They seem to be everywhere. Okay - I just searched this. Apparently Peregrine Falcon and Barn Owl are the top two. Who knew?


We eventually headed to another area where Ashwin had seen otter in the past. We pulled into an area that looked suspiciously like an old landfill and started scanning the water. There were over a hundred Lesser Whistling Duck here. There were also large numbers of swamphens and a few moorhen. We missed out on the otters again, but we did pick up an early migrant. I had seen a yellowish bird with a long tail pop into a bush and wrote it off as a prinia. It was not until I decided to try and get photos a couple minutes later that I realized it was not a prinia. It was a reed warbler! The bird turned out to be a transitioning immature bird; so, the ID was a little complicated. We eventually narrowed it down to Oriental Reed Warbler. It was a nice find. This finished up the morning birding, and we started our trip to Jelebu.


In all fairness, the tour company was trying out a new hotel that was supposed to be close to the forest. In reality, they could have scouted this a bit better. Sure, we were close to the forest, but we were on the opposite side of where we would be birding. This meant getting up a bit earlier and (one night in particular) being up way later than necessary. We got checked into the hotel in a small town that does not see much tourism. The room could have been nicer, but it met our needs.


After getting checked in, we headed out to bird. We birded a spot that we only visited once but would have been good to visit again. We did try again later, but the gate was closed, and we decided to bird elsewhere - for reasons. The gate was closed when we arrived this time, and we were naive enough to walk the road. We covered around 1.25 km of the road. Straight. Up. Hill!  I checked topographical maps of this area. Based on what I could read from the topographical map, the parking lot started at 300m. The area we walked to was at 600m. That is 300m of gain over 1.25km, which is around a 25% grade. Even if I am off a bit, we are still looking at around a 20% grade. For comparison, the grade of stairways in the US are between 30% and 38%. The hill was steep and relentless.


At first, we were not seeing much. We had some new swifts: Whiskered Treeswift and House Swift. We saw Stripe-throated Bulbul, which was also new. We were dying though, and I was wondering if this hike was worth it. Barbets were calling from hidden perches, but we could not find them. We just were not getting eyes on much of anything other than the swifts. Then, Ashwin heard a Rhinoceros Hornbill calling from uphill. I quickened my pace as best as I could; meaning I moved from a slow crawl to a crawl. We rounded a bend, and I spotted the bird with its head sticking out of a treetop and calling. I snapped some pics and then looked on in amazement - too tired to do much else. When the bird flew, I did not even think about raising the camera. When it became apparent that a second bird was calling, I just did not even think to prepare for a shot. The second bird came into view and slowly drifted by to follow the first. It looked amazing. The hike suddenly seemed worth it. Elated, we moved uphill a bit more after a short rest. The road leveled a little, and things got a bit easier. We were staring out over the hillside when a pair of Great Hornbill flew into view. A bit more energized, I managed to snap a couple of shots. The birds flew out of sight, and I walked towards the bend in the road to see if I could spot them. One had perched in a tree some distance up the road. I snapped a few pics and then tried to approach. The bird flew and disappeared before I got much closer. That was two spectacular birds for the evening. Now, we just had to get down the hill.

Rhinoceros Hornbill
Great Hornbill

The next morning, we headed to the Talang Birding Trail. It is not a trail. It is a road. You drive along and stop in various locations and see what you can find along the road. Apparently, the actual trails are filled with leeches. So, it is road birding for us. I was not sure what to think at first. It started a little slow. We stopped to bird an area and spent more time watching gibbons. Not a terrible thing, really. Things picked up from there. By the time we were done for the morning, we had seen 41 species, of which 14 were new species for me. Probably the second best day for new species of the trip, and it was late in the trip. We birded 11km up and down the road. We walked a few areas; including a side road that lead back to an indigenous village. On this road, we heard Great Argus calling from below. The road was next to a fairly steep drop-off, and we could hear the bird calling from close by. We just could not get down to it, and we could not see it. It would have been a great sighting. A little further down the road, a large furry square suddenly sailed by close overhead and landed in a nearby tree. We had evidently spooked a colugo, and it had jumped and sailed to a new perch. After we recovered from the jump scare, we laughed about it and took some pics.


Highlights of the morning included: Chestnut-breasted and Black-bellied Malkoha (the last of the expected species on this trip), Rufous Piculet, Buff-rumped Woodpecker, Gray-headed Canary-Flycatcher, Black-winged Flycatcher-shrike, three species of sunbirds (Ruby-cheeked, Red-throated, and Temminck's; also the last of the expected species for this trip), and Long-billed and Spectacled Spiderhunter. It was a great day, and I suddenly went from not going to make 3,000 to tantalizingly close. We would have to see what the afternoon brought.


We grabbed lunch and rested at the hotel briefly before heading back out. It was kind of a waste of time to drive all the way back to the hotel and then have to head back, but it was also good to get out of the heat for a bit. We had lunch at an outdoor buffet. The food was good, but eating hot food outside just made it feel that much hotter.


We headed to Ulu Bendul Forest Eco Park for the afternoon. This was not far from where we had lunch. I noticed on the way by that the gate was open to the place we went the night before. When things here fell through, I should have asked about going back. That is getting a little ahead of myself, though. We walked into the park and planned to walk back along the river. The front part is a small park where people swim and hang out in the shallow river. We were going to walk back and look for Chestnut-naped Forktail. The area further back had recently been fenced off, and we could not get to where we were going. We walked back to the front and through a different area to get back to the river only to be stopped by security. This area was now owned by the forest department and was closed after 4 PM. We did manage to pick up a single Gray Wagtail for our efforts. With all the people at the park, there were a rather large number of macaques, and Carmen at least got a few more monkey shots. We also had more Dusky Langur.


We tried a roadside area nearby but had nothing. As we were leaving, I looked up and spotted the largest macaque I have ever seen sitting on a guardrail. This was one massive monkey. It also had a weird, short, curly tail. This was Carmen's Pig-tailed Macaque. Bigger, stronger, and more aggressive than their long-tailed cousins. We had stumbled across the alpha of the group. Carmen rolled down her window to get shots, and the monkey boldly started coming towards the car. We rolled up the window and moved on. The rest of the group was spread out along the road, but we did not want to stop again.


We drove back to the Talang Birding Trail but had little there. At sunset, we had three Great Slaty Woodpecker fly through the valley at an overlook. We drove into a nearby town for dinner at a hotel and waited until dark. At dark, we headed back out for some night birding. We were not overly successful with the night birding. It started strong. We had a Blythe's Frogmouth respond. These birds sound like cackling witches. If you did not know better, you would think it was a person. We never got eyes on the bird, and it was the only one we had respond that night. We heard a lot of Collared Scops-Owl. No joy on seeing one. As we slowly drove the roads, we were shining flashlights into the trees and hoping for some eyeshine from an owl or mammal. No joy there, either. I did spot a brown fur ball hanging out under a broad leaf and called the car to a stop. Upon backing up, it was a bat feeding on some fruit. No idea on which species. We birded down to a creek and got out to walk around. I could hear this heavy, breathy, pulse coming from somewhere. It sounded crazy. I had no idea what it was. Ashwin called us over, and there were a pair of Buffy Fish-Owl staring at us from across the water. They were too far for photos, but it was cool to see them. We birded for a bit longer but had no further luck. It was a long drive back to the hotel, and we got in after midnight. Ashwin wished us a good short rest. Thankfully, we were not leaving until 8:00 AM the next morning.


Ashwin actually finished the lists out after we got back. I am not sure how he had the energy for it. When I checked in the morning, I was 13 new birds away from 3,000. I knew we would not get there, and that was okay. Ashwin, to his credit, never gave up and birded hard, constantly asking me if each new sighting was a new bird. We knocked one off the list right away. The bird was just shy enough to prevent a photo, but we got good looks at Gold-whiskered Barbet. This is a beautiful bird and was Carmen's favorite bird of the trip. Not a bad choice. We were stuck at 12 for a while. We heard yet another Banded Kingfisher, but the bird would not show. I was joking with Ashwin and said that I would be happy to get to 2990 and only needed two more species; saying that left room for Red-bearded Bee-eater and any trogon.


The bee-eater had become a bit of a nemesis. Ashraf had one on a low perch at Panti and was just calling it out when a truck came by and flushed it. Since then, we have heard one almost every day. We had not seen any. There are several species of trogon here, and I had thought they would be easy to find. Ashraf had one the first day, but I could not get eyes on it. It was too buried to pick out against the sun. We had heard several more throughout the trip but, again, had not seen any. The day was moving on, and it was getting time to start heading back. We were walking the road when we heard a bee-eater call. I had heard enough by this point to recognize the call. These birds have been calling once and then disappearing. This time it was different. This bird kept calling. We quickly worked our way up the road and eventually found it perched high in the trees. We watched it for a bit and then lost track of it as it flew from perch-to-perch. We were walking back down the road to the car when a trogon suddenly called from behind us; calling from nearly the same place we had just seen the bee-eater. We walked back and found the bird perched over a creek. It was a bit distant, but I took pics anyway. I felt lucky to have named my last two species here. Walking back to the car, we ran across not one but two bee-eaters. They were a little closer but in harsher light. It was good to see them again before heading out. They look remarkable.


We grabbed lunch before hitting the road to Johor Bahru. Ashwin had promised Carmen some authentic Indian food. We pulled up in front of a restaurant and walked in. Ashwin handled everything for us. Carmen and I just had to pick what we wanted to go with our rice. Once that was done, large sections of banana leaf were brought out and laid in front of us. This would be our plate. A variety of vegetables was dished out onto the leaf. This was followed by as much rice as you wanted. Then a set of four sauces were brought over to spoon over your rice. I got a chicken curry sauce. A small cup of soup and some potato crackers were also brought out. The dishes we had ordered were brought over, and we shared out portions. It was a good meal. Different than anything I have had before. Once done, Ashwin explained that the proper way to finish the meal was to fold the banana leaf in half away from you. This signaled that the food was good and you would like to come back. For funerals (and other similar events you would not like to repeat), you fold the top down towards the bottom; signaling you would not like to come back - for obvious reasons. It can also suggest that you did not like the food. That was not a problem here.


We had a long drive back to Johor Bahru. Ashwin would be dropping us off at a restaurant, where we were meeting a driver to take us back into Singapore. Ashwin kept asking questions around what time we had to be back to Singapore and what birds I still needed. Then he asked if I wanted to try for Mangrove Pitta and Great-billed Heron. I really wanted to, but I debated just heading to the drop-off location. Carmen, to her credit, suggested I go for the birds. That settled it.


We got into Johor Bahru and headed to a small mangrove area near the border. We did not have much time and did not bird long. We walked a path back and called for the pitta. No joy. We walked out onto a small pier, and Ashwin said he usually has the heron out there. I turned around, and there was one standing behind us. Nine left to go. We looked for the pitta for a bit longer on the way back, but we did not find one.


Ashwin birded hard and the effort really paid off. I did not hit my goal, but it really was not the point of the trip anyway. I had accomplished my real goals: seeing the rail-babbler and experiencing some new parts of the world. We enjoyed our time in Malaysia. I would love to come back and visit Fraser's Hill. Carmen wants to come back and spend a day in Malacca. We passed through on our way to Jelebu, and it is a very interesting city with lots of things to interest her. This is where I always mention that it is a big world with lots to see, and it is hard to come back to the same area twice. We are genuinely interested in seeing more of Malaysia though; so, it is hard to tell if/when we will make it back. I do not feel this country is a one-and-done visit.


The hand off and transfer into Singapore when smoothly. We stayed at the airport hotel but still had to take a taxi to our terminal; as the trains were not running at the hour we needed to check-in. The rest of the trip just consisted of getting home. Lots of flights that, thankfully, went very smoothly. 20+ hours later, we got home on the same day we left.


I finished this trip (between Singapore and Malaysia) with 178 species. 126 of those were new to me. My life list finished at 2,991; 9 short of my goal, but who is counting?


Thanks for reading,

Mike


 
 
 

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