Explorations of an Ecologist: 2022 Part 5: October, November, December (Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand)

October

I was only home from Peru for a week when it was time to leave on the next adventure. While Laura jetted off to Scotland to attend a friend's wedding, I flew to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, located on the island of Borneo to lead a tour for Worldwide Quest. I really enjoyed exploring with a great group of travellers and we observed over 250 bird species, around 30 species of mammals and lots more. Many of the big targets cooperated including Bornean Orangutan, Proboscis Monkey, Bornean Bristlehead and a suite of birds endemic to the island. One of our rarest sightings was an Everett's Thrush at Mount Kinabalu; one of my most wanted birds for Borneo.

Laura joined us for the peninsular Malaysia extension, split between lush foothill forest at Fraser's Hill and rich lowland rainforest at Taman Negara. Fraser’s Hill provided us with a huge variety of new bird species, many which are Himalayan in origin. Walking along quiet roads through the forest proved very productive; “bird-waves” containing a multitude of colorful species were common. Other interesting sightings included White-thighed Surilis, Siamang Gibbons, Dusky Leaf Monkeys, an Oriental Whipsnake and a rare Impressed Tortoise.

The tour extension finished in Taman Negara, an area of lowland forest further east along the peninsula. Green Broadbill, Malayan Blue-banded Kingfisher, Malaysian Hawk-Cuckoo and Malayan Crested Fireback were some of the standouts. Unfortunately, some of our “best” birds here were heard and not seen, including Malayan Banded Pitta, Crested Partridge, Gould’s Frogmouth and Blyth’s Frogmouth – all the more reason to return one day.

Laura and I remained in peninsular Malaysia after the conclusion of the tour. We met up with a Canadian friend of ours, Nicole, who was now living in Malaysia. It was great to catch up as well as return to Fraser's Hill for a few more days of geeking out!

Periophthalmus sp.

Blue-naped Parrot

Everett's Thrush

Unidentified cicada

Bornean Black-banded Squirrel

Snowy-browed Flycatcher

Rafflesia keithii

Bornean Orangutan

Horsfield's Tarsier

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

Pale Giant Squirrel

North Philippine Temple Pitviper (Tropidolaemus subannulatus)

Proboscis Monkey

Small-toothed Palm Civet

Storm's Stork

Paradise Flying Snake (Chrysopelea paradisi)

Blue-eared Kingfisher

Buffy Fish Owl

Gray-rumped Treeswift

Purple-naped Spiderhunter

Blue-headed Pitta

Barred Eagle-Owl

Saban Grizzled Langur

Lesser Mousedeer

Cyana sp.

Arthroschista hilaralis

Miltochrista synestramena

Phormingochilus sp.

Margaret's Ranee Mouse (Haeromys margarettae)

Bornean Bristlehead

White-crowned Shama

Nankeen Night-Heron

Streaked Spiderhunter

Oriental Whipsnake (Ahaetulla prasina)

Impressed Tortoise (Manouria impressa)

Blue-winged Leafbird

Green Broadbill

Erebus caprimulgus

Scarlet-rumped Trogon

David Bowie Spider (Heteropoda davidbowie)

Polypedates sp.

Giant Blue Scorpion (Heterometrus spinifer)

Long-nosed Horned Frog (Pelobatrachus nasutus)

Malay Crested Fireback

Brown Whip Snake (Dryophiops rubescens)

Siamang Gibbon

White-thighed Surilis

Red-headed Trogons

Southern Pig-tailed Macaques

November

Laura and I remained in the Malay Peninsula for another four days, renting a car and exploring along the coast to the Panang area and back. Despite the hot weather and lack of bird-song, we did quite well, finding interesting birds like Blue-winged Pitta, Mangrove Blue Flycatcher, flocks of migrating Black Bazas and much more.

We zipped over to Singapore for four days. The food scene here was delectable, but we had fun finding quite a few birds as well. Some of the highlights were a Daurian Redstart twitch, several new (to us) snakes, White-faced and Malaysian Plovers, and migrant species like Amur Paradise-Flycatcher and Mugimaki Flycatcher.

On November 11 we flew northwards to Thailand, and we would remain here until mid-December. We completed a route in the south with a rental car, finding species like Plain-pouched Hornbills, Black-backed Dwarf-Kingfishers, Brown-winged Kingfishers, Gray-tailed Tattlers, a Malayan Night-Heron and far too many terrestrial leeches. The birding here in the south was tough, though, and we were happy to fly north to Bangkok where we hoped to find more species.

We rented a car for a month and completed a large loop up the west side of Thailand to the Myanmar border and back. We camped in Kaeng Krachan National Park, giving us a chance to find nocturnal species like White-fronted Scops-Owl and various snakes; even several sleeping Blue Pittas! We also camped at Mae Wong National Park and found some amazing birds: Gray Peacock-Pheasant, Gray Nightjar and three species of scimitar-babbler were some of the standouts.

Paddyfield Pipit

Javan and Jungle Mynas

Collared Kingfisher

Brown Shrike

Oriental Pied-Hornbill

Selangor Silvered Langur

Indian Cuckoo

Blue-winged Pitta

Paradise Flying Snake (Chrysopelea paradisi)

Daurian Redstart

Pink-necked Green-Pigeon

Copper-throated Sunbird

Sunda Colugo

Cantor's Dwarf Reed Snake (Pseudorabdion longiceps)

Branded Imperial (Eooxylides tharis)

White-crested Laughingthrush

Malaysian Plover

Blue Rock-Thrush

Gray-tailed Tattler

Spotted Wood-Owl

Malayan Night-Heron

Phuket Pricklenape (Acanthosaura phuketensis)

Horsfield's Baron (Tanaecia iapis)

Black-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher

Plain-pouched Hornbills

Streak-breasted Woodpecker

Brown-winged Kingfisher

Domed Malayan Box Turtle (Cuora amboinensis)

Indochinese Bushlark

Black-winged Stilt

Brown-headed Gull

Nordmann's Greenshanks

Paris Peacock Swallowtail (Papilio paris)

Great Hornbill

Tokay Gecko (Gekko gekko)

Wittasura lineatus

Huahin Kukri Snake (Oligodon huahin)

Orange-headed Thrush

Besra

Banded Broadbill

Blue Pitta

White-fronted Scops-Owl

Marbled Map (Cyrestis cocles)

Scaly-breasted Partridge

Slaty-legged Crake

Asian Emerald Dove

Ferruginous Partridge

Puff-throated Babbler

Northern Treeshrew

Bar-backed Partridge

Pareas berdmorei

Pope's Tree Viper (Trimeresurus popeiorum)

Red-bearded Bee-eater

Golden-throated Barbet

Common Green-Magpie

Brown-crowned Scimitar-Babbler

Yellow-throated Marten

December

Our last two weeks in Thailand were spent in the north of the country. The cooler temperatures of the mountains provided the perfect environment for picking through the overwintering and resident bird species in the pine-oak forests near the Myanmar border. Doi Inthanon National Park provided us with a ridiculous number of new species, but my favourite site in the north was Doi Lang. In the tranquil pine and oak forests, we studied Mrs Hume's Pheasant, Giant Nuthatch, Gray-headed Parrotbill, Himalayan Cutia and Black-throated Tit; even a surprise Himalayan Griffon!

The interesting dry deciduous forests of Mae Ping gave us a new set of birds, while the various paddy fields in the lowlands between all of the national parks always held something of interest, whether it was a Common Crane, Greater Painted-Snipe, or one of many species of shorebird, crake or raptor. Our last park was the infrequently visited (by foreign tourists) Nam Nao. We had the trails all to ourselves and found memorable birds like Blossom-headed Parakeet, Silver Pheasant, Great Slaty Woodpecker and Black-and-buff Woodpecker. I reached a big milestone here as a Plain Flowerpecker was my 4000th world bird. The most memorable sighting however was a Gaur bull that appeared at a salt lick at dusk. Talk about an adrenaline rush.

Finally, on December 15 we flew back home to Canada. One of our last new birds was a rare Great Cormorant that spent a few days in Hamilton Harbour, just the second that I've seen in Ontario. Laura and I also spent a day birding in Halifax to pick up a few final year birds, like Pomarine Jaeger, Razorbill and Harlequin.

2022 had been a whirlwind of a year and Laura and I are thankful that we were able to accomplish our goals and travel as much as we did without incident. Personally, I set out a goal to see as many bird species as possible, since I don't anticipate ever traveling as much in one year as I could in 2022. I finished with 2830 bird species. It was also really cool to see Laura really get into birding. Despite having more commitments that limited her birding opportunities (compared to me), she found 2294 species. This place her within the top 10 in the world on eBird!

Thanks to all who followed along with the blog over the year. Lots more to come in 2023!