Birding at the Frasers Hill

Greeted by the Grey Wagtail, Mountain Bulbul, Magpie Robin, Long-tailed Sibia as I entered Frasers Hill.


Checked-in at the Pine Resort, my favourite place for accommodation.

The Pine Resort

Looking out from the balcony, a Blyths Hawk-eagle was perching at a tree far away.

Blyth's Hawk-eagle

Flocks of White-rumped Munia were everywhere.

White-rumped Munia

Told by Singapore birders that 3 Malaysian Hill-Partridges were sighted, so decided to try my luck the next morning.

While waiting patiently by the roadside, I suddenly heard noises behind me. So I turned my head. Wonderful, a barking deer (kijang) emerged from the bushes. It was hardly 20 metres from me. Gosh! my first encounter with a barking deer in the wild.

Walked out from the jungle

Realized my presence

Dashed across the road

Speed-up

And it's gone

No luck with the Malaysian Hill-Partridge, but saw a pair of sub-adult Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush, Little Cuckoo-Dove, Rufous-browed Flycatcher,along with other spp. like Streaked Spiderhunter, Silver-eared Mesia, Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush, Grey Wagtail etc.

Heard calls of Collared Owlet. so near but just couldn't trace it with scope.

sub-adult Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush

Little Cuckoo-Dove

Balancing with its tail feathers

Rufous-browed Flycatcher

From the Pine Resort, I was videoing the wild boars in the evening, then suddenly I saw a panther walking down the slope, moving towards Corona Nursery

Wild boar

Panther

The next morning, I told the counter staff of the Pine Resort regarding the panther seen. According to him, 2 months ago, a tigress with cubs were spotted by a foreigner at the new road near the bridge.

So friends, while enjoying bird watching, please be very careful over your safety.

Kota Kinabalu Trip

Made a trip to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah.

Jesselton was it's old name.

Api-Api is it's other name.

The main attraction of Sabah - Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in South East Asia.

First night, stayed at Promenade Apartment. Room big but old. Moderately acceptable. Easy walk to anywhere in the town.

View of room interior of Promenade Apartment

Took a stroll to the waterfront in the evening

A place to dine and watch sunset at the same time

Beautiful scenery of sunset

All of them catching the magnificent moment

Some of the attractions worth a glimpse.

Atkinson Clock Tower, built in 1905 by Mary Edith Atkinson, in memory of her son Francis George Atkinson, the first District Officer of Jesselton.

Jesselton Hotel, one of the leading boutique hotel in Malaysia, built in 1954

Even dogie also dresses well

Never miss visiting Kinabalu Park if you are in Kota Kinabalu.

Beautiful bungalow within the Kinabalu Park with cool environment,

The accommodation in Kinabalu Park is extremely expansive, so we choose to stay outside the park compound.

D'Villa, It's 700 metres from the park entrance.

Puncak Borneo Resort is nearer to the Kinabalu Park, but unfortunately not well maintained.

Bridge built for the convenience of visitors

But beware your steps

Birds life is good. Ideal place for bird watching

Indigo Flycatcher

Yellow-breasted Warbler, busy bringing food back to the young

Wow! Large Hawk-cuckoo

Pied Fantail was friendly

It came so near to you.

Next destination, Kundasang

Kundasang Pine Resort

View of Mount Kinabalu from the resort.

Bring your binoculars along. As from 3am, you can see mountain climbers' light moving up the hilltop.

White-bellied Swiftlet and their nests.

Back to Kota Kinabalu after making a day trip to Ranau. Stayed at the newly opened Cititel Express Hotel.

Goodness, the room was so small, hardly had space to move around, bed was placed just next to the glass window, hardly a foot apart. So be careful not to jump or roll too vigorously on the bed, or else you might find yourself landed on the road outside the hotel. It made me recall the Dorsett Hotel room in Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Wanted to have a cup of hot drink? No worry that there was no kettle in the room. You can bring your empty cup to the pantry, fill up the cup with hot water and walk back to your room. But be careful, don't knock on other room guests, the veranda is narrow, or spilled hot water on you yourself, or soil the carpet with the hot coffee/tea. By the way, a reminder, wash the cup in your room first, there is no tap water supply in the pantry.

Cititel Express Hotel

A final place to visit before we depart for home - Tip of Borneo in Kudat

The journey took 3 hours from Kota Kinabalu by taxi. I'll highly recommend you visiting this place if you have not been here before. It's so scenic and the sea is so welcoming. We sat there , relaxing ourselves, so reluctant to walk back to the taxi that was waiting for us for a long time. Fortunately, the taxi man was patience and friendly.

View of the Tip of Borneo

The actual tip

Christmas Frigatebird, my lifer

Of course, before we left Kota Kinabalu for Kuala Lumpur, we had seafood at a restaurant.

The lobster