28 April 2009

Birds Photography at Old Pump House Road - Genting Highland


Click the above LOGO for more participation from all over the world.

I heard a lot about the birding trail at Genting Highland in Malaysia, particularly the Old Pump House trail at GohTong Jaya. I always wanted to go there, but didn't have a time to join the MNS  (Malaysia Nature Society) trip last year. Last weekend my dream come true as I had an opportunity to birding there and guided by my new found blogger friend - Wai Yen. - Thank you Yen!
I supposed to meet Yen at 7.0oam at the Sri Malaysia Hotel at GohTong Jaya, so I woke up at 5.00am then driving all the way up the mountain. Arrived 10 minutes before 7.00 and noticed a lot of activities there and rows of cars with Electcoms logo. Electcoms Jelajah Malaysia (Tour of Malaysia Bicycle Race) - Stage 7 (which end at Genting) competition going to take place in front of that hotel.


Tours of Malaysia Support Cars

The trail is actually a private properties,  a service road for maintenance of a water pump for the Genting Highland Resort. The gate officially only open on Sunday, but we found the gate opened last Saturday. So, we went in following the jogger that frequent the area. Lucky we meet the owner of the pump (I forgot his name), and he happily allowed us to birding there.
This front gate photo is from Uncle Khong's Travel Guide site (used with permission).

Old Pump House Gate

We saw a lot of birds, but only ONE Lifer for us that day.
Dusky Broadbill (Corydon sumatranus), size: 28cm
Dusky Broadbill
Dusky BroadbillDusky Broadbill (Corydon sumatranus)
Dusky Broadbill
Dusky BroadBill

Dusky BroadBillWe miss the Scarlet Rumped Trogon and had a glimpsed of Great Hornbill that make a loud call at a very tall trees.

The photos below are a few birds and non-bird that I found there.
Female MinivetGrey-chinned Minivet (Pericrocotus solaris) - female above and male below
Male Minivet
Female Minivet
Leaf BirdOrange-bellied Leafbird (Chloropsis hardwickii) - male
Leaf MonkeyDusky Leaf Monkey or Spectacled Leaf Monkey (Trachypithecus obscurus)
Wild Orchilds
wild orchid - probably Arundina graminifolia
Wild OrchidsLittle DogsThese two little dogs are guarding the pump house - pretty harmless!
Road at Old Pump HouseThis is the end part of the road to the Old Pump House - Oil tanker just arrived to refill the pump engine. The road is about 3 km one way, so we walked six km carrying more than 7kg of photography gear - that with tinny 400mm (1.25kg) lenses. I don't know how those photographers carrying 500mm (3.9kg) and that 600mm bazooka (5.4kg)
Old Pump House
The legendary Old Pump House.
Old Pump House

Have a look for more bird pictures at the Bird Photography Weekly @ Birdfreak.com

14 comments:

DeniseinVA said...

I loved this tour of your part of the world. Wonderful photos, enjoyed them all, thank you!

Sylvia K said...

What a wonderful tour, Tabib! Marvelous photos! So much fun to see a part of Your World! Thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

Beautiful photography, excellent I'd say.

alicesg said...

Wow lovely photos of the nature. I only associated Genting Highland with the casino...lol.

Unknown said...

Beautiful series Tabib. The images of the Dusky Broadbill is a first timer for me.

Vicky said...

fantastic birds photography as usual.
Thanks for sharing !

The Explorer said...

Lovely birds...I enjoyed the trip.

Chris said...

Hi Tabib,
A very nice report of this tour. the Dusky Broadbill is a very strange bird, and we can easily see what it got this name :-) Again, thanks for showing us your environment!

Erin said...

tabib
so enjoyed you sharing your tour with us...that broadbill bird was fantastic...of course i have never seen one and the other birds were/are lovely too. thank you as always for sharing your world with us. enjoyable.

Jane Hards Photography said...

You have some amazing birds and some fabulous images. So envious of the array of wildlife.

Unknown said...

Wow!!!!wonderful tour,look at the birding shot..wonderful.
Thanks for sharing and have a nice day.

Glennis said...

You saw and photographed so many beautiful coloured birds and flowers. Your world is very pretty. I like the monkey too.
great birding.

Larry Jordan said...

Great captures all Tabib! The Dusky Broadbill is an amazing looking bird.

Thanks for the super tour of photos from Malaysia! The monkey is really cool too!

Administrator said...

Great pictures. Can you please tell me where exactly this Old Pumphouse Road is, and how to get there? I can't find it on the map.
Thanks so much in advance!