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It is not often that a verbose person like me to run out of words to describe what we saw and experienced on that shivery cold early morning at the parking lot of the Jelai Hotel which sits on top of a hill. So please just allow me to show you some of the birds we saw:
At daybreak we were waiting for the action to begin:
We were joined a little later by more birders/photographers..but 'nuff said, here are the birds;
First, the Verditer Flycatcher
Then came a pair of Little Pied Flycatchers
A White-throated Fantail
Everybody went ga-ga when the Sultan Tit showed up at close range!
As if that wasn't colorful enough, the Common Green Magpie popped into view
Of course, the iconic bird of Fraser's Hill, the Silver-eared Mesia, can never be ignored
Blue mood with a male Large Niltava
could the female be far behind?
A Grey-chinned Minivet added a flash of bright red-orange to the melange of colors
Rounding up the collection of Jelai birds was the very active Mountain Fulvetta
At half past eight avian activity died down somewhat. Only the usual Sibias and Laughingthrushes remained. We (four Chinese, three Thai, a lady from Hongkong, a Japanese couple, one really tall New Zealander, a Malaysian [Weefar], and two Fil-ams [me and Cynthia]) were all smiles as we slowly and reluctantly went down the hill to our respective hotels.
While having breakfast at the Shazan Hotel, the Manager who was at another table signalled to us. "Barbet" he said softly. We looked at the feeders outside the restaurant and lo and behold, a Fire-tufted Barbet was having breakfast of its own. Let that be a teaser though because I will be posting its photo in my Day 3 blog.
Ask "where is the best place to see lots of birds at Fraser's Hill" and you will get only one answer: the parking lot of the Jelai Hotel. "Be there between 7 and 8:30 in the morning" was the unanimous suggestion.
We were at Bukit Tinggi earlier that day and arrived at Fraser's Hill a little after 2 pm. After checking in at the Shazan Hotel (which will be our home for the next four days) and an hour or so of resting (we were up since dawn), our friend Weefar, drove us to this fabled, though somewhat incongruous, place. Although it was not the recommended time to visit Jelai, we were assured that there will be birds there.
The very first one we saw was the Silver-eared Mesia. Its vivid colors and incredible tameness made it the iconic symbol of Fraser's Hill.
Mingling with the Mesia were the "regular" residents of the Jelai area: the rather plain but very noisy Long-tailed Sibia.
The super friendly Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush
and its shyer cousin, the Malaysian Laughingthrush
Right next to the hotel entrance blooms a red bottle brush tree. Here the Black-throated Sunbird refreshes itself.
Joining the sunbird is the unbelievably huge and aptly named Streaked Spiderhunter.
Rounding up the avian population were a Mountain Bulbul
and a very calm looking male Mugimaki Flycatcher.
Soon darkness started to envelope the hills. We boarded Weefar's car still reeling from the beauty and friendliness of the birds. "Wait until tomorrow morning," our friend warned, "you will be overwhelmed."
Based on what we experienced that afternoon at Jelai, we knew he's telling the truth.
