Birding

Birding Taman Negara, or the dubious joys of rainforest birding

November 28, 2019 by Kai Pflug 8 Comments

Michael Herr (and other people before him) once stated that “War is long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror.” When replacing “terror” with “excitement”, this sounds a lot like birding in tropical rainforests to me.

You have probably experienced it yourself: You prepare yourself well for a birding trip, looking at trip reports, eBird lists, bird guides, etc. Then you arrive in a place such as Taman Negara, Malaysia, eager to start birding and possibly getting nice photos of all the beautiful birds you wish to see. And then, not much happens. Birds (like children) should be seen not heard, but rainforest birds clearly have not understood this message. You only see one bird every two hours or so, while the same period of time is enough for 4 or 5 leeches to find your ankle. And you wonder: Aren`t there any more sensible ways to spend your leisure time than searching for but not seeing birds?

Fortunately, much as the soldier probably mostly remembers a war for its brief moments of sheer terror, birders are blessed with similar retrograde amnesia which leaves out the boredom and physical discomfort and focuses on the perhaps 5 minutes during a three- or four-day birding trip that were actually spent seeing beautiful birds. This is the way otherwise sane people start planning for their next rainforest birdwatching trip soon after their last one.

And seeing the photos I got at Taman Negara during a three-day stay in November 2019, this always seems to work – despite not having seen a single Pitta …


Asian Fairy Bluebird


Black-Naped Monarch

 


Black-and-red Broadbill


Buff-necked Woodpecker


Collared Scops Owl


Crested Flameback


Greater Racquet-tailed Drongo


Grey-cheeked Bulbul


Pale Blue Flycatcher


Raffle`s Malkoha


Rhinoceros Hornbill

Rufous-collared Kingfisher


Scaly-crowned Babbler


Rufous-winged Philentoma


Rufous Woodpecker


Scarlet-rumped Trogon


Stork-billed Kingfisher


Tiger Shrike


White-rumped Shama

Written by Kai Pflug
Kai has lived in Shanghai for 21 years. He only started birding after moving to China, so he is far more familiar with Chinese birds than the ones back in his native Germany. As a birder, he considers himself strictly average and tries to make up for it with photography, which he shares on a separate website. Alas, most of the photos are pretty average as well.He hopes that few clients of his consulting firm—focused on China’s chemical industry—ever find this blog, as it might raise questions about his professional priorities. Much of his time is spent either editing posts for 10,000 Birds or cleaning the litter boxes of his numerous indoor cats. He occasionally considers writing a piece comparing the two activities.