Take it or leave it

The current birding craze in the country now is for a showy Rusty-naped Pitta up at Fraser’s Hill with bird photographers reaching the locality in the middle of the night to increase their chances of scoring with the pitta. Again I am reluctant to hop onto the bandwagon. I rather wait for the dust to settle first. Besides, it would not be a lifer for me and in my books, the Giant Pitta is still the Holy Grail as I have only seen it twice. As for my own birding addiction, I decided to visit the forest of Bukit Wang together with James and another friend despite the less than ideal weather. It was to be a relaxing excursion just to see what is up and about. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by the calls of a White-bellied Woodpecker and it sounded really close. It is one of the biggest woodpeckers in the world and sports a striking plumage. If that cannot get any birder excited, nothing else will.

However, the tallest trees is where this gorgeous giant finds sanctuary and that makes photography challenging. It has been years since I last saw the White-bellied Woodpecker and this prolonged encounter was a good reminder of what an incredible creature it is. The contrasting colours of red, black and white and the loud and proud personality all contribute to making the experience memorable. The images obtained this time will have to play second fiddle.

There was a pair of Orange-backed Woodpeckers present and it is also a large representative of this family of birds. However only glimpses were provided and that is the nature of things sometimes. Another uncommon species that almost gave us the slip was a Chestnut-bellied Malkoha foraging at the canopy level but at least it provided a record shot.

We recorded 4 species of malkohas today but one truly outdid itself. I had a remarkable episode with the Red-billed Malkoha during my last birding excursion one week ago and I thought no other could better that. I was wrong. Popping into view along the forest edge, the luscious bill and vivid colouration was unmistakeable even from a distance.

When it finally hopped into full view, it was the moment we were all waiting for. To have this object of beauty and sensuality at such close proximity was beyond words. Birding in the forest has its challenges but encounters like this make all we birders put ourselves through worth the while.

The trip was relatively slow and the looming rain clouds were menacing. All that was no longer relevant. This Red-billed Malkoha in all its splendour had taken over the trip and my soul. I will follow it unconditionally to wherever it was willing to take me. I am sure my companions felt the same way too.

Once the performance ended, we searched along the access road for more offerings from forest reserve. An active fruiting tree will usually brighten up any birding excursion and this one did but not quite what I was hoping for. A flock of Lesser Green Leafbirds was the only birds I managed to photograph. The male with the characteristic black facial marking was indeed a feathered denizen of the forest. Cursed with having vocal talents as well, it is no wonder that leafbirds are heavily trapped for the bird trade.

The females are almost as striking and the flock was certainly a welcomed sight. In fact, the drop in leafbird populations is so apparent that every encounter is now even more significant.

By midday, the drizzles started to pour in again and the level of bird activities trickled down to almost a halt. We did stop for one last species before calling it a day. And it could not have been a plainer bird. A flock of Buff-vented Bulbuls were seen foraging at the forest edge just before the exit of the reserve. Bulbuls were surprisingly missing from the fruiting tree earlier on but always expect the unexpected when birding – especially in the forest. You could have spellbinding encounters with woodpeckers and malkohas in the first half of the morning and spend the remaining half rummaging through foliage after foliage of thick jungle in search of any signs of bird life. Mother Nature can drive a hard bargain at times. So, you either take it or leave it. Seeing that I am still very much at it after 30 years, you can pretty much guess which one I chose.