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The sea birds are back in great numbers! Gannets, Guillimots, Razorbills. Puffins,Fulmars and Kittiwakes are all back at RSPB Bempton Cliffs ready for the breeding season. Around 250,000 birds will have arrived by mid May all making use of the shear cliff faces that make ideal nesting ledges.... I say ideal as a pair of Gannets may just about get 12" of space to live, mate, feed, Incubate eggs and rear their off spring.... truly incredible. Most birds will be returning to the exact same spot as the previous years.


Yesterday I arrived early and before most of the Bank Holiday visitors arrived. Its always busy so any lingering photo shots or just being stood there watching the vast numbers of birds needs to be done early in the day, by lunchtime I am usualy on my way leaving the extravorganzer to the masses!

First port of call was to the one of the viewing points to see the Gannets gathering nesting materials from the top of the cliffs, always stunning views as these images show.

Today travel.... leaving the reserve at Kuala Selangor we head for Frasers Hill. We intended to spend as little time in the car as possible and get some birding in in-bewteen sites. The weather was cruel to us with persistant drizzle for much of the day and with a blanket of cloud making photography hardwork. However I think the days birds were pretty special. We headed directly for the Rice Fields about 45 minutes away but luckily we took a diversion and somehow stumbled across a fish farm. I had been looking forward to a day without the walking boots so decided to wear the flipflops for the car journey, within a few minutes out of the car I was infested with ants...... stinging ants! Its a good job the birdlife was worth the pain. Oriental Reed Warbler, Watercock, Black capped and Common Kingfisher, Black Headed Munia, Tiger Shrike were all picked up quickly as well as this confiding White Collared Fantail.


However the star of the location was this splendid Crested Serpent Eagle who perched up nicely for a few minutes before retreating to a nearby wood, we then caught a second one shortly after.

Today we had a full day at the Kuala Selangor reserve, after yesterdays visit we knew our way around and were soon up and out....... and an hour later back to the chalet. The early morning start was a great idea but was intolerable due to mosquitoes..... we quickly spotted a Japanese Sparrowhawk and a Common Sandpiper before retreating for breakfast. Not to be put off an hour later we were back at it, this time the mosquitoes had dispersed allowing us to enjoy what the reserve had to offer. Olive Winged Bulbul, Pied Triller, Ashy Drongo all made it onto the trip list.
At the tower hide over looking the Heronry this awesome White Bellied Sea Eagle circled for a short while, almost at our eye level.... what a sight! Grey, Purple and Black Crowned Night Herons were all in large numbers

Wow.... a birding trip to Asia. 2 weeks in Malaysia on a birding holiday.....without a guide! What could possibly go wrong? Well in all honestly nothing did go wrong..... all the logistics were very smooth, the company was good and 200+ new life birds, easy peasy.

Week 1:
Kuala Selengor in the lowlands and then upto Frasers Hill at around 1600mtrs.

Before I start I will quickly get out of the way the sad fact that I saw the best owls on the planet (maybe a slight exageration, but only slight).... but I didnt have my camera, and the guide couldnt believe how dumb this was... he had a Buffy Fish Owl in the spotlight for 5 minutes at a range of 20ft.... looking at us and I didnt have my camera! I will never forget those 5 minutes.....  a while later we had a Barred Eagle Owl in the spotlight at a range of..... 20ft......anyway back to the .....more mundane, ok not so mundane but nothing will ever compare to those 2 cameraless moments (oh why did I leave the camera????.

Day 1
Travelling from Kuala Lumpur was always going to be stop start.... whats that ? its a crow...stop I need a photo. Well it could have been but we decided to make some headway and leave the expressway behind before we started to get too excited. The first stop was actually for coffee, I sat outside the cafe watching the Tree Sparrows but could hear a few other sounds from around the back, we paid up and ventured to the rear where I quickly got 7 new life birds.... Common Myna, White Throated Kingfisher, Zebra Dove, Pacific Swallows, Asian House Martins, Brown Shrike and a lovely pair of Olive Backed Sunbirds.




Other birds soon followed ... and in good numers too: Zebra Doves, Oriental Magpie Robin, Yellow Vented Bulbul, Black Naped Oriele, Spotted Doves, Blue Tailed Bee-eaters..... the nicest suprise being this Sundra Pygmy Woodpecker that landed right outside the Chalet!

Much to my delight this male Reed Bunting has been visiting my garden for 3 consecutive days