Trip report: Taman Negara, Malaysia (01/05/2022 – 05/05/2022)

Pdf with images, and triplist.

Planning the trip

I was staring at my calendar one Thursday night and realised that the following weekend was four days long: a nine-day vacation was possible by just taking three days of leave. I frantically researched various potential places, but my time spent was futile as transports to feasible sites were booked out. Moreover, only one friend was available to join, so sites that required driving were completely out of the equation because $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Things could have been better planned had I known about the holidays earlier. Spending those four days at home would have driven me crazy and I felt like throwing myself out of the window, so I settled with a short return to Taman Negara.

Accommodation

D’Aman Guest House

Booked via booking.com. One of the two power plugs in our room was faulty, and I had to sleep in a shallow u-shape because my bed frame was broken. The lodge advertised wifi on their booking.com page but there was none. I still recommend this place, though. It was also better than Taman Negara Travellers Lodge that I stayed during my two previous trips. The room was clean, and the host was responsive and helpful. Water kettle was available on request.

Transport

I previously pre-booked train tickets to and from JB Sentral and Jerantut via easybook.com. From Jerantut to Kuala Tahan I took a taxi and returned via public bus. Hoped to do the same for this trip, but things have changed, and plans crumbled. Information here are all relevant as of May 2022.

1. KTM Trains cannot be booked on Easybook anymore, and is only possible through their official website. On that note, contacting Easybook via their official Whatsapp (both call and text) is pointless.
2. Ongoing works between the JB Sentral – Kempas Baru section that is supposedly scheduled to complete in May 2022.
3. Facebook pages of “Taman Negara NKS Hotel & Travel Sdn Bhd” and “Danz Travel & Adventures Sdn. Bhd” are unresponsive. I thought it was because they were on holiday, but my messages have not even been read as of writing (four weeks past my messages). Not sure if they are still operating.
4. The buses between Jerantut to Kuala Tahan no longer operate.

Due to ticketing issues, we booked train tickets from Kempas Baru to Mentakab (a station before Jerantut), and a return ticket from Jerantut to Kempas Baru. We failed to get beds for both train rides and spent our ~9+ hours sitting in the very cold cabin. Seats were alright. Our return train arrived two hours late and was further delayed by an hour even after accounting for its late arrival. From Mentakab we hired a taxi beforehand to Kuala Tahan (220 RM), and for our return trip we had no choice but to take a taxi to Jerantut too (100 RM). The taxi drivers we engaged can be contacted at +60 17-nine-five-eight-7750 (Mr. Nazeri) and +60 11-five-six-nine-three-5659 (I didn’t get his name).

Food

As we visited during holiday season, many eateries were closed. The multiple convenience stores were thankfully open. Meals were mostly either at the reasonably priced Kuala View Floating Restaurant (that I recommend over Mawar Restaurant which is beside the boat jetty) or biscuits/canned/instant food. Bread at the convenience stores were always expired.

Birding

A rough map of Taman Negara is here (not to scale, but sufficient for familiarisation). The main trails in Taman Negara are clear and wide, with obvious reflective markers bolted into trees on slightly narrower ones. I don’t recall these markers from my previous trips, so they were very welcome additions. Or maybe my eyes were just useless previously. Boardwalks were broken here and there but perfectly safe. I downloaded the AllTrails app and it was accurate. Trails only showed with internet connection (for free users like myself) but I had signal in the forest except at Bukit Teresek and beyond. There was really no need for it at all though.

The ~30 second boat ride from Kuala Tahan to the national park was 1RM. The national park’s entrance fee was 1RM and camera fee 5RM, both valid throughout the visit. The park office did not operate in the early mornings, so we purchased tickets on our way out on day one which was alright. At the office we were told that Kumbang Hide was no longer accessible to independent visitors and that guides were mandatory, but that the national park itself had none and visitors have to engage tour companies. In fact, unlike before, guides are supposedly compulsory for any “long hike”, apparently referring to anything beyond Lubok Simpon and the Canopy Walk. However, elsewhere in the park we found conflicting information on a notice instead stating that visitors could hike Bukit Teresek independently. Regardless, during our trip we were not questioned by any rangers, and a trio of staff maintaining the trails at Jenut Muda were very friendly.

My friend and I have both visited Taman Negara twice before – myself in July 2017 and late April 2019, while my friend in August 2018 and May 2019. Naturally, our targets converged to some of the rarer species in the Peninsula. Even if those targets could not be found, our previous experiences were amazing, so the birding would be fantastic in general, we thought…

Our 4.5 days of birding was awful. Few birds were singing, and even fewer were responsive, a shocking contrast from our previous visits during the same time period. We couldn’t figure out the cause, and whatever it was, our sad haul taught us a hard lesson about the variability of the tropics. Leeches on the other hand were harlem shaking all over the forest, with an estimate of 50 leeches per day per person. Despite being used to them they were still messy and annoying.

I have no energy to prepare a proper report especially after two back-to-back disappointing overseas trips. The species list in the pdf might make it seem like it was a fruitful trip, but highlights are always deceiving. Thankfully, Kuala Tahan had nice and cheap ice cream, and the company was marvellous. This report ends here, and I hope the logistical information was at least useful.

Update on 2022/10/16: I figured that a document with limited bird information isn’t really helpful and have updated this report with some notes on species that might be of interest.

Species	Latin	Notes
Crested Fireback	Lophura ignita	Just one faraway ~20 seconds encounter one morning on the boardwalk to Lubok Simpon, about 100 metres from Mutiara campsite. Skittish.
Great Argus	Argusianus argus	During our previous trips they were shouting all over the forests, even at night, but very quiet this time round. Only heard four times, always just one to two bouts, and never the “wao-wao” but instead the (presumed) female call.
Malaysian Eared Nightjar	Lyncornis temminckii	Heard and seen briefly at Lubok Simpon at dusk.
Gould’s Frogmouth	Batrachostomus stellatus	At least three birds at the Tabing x Tahan x Kumbang three-way junction. Chased for ~5 hours and got tantalisingly close but failed.
Blyth’s Frogmouth	Batrachostomus affinis	Encountered a pair at dusk at the exact same spot I saw one in 2019 – the first flight of stairs from Lubok Simpon back towards Kuala Tahan. Vocal on all dusks we walked by. Also heard from Tabing at dawn.
Moustached Hawk-cuckoo	Hierococcyx vagans	Heard multiple times but none were responsive.
Large Green Pigeon	Treron capellei	Was looking forward to getting improvement views at Lubok Simpon. On my previous trips they were very easy, but somehow near-absent this trip.
Lesser Fish Eagle	Haliaeetus humilis	Two flyby encounters along Tembeling River. Once over our heads at Lubok Simpon, and second time from the bridge before the junction towards Tabing.
Reddish Scops Owl	Otus rufescens	One at the Tabing x Tahan x Kumbang three-way junction
Red-naped Trogon	Harpactes kasumba	Three heard only. None were responsive.
Diard’s Trogon	Harpactes diardii	Two males seen fighting over a female along the flight of stairs from Jenut Muda towards Bukit Teresek. Otherwise, none heard at all.
CInnamon-rumped Trogon	Harpactes orrhophaeus	Two heard: one about 50 metres from Tabing, and another slightly towards Kumbang from the three-way junction. Both unresponsive.
Scarlet-rumped Trogon	Harpactes duvaucelii	Six encounters and all unresponsive.
Helmeted Hornbill	Rhinoplax vigil	Six heard only encounters at various places. One heard from Lubok Simpon must definitely have been near and was possibly visible from Kuala Tahan based on the direction it was calling from.
Rufous-collared Kingfisher	Actenoides concretus	A pair at the first steep staircase across a stream from Mutiara towards Lubok Simpon. Another near the Tabing x Tahan x Kumbang three-way junction.
Banded Kingfisher	Lacedo pulchella	All heard only. None were responsive.
Blue-banded Kingfisher	Alcedo euryzona	A pair at Lubok Simpon seen every visit. Another heard between Jenut Muda and the northern Bukit Teresek entrance.
Olive-backed Woodpecker	Gecinulus rafflesii	A pair seen between Tabing and Bukit Teresek. Participating in a party of woodpeckers that consisted of Orange-backed, Maroon and Crimson-winged.
Dusky Broadbill	Corydon sumatranus	No less than four birds high up the canopy, but showing relatively well, between Jenut Muda and the northern entrance of Bukit Teresek.
Black-and-red Broadbill	Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchos	A pair at Lubok Simpon seen every visit.
Giant Pitta	Hydrornis caeruleus	Personal main target of the trip. Had response from two separate birds in my previous visit. Tried at uncountable locations in the forest this time round including where I previously heard them but zero luck. Heard one on my last day when birding alone, at GPS: 4.399715, 102.402457. Made a beeline towards the sound only to realise that in between myself and the darn bird was a cliff and Tembeling river.
Malayan Banded Pitta	Hydrornis irena	Only heard twice, once at Tabing and once between Tabing and Bukit Teresek. Both times just several bouts of “prrrr” instead of “wao!”. Otherwise completely unresponsive. They were calling at so many locations on previous visits…
Garnet Pitta	Erythropitta granatina	Biggest shock of the trip. They littered the forests in all our previous visits, but this time only heard twice, and both times just less than 4 bouts of short calls. Completely unresponsive.
Crested Jay	Platylophus galericulatus	Heard calling and singing every day, but none showed well. Of 16 encounters only two were responsive, but with views so crappy I could not even muster a record shot.
White-necked Babbler	Stachyris leucotis	A vocal individual at the first stream from the northern entrance of Bukit Teresek, GPS: 4.402304,102.404122, but only encountered during one of two visits here.
Large Wren-babbler	Turdinus macrodactylus	Very vocal at various locations in the forest, especially Jenut Muda, but super difficult to see.