In June, I spent two weeks at Taman Negara (peninsular Malaysia) before I met the others and headed out to the Maliau Basin in Sabah (Borneo). Taman Negara is a fantastic national park and is one of my favourites with its lowland, dipterocarp rainforest. This was my fifth visit but I still saw several new birds and of course, many new butterflies that I had not previously encountered. Diversity of about everything in the park is high.
I travelled to the national park by bus from Hotel Istana in central KL to Kuala Tembeling Jetty and then by boat to Kuala Tahan. There is a new road to Kuala Tahan but this would not be nearly as interesting as the three hour trip up the river. Here is a map that shows the location of Taman Negara.
While in transit on the river, I sometimes saw Oriental Pied/Black/Wreathed/Rhinoceros Hornbills, Blue-throated Bee-eaters, Stork-billed Kingfishers, Long-tailed/Pig-tailed Macaques and other animals. Butterfly sightings usually included the large black and yellow birdwings, various crows and occasional groups of puddling swallowtails and pierids. The trip on the river is always productive.
Here are a few shots along the river while in transit to/from the park.
These colourful flowering vines were often seen on the journey.
I always stay in the hostel of the Mutiara Resort. The resort has a range of options for accommodation but I find the hostel to be perfectly adequate since I am usually out on the trails for most of the day. I had the room to myself most of the time. It also was cheap and the price included a tasty buffet breakfast. The resort borders on the national park so I could go for walks anytime that I wanted either during the day or night. Birding and butterfly photography were good right on the grounds of the resort. Here are shots of the chalet type accommodation:
An absolute must-do activity is to take a boat from the headquarters up the Tahan River to Lata Berkoh. I did this twice and the journey was so beautiful. The boat passed beneath giant Neram trees (Dipterocarpus oblongifolius) that overhang the river and form a tunnel in places. On morning trips, I heard the lovely song of White-handed Gibbons. Birds were also good and included nesting Black-and-Red Broadbills, Tickell's Blue Flycatchers, Lesser Fish Eagles, hornbills and many other species.
Lata Berkoh was a good place to search for butterflies. I found several interesting species on the sandbar where the boats stop as well as on rocks above the falls.
The walk to Bukit Indah along the Tembeling River was fairly hard going but it did produce a few interesting butterflies, especially where there were tree falls or disturbed areas.
I had the best success with puddling butterflies at Lubok Simpon (swimming hole), an abandoned Orang Asli settlement and on the rocks below the Kelah Sanctuary (Lubuk Tenor).
Lubok Simpon:
Abandoned Orang Asli settlement along the Tahan River trail. This site was excellent in the mid-afternoon if the sun was out.
Santuari Kelah.
... and the Kelah. Kelah is the Malaysian name for cyprinids known elsewhere as Mahseer. These relatives of carp can become huge and are a popular game fish.
Another area that produced a few different species was Bukit Teresik. This hill was only a few kms from the headquarters but it was a steep climb. On prior trips, I could see Gunung Tahan, the highest mountain in peninsular Malaysia, from the summit of Bukit Teresik. This year, there was always too much moisture in the air and I could not see far into the interior of the park.
Scorpions. The black ones were usually sighted on tree trunks after a night rain.
With a few exceptions, reptiles were hard to find. I saw Draco a few times when they sailed between trees. Skinks were fairly common on sunny days and a few species of geckos were abundant around the accommodation at night. Snakes, though, were nearly absent. In two weeks of walking by day and night, I only saw two snakes. These included a large, fast species that I think was a Ptyas, possibly P. mucous. The snake was spotted briefly on a trail near a creek but it raced out of site in an instant. The second snake was a small Dendralaphis that also disappeared from view before I could take a snap. Others reported a gorgeous Blue Malayan Coral Snake (Maticora bivirgata) near Kumbang Hide and a Krait along the trail back to the headquarters.
Spotted House Gecko (Gekko monarchus): one of the common geckos in the resort.
Many-lined Sun Skink (Mabuya multifasciata): the most frequently seen species of skink along the trails.
Rough-scaled Skink (Mabuya rugifera): only seen a couple of times
Clouded Monitor (Varanus bengalensis) were a common sight.
id?
Bearded Pig
Long-tailed Macaque: enjoyed eating the fruiting figs along with flocks of various bulbuls, pigeons, barbets and others.
Malay Tapir: These two were let out on the resort grounds at times by the parks office. They were both tame and they enjoyed the plants of the gardens.
I saw Sambar Deer, one of the Mouse Deer and this Muntjac while I walked the trails. The Muntjac was at a salt lick below Tabing Hide.
Squirrels of several species were abundant.
Prevost's Squirrel
PIERIDAE
Orange Albatross (Appias nero): common, especially near the Kelah Sanctuary.
Orange Albatross and Common Albatross (Appias paulina)
Common Albatross (Appias paulina): the most common albatross of Taman Negara.
Appias cardena: Only seen once at the Kelah Sanctuary.
Striped Albatross (Appias libythea): A few of these were seen on the grounds of the Mutiara Resort.
... male
... female
Lemon Emigrant (Catopsilia pomona): common puddler.
Orange Emigrant (Catopsilia scylla): common puddler.
Saletara liberia: I saw small numbers of these at the Kelah Sanctuary.
Forest White (Phrissura aegis): Most of my sightings were along the trail to Bukit Indah.
Tree Yellow (Ganda caharina): I only saw a few of these near Lata Berkoh.
Eurema andersonii
Eurema andersonii and E. similatrix
NYMPHALIDAE
Charaxinae
Charaxes distanti: This species is rare so I was lucky to encounter it. There are not many field photos of it.
The dark streak on the lower wing in the above shot must have been due to a flying bee. Here is a less side-on shot with a better view of the lower wing.
This Tawny Rajah (Charaxes bernardus) was heavily worn. The orange in the background was the C. distanti.
Common Nawab (Polyura athamas). I only saw this one at Lubok Simpon
I travelled to the national park by bus from Hotel Istana in central KL to Kuala Tembeling Jetty and then by boat to Kuala Tahan. There is a new road to Kuala Tahan but this would not be nearly as interesting as the three hour trip up the river. Here is a map that shows the location of Taman Negara.
While in transit on the river, I sometimes saw Oriental Pied/Black/Wreathed/Rhinoceros Hornbills, Blue-throated Bee-eaters, Stork-billed Kingfishers, Long-tailed/Pig-tailed Macaques and other animals. Butterfly sightings usually included the large black and yellow birdwings, various crows and occasional groups of puddling swallowtails and pierids. The trip on the river is always productive.
Here are a few shots along the river while in transit to/from the park.
These colourful flowering vines were often seen on the journey.
I always stay in the hostel of the Mutiara Resort. The resort has a range of options for accommodation but I find the hostel to be perfectly adequate since I am usually out on the trails for most of the day. I had the room to myself most of the time. It also was cheap and the price included a tasty buffet breakfast. The resort borders on the national park so I could go for walks anytime that I wanted either during the day or night. Birding and butterfly photography were good right on the grounds of the resort. Here are shots of the chalet type accommodation:
An absolute must-do activity is to take a boat from the headquarters up the Tahan River to Lata Berkoh. I did this twice and the journey was so beautiful. The boat passed beneath giant Neram trees (Dipterocarpus oblongifolius) that overhang the river and form a tunnel in places. On morning trips, I heard the lovely song of White-handed Gibbons. Birds were also good and included nesting Black-and-Red Broadbills, Tickell's Blue Flycatchers, Lesser Fish Eagles, hornbills and many other species.
Lata Berkoh was a good place to search for butterflies. I found several interesting species on the sandbar where the boats stop as well as on rocks above the falls.
The walk to Bukit Indah along the Tembeling River was fairly hard going but it did produce a few interesting butterflies, especially where there were tree falls or disturbed areas.
I had the best success with puddling butterflies at Lubok Simpon (swimming hole), an abandoned Orang Asli settlement and on the rocks below the Kelah Sanctuary (Lubuk Tenor).
Lubok Simpon:
Abandoned Orang Asli settlement along the Tahan River trail. This site was excellent in the mid-afternoon if the sun was out.
Santuari Kelah.
... and the Kelah. Kelah is the Malaysian name for cyprinids known elsewhere as Mahseer. These relatives of carp can become huge and are a popular game fish.
Another area that produced a few different species was Bukit Teresik. This hill was only a few kms from the headquarters but it was a steep climb. On prior trips, I could see Gunung Tahan, the highest mountain in peninsular Malaysia, from the summit of Bukit Teresik. This year, there was always too much moisture in the air and I could not see far into the interior of the park.
Scorpions. The black ones were usually sighted on tree trunks after a night rain.
With a few exceptions, reptiles were hard to find. I saw Draco a few times when they sailed between trees. Skinks were fairly common on sunny days and a few species of geckos were abundant around the accommodation at night. Snakes, though, were nearly absent. In two weeks of walking by day and night, I only saw two snakes. These included a large, fast species that I think was a Ptyas, possibly P. mucous. The snake was spotted briefly on a trail near a creek but it raced out of site in an instant. The second snake was a small Dendralaphis that also disappeared from view before I could take a snap. Others reported a gorgeous Blue Malayan Coral Snake (Maticora bivirgata) near Kumbang Hide and a Krait along the trail back to the headquarters.
Spotted House Gecko (Gekko monarchus): one of the common geckos in the resort.
Many-lined Sun Skink (Mabuya multifasciata): the most frequently seen species of skink along the trails.
Rough-scaled Skink (Mabuya rugifera): only seen a couple of times
Clouded Monitor (Varanus bengalensis) were a common sight.
id?
Bearded Pig
Long-tailed Macaque: enjoyed eating the fruiting figs along with flocks of various bulbuls, pigeons, barbets and others.
Malay Tapir: These two were let out on the resort grounds at times by the parks office. They were both tame and they enjoyed the plants of the gardens.
I saw Sambar Deer, one of the Mouse Deer and this Muntjac while I walked the trails. The Muntjac was at a salt lick below Tabing Hide.
Squirrels of several species were abundant.
Prevost's Squirrel
PIERIDAE
Orange Albatross (Appias nero): common, especially near the Kelah Sanctuary.
Orange Albatross and Common Albatross (Appias paulina)
Common Albatross (Appias paulina): the most common albatross of Taman Negara.
Appias cardena: Only seen once at the Kelah Sanctuary.
Striped Albatross (Appias libythea): A few of these were seen on the grounds of the Mutiara Resort.
... male
... female
Lemon Emigrant (Catopsilia pomona): common puddler.
Orange Emigrant (Catopsilia scylla): common puddler.
Saletara liberia: I saw small numbers of these at the Kelah Sanctuary.
Forest White (Phrissura aegis): Most of my sightings were along the trail to Bukit Indah.
Tree Yellow (Ganda caharina): I only saw a few of these near Lata Berkoh.
Eurema andersonii
Eurema andersonii and E. similatrix
NYMPHALIDAE
Charaxinae
Charaxes distanti: This species is rare so I was lucky to encounter it. There are not many field photos of it.
The dark streak on the lower wing in the above shot must have been due to a flying bee. Here is a less side-on shot with a better view of the lower wing.
This Tawny Rajah (Charaxes bernardus) was heavily worn. The orange in the background was the C. distanti.
Common Nawab (Polyura athamas). I only saw this one at Lubok Simpon
Amazing pictures, kudos man.
