Puncak Janing and Pedu Lake,Kedah

After working with USM's research university grant for 2 month,this is the first time i went for sampling. I went on 19th n 20th November 08. The weather is quite promising for frogs and snakes but not that good for birds n lizards. It was raining and drizzling whole day long.

Upon arrival to Puncak Janing,i was welcomed by these two flying lizard.















After a short rest,me n Choo Eng decided to stroll into a trail along a small river. Some babblers were heard calling behind the bushes,it was then conformed as short tailed. Then i found something sticked to a tree trunk,its lantern bug. Choo Eng was so excited and decided to run back to the car to get his micro lens. I got this shot using my Sigma 170-500mm lens.

With so many leeches around, i walk a bit further and found that the trail leads to an unusual old logging track. There shouldn't be any logging as i read in a book, Recreational Forest of Malaysia by Forestry Department, this should be a virgin jungle reserve. So we decided to turn back and find some birds along the main road.


When we are out, this leaf monkey greet us with its frightening call.



There were two grey wagtail foraging on the grass field. Both are so skittish and this is the best i can get.


Its getting dark when Choo Eng spot a Ferruginous Flycathcher by the river. With low light condition,it require higher ISO to maintain shutter speed, the photo turns out a bit noisy. Considered scarce to uncommon, its a beautiful bird to see and was my lifer.














When it reached 7 pm, two Malaysia Eared Nightjar were seen flying. As night arrived,its time for some herping. I went along the river alone while Choo Eng stays outside by the road looking for owls and frogmouth.

I found this cute leaf litter frog, Leptobrachium hendriksonii, along the river bank and was calling.






As i go along the river,i notice that there's not much frogs,only some of the common ones. Maybe i didn't look hard enough but there were nothing interesting so i decided to walk out after an hour searching.

Here is Odorrana hosii, poisonous rock frog.









There was a fish,snakehead, Channa gachua maybe. It was muchsmaller than its cousin who lives in the paddyfield and lake, Channa striatus and micropeltes.










On my way out, i manage to find this puddle frog,
Limnonectes kuhlii. My lifer!












After i'm out, we decided to
drive along the main road while birding.
It turns out to be our lucky night,
we spot this rare gem of the forest.
A javan frogmouth.












In the morning of second day,it was drizzling again. There was nothing much except for orange backed woodpecker. A rufous collared kingfisher was calling but it can't be located. We decided to drive off to Pedu lake.


It was drizzling all the way, we only manage to see some bird including Large billed Crow, Osprey, White rumped Munia, Rufescent Prinia, Oriental Pied Hornbill. The road condition was really bad as the widening and levelling is in progress. There were a lot of logging activities too! We manage to locate this White Bellied Fish Eagle building its nest.













That was all for two day. Quite frustrating but the javan frogmouth and ferruginous flycatcher were the cure!