Rafflesia and birds at Kedah

Since we could not tow all the Junglewalla’s, we decided that it’s the chief, myself, Indra and Jimmy who would go on this trip. That leaves Madi and Othman to stay back and run the show.

We left by the first ferry on Sunday to Kuala Kedah at 7.30am, it was a smooth ride, no waves and thankfully the aircond was not too cold. By 10am we were already in Kuala Kedah and quickly jumped into a rental car that was already waiting for us.

Along the way we kept our eyes on the birds. Kedah as the Ricebowl of Malaysia is a perfect place for the paddy field and wetland birds. A quick pit stop along the way to fuel our self up at a malay-restaurant. The owner was very friendly and took the trouble to draw a map to Bukit hijau and Sedim for us.

In no more than 2 hours we were already in Bukit Hijau. Filled with excitement, the GM took us to the side where the flower grows. The bubble quickly burst as I saw the flower from a far, it was not Rafflesia for sure. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Amorphophallus sp or better known as Snake Palm or bunga Bangkai in malay (corpse flower). Still quite impressive but otherwise a common flower in Langkawi too.

In the afternoon at about 4pm we set off around the resort and waterfall area for birding. I felt so vulnerable not knowing what I was looking at here. There were so many unfamiliar sounds but the birds were cooperative and just taking turns to show off. The tiffany of the day was Paradise Flycatcher in white Morph, Banded Woodpecker, Fiery Minivet and Scarlet Minivet. I got excited over White-handed Gibbon, Pigmy Squirrel and Taiping Squirrel that earn me a nasty stare from the boys.

As the sun went down, we decided to go for dinner. Despite my protest, the boys chose to go for a 24 hours nasi restaurant. That night I suffered so much as my digestive system just refused to accept the food I had forced my self to eat, it ended up coming out both ways and I did not get to sleep all night.Next time I will be sure remember to ask what 24 hours means, it might well mean the food had been out there for 24 hours!!.

Struggling with sleepiness and feeling extremely drowsy, I joined the boys to Sedim Canopy Walkway. I had walked this before but can assure you, feeling as weak as I did, it felt like this canopy walkway indeed is the longest in the whole world.Despite all that, I managed to spot a few Lifers and annoyed the boys by screaming too much of “I don’t know what I am looking at here !!!“.

By 1pm we were already back at Bukit Hijau Resort at which point I just fell flat out and could not make myself get up for more birding. While I was having a snooze the boys spotted quite a few new birds, for them as well.

We left Kedah on the same day and arrived back in Langkawi around 7pm. This had been a great trip for me, I got 14 lifers this trip and for the first time I saw the Rhinoceros Hornbill in the wild at Sedim.

Bird Spotted at: Kedah, Bukit Hiyau and Sedim