Birding at Chenua

The tiny riverine village of Chenua in Raub is a sort of hidden gem. One part, it is a perfect traditional Malay village with all its trappings, another because of its proximity to both a big river (Sungai Lipis) and a patch of forest making it ideal for certain species of wildlife observation: birds. I must profess an absolute beginner with bird watching: I have neither the equipments nor the bird call identification knowledge but a few sessions of birding with some friends awakened some ingrained experience from my childhood days in Raub...

Strange velvety flowers of a tree.

Fruits of the Bemban, a scrambling ginger of the genus thalia that is often found in wet areas.

Delicate flowers in the shades.

Squirrels were common, foraging on a fruiting forest tree on the edge of the river.

Idyllic morning kampung scene: a grove of mangosteen tree.

Flowering kapok tree.

I was drawn to this kapok tree by the sudden loud call of an eagle perched on its very tip.

White silky cotton bursting out from dried pods of the kapok tree.

Figs that looked like ripe mandarin fruits on a large rain tree beside the main village pathway.

Two village boys caught this fish, an 'Ikan Terboi' from a small tributary river...

An orange-bellied flower pecker on a mistletoe bush (loranthus spp.) hosted by a rambutan tree beside a village house.

A pair of bulbuls.

A Coppersmith Barbet...

Squirrel with red belly...

A pair of munias.

A tiny flower pecker high up on a patch of mistletoe...

A spider hunter.