My 1st Fraser’s Hill trip in 2010

It seems like ages since I last step foot on Fraser’s Hill but my last trip there was actually in November, just 4 months ago. Gosh, I missed the place.

This time round I brought along the Sony DSC-TX7 to take panoramic shots of my favorite place. The TX7 is a joy to use and takes spectacular photos with its HDR, Sweep Panorama and 25mm wide angle lens.

Misty Morning

Full view of our bungalow, straight from the camera.

Inside our bungalow.

The Smoke House at Fraser’s Hill.
I think this is my #13 trip to Fraser’s Hill and I am still seeing lifer every time I come here.

This trip I have a butterfly lifer - The Indian Yellow Nawab ( Polyura jalysus ), which I spotted along the road while we were looking at Cicada.
The Blue Admiral ( Kaniska canace ) is a resident at Fraser’s Hill and likes to perch on a leaf.

The Yellow Banded Awl ( Hasora schoenherr ), one of the most colorful Awls, is uncommon in Singapore but not uncommon at Fraser’s Hill.

Feb-Apr at Fraser’s Hill has the perfect weather for moths – cool, misty with light drizzle in the late evening. Our moth screen was covered with thousands of moths every night !

All in all, we have 31 different species of Hawk moths, 16 Golden Emperor moths (Loepa sikkima and megacore ) and 8 Luna moths (Actias maenas and selene ) ! On top of that we added 3 new species of Hawkmoths to our already long list : Hippotion velox, Clanis orhanti and Meganoton nyctiphanes.

Mireille with an Actias maenas

And after so many trips here, I finally see the female Actias maenas diana ! Below is a photo with the male at the top and female at the bottom.

Another Luna moth – Actias selene perching under the roof.

Melanothrix nymphaliaria - I only spotted this moth when I made my last round around the bungalow just before we depart. When I first spotted it I thought it was a butterfly. It reminds me of the Yellow Barred ( Xanthotaenia busiris ).

Ambulyx canescens, a rather common hawkmoth at Fraser’s Hill.

Cypa decolor decolor – An uncommon and tiny hawkmoth.

Owen spotted this interesting Cicada. It looks somewhat like the Trengganau sibylla, with red eyes and green color forewings. However it has a picture of a skull on its thorex. Maybe it should be named the Death-head Cicida :-D.
We have no idea what is the id of this cicada. Post a note here if you know the name or know someone who can help to id this cicida.

Along the ‘new’ road, we saw this large (4” long) turquoise color beetle sunning itself on the leaf of the Tree Fern.

We also saw this interesting looking Praying Mantis.

Before I know it, it is time to pack and head back home. Times flies here !

Before we head off, Mr Lim took a group photo for us,

and Mrs Lim sending us off, knowing that she will be welcoming us back next moth !

Fraser’s Hill Part 2

Continue from part 1

My other butterfly lifers for this trip are two forms of Great Blue Mime - Chilasa paradoxa aenigma. This butterfly has at least 7 forms which mimic the distasteful Euploea butterflies.

1. Chilasa paradoxa aenigma -f eucyana


The rare male form eucyana has the forewing upperside shimmering blue and unmarked. It mimics the male Euploea mulciber (Striped Blue Crow).

2. Chilasa paradoxa aenigma -f aegialus


Seeing double ? :-)
Left : Great Blue Mime, Right : Magpie Crow

The form aegialus mimics Euploea radamanthus (Magpie Crow).
I must say this is one of the best mimic I have seen and would fool most people except those who have an eye for details. The giveaway is the white submarginal crescents which is only apparent on closer examination. I only noticed the crescents when I examined the photo for sharpness on my camera !

Moths

As expected we did not get many moths during this time of the year but what we did not get in quantity was made up for with quality. We saw one of the prettiest and rarest Saturniid in Malaysia – Actias selene. In my 10+ trips to Fraser’s, this is only the 2nd time I see A. selene.

Other noteworthy species include the bright yellow Leopa sikkima

and the striking Owl Moth - Brahmaea hearseyi, with a wingspan of 14cm !

We also saw many other colorful and interesting moths …

Birds

Fraser’s Hill is a bird paradise. Pretty birds are everywhere and one can do arm chair birding right from the bungalow balcony. Even a lep person like me can rattle off a list of bird names after a few trips to Fraser’s Hill.

These are shots taken from our bungalow balcony :

Silver-eared Mesia


Pacific Swallow preening in the rain


Sultan Tit on a tree in front of our bungalow

Black-throated Sunbird - The one and only sunbird at Fraser’s Hill.

My favorite bird ! The Verditer Flycatcher. Such a beautiful bird and a regular visitor to our bungalow. Laurence managed to take a full frame shot using his 100mm macro lens during one of our trips last year.

That’s it. What a start for the year !

I just came back from my 2nd butterfly trip to Malaysia - Gopeng, Perak. It is another fabulous trip. We saw 100+ species of butterflies in 2.5 days and we dined with Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing ..