Malaysia Highlands

A tour and workshop focussing on the colorful highland birds of the former British hill stations in peninsular Malaysia.

We’ll visit Fraser’s Hill and depending upon how much time you have we’ll add Bukit Tinggi, Cameron Highlands and Maxwell Hill.  This trip is good at any time of year although it can be best to avoid December and early January as the Northeast Monsoon conditions may be quite wet.  March and April is the nesting season of the iconic Silver-breasted Broadbill and we’ll certainly visit Bukit Tinggi if your trip falls within this period.

Although Malaysia is near the Equator the hill stations are cooler than the lowlands, and you will find it a pleasant experience to observe and photograph the birds at any time of day.  As it is cooler the birds stay more active throughout the day than their lowland cousins.  And it’s a completely different set of species than those found below.

Fraser’s Hill is the anchor for any trip to the Malaysian highlands.  It’s remarkably unspoilt and can be quiet even on weekends, although we will try to avoid public holidays.  Altitude on the hill station ranges from about 1200 to 1300 meters and daytime highs are usually a pleasant mid 20’s. Some 257 species of birds have been recorded at Fraser’s Hill.  Several of the very important birds of Fraser’s Hill are:

In March and April it will be very worthwhile to go to Bukit Tinggi, not a former hill station but a modern development.  Although lower in altitude at 1000 meters and much smaller in area than Fraser’s it has a excellent concentration of Silver-breasted Broadbills, which have the word cute written all over them.

Cameron Highlands is the largest of the former British hill stations, now largely developed for agriculture and some exceptionally scenic tea plantations.  The highest peak, Gunung Brinchang, can be reached by road to the summit at 2032 meters, making it the highest point accessible by road in peninsular Malaysia.  And being several hundred meters higher than Fraser’s Hill there are several more montane species that can be seen here.

Maxwell Hill is the smallest and lowest at 1035 meters of the hill stations and could be good for a daytrip or a single overnight just to complete a tour of them all!  Species would be similar to the other locations, this spiderhunter is frequent visitor to the flowers.

Duration is up to you, but a one to two week trip is recommended.  Port of entry can be either Singapore of Kuala Lumpur.  We can mix and match locations according to your preferences.  Let me know when you’d like to travel and how many will be in your group and I’ll be happy to get back to you with more information and pricing.

Wildlife Photography is My Passion