Wildlife of S. E. Asia and S. America. A Photo Journal by Francis Burlingham.: Bukit Kutu and Fraser's Hill

Introduction

Over the last few years I have been lucky enough to live in Thailand, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Colombia and now Brunei. In my spare time I have had the opportunity to travel fairly widely, camera in hand, in search of wildlife. In these posts I aim to share some of these experiences and show you some of the extraordinary wildlife that can be found in these regions. All of the photographs you see within the posts and pages here are my own unless otherwise stated. Copyright © Francis Burlingham 2015

Friday, 20 May 2016

Bukit Kutu and Fraser's Hill

Last Sunday I climbed Bukit Kutu, a small mountain, 1050m high not far from Chilling waterfall and Fraser's Hill. The walk up to the summit took about 4 hours walking at a leisurely pace. The trail is popular but is still a good place to spot wildlife.

The abandoned settlement at the top of Bukit Kutu

At the summit a chimney, fireplace and a well are all that remain of bungalows that were here before the second world war. The original track to the summit has long since disappeared into the jungle.
A number of bamboo orchids were growing in the vicinity. These seem to favour disturbed ground at altitude throughout the region.

Arundina graminifolia (Bamboo Orchid)

Unfortunately it was rather cloudy when I reached the top and so the views were not as far ranging as they might have been.

View from the top of Bukit Kutu

Not far from the summit this beautiful cymbidium orchid was growing by the side of the trail. This is a very widespread species that belongs to a genus that contains many popular hybrids that are grown as house plants the world over.

Cymbidium ensifolium

The wildlife highlight of the walk for me was finding a yellow-striped caecilian. On the way back I was caught in a thunderstorm and the torrential rain turned the trail into a small stream. The caecilian is a legless, burrowing worm like amphibian that must have been driven to the surface by the rain. Unfortunately by the time I got my camera out of my dry bag it had nearly gone and I only managed to get one blury shot before it escaped below the leaf litter at the side of the trail.

Ichthyophis sp. (Yellow-striped Caecilian)

There were lots of butterflies along the trail despite the overcast and rainy weather. Here are a couple of them.

Malayan Tree Nymph (Idea hypermnestra)

Papilio memnon male (Great Mormon)

The river at the end of the trail provided a great spot for a dip in the refreshing cool water.

The River at the Trail Head

The day before doing Bukit Kutu I spent some time at Fraser's Hill again. Here I found this beautiful carnivorous pitcher plant not far from Jeriau Waterfall.