This year World Migratory Bird Day 2009 is celebrated at two locations in Sarawak's Northern Division, in Miri and Similajau National Park.
Birdwatching excursions catering to MNS members and the public were organised to several interesting locations in Miri with the purpose of introducing WMBD, waterbirds and birds in general. Reception from the public was rather lukewarm this year due to another big do, Miri Jazz Festival which fell on the same weekend. Nonetheless, several avid birders and closet-jazz fans turned up and braved our early morning forays into the peatswamps for unparalleled views of wild ducks and darters. Almost sixty wild ducks and six darters sighted!
The Miri WMBD will culminate with a Drawing Coloring Contest and Talk to be held at Pustaka Miri from 1300 hrs onwards on Saturday, 16th May 2009.
The Similajau WMBD event can be classed as a roaring success! Almost eigthy children, ten teachers from two schools, staff and family members of Similajau Park and SFC-Bintulu Regional Office, volunteers from Grand Perfect, MNS Miri made the weekend a truly enjoyable and educational wekend for all involved. Led by Denis Degullacion of Borneo Bird Club, both participants and crew were introduced to some very interesting birds of Similajau National Park. The Black Hornbill, typically seen literally walking around the park on other days were not seen during this particular weekend however ... this calls for another trip, Denis!
Special thanks go to all volunteers and participants from SFC-Bintulu Regional Office, Similajau National Park, Grand Perfect and MNS Miri for their tireless effort and dedication. A collossal thank you goes to Denis for sacrificing his valuable long weekend to talk birds, share his passion and slides and educate the children and participants in general about this wonderful activity.
Till WMBD 2010!
Similajau National Park sunset 10-05-09. The WMBD 2009 program at Similajau saw a corporate body and volunteers working together to bring a worthwhile awareness program to their surrounding community. Nearly 70 children attending schools near the park received first hand lessons on birds and birdwatching from experienced birders especially flown in for the event. Park staff and family members participated enthusiastically in the weekend program. Everyone's already getting psyched up for WMBD 2010 ... we are ready to explore the trails of the park for more interesting birds.
A Large-tailed Nitejar perched on a lamp post at the parking lot of Similajau National Park 10-05-09. A nite excursions that follows the road to the park revealed more than 12 nite-jars perched along distance markers and power lines. A total of threes species of owls and one small mammal (either a moonrat or small wild feline) were also detected.
Denis of Borneo Bird Club getting the sights adjusted for a pair of Long-tailed Parakeet for staff and friends of Similajau National Park 10-05-09. There's nothing like a 60x magnified view of a bird to truly appreciate nature's intricate beauty and design.
A young birder focussed on a Mountain Imperial Pigeon at Similajau National Park during it's celebration of WMBD 2009, first for the Park, first for Bintulu 10-05-09. Excellent collaboration between Similajau National Park, SFC Bintulu Regional Office with expert help from Denis of Borneo Bird Club, Joanes, Belden and Dave of Grand Perfect, Musa and Rosie of MNS Miri. Generous contribution and support from the park, it's staff and Regional Office made this first time event a roaring success.
Teachers and students getting their binos and guidebook sorted before heading out to the secondary forest near the SK Kpg Masjid, Bekenu 10-05-09. There were plenty of species typical of open grassland and forest edge to keep the children fully captivated. This is the children's second birdwatching excursion in a year ... clearly more birding sorties are called for. Photo by Sara Wong, MNS Miri.
Students checking out the typical birds on a laptop at SK Kpg Masjid, Bekenu prior to the birdwatching excursion with our little birder friends from Bekenu 10-05-09. Photo by Sara Wong, MNS Miri.
Schoolchildren getting their firsthand lessons on birdwatching at Similajau National Park under expert guidance from Denis Degullacion, Borneo Bird Club and Anne King, PIC Similajau National Park. Photo by Musa Musbah, MNS Miri.
Getting down to the business of watching birds at Similajau National Park 09-05-09. Photo by Musa Musbah, MNS Miri.
Denis covering the finer details of a spotting scope and digiscoping to next generation naturalists 09-05-09. Photo by Musa Musbah, MNS Miri.
Getting excited about birds, 09-05-09. Photo by Musa Musbah, MNS Miri.
Joanes and Dave from Grand Perfect helping to show the children some of the birds that can be found that Similajau National Park 09-05-09. For some of this children this is their first visit to the park as well as their first try at birdwatching. From first impression, we think they are very excited about the birds thatthey see. Photo by Musa Musbah, MNS Miri.
MNS Miri birdwatchers eyeing the Curtin Lakes from a distance 09-05-09. The small lake shelter quite an amazing number of waterbirds.
'Weapon of Mass Destruction' seen at a location nearby 09-05-09. Sandmining activities are agressively pursued at the lots neighbouring the lakes.
Wandering Whistling Duck in flight at the lake 09-05-09. Other birds seen: Cinnamon Bittern, Yellow Bittern, White-browed Crake, high number of Common Moorhen, six Oriental Darters, Black-winged Kite, a large unidentified raptor, Striated Grassbird, Intermediate Egret, Purple Heron, Cattle Egret, Lesser Coucal, Zebra Dove, andYellow-bellied Prinia.
Wandering Whistling Ducks at Curtin Lakes 08-05-09. Must've been a good year for the ducks of lakes, we spotted almost 50-60 youngsters circling around the lake this time around.
Prints made by a male non-breeding Watercock seen in the area. We managed to flush it out of hiding for proper id.
Chestnut Munia amongst the tall grasses 08-05-09 at Kuala Baram Vegetable Farm. Other sightings : Lesser Coucal, White-breasted Woodswallow, Blue-breasted Quail, Dusky Munia, non-breeding Watercock, Striated Grassbirds, Yellow-bellied Prinia.
Oriental Pratincole 08-05-09 Kuala Baram Vegetable Farm, standing ground. A juvenile was seen moments before. Three pairs were sighted from this site.
Oriental Pratincole 08-05-09 Kuala Baram Vegetable Farms.
Birdwatching excursions catering to MNS members and the public were organised to several interesting locations in Miri with the purpose of introducing WMBD, waterbirds and birds in general. Reception from the public was rather lukewarm this year due to another big do, Miri Jazz Festival which fell on the same weekend. Nonetheless, several avid birders and closet-jazz fans turned up and braved our early morning forays into the peatswamps for unparalleled views of wild ducks and darters. Almost sixty wild ducks and six darters sighted!
The Miri WMBD will culminate with a Drawing Coloring Contest and Talk to be held at Pustaka Miri from 1300 hrs onwards on Saturday, 16th May 2009.
The Similajau WMBD event can be classed as a roaring success! Almost eigthy children, ten teachers from two schools, staff and family members of Similajau Park and SFC-Bintulu Regional Office, volunteers from Grand Perfect, MNS Miri made the weekend a truly enjoyable and educational wekend for all involved. Led by Denis Degullacion of Borneo Bird Club, both participants and crew were introduced to some very interesting birds of Similajau National Park. The Black Hornbill, typically seen literally walking around the park on other days were not seen during this particular weekend however ... this calls for another trip, Denis!
Special thanks go to all volunteers and participants from SFC-Bintulu Regional Office, Similajau National Park, Grand Perfect and MNS Miri for their tireless effort and dedication. A collossal thank you goes to Denis for sacrificing his valuable long weekend to talk birds, share his passion and slides and educate the children and participants in general about this wonderful activity.
Till WMBD 2010!
Similajau National Park sunset 10-05-09. The WMBD 2009 program at Similajau saw a corporate body and volunteers working together to bring a worthwhile awareness program to their surrounding community. Nearly 70 children attending schools near the park received first hand lessons on birds and birdwatching from experienced birders especially flown in for the event. Park staff and family members participated enthusiastically in the weekend program. Everyone's already getting psyched up for WMBD 2010 ... we are ready to explore the trails of the park for more interesting birds.
A Large-tailed Nitejar perched on a lamp post at the parking lot of Similajau National Park 10-05-09. A nite excursions that follows the road to the park revealed more than 12 nite-jars perched along distance markers and power lines. A total of threes species of owls and one small mammal (either a moonrat or small wild feline) were also detected.
Denis of Borneo Bird Club getting the sights adjusted for a pair of Long-tailed Parakeet for staff and friends of Similajau National Park 10-05-09. There's nothing like a 60x magnified view of a bird to truly appreciate nature's intricate beauty and design.
A young birder focussed on a Mountain Imperial Pigeon at Similajau National Park during it's celebration of WMBD 2009, first for the Park, first for Bintulu 10-05-09. Excellent collaboration between Similajau National Park, SFC Bintulu Regional Office with expert help from Denis of Borneo Bird Club, Joanes, Belden and Dave of Grand Perfect, Musa and Rosie of MNS Miri. Generous contribution and support from the park, it's staff and Regional Office made this first time event a roaring success.
Teachers and students getting their binos and guidebook sorted before heading out to the secondary forest near the SK Kpg Masjid, Bekenu 10-05-09. There were plenty of species typical of open grassland and forest edge to keep the children fully captivated. This is the children's second birdwatching excursion in a year ... clearly more birding sorties are called for. Photo by Sara Wong, MNS Miri.
Students checking out the typical birds on a laptop at SK Kpg Masjid, Bekenu prior to the birdwatching excursion with our little birder friends from Bekenu 10-05-09. Photo by Sara Wong, MNS Miri.
Schoolchildren getting their firsthand lessons on birdwatching at Similajau National Park under expert guidance from Denis Degullacion, Borneo Bird Club and Anne King, PIC Similajau National Park. Photo by Musa Musbah, MNS Miri.
Getting down to the business of watching birds at Similajau National Park 09-05-09. Photo by Musa Musbah, MNS Miri.
Denis covering the finer details of a spotting scope and digiscoping to next generation naturalists 09-05-09. Photo by Musa Musbah, MNS Miri.
Getting excited about birds, 09-05-09. Photo by Musa Musbah, MNS Miri.
Joanes and Dave from Grand Perfect helping to show the children some of the birds that can be found that Similajau National Park 09-05-09. For some of this children this is their first visit to the park as well as their first try at birdwatching. From first impression, we think they are very excited about the birds thatthey see. Photo by Musa Musbah, MNS Miri.
MNS Miri birdwatchers eyeing the Curtin Lakes from a distance 09-05-09. The small lake shelter quite an amazing number of waterbirds.
'Weapon of Mass Destruction' seen at a location nearby 09-05-09. Sandmining activities are agressively pursued at the lots neighbouring the lakes.
Wandering Whistling Duck in flight at the lake 09-05-09. Other birds seen: Cinnamon Bittern, Yellow Bittern, White-browed Crake, high number of Common Moorhen, six Oriental Darters, Black-winged Kite, a large unidentified raptor, Striated Grassbird, Intermediate Egret, Purple Heron, Cattle Egret, Lesser Coucal, Zebra Dove, andYellow-bellied Prinia.
Wandering Whistling Ducks at Curtin Lakes 08-05-09. Must've been a good year for the ducks of lakes, we spotted almost 50-60 youngsters circling around the lake this time around.
Prints made by a male non-breeding Watercock seen in the area. We managed to flush it out of hiding for proper id.
Chestnut Munia amongst the tall grasses 08-05-09 at Kuala Baram Vegetable Farm. Other sightings : Lesser Coucal, White-breasted Woodswallow, Blue-breasted Quail, Dusky Munia, non-breeding Watercock, Striated Grassbirds, Yellow-bellied Prinia.
Oriental Pratincole 08-05-09 Kuala Baram Vegetable Farm, standing ground. A juvenile was seen moments before. Three pairs were sighted from this site.
Oriental Pratincole 08-05-09 Kuala Baram Vegetable Farms.
Similajau Birdlist from the WMBD Weekend by Dennis and Co:
ReplyDelete01) Large-tailed Nightjar (caprimulgus macrurus)
02) Green Imperial Pigeon (ducula aenea)
03) White-breasted Waterhen (amaurornis phoenicurus)
04) White-bellied Fish eagle (haliaeetus humilis)
05) Brahminy Kite (haliastur indus)
06) Little Green-Pigeon (treron olax)
07) Pink-necked Green Pigeon (treron vernans)
08) Long-tailed Parakeet (psittacula logicauda)
09) Blue-crowned Hanging- Parrot (loriculus galgulus)
10) Plaintive Cuckoo (cacomantis merulinus)
11) Chestnut-breasted Malkoha (phaenicophaeus curvirostris)
12) Greater Coucal (centropus sinenis)
13) Brown Hawk-Owl (ninox scutulata)
14) Grey-rumped Treeswift (hemiprocne longipennis)
15) Edible-nest Swiftlet (collocalia fuciphaga)
16) Collared Kingfisher (todishamphus chloris)
17) Blue-throated Bee-Eater (merops philippinus)
18) Dollarbird (eurystomus orientalis)
19) Asian Black Hornbill (anthracoceros malayanus)
20) Brown Barbet (caloramphus fuliginosus)
21) Buff-necked Woodpecker (drycopus javensis)
22) Pacific Swallow (hirundo daurica)
23) Pied Triller (lalage nigra)
24) Cream-vented Bulbul (pycnonotus simplex)
25) Yellow-vented Bulbul (pycnonotus goiavier)
26) Magpie Robin (copsychus saularis)
27) Yellow-bellied Prinia (prinia flaviventris)
28) Rufus-tailed Tailorbird (orthotomus sericeus)
29) Pied Fantail (rhipidura javanica)
30) White-breasted Wood-Swallow (artamus leucorhynchus)
31) Asian Glossy Starling (aplonis panayensis)
33) Hill Myna (gracula religiosa)
35) Ruby-cheeked Sunbird (anthreptes singalensis)
36) Olive-backed Sunbird (nectarinia jugularis)
37) Thick-billed Spiderhunter (arachnothera crassirostris)
38) Oriental White-eye (zosterops palpebrosus)
39) Black-headed Munia (lonchura maja)
40) Eurasian Tree Sparrow (passer montanus)
41) Dusky Munia