ASIAN WATERBIRD CENSUS 2010 in Miri

The time for counting waterbirds, trudging into swamps and negotiating mudflats is upon us again, how quick time flies ...


Typical haunts for waterbirds.


Not the typical attire for AWC in Kuala Baram, may not be suitable for all sites. Photo (c) Liz King 2009

AWC is an annual waterbird census carried out by volunteers every January (sometimes spills over to February) at various sites thoughout Asia. Analysis of data collected during AWC help Wetlands International, the organizer, in long term planning for the conservation of waterbirds and their wetland habitats.

The census has 3 major objectives:

1) to obtain information on an annual basis of waterbird populations at wetlands in the region during non-breeding period of most species, as a basis for reviewing of sites and monitoring populations

2) to monitor on an anuual basis the status and condition of wetlands

3) to encourage greater interest in waterbirds and wetlands amongst the public and thereby promote the conservation of wetlands and waterbirds in the region.

The census is mainly undertaken by volunteers from various sources with the community. The sites covered include rivers, lakes, reservoirs, tanks, swamps, coastal areas, mangrove and mudflats, reefs or beaches.

Waterbirds counted during the census include all waterbirds and birds associated with the wetlands habitat.

The census is coordinated in each country by a volunteer national or regional organisation, in Malaysia it's the Malaysian Nature Society. The coordinator is responsible for building up the network of volunteers, sends out count forms, liase with participants, receives and collate forms after the census and compiles and disseminates national reports.

The official dates for AWC 2010 are 9-31st January, however counts from December and February area still accepted from poorly known areas.

MNS Miri Branch will be participating in AWC this year covering the following sites listed below, participation in the census is sought from all branch members and the public interested to know more about waterbirds and birds in general.

Our AWC sites for 2010:

09-10th Jan Go-Kart/Senadin Lakes, Daytrip, FP Musa and Sara
16-17th Jan Curtin Lakes, Daytrip, FP Musa and Sara
23-24th Jan Kpg Masjid Prawn Farms, Daytrip, FP Nazeri
30-31th Jan Kuala Baram Lagoon, Daytrip/Overnite, FP Nazeri and Musa
05-07th Feb Sundar, Lawas, extended weekend, Overnite, FP Nazeri
13-14th Feb Bungai Swamps, Daytrip, FP Nazeri, Steve, Musa
20-21st Feb Loagan Bunut, Overnite at LBNP, FP Nazeri and Musa
27-28th Feb Pulau Bawai, Overnite, FP Nazeri and Musa

Most of these sites are revisits from past year's census (an important monitoring component of AWC) with two new sites (Sundar, Lawas and Bungai, Bekenu) added for 2010.

The past highlights : Malaysian Plover, Grey Plover, Wandering Whistling Duck, Oriental Darter for 2009. Storm's Stork for 2001, Lesser Adjutant 2002. This year we are aiming for more duck sightings.

Come and join us and share the excitement about waterbirds.

Members and the public who is interested to participate can email mnsmiri@yahoo.com for further details.

Our AWC sites on the map:

Panaga Natural History Society will also be running their AWC over the other side of the border over the same period, they too may also have interesting sites which are convenient for Mirians to take part.

Link to our AWC 2009.

MNS Miri

Sunday birdwatching at Niah NP, IBA

For those who are not aware, Niah NP is one of the IBA in Northern Division, MY50. The others are Lambir Hills NP (MY51), Similajau NP (MY49) , Mulu NP (MY53), Loagan Bunut NP (MY52) and the Kelabit Highlands (MY54).

Important Bird Areas (IBAs) are sites of international importance for bird conservation at the global, regional or national level, based upon standard, internationally recognised criteria. IBAs are not only important for birds, but typically support awide range of other important flora and fauna species. Furthermore, many IBAs are also significant for human welfare and economic well being through protecting catchments, providing flood control or as a source of natural resources.


Google map of a section of Niah Caves National Park. We birdwatched along the river from Park HQ to Batu Niah town, a distance of 3km on relatively flat concrete pathway.

The following few paragraphs are from the "Directory of Important Bird Areas in Malaysia", MNS Conservation Publication No. 8.

Niah NP itself supports 7 globally threatened species. The Oriental Darter Anhinga melanogaster, Grey-headed Ichthyophaga ichthyaetusand Lesser Fish-Eagles I. humilis (all near-threatened) have also been recorded in the area. The following is from "Directory of Important Bird Areas in Malaysia".

Globally Threatened species which has been recorded in the park:

a) Wallace’s Hawk-Eagle (VU) Spizaetus nanus (SFD 2002a).
b) Large Green Pigeon (VU) Treron capellei (Sebastian 1984-1987 ).
c) Short-toed Coucal (VU) Centropus rectunguis (Sebastian 1984-87, 2002)
d) Blue-headed Pitta (VU) Pitta baudii (SFD 2002a).
e) Straw-headed Bulbul (VU) Pycnonotus zeylanicus (SFD 2002a).
f) Hook-billed Bulbul (VU) Setornis criniger (SFD 2002a).
g) Large-billed Blue Flycatcher (VU) Cyornis caerulatus (SFD 2002a).

Two hundred and forty-one (241) species of birds have been recorded in and within the immediate vicinity of the national park (Gregory-Smith 1996; Marduka 2001; Sarawak Forest Department 2002; Smythies 1999). Niah Caves itself harbour great populations of swiftlets in its chambers. The swiftlet population, consists of the White-nest Swiftlet Aerodramus fuciphaga, Black-nest Swiftlet Aerodramus maximus and Mossy-nest Swiftlet Aerodramus salaganus.

Come to think of it, our group has not quite done a proper job of birdwatching at Niah NP. It's always either to go to Niah Caves NP to explore the limestone caves, check out the insects along the plankwalk or climb Bukit Kasut ... and birdwatch along the way, on the side, never the main event. Perhaps we are just spoilt for choice as far as birdwatching locations are concerned.

Past Sunday, we tried to gather as many of our small Miri Branch birdgroup for a spot of birdwatching-only outing at the park. "As many" didn't turn out to be as many as we had expected.

Sian's got work, Sara's away, Musa's off possibly fishing, Steve's away to attend to some major snafu in Labuan. None of the Curtin birders were anywhere to seen or heard from ... possibly stumped with homework. We ended up with a motley crew of Clare, Rosie, Amer and yours truly. And not to forget, two very junior birders in the form of pint size Aisya and not so pintsize Ali.

Since we were birdwatching on this side of the river ie. along it, outside the park per say, we didn't have to pay the required entrance fee to the park! Yes, it was free!!!

Niah River meanders thru the park to form the boundary between park headquarters and the park grounds proper. There's a well-used (used to be) path from the park hq to Batu Niah town right alongside the river banks, it's concrete all the way to Batu Niah. This path was our target this time around. All 3 kms of it.

The trailhead from Batu Niah entrance ... concrete all the way to the park, interspersed with fruit orchards and a few village houses.

... and friendly dogs.

Having birdwatched in Niah before, we noticed how much harder it was to pick out birds from dense foliage within the park itself, you can always hear the birds but hardly ever see them without putting a real effort. The Chestnut-rumped Babbler we ticked off previously on a preivious visit was called out before we had a good positive look at it.

Along this path however, they are numerous breaks in the forest cover along the way, the first kilometer is probably the most fruitful for birds being a distance away from the kampung and still retaining some of the original riverine cover. The rest is an easy trek to Batu Niah.

We took almost two hours to complete the full trail, spending time spying for birds along the way. The walk back to the park from Batu Niah took us a full 20 minutes to the park headquarters, without the birdwatching of course.

The first patch just outside the back fences of the park boundary was actually a cleared forest planted with fruit trees such as nangka, cempedak, tarap and the like. There were still a few stands of large original cover. This was perhaps the most productive spot being rather bright.

We have spotted the following birds in this area: broadbills, spiderhunter, drongos (2 species), treeswift, bulbul, hornbill, barbet, fantail and numerous sunbirds.

On this particular outing we sighted Scarlet minivet (a group of 3 individuals male, female and a likely juvenile); Pacific swallow, Cream-vented bulbul, and Yellow-vented bulbul. We heard Common tailorbird, barbet sp., fantail sp., drongo sp. and broadbill sp. but were unable to locate where they were calling from. The barbet was definitely high up in the tall trees.

As we moved further into the shadier trails, we spotted a bird we have not seen before for a while. After much peering into the dark foliage, we made out at least three birds. Upon further examination we had a good look at two of the birds. One individual decided to fly across the Niah river.

The ones that stayed behind were positively id as a resplendent male Diarde's Trogon and a slightly smaller Scarlet-rumped Trogon. We surmised that the third that flew away was also a Scarlet-rumped Trogon based on it's call. What are the odds of that? Both birds were lifers for Rosie and Amer.

As we walked on further thinking the day could not get any better we stumbled upon a group of babblers stealthily moving inside the fairly dense foliage next to the trail. We almost did not bother until we heard the sounds of juveniles nearby.

Upon closer look indeed it was confirmed that one of the adults birds was feeding young inconspicously hidden behind some leaves inside a nest. The bird kept flying in and out of something which looked more like a clump of brown dead leaves than a babbler's nest. We confirmed id as Chestnut-winged Babbler having been given full view of the adult birds as it flew in and out to feed the youngins. We were completely stoked by then.


In that clump of dry leaves precariously hanging on live twigs is a Chestnut-winged Babler's nest. Juveniles were heard from inside as adults birds flit in and out bringing morsels of food.

The rest of the walk to Batu Niah was not as eventful other than several squirels playing catch and several appearances of the ever present Cream-vented Bulbul across our path. As we moved closer towards Batu Niah, the vegetation turned to oil palm, and more fruit trees mostly of rambutan, durians and tarap.

The short but sweet birdwatching outing at Niah NP ended with hearty lunch and ABC for desert at Batu Niah town.

Though we did not tick any of the globally threatened species listed above this time around, we will definitely do this trail again if only for the trogons and babblers we spotted! On second thoughts, the Blue headed Pitta could just be the reason to go back and soon.

MNS Miri, Nov 2009

ASIAN WATERBIRD CENSUS 2009

The AWC is an annual waterbird census carried out by volunteers every January (sometimes spills over to February) at various sites thoughout Asia. Analysis of data collected during AWC help Wetlands International, the organizer, in long term planning for the conservation of waterbirds and their wetland habitats.

Many years in the past MNS Miri has been quite diligent in conducting this yearly survey. Storm’s Stork (Loagan Bunut) and Lesser Adjutant (Lutong Beach) were a couple of our more memorable sightings that made quite a stir locally. Over the years with dwindling numbers of avid birders amongst our membership base, we had to do away with our participation altogether for several years.

We started again in 2008 with the revival of our small bird group. Several hundreds waders were sighted by our team in Kuala Baram back in January including several tagged waders and the ever elusive Malaysian Plover throughout the year.

This year again MNS Miri was involved in AWC. Birders, volunteers went out collecting data in places important to birds to record population figures. Collected data will be submitted to Asian Wetlands for collation to be used for population studies and conservation planning.

This is perhaps the best opportunity in the year to get involved in citizen science and enjoy nature. Many (we want more in the years to come) were involved in carrying counts in various places in Miri.

Over January several weekends were dedicated to this activy where members picked a day on which counts were organised. We spent a couple of hours outdoors and checkout some very interesting and some very elusive birds.

The following are the locations we covered. We gathered, we went out, and we counted. It was all fun all around. Amidst the "landas" wetness and angry clouds, sometimes blue skies did peeked out on several occasions.

Location Date
KB Lagoon (South) 03.01.09
KB Lagoon (North) 04.01.09
Kpg Masjid (Prawn Farms) 10.01.09
Kpg Masjid (Kpg Masjid Proper) 11.01.09
Miri Marina (near Park Everly) 17.01.09
Kuala Baram (Vegetable Farm) 18.01.09
Loagan Bunut 24-25-26.01.09
KBaram Island 14.02-15.02

You don't need to have a Phd in Ornithology to participate, every count you do, you learn something new about waterbirds and birds in general. If you are lucky, you get to clock up a few "lifers" yourself as far as birding is concerned.

"Lifers" - that special bird you are only likely to see once in your lifetime.

Our list so far:
Reclaimed Old Miri River site (in front of HSBC) Dec 13th 2008:-
Pacific Golden Plovers (20), Common Greenshank(2), Marsh Sandpiper(1), Little Ringed Plover(1), Red-necked Stint(5), Long-toed Stint(1), Common Sandpiper(5), Wood Sandpiper(5), Little Egret(1), Great Egret(2), White-breasted Waterhen(2).

Kuala Baram Lagoon (South) Jan 03rd:-
Participants: Maye Yap, Nazeri Abghani, Sara Wong, Dominique Wan, Mary Foley, Mike Foley, Kyla Foley, Alyssa Foley
Birds: Kentish Plover (10), Lesser Sandplover(50), Sanderling(30), Red-necked Stints (20), Common Greenshank (1), Little Egret (2), Pacific Reef Egret ((White Morph)2)

Kuala Baram Lagoon (North) Jan 04th :-
Participants: Nazeri Abghani, Sara Wong, Mary Foley, Mike Foley, Kyla Foley, Alyssa Foley, Clarissa Loke, Md Ali, Siti Aisya
Birds: Kentish Plover (20), Lesser Sandplover(50), Sanderlings (50), Red-necked Stints (20), Common Greenshank (2), Little Egret (2), Pacific Reef Egret (1), Great Egret (1), Asian Koel (female-1), Dollarbird (1)

Kpg Masjid, Kuala Baram (Prawn Farms) Jan 10th :-
Participants: Steve Dexter, Nazeri, Amer, Sara
Birds:Straited Grassbird (1), Dollarbird (2), Black-headed Munia (in flocks), Common Greenshank (4), Little Egret (30), Intermediate Egret (20), Grey-tailed Tattler (2), Kentish Plover (2), Malaysian Plover (1 pair breeding), Common Sandpiper (4), Greater Sand Plover (1), Little Heron (1), Collared Kingfisher (5), Pied Triller (1), Cinnamon Bittern (2), Crake sp. (1), Black-crowned Night Heron (1), Black-shouldered Kite (2), Little Green Pigeon (50), White-breasted Waterhen (1), Yellow-bellied Prinia (1), Pied Fantail (1), Common Iora (5)

Kpg Masjid Proper, Kuala Baram Jan 11th :-
Participants:Steve, Nazeri, Amer, Sara, Anne, Mike, Mary, Kyla, Alyssa
Birds:Wood Sandpiper (1), Common Greenshank (2), Yellow-vented Bulbul (5), Common Sandpiper (4), Straited Grassbird (5), Dusky Munia (20), Sanderling (8), Kentish Plover (4), Great Egret (1), Red-necked stint (4), Greater Sand Plover (4), Lesser Sand Plover (7), Malaysian Plover (1, breeding, male), Yellow Wagtail (2), Little Egret (4), Chestnut Munia (60), Oriental Darter (6 - reported by Steve, along K. Baram road, flying overhead, at around 11am).

Miri Marina (Behind Park Everly Hotel) Jan 17th outing :-
Participants:Steve, Nazeri, Dominique, Mawang Bakak
Birds:Common Sandpiper (5), Intermediate Egret (1), Pacific Reef Egret (1xWhite morph, 3xBlack Morph), Striated Heron (2), Pacific Golden Plover (1), Von Schrenck's Bittern (1), Little Egret (1), Collared Kingfisher (5), Black-crown Night Heron/Javan Pond Heron (1)
We later moved to old Miri River site in front of HSBC (placed already reclaimed, will likely not be around next AWC):Wood Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, Pacific Golden Plover, Little Egret, Great Egret, White-breasted Waterhen, Marsh Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper

Kuala Baram Peatswamp (Vegetable Farms) Jan 18th outing :-
Participants:Steve, Nazeri
Birds: Common Sandpiper (5), Intermediate Egret (1), Little Egret (4), Purple Heron (1), Pacific Golden Plover(60), Wood Sandpiper (4), Cinnamon Bittern (1), Dusky Munia (20), Chestnut Munia (100), Lesser Coucal (5), Snipe sp. (5), Magpie Robin (4), Yellow-bellied Prinia (4), Blue-breasted Quail (5), White-browed Crake (1), Yellow-vented bulbul (20)

Highlights in pictures:
1. Kuala Baram at the end of the day
2. Chinese Egret
3. Malaysian Plover (female)
4. Malaysia Plover (male)
5. Contemplating crossing one of the tributary of Batang Baram at the estuary, beware of crocodiles
6. Phew! We made it ... no crocodiles here today! A huge crocodile has been sighted here back in May is a resident of the rivermouth.
7. The troop after a succesful crossing of a muddy bay by the lighthouse peering at a Sanderling
8. A beautiful blooming Gloriasa Superba - Climbing Lily - Bunga Kembang Songsang (as identified by member Shamila K.) at Kuala Miri Baru.
9. Pacific Reef Egret (grey morph) in action.
10. Great Egret
11. Common Greenshank
12. Little Egret, Common Sandpiper in the background
13. Greater Sandplover
14. Mawang demonstrating how to attract the attention of White-breasted Waterhen
15. "Beautification" of the small river draining into the sea. It'll end up with blocks of big rocks!
16. A Malaysian Plover sitting on a pile of organic debris, wondering "Dang, where is my coralline sands?"