I've just returned from 2 weeks in Penang. A friend who's lived there for 4
years took
me to the most amazing heronry that she and her Hash runner friends had come
across the weekend before.
In a small belt of Avicenna trees between a very busy area of Georgetown and
the
very old Kaoy Clan or Weld Quay marine settlement on the eastern shoreline is a
breeding colony of Night Herons. The wooden houses of the Quay are built above
the
sea floor and at low tide sewage drains from them. At high tide the sea rises
below the
houses, which are all connected by boardwalks.
The smell of the sewage waterway from the settlement and the droppings from the
colony is overwhelming but it's an amazing sight to see this very active
breeding colony
of these beautiful birds. It's also very easy to get close to them to take
photos.
I've been unable to find out exactly what sort of Night Heron they are, but the
common
one in Malaysia seems to be the Black-capped.
The other pleasure in the birding category I enjoyed was the view from my rooom
in
their apartment which is on the 25th floor and looked out on to a jungle
covered hill.
Apart from the monkeys, Brahminy Kites and White-Bellied Sea-eagles seem to
have
made the hill their home and they could be seen flying across the hill and out
over the
nearby beach on fishing sorties. They were very vocal too.
To top that off, we spent 3 days on Langkawi and went on a boat trip to an
area in
mangroves where there's a huge colony of what they call Brown Eagles but we
call
Brahminy Kites. The boat trip was great value as it also included a visit to
bat caves
and a fish farm and the opportunity to have the best lunch at Ramad's Hole in
the Wall
Cafe at the fish farm. Not to mention the fabulous scenery.
Two Pied Horn-bills in a tree just by the dining area of the resort entertained
us during
breakfast and a Storkbilled Kingfisher was waiting for a feed from the lagoon.
Wish I'd had Malaysian Bird Field guide though as I saw lots of other birds
whose
identity I could only guess at.
It's nice to be home though, breathing clear fresh air after the pollution in
Penang.
Cheers
Chris
Chris Hankel
Administative Assistant
Academic and Student Administration
Faculty of Social Sciences
Flinders University
South Australia
Telephone (+61 8) 8201 2771
Facsimile (+61 8) 8201 5034
Email
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