Field report Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th November 2007
It was a greatly anticipated trip to see the Malaysian doc of the bird forum. I was nearing the end of my stay in Malaysia being 3 months away from the UK, my home. I drove down from the northern coast of Penang, where I have my 2nd home, to Klang and stopped in a local hotel. My first choice hotel in Port Klang was full so I could not stay in a more convenient location for our good doctor who lives in Port Klang about 20 minutes away.
Within an hour of arriving at my hotel and eyes so tired after driving 5 hours I was sat in Manjeet’s car , warm greetings exchanged and on the way to the famed “local patch”. It is indeed as described by himself as you can see in all of his gallery pictures. I copy it here:
Location: opps mud-flat & pond,Pondamaran-jaya,Port Klang,Selangor,Malaysia.
Habitat: forest,forest edges,mangroves,open country,plantation and wooded gardens.
As can be seen from the photo’s the habitat is as described by Manjeet. A short sleeve shirt was worn anticipating the short time spent in the “local patch”. I should have known better as my arms were primed for attack from local mosquito’s and indeed they were as they all told their friends of my arrival.
It was a rather quiet start, roaming into scrub and marshy areas with plenty of tree cover. Not much doing here, but a chance to look at the camera and tripod used for Manjeets excellent pictures. He uses of course a tripod and attached is a Kowa TD1, a combined scope with camera attached to it’s rear. After waiting around for someting to happen we decided to head back across the road to a more open environment with shallow water on one side and higher elevated scrubland on the other. Soon, the eagle eyed Manjeet had Identified a white chested pea hen, an arctic warbler much to my surprise, a honey buzzard, a pair of blue tailed bee eaters, spotted Pigeon, scaly breasted munia, a moorhen wading in the shallow waters and a flock of Asian swallows soon followed in the hour or so we had been observing. It was a good 2 hours and was already eagerly awaiting the next day....
It was Sunday, up at 5.30 a.m and awaiting the pick up early to our next destination Ulu Langat. It was hill country about an hour from Kajang town. I was introduced to Manjeet’s brewery man, Areu (hope my spelling is right) and then picked up another friend of Manjeet’s Malik, who knew the area well. We headed for a beautiful village near Pangsoon with a river and abundant trees making for a lovely rural setting andbreakfasted in a local food outlet. We ate and stocked up on foods before setting off up a steep climb into Orang Asli country, the Orang Asli being the original indigenous inhabitants of Malaysia.
Unfortunately it was a very quiet climb looking above but more interest was added by removing leeches from our clothing every 15 minutes and awaiting Malik and Areu to catch us up after waiting for a large python to make his way from left to right across the muddy path just 2 minutes after Manjeet and I had just made our way past. Thanks go to the python for waiting for our passing. It was eerily quiet and not too surprising for skilled Orang Asli somehow managed to ride up the muddy pathway on motor bikes with such noise as to alarm every bird in the vicinity. So the decision was made to descend and make our way to our next destination.
This area is called Sungai Congkak. Here we saw a scarlet minuet, lesser green leaf bird, an oriental magpie and a most beautiful Green broadbill which waited till camera and tripod was brought to the river edge and steadied before frustratingly flying off into the undergrowth. On the whole it was quiet again, but it was a nice long walk amongst some lovely scenery. There was wetting the feet across the bridgeless river and over illegally felled trees ready for transportation next to the river. In fact the illegally logged trees stopped us going much further as any pathway upstream was covered by felled trees, so we headed back to base...the car park. I rinsed out my soaking wet socks and saw 4 bites from leeches and a blood soaked foot as two bigger leeches, well fed, fell off my socks when removing my boot. They must have got in from the river crossing and fell inside my boot un beknown to me. We had a short break for lunch as Nasi Lemak was shared and curry pasties for myself. A Clean pair of socks were put on and then off to our final destination of the day, Gunung Nuang a national park whose mountain peak is the meeting place of three Malaysian states of Negeri Sembilan, Selangor and Pahang. The mountain is in fact part of the Titiwangsa mountains and is the highest part of the state of Selangor. The steep climb gave us nice views below but at times it was eerily quiet. We trekked a well trodden path upwards. Despite it being quiet and with the help of another local friend of our guide to show us around we did come across a tiger shriek, a dollar bird, blue tailed bee eater and a zebra dove. We came back down a different way across virgin undergrowth led by our feerless young guide whose feet were covered in only flimsy sandals. Snakes were living around here but thankfully none were seen.
Overall it was a great day for me, to experience my first treks into the Malaysia rainforest, yes even with mosquito bites, leeches and a kind python, it was all part of the adventure and experience for me. I’d seen some lovely birds, heard lots more, seen some lovely scenery, made some new friends and got to know more about our special B.F member, our Dr. Manjeet Singh. It was a pleasure to have met him, see first hand his enthusiasm for his hobby and love of nature. The tripod and Kowa TD1 in use and just overall an amazing day and a half for myself who I admit am nieve on Most Malaysian birds and their identity. It is amazing to see Manjeet know so many birds on our trek, just by hearing their call, even though most were out of sight.
The day also confirmed that being in a birding area does not mean you will catch a sight of many birds, nor confirm in fact you will hear many. It does though show that sometimes, birding is hard work, there is the preparation involved, the sweaty walking in such a climate, and the frustration of not having those moments wished for, the observation of the bird itself, the ultimate objective. But this is more than compensated for by those magic moments, those brief seconds when the bird appears, when nature allows the brief window of a bird in full sight to repay back the effort involved for those who search for these moments. That is the magic of bird watching, that buzz, for all the efforts to look, wait patiently and move on....nature often gives us the those few special moments that makes us want to do it again and again. For confirmation of this just look at the many excellent galleries in the B.F and in my particular case a closer look at Dr. Manjeet Singh’s.
I hope this is the first of many trips to be had with him and his crew, it is an experience to be had and enjoyed and which I want repeated. Thanks go to Manjeet for his hospitality and guidance and to his crew, Malik and brewery (Areu) for their support and friendship.
To the pictures, well from left to right, the first is Manjeet on his famed local patch, the shaded scrubland side, the 2nd taking a break next to the cow shed on the more open land the other side of his local patch. Middle picture...the start of the days birding, 4th picture is up river amidst beautiful scenery and final picture, from left to right: our guide Malik, Manjeet's "brewery" Areu, and yours truly Keiron (B.F member weatherman).
Keiron (weatherman) 30-11-07
Well sounds as if you enjoyed yourself and Manjeet did as well.
I think Manjeet should go into semi retirement and start up "Meet Manjeet Birding Tours" I am sure there would be plenty of takers. I would love to see the man himself but I can't stand the heat {red hair and fair freckled skin}.
You sound so enthusiastic with all the birds and happening of the days you spent with him.
PS Was Manjeet holding his stomach in on the 1st picture.
You certainly had a fantastic time,a very interesting and enjoyable read complimented with some great photo's.I cannot imagine a better birding trip with a nicer person.As for "Manjeets birding tours"........Definately a winner.