Raptor Watch 2007
Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan
10th - 11th March 2007
Our first Raptor Watch experience occurred this year for the both of us. Having heard so much from our friends about this annual event, we were excited to see first hand what it was all about.
Raptor Watch is now a big event, drawing thousands of visitors to the Ilham resort located in Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan, however, it started years ago, solely for the purpose of surveying the numbers of migrating raptors from Sumatera, Indonesia, to the north asian countries, such as Russia, China, Japan and Korea.
The weekend event which took place this year on 10/11th March gave the public an opportunity to learn more about our feathered friends and nature as a whole. Fun activities were held for the children, competitions, face painting etc.
The focus on surveying has by no means been overshadowed by the grand public event. Keen bird watchers from the Malaysian Nature Society, Selangor Branch Bird Group spend two weeks counting raptors passing by the lighthouse at Tanjung Tuan.
Why Tanjung Tuan? Raptors are generally not good long-distance fliers, as they often require rising warm air currents to keep them aloft, therefore, they choose the shortest distance between the two land-masses to pass over the straits of Melacca, and Tanjung Tuan being the Malaysian point of entry (if all goes to plan).
The selection of raptor species passing through include
- Oriental Honey-buzzard
- Black Baza
- Chinese Goshawks
- Japanese Sparrowhawks
- Grey-faced Buzzards
Jasmine and I were keen to observe the counters in action to learn about how it is done, and also get an appreciation for the numbers that can pass through on any given day. We arrived up at the lighthouse on 10th March at 11:30am, just around the time the first raptors start making their way across the sea. Bing and Nina were counting that day, but little did we know, Jas and I would be counting too, taking it in turns (we would appreciate why soon enough).
Shortly after my first 20 minutes of staring goggle eyed through my 10x50's, I started to understand the grueling task other members have endured for years of raptor counting. 20 minutes without blinking, calling out each bird as it passed my reference line (often the bow of a tanker out at sea).
To make matters worse on that day, the pollution above the ocean was quite thick, making the sky and birds a very low contrast to each other. As if that wasn't bad enough, either low visibility or cross winds meant that the raptors were passing us by much further north, and the birds were mere specs on the horizon of smog. My eyes must have looked like holes in the snow after half an hour of this.
We were fortunate enough to have a scope with us, so we put it into position to get better sightings and take the strain off the peepers for a while. Taking it in turns, we all got our fair share of sunburn and eye-strain for the 4.5hrs of raptor counting (at almost 50°C in the direct sun).
On that day, we managed to count over 2,000 Oriental Honey-buzzards, which was a little short of the day before, where the counters had totaled over 3,300.
Not only do raptors migrate north, but there are also swifts coming across the sea in great numbers. We tried to count these too. I picked up the first squadron to come across through my binoculars, far out to see, I was having to blink at this point to try and make sense of what was happening. Tiny objects zooming straight at me. Fortunately, Nina counted them off as they passed us by.
On the 18th March, Raptor Watch drew to a close with 28,000+ Oriental Honey-buzzards having passed across the straits.
Take me to the photo gallery.
