Birding is addictive. It’s the only hobby which can pull 25 of us out of bed in the wee hours of a Sunday morning to meet more than 100 km away at the break of dawn. What's the driving motivation one may ask? Birds come First!
So on 16 Feb 2020, we all made our way to Bukit Rengit, Lanchang, Pahang for a delightful day of catching our personal list of lifers. We were not disappointed. We broke into 2 groups. Each had their Kodak n Lifer moments on both sides of the road fronting the Deerland park. The cloudy weather over the better part of the morning was broken by a majestic flock of 17 black hornbills flying past gracefully directly above us. We were all stoked. What a great way to start the day.
Anxious eyes scanned the undergrowth, the riparian, the middle storey, the top storey and the clear blue sky for any flutter. Many disappeared into the trails for the Malayan Banded-Pitta hunt. For occasional birders like me, any new species would elicit jaw dropping moments while the heart would miss a beat. Bins up and the eye and mind would race to savour all the details while many of my fellow birders would be capturing them with their trusty bazooka lens for posterity. Birding is holistic. Our senses are rejuvenated with the recalling of bird info, memories of past experiences, selfless sharing of sightings and bird knowledge amidst happy camaraderie. It's always such a treat to be learning from each other. The Sifus grooming the newer and less experienced crowd. I love forest birds. 9 years is a long time to revisit Bukit Rengit for me. This place holds fond memories of my many prized lifers then. Today is no less bountiful. Its treasure of birds species is still very impressive. The many beautiful malkohas, trogons, broadbills, barbets, woodpeckers, bulbuls, bee-eaters, flycatchers, flowerpeckers, babblers, hornbills, kingfishers, pigeons, cuckoos, needletails, drongos, starlings, parrots, spiderhunters, leafbirds and many others are thriving here.
Some are colourful and easily spotted if they decide to show up like the Scarlet-rumped Trogon, Scarlet-breasted Flowepecker, the Raffles's, Black-bellied, Red-billed and Chestnut-breasted Malkohas.
The smaller hyperactive ones like the warblers, babblers, flycatchers and sunbirds make photographing and training our bins a constant challenge. Nevertheless, they hone our skills and reward our patience. Collectively the team had sighted and heard 87 species of forest birds, the male and female Malayan Blue Flycatchers being the star sighting to close the event.
Generous coffee, cakes and snacks from Low's mobile kopitiam to unwind and consolidated bird list were shared before we bade sayonara. Gracias to all, especially the SBBG committee for your commitment to Birding and MNS conservation efforts. Love the birds? Do our part, stand up for them to check poaching, deforestation and over development. Only when you love will you protect. Let that be our takeaway legacy besides our lifer lists. Looking forward to the next wake-up call at 4am!
