Sunday, March 14, 2010

Raptor Watch Tanjung Tuan Melaka 12 March 2010

Friday 645am
We headed to Tanjung Tuan Forest Reserve for "raptor watch" and nature walk. It was a relax journey with clear traffic. It took approx 2 hours to arrive at the entrance of Tanjung Tuan, by NSE, exited at Seremban/PD. Turn right at traffic light after toll. Follow the sign to PD highway. After the final toll, go straight till you reach roundabout, take first left exit. There is "Teluk Kemang/Rumah Api Tanjung Tuan" signboard. Head down to the trunk road till you see Thistle Hotel on your right and you should see a signboard of Hutan Simpanan Tanjung Tuan on your left. Shortly after, you see  Rachardo Army Camp on your right. You need to turn right into a small road before the Rachardo Army Camp. Go straight to the end and you will see Tanjung Tuan Forest Reserve entrance. Park outside of Ilham Resort which is next to the Tanjung Tuan entrance. Entrance is free as well.

Entrance of Tanjung Tuan Forest Reserve.

 Follow the walking path up the hill from entrance and you will reach the light house at the end. Along the way,  you will find variety of flora and fauna, long tail macaque, dusky leaf monkey and variety of birds.



Left- En with unique twig that came with a twirly stem.
 Right- Hui found a thick heavy stick & she pointed to where the stick dropped from .

Left- thorny twig. Right- timber  that is broad, tall and stunning!

Left- En was happy with her newfound-tree branches. Right-Beautiful nipah.



Left- Resting. Right- A fresh bird poo dropped right in front of us!

Left-En found a tiny green fruit. Right-They searched for more.
When you see this sign, turn left, lead you to a scenic pristine beach. Go straight lead you to lighthouse at the top of hill.  At the lighthouse, there are another 2 trails that lead you back to the beach.

Clean beach and sea in PD!
Tanjung Tuan is one of the last remaining undeveloped beaches along the coast of Port Dickson

Shells collected from Tanjung Tuan beach.
Left-Long tail macaque. Right-climb 72 steps to stunning light house.


Left- EnHui were excited gathering palm fruit. Right- dusky leaf monkeys

Left- Palm fruits of EnHui's collection. Right- stunning lighthouse.

Left- Walk beside the lighthouse led us to the other side, ie Monkey Bay view -Right.
It's magnificient view of the straits of Malacca! :)

Between mid Feb to mid April, raptors (migratory bird of prey) will be fying over the straits of Malacca back to their breeding grounds in northern hemisphere. At Tanjung Tuan, they will be flying low making it possible to have a good view of the magnificient bird. It also provides food for the raptor as well as resting spot. The best time to catch them is between 11am to 3pm where the weather is hot and serves as a thermal for the raptor to glide over the sky without using energy to flap its wing. We saw lots of pacific swift  flying low and right in front of us. ! We spotted green turtle surfacing frequently and dived into sea.


Right- a resident eagle flying in the sky and the camera lens belong to the MNS(Malaysian Nature Society) people.

When we arrived at 930am, the MNS people started to set up huge umbrella, cameras etc to begin their day work at counting the number of raptors that fly over. They started counting in mid Feb.. and till 12 Mar, there are over 29,000 raptors has crossed the straits of Malacca.

At around 1130am, the raptors were spotted at 4th mile flying high in the sky. While waiting,

Left- Brunch. Right- Hui showed what she found.

Left- a black ant carried the crumb home. Right- Hui scooped sand.
Right- En learnt to use the telescope on her own. Right- En trailed the ant home.
Left- En & dad weaved. Right- En found a small coconut.
At 2pm, EnHui 's patience was wearing thin. We decided to head downhill .. and we saw over 20 raptors circling in the sky. They flapped their wings and glide in the sky.


Left- En in deep thought. Right- tyre swing.. wheeee!

Left- Hui on the tyre swing. Bottom- En dare to climb up the tree.

1 comment:

Jack Ng said...

i love this trip. it was a short perfect getaway. I am glad I took leave on that day. the walk up the light-house was relaxing. the hike down the beach through the forest was fantastic. the hotel was great. the pool was great. the food was not bad, even the dinner (did not expect that totally). the children were super fun to be with and you were exceptional in making all these possible.