Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Birding Trip to Bukit Melawati and Taman Alam Kuala Selangor

As the morning traffic towards Kuala Lumpur is usually terrible during weekdays, I decided to travel to Kuala Selangor instead for my birding activity this morning. It took me around 46 minutes for a 41KM drive. Initially I decided to go Hulu Langat, but it's 74KM and more than an hour away due to moring rush hour. I will save that for another day. 😄

Driving to Kuala Selangor is a breeze. There is not much traffic as most people are headed to the opposite direction or they are just transporting within the small towns along the way.

Upon reaching Bukit Melawati, I saw a couple of cars and a few joggers near the lighthouse at the top of the hill.


Bukit Melawati Lighthouse.
Bukit Melawati Lighthouse. © Edward Chen

Lighthouse
© Edward Chen

First bird I noticed was the myna resting atop a nearby tree. Swiflets were flying here and there. No monkey in sight yet.



myna
Myna. © Edward Chen

Then I found other birds, such as these juvenile Asian Glossy Starlings in numbers on the trees as well.

juvenile Asian Glossy Starlings
Juvenile Glossy Starling. © Edward Chen

juvenile Asian Glossy Starlings
Juvenile Glossy Starling. © Edward Chen

juvenile Asian Glossy Starlings
Juvenile Glossy Starling. © Edward Chen

Something colourful flew past and stopped in one of trees. It's a blue-tailed bee-eater. There were at least two of them in the area.

Blue-tailed Bee-eater. © Edward Chen

Blue-tailed Bee-eater
Blue-tailed Bee-eater. © Edward Chen

While taking photos of the blue-tailed bee-eaters, I noticed the monkeys ascending to the hills towards the lighthouse.


Long-tailed Macaques, baby hugging
Long-tailed Macaques. © Edward Chen

One monkey was seen eating yellow flowers/seeds on one of the nearby trees.

Long-tailed Macaque eating flower
Long-tailed Macaque. © Edward Chen

I couldn't spot another bird along the way downhill but a few Eurasian Tree Sparrows and this Peaceful Dove. So I decided to head to Taman Alam next.

Peace Dove
Peace Dove. © Edward Chen

Taman Alam Kuala Selangor is located just below Bukit Melawati.

Entrance to Taman Alam. © Edward Chen

Taman Alam Kuala Selangor Visitor Centre
Visitor Centre. © Edward Chen
Taman Alam trail
Trail towards the bridge. © Edward Chen

There are also lots of monkeys at the Taman Alam.

Long-tailed Macaque
Long-tailed Macaque guarding the bridge. © Edward Chen

Fish is abundance in the river.

© Edward Chen

I crossed the bridge guarded by the monkeys and went to the first observation tower. The tower basically overseas the mangrove forest. There are a total of 3 observation towers.

Taman Alam Kuala Selangor observation tower view
View from the first observation tower. © Edward Chen


Below are some of the birds and animals captured in photos.

Yellow-vented Bul-bul. © Edward Chen

Silverleaf Monkey. © Edward Chen

Little Blue Heron. © Edward Chen

Mud skipper. © Edward Chen

Silverleaf Monkeys. © Edward Chen

Great Egret. © Edward Chen


Yellow-vented Bul-bul chatting with another bird. © Edward Chen

Common Iora
Common Iora. © Edward Chen

Bald-headed Stork
Burung Botak. © Edward Chen

Little Green Pigeon
Punai Daun. © Edward Chen

© Edward Chen

Biawak Batik
Biawak Batik. © Edward Chen

© Edward Chen
I was later joined by a group from Kolej PERHEBAT (Perbadanan Hal Ehwal Bekas Angkatan Tentera). They were there on one of their nature studies outing. I was lucky to be there to learn a few things from the group.

What do you think?


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