Birding brings me places

Scarlet-rumped Trogon or "Kesumba Puteri" (Malay)

My love affair with birds started sometime in 1985 when I established a huge aviary at my house lot in Kampung Baru, Bintulu.  The aviary among other things housed one Grey Heron, White-bellied Sea Eagle and Buffy Fish Owl.  At that point of time, my interest in birding was handicapped by a dire lack of books on birding. To make up for this deficiency  I made it a point to buy any book on birds that crosses my path when I go traveling out station.  I have this peculiar habit of buying a book every time  I go to Kuala Lumpur, Kuching or Singapore and would jot down the date, place and purpose  of travel.  The first serious book I bought was entitled “ Handbook of Lovebirds” by Horst Bielfeld in 1985.  

The list of other books and detailed jottings are below:-

Book on Birds bought

Year of travel/Author/Book title/ Inside notes

1985

Horst Bielfeld, “Handbook of Lovebirds”/ (11/8/85, Hotel Merlin,K.L.,Room 651,Corporate Planning)

Nancy A. Brudgam, “Training Caged Birds”/ (11/8/85, Hotel Merlin,K.L.,Room 651,Corporate Planning)

1988

Bertram E. Smythies, “The Birds of Borneo”/ (26/7/88, 738, Kim San garden, Kpg Baru, Bintulu)

Richard Mark Martin, “Cage and Aviary Birds”/ (29/10/88, Regent Hotel,Kuala Lumpur.Room 111)

1990

Clive Roots, “Tropical Birds”/ (9/10/90, BPA Tender Committee Meeting, Pan Pacific,KL.)

David Filderton, “A Birdkeeper’s Guide to Breeding Birds”/ (25/6/90,Holiday Inn,Kuching,Room 730)

Ian Gray, “Birds of Prey” (/ 9/10/90, Bintulu Port Authority Tender Meeting)

Lesley Layton, “Parrots as Pets”/ (20/10/90, Kuching Airport)

1991

G.W.H. Davison, Karen Philips & Alias Kamis, “Pengenalan Burung-Burung Malaysia”/ (20/6/91, Lawatan ke RTM,K.L.)

M.D. England O.B.E, “Birds of the Tropics”/ (2/3/91,Kuching, Meeting with Dick Cotter,Similajau Phase 2 Development)

Mitchell Beazley Publishers, “The World Atlas of Birds”/ (22/1/91, As gift from Adenan Satem, received by post)

Roger Tory Peterson,”How to Know the Birds”/ (27/4/91, FAS AGM – 1991, Kuching)

2000

Morton Strange, “Birds of South East Asia”/ (22-24/3/2000,58^th Floor, Petronas Tower, visit Projass (Matnor Hamid) & Hj. Nasruddin, Muci & Mona)

2011

Stephen Moss, “How to Birdwatch”/ (15/8/11,Popular Bookstore, Kuching, Clearance Sale)

2013

Wong Tsu Shi, “Birds of Borneo”/ (5/11/13, 45thtrip to Kuching, Hav Paws Will Travell)

In the 1990’s I was passionate about implementing my pet project called  the Bintulu Wildlife Park.  One of the real challenge the project posed was the importation of flamingoes from Tanzania.  This once in a life time experience can be glimpsed in a blog post I published sometime ago and can be accessed  here ...>>>>http://mysarawak2.blogspot.my/2014/09/once-there-was-pond.html

In the early 21^st century, I started to develop my very own private nature park in Bintulu called the Kambatik Park.  My idea was to build the park as a wildlife sanctuary where I could enjoy birdwatching peacefully and in my own time.  In order to share the stories of my encounters with the birds in the park and other places in Sarawak, I set up a blog called “My Birding Sarawak”.  Birding now becomes a hobby that sustains my interest in photography, nature and wildlife.

  

My birdwatching experiences has brought me to faraway places in Sarawak and out of Sarawak to hunt for birding books.  Overtime, I have grown wiser from just keeping them in cages to enjoying them in real-life settings.

Happy Malaysia Day, Sarawak. 


  ( This is the third of a series of  articles as my writing contribution on what Malaysia Day means to me as a Sarawakian 2017)