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Author: Jay

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Introduction

Parit Jawa and Sungai Balang are two locations in West Malaysia which offers good opportunities for photographing a wide variety of bird species. While the area is considered a more rural part of West Malaysia and is unfamiliar to most tourists, avian photographers and birders have long discovered the potential that these two locations have to offer.

Blue Throated Bee Eater

Parit Jawa

Parit Jawa is a small town on the west coast of Malaysia in the State of Johor with a fishing village by the coast. Although the area is small, it has a peaceful rural charm about it with old fishing boats, simple seafood restaurants and old chinese temples. The coastal mudflats which can be easily seen along the jetty area is a good place for a variety of shorebirds as they congregate there during low tide to feed on the rich population of worms, crabs, shrimps and fishes etc. During the migratory season, besides resident species, one can also expect a wide range of migratory shorebirds such as waders and terns. In order to get closer to the waders and terns, it is a good idea to rent a boat and ask the boatman to go further out to sea for the Greater Crested Terns (which rarely come close to shore) and the waders feeding on the outer stretch of mudflats. Another species which is impossible to miss is the Lesser Adjutant, a large and rare species of the Stork family which hangs around the coastline feeding on fishes.

Lesser Adjutant

Greater Sand Plover

Sungai Balang

Sungai Balang is around 20-30 minutes drive away from Parit Jawa, located near Muar. The main area for birds is a vast piece of padi field. One can find a good variety of open country/freshwater swamp species such as bee-eaters, snipes, bitterns, herons, lapwings, shrikes, kingfishers and raptors. During migratory season, it is a great location to see a wide variety of raptors as it is a favourite stop-over point for many of them. One can easily spot a number of raptors flying high in the sky and sometimes even cruising low over the padi fields in search for preys. Among the raptors (local and migratory) sighted on a recent trip are Black Shouldered Kite, Black Kite, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Brahminy Kite, Pied Harrier, Eastern Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk and Greater Spotted Eagle.

Red Wattled Lapwing

A single trip to either location may not be enough for good shots of the wide range of species in the two locations and thus, it is recommended to stay at least 2-3 days in order to enjoy the full experience of photographing the birds there. Typically, the first day will be more of a recce trip to understand the available species, their favorite spots, ideal shooting spots and tide timings etc. It is only on the 2nd or 3rd day that one may get the better images with some planning and understanding. In the recent trip, we stayed at the Marina Lodge which is a small bungalow with basic comfortable rooms for rental. There is full air-conditioning, attached bathroom, towels and complimentary drinking water provided.

Greater Painted Snipe

Four of us stayed a total of 4 days 3 nights in the area and alternated between the two locations and Batu Gajah(another interesting padi field area near Malacca). I personally was overwhelmed by the great variety of birds there and had many lifers during the trip. Sungai Balang was the place which we visited the most (once per day) as it was extremely addictive to try and photograph the raptors there. By shooting from a car, we could get very close to species such as the bee-eaters, shrikes, lapwings and even Black Shouldered Kites. However, the other species of raptors tend to be more elusive and proved to be more of a challenge to get near for a good shot. It was a truly enjoyable experience and I am looking forward to visit there again in the future.
Photographs and article are copyright of Jay