Wildlife Photography - Dolphins at Salak River

These images were taken by Ch’ien Lee, a professional photographer, who joined us for Saturday’s dolphin watching trip. Ch’ien Lee specialises in photographing rare plants and animals from the tropical rainforests of Borneo, Sumatra, New Guinea, and other locations in Southeast Asia. Check out Ch’ien Lee’s site at http://www.wildborneo.com.my/ for some excellent images of rare plants and wildlife from around Southeast Asian, including a range of photos from Sarawak.

Dolphins & Happy Paddlers

This morning a group of us went out to the Salak River and had a wonderful interaction with a few groups of Irrawaddy dolphins. The dolphins seemed to be everywhere and I did not know which way to turn and point my camera.

And four happy paddlers were also there, grinning from ear to ear! Hope you enjoyed the day as much as we did Francis.

Pulau Tukong Ara - Bird Rock

Pulau Tukong Ara is a rocky outcrop located in the Santubong Bay, close to Satang Island. It was gazetted as a wildlife sanctuary in 1985 but later incorporated into the Talang-Satang National Park when this was created in 1999. The reason why the rock is protected is because it is inhabited by a breeding colony of Bridled Terns & Black Naped Terns.

A group of us went out there last week. I occasionally head out to the waters around Satang to see if there are any Bottlenose dolphins around. I haven’t been to Tukong Ara for a few years so was keen to have another look.

Whilst the terns were interesting, I was fascinated by the Pacific Reef Egrets that also make the rock their home. It is common to see various species of white coloured egrets all around the Kuching area. For a non-birder like me egrets are white. So when I first caught sight of two beautiful birds perched on Tukong Ara that looked like egrets but had a grey plumage I was a tad confused. Thankfully, a keen birder was part of our group and explained that it was a Pacific Reef Egret.

Birding in Malaysia is great resource on Sarawak's birdlife. And for some good shots of the Pacific Reef Egret check out Oriental Bird Images.

Categories: Sightings & Trip Reports_