Previously Held Events

The Melawati Hill - Raptor Migration Watch on 6-7 October had a good turn out and was more successful, where over 50 people participated. Some who attended the migration event included staff from WWF-Malaysia, Malaysian Nature Society's (MNS) bird group members and HSBC Bank Malaysia 'Green Brigade' members, (who attended on their personal accord) residents of Taman Melawati (Melawati housing estate) , and members of the public. HSBC Bank's Green Brigade volunteers also carried out a clean-up of the hill.

The raptor migration was a bit slow, due to the weather being very cloudy and with some rain in the north. As usual we can't expect raptors (and nature) to perform as we wish them to, but those who attended were quite thrilled to see raptor migration for the first time. Some of the MNS birders spotted a 'Tweeddale' morph of the Oriental Honey-buzzard, a presumed resident race of the OHB, on the hill.

Again, our gratitude goes out to all individuals who participated in this event and the sponsor of Zeiss and Omicron binoculars and spotting scopes; Trifid OpticalSupplies http://www.trifid-optics.com.

Here are the results of the raptor counts on 6-7 Oct. 2007:

• 6 ^th Oct. 2007 from 11.00 to 15.00 hours (Total raptors counted = 73)
  
  1. Oriental Honey-buzzard = 20
  2. Chinese Sparrowhawk = 53
• 7 ^th Oct. 2007 from 11.00 to 15.00 hours (Total raptors counted = 37)
  
  1. Oriental Honey-buzzard = 23
  2. Chinese Sparrowhawk = 8
  3. Unidentified sparrowhawks = 6

On 6 Oct. after a heavy thunderstorm at the area from 1400-1500 hr, more Oriental Honey-buzzards and Chinese Sparrowhawks migrated through from 1500 hr, than in the morning. We hope to have a similar raptor migration event during the spring, next year if the hill is saved.