Bedong, Kedah - a major raptor migration site in Peninsular Malaysia
2014
Tan, Choo Eng | Lim, Kim Chye | Lim, Kheng Hong
During the northern hemisphere autumn, one of the major routes taken by Far East Asian raptors migrating south is along coastal China into mainland South-east Asia and onwards to the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and beyond. The major “choke points” along this route are at the Isthmus of Kra, Thailand, where the Chumphon raptor watch site is located and at Tanjong Tuan, Melaka,which is the nearest distance between the land mass of Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra across theStraits of Malacca. Both sites are world renowned as raptor migration watch sites. Over the years birders have noted raptors thermalling over the Gurun – Sungai Petani area, Kedah, an area of plainsbordered on the west by Gunung Jerai and on the east by the Jeniang, Sik and Bukit Selambau hills. In autumn 2012 and 2013 volunteers from the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) counted and identifiedthe raptors migrating along this route from the district of Bedong, at a small hillock that gave good views of the plains below and all the way up to the summit of Gunung Jerai and northerly directiontowards Gurun and Jeniang. The monitoring started from the 4th week of September till the 1st week of November, covering approximately 6 weeks. In autumn 2012, a total of 64,268 raptors represented by 13 migratory raptor species and eight resident raptor species were counted. In autumn 2013, a total of 55,915 migratory raptors were counted. The range of raptor species observed is the higher than any raptor watch site in Peninsular Malaysia, and the total number of raptors counted is comparable to that of Tanjung Tuan, Melaka and Taiping, Perak. Any location with 10,000 raptors or more per season is considered as a significant raptor watch site.
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