Sadly, most areas of swamp forest remaining in the Kuantan area are badly degraded. The most interesting area ornithologically was a fragment I named Sungai Pancing Selatan, which could be reached down about 5km of logging track. Here I saw and heard a few birds of note - Blue-winged Pitta, Red-throated Sunbird, etc, and a longer visit would have turned up more birds. However, most of the area had been or was in the process of being cleared.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifayqwMaNTbFzz_UsFwsqpKdFdL7WswwsDUK5iA-Xp8Mpd67KpPqGnXsWEf8JCJ90dkECnjEdvwd3BRCICQCeunph-x-GVE_L5GSOpybmQ0L0GHhj96JfzlEuI1nT_pQw098d_/s400/Peat+swamp+clearance,+Kuantan_210710_IMG_2440.jpg)
To log swamp forest, first you have to drain it. Drainage canals could be seen in several places slicing through the forest.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwJmv-kH_G2ZA8w61ljiiD9sFayI2oEjpo0ExkL2T6xRL-Zxv-AMMJwOqdDSYZlkE3jqHB2x-ElcPCeSGFC5d40RUsn-uJU4vD7EvMotQ3MEEC0TL_7jI-xlTKASrpOVNAfEqy/s400/Peat+swamp+clearance,+Kuantan_210710_IMG_2423.jpg)
This was the fragment I tried birding in, not more than an island of forest.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJEf07VF0APrCMHmdh7OODJyaSrVU3mX6ylQ4DCCGJu-7tjXlXh8V8wLc1llnDCKDDf8yuSgp531dVFcKd1hJV_XQaMUOE-L1iDWQw8wk1dS1E29raEhmETwdNEtkGVa4F5too/s400/Peat+swamp+clearance,+Kuantan_210710_IMG_2422.jpg)
All around, clearance was progressing and with it, how many tons of carbon are being released into the atmosphere?
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiouxoS2YPe4QfwMgsPzMWRscpr92Q9HiDGjtvV2E8NHAnApV4cUIyNoA_VpkI-ZRKxSenjIdgUGXDl-_K5dZN3wImImQS-2BcvkcdDqWD3y5Sha5CKrFLU-hIZ5PucBVaJeY7g/s400/Peat+swamp+clearance,+Kuantan_210710_IMG_2419.jpg)
According to a local man I spoke to, the forest is being cleared for oil palm. Most likely this is a smallholder rather than a large company. There is so little swamp forest left in Peninsular Malaysia, it's tragic to see what little there is being whittled away.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwIrVvQeV1K3vDa1VB0xg-d4dMW79xnYS2LNpChS-9YkoaZ_ZkhF3ZVHWaTHrHTzHd9UGhjnG_RPN7CobUJFj9S4kp0jTTp5RYregj-3fjjviNkrSbDLUH80RcvoUro2TAJg8-/s400/Peat+swamp+drainage,+Kuantan_210710_IMG_2421.jpg)
Lowering the water table to make the land more suitable for agriculture will likely also increase the fire risk greatly.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUkCnNJylyjQdj0y-DGMfvCCWVxRC6_9smXi2pjpEL-ASS1J7NWFv5o02YT3c-J4s2l1e97uDghQzbIKGeNaMjZo471H3CU9xExFtV2_JbsBoyQ6WBBdHghlHlXR0Bcx8FURHP/s400/Common+Myna_Sg+Isap+estate,+Kuantan_210710_IMG_2464.jpg)
Elsewhere I came across this bald-headed Common Myna. You can tell when you've become known as the local 'bird-person' in your community, because sooner or later someone will come up to you and say "I saw this funny bird with a yellow head the other day, and it looked like a vulture!" Common Mynas with few feathers or no feathering on their head are a common enough phenomenon, though no one knows for sure what causes it, whether it's part of their normal moult strategy or disease of some kind.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin8CU9sUbGy92zOlYxSySgL88T_yLwBBZB3g58pNu-FLW7g6Ev2MrI4EwCTdHSCMxWC5VtBRv341jjzPd7ELlWP8L0DLk5yN10nCUCBDhPEPx0vWv9WcmqI8UiJmh-XQvDk4sU/s400/Common+Myna_Sg+Isap+estate,+Kuantan_210710_IMG_2461.jpg)
Without the covering of feathers, it's quite easy to see the ear opening, behind and below the eye. Handsome fellow eh?!
1 comment:
Hi Dave,
You shld travel a little further than Kuantan and see for yourself the deforestration of land towards KT. There are vast palm oil plantations. But then again some people say in a mature plantation, one can see loads more mammals and birds esp civets, owls, & parrots? As for the common mynah, it has become quite a common occuring phenomena but hope its not some kind of unknown disease.
Rgds
Ronnie
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