Tanjung Tuan Forest Reserve Main Entrance Down south in Malacca State, Tanjung Tuan Forest Reserve offers a unique birding experience. From February to April each year, raptors such as crested honey buzzard, black baza, Japanese sparrowhawk, Chinese goshawk and grey-faced buzzard swoop and soar in the skies of this forest reserve. After having spent the Northern Hemisphere winter in Indonesia, they return northward but make a stopover here as this is where the Straits of Malacca is narrowest.
Black Baza (Raptor)Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) organized yearly event/festival called Raptor Watch (RW). at Tanjung Tuan Forest Reserve. The event/festival is to celebrate the return of the migratory birds of prey or better known as raptors on their journey back to their breeding grounds in the northern hemisphere. RW is a public event meant to raise awareness on the conservation of raptors and their habitats.RW is held annually on the first weekend of March. For the year 2010 the event is held on March 13 & 14 (Saturday & Sunday).
The 93 hectares of Tanjung Tuan Forest Reserve covers a promontory that juts into the Straits of Malacca, and includes its offshore areas. Visitors may also chance upon civets, dusky leaf monkeys, squirrels and monitor lizards moving stealthily in the lowland dipterocarp and Seraya forests. On a clear day, feast in the panoramic view of Pulau Rupat in the horizon, only 38 km away in Indonesia.One of the main objectives of RW is to ensure the continued conservation of Tanjung Tuan Forest Reserve by promoting RW as a national eco-tourism event.
During the spring migration, thousands of raptors can be seen flying across the Straits of Malacca. Having to use massive amount of energy flying across the Straits of Malacca, the raptors will be flying low at the event site making it possible to have a good view of these magnificent birds.
Tanjung Tuan has been listed as an important raptor site by BirdLife International, National Geographic Society and Hawkmountain.
Tanjung Tuan Lighthouse Tanjung Tuan Malaysia's oldest lighthouse - originally constructed by the Portuguese -- also stands at Tanjung Tuan, and was rebuilt by the British in 1821. In the waters off the promontory, the shipwrecks of ancient Portuguese and Dutch ships recall the fierce battles fought between these colonialists for control of Malacca. According to legend, Parameswara, the founder of Malacca, was buried at the summit of Tanjung Tuan, and that Hang Tuah, a legendary warrior, left his footprint in a rock somewhere in the reserve. To get to Tanjung Tuan, take a 15-kilometre drive south of Port Dickson along the coastal road.
copyright: http://www.raptorwatch.org/about.htm
photo (black baza) copyright : Anand arya
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