Birds Around Me
Recently I had the pleasure of joining my three kids take part in a Junior Wetland Discovery workshop; “Birds Around Me”, at Kota Kinabalu Wetland Centre. I had such a fun morning with my boys, who were joined by another 10 kids at one of our favourite outdoor adventure spots in KK for this course.
The little explorers Heading into the mangrove
The workshop was a combination of classroom and outdoor activities led by Environmental Education Officer Ms. Recheal Ronnie, who works at the wetland centre. The kids learned about the resident birds of the wetlands and were briefed on birding etiquette, before setting out exploring the mangroves. Rule number 1: “When sighting a bird refrain from bellowing. Try silently pointing or saying the bird’s name in a modulated voice.”
Hhmm…fingers crossed my kids are paying attention! I thought to myself. I am always surprised at the abundance of wildlife we encounter on our walks in nature, given the noise level with which my children inevitably greet it. If there is a chance they can learn to tone it down a bit, I have tried and failed, I shall be very pleased.
Kota Kinabalu Wetland Centre An easy walk in the wetlands Identifying birds along the way
Lesson number two was on how to point out birds to fellow twitchers using the clock method and how to identify birds from shape; size; flight pattern; behaviour; field marks; colour and voice. A valuable lesson I noted down for future reference.
Before setting out on the walk, the kids learned how to use and adjust binoculars and they were not many footsteps into the wetland walk before they made full use of these, as they spotted a group of long-tailed macaques scavenging coconuts and fallen fruit from the forest floor.
The kids quickly spotted wildlife spotting egrets mother and baby macaque Long tailed macaque eating coconut
The walk around the wetlands was easy as there was a wooden boardwalk all the way to the bird hide. We saw and heard many different birds on the way, such as Great Egrets, Intermediate Egrets, Kingfishers, the Migratory Golden Plover and two Purple Herons. The guides brought along bird books and printed worksheets with photos of birds, which the kids could study, compare and tick off the list, when we stopped at the bird-hide to enjoy the view and the wildlife. It was also a perfect spot and time for a water and snack break.
Birds and macaques were not the only wildlife we were lucky to encounter amongst the mangrove trees. The kids spotted a small horseshoe crab – these “armoured” critters, often referred to as “living fossils” because they have been around in some form for more than 450 million years, are unfortunately a rare find today as their numbers have greatly reduced. On the boardwalk near the bird-hide, the kids spotted snakeskin – possibly from a dog-faced snake, which is a resident of the wetlands and although venomous to its prey, it is harmless to us humans (or so I was told on a previous visit). We spotted fiddler crabs, mud crabs, mudskippers, mangrove Big Jaw Spiders and many other insects as well.
So many egrets Egret in flight
Spiderweb glistening in the sunshine Snakeskin spotted along the board walk
We walked back to the classroom after the bird-hide visit where the kids had a lunch break and then it was time to get creative, all for the love of birds. They made up-cycled bird feeders from plastic bottles and were each given a bag of seeds to get started. They also made some lovely decorative kites from large art card, bird stencils, which they were encouraged to colour and decorate with messages for migratory birds. A lovely idea, which the kids embraced fully and we now have bird feeders hanging in our mango tree in full view from our kitchen window. I imagine a few balconies around Kota Kinabalu now also double as tropical bird feeding stations.
Birds Around me Up-cycling plastic bottles for birdfeeders
One boy wrote a kind message to the migratory birdson his kite
Making kites Decorating stencils
The Junior Wetland Discovery workshops are organised by the Kota Kinabalu Wetland Centre once a month. They are targeted 7 to 12 year olds and each workshop will focus on a new topic. Last December the kids learned about Botany and next workshop, which will take place on 15th February 2020, will focus on “Mangrove Marine”.
You can contact the wetland centre on tel: +6- 88-246 955 for more details and sign your kids (and yourself) up for the workshop. We brought our own lunch, snacks and water and paid RM40 per child for the workshop. For accompanying adults, they charged RM18 (without lunch). The workshop started at 9am, finished 1.30pm and was well worth it. In fact, we shall be sure to sign up for the next course.
Most of the kids were from the same school and being with friends they knew, not surprisingly, made it even more fun and will be a good incentive for bringing them back for more educational Saturday mornings there.
I really recommend visiting the wetland centre regardless of the workshop. It is such a wonderful, hidden gem in the heart of Kota Kinabalu and a surprisingly easy and accessibly walk in a tropical forest. Aside from wildlife there are also several Geocaches hidden along the trail for other outdoor treasure hunters like us to discover, which get good reviews.
There is also a visitor centre showcasing some really good infographics about wetland water resources; how much we depend on these and why it is important to protect them. Visiting the centre is a great way to support the conservation work taking place in and around this lovely mangrove forest and if not for your own sake, visit it for your kids and in support of healthy waterways and wetland-ecosystem in their future.
