Of birdwatching and hammocks

Situated about 10 km from Kota Tinggi town, 41 km north of Johor Bharu is the Johor Bahru Panti Bird Sanctuary which is famous for wild orchids and birds.

Extract from Panti Bird Sanctuary website

Panti Bird Sanctuary (formerly known as Panti Forest Reserve) is located in southern Johor, at the headwaters of Sungai Johor, Linggiu and Ulu Sedili.

The 10,879 ha of reserve is comprised of lowland dipterocarp forest, hill forest up to 654 m for Gunung Muntahak and Gunung Sumalayang, montane ericaceous forest on the western peak of Gunung Panti (highest peak in the south of Peninsular Malaysia) and peat swamps along the rivers.

Panti Bird Sanctuary is classified as an Important Bird Areas and was gazetted in 1929 as a forest reserve, but there was logging activities in the early 1970s and ceased later.

The remaining primary forests are now confined to the foothills of the mountains. The reserve is still under threats from sand quarrying and clearance of the reserve land for oil palm cultivation.

Setting up hammocks

President of Malaysia Nature Society (MNS) Johor Prof Maketab and his colleague Hamid showed about 30 members of the Malaysia Nature Society from Johor recently the methods of setting up a hammock within 20 minutes which cost only RM90.00 a set and is able to hold about 100kg.

Over 300 species of birds have been recorded in Panti Bird Sanctuary so far. It is a place for  the hobby of  bird-watching and photographing .

Sia Chwee  Khim, a retired teacher has shared with MNS members and friends tips of bird-watching.

Panti Bird Sanctuary is famous for wild orchids and birds. Over 250 species of birds have been recorded so far with several Sunda endemics and globally threatened species. That is why it is one of the regular birding spot in the south, and is also popular with Singapore birders due to its proximity.

Some of the highly sought after species are Chestnut-necklaced Partridge, Crestless Fireback, Storm’s Stork, Wallace’s Hawk-eagle, Short-toed Coucal, Straw-headed Bulbul, Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher, Grey-chested Jungle Flycatcher, Scarlet-breasted Flowepecker and Rail Babbler.