Well, the first public raptor watch is over and I want, on behalf of the Bird Conservation Council, to say thank you to everyone who came to Tg. Tuan. And to say how impressed I was – by the spirit of volunteerism, by the good spirits, by the enthusiasm, by the hard work. MNS bird-watching members came from everywhere – Selangor and Melaka-Negri branches were there in force, there were even people from JB, Penang and Sabah branches. (Someone was heard to remark that it was better than a Branch Get-together!) Staff members from Headquarters helped out or offered moral support by their presence. Birders from Singapore Nature Society turned up in support ¾ but surely it was the Perak Branch birders who must take the honours. They took time off work, they supplied free accommodation to volunteers (Thanks Phaik Imm and Ooi Beng Yean), they worked and
networked, captured the migration on video, transported people, counted raptors, filmed both birds and people. And then, not last and certainly not least, there were the two main organisers Lim Kim Chye (our MNS Ornithological Officer) and Lim Aun Tiah (Selangor Branch Bird Group Coordinator) and their long-suffering and labouring spouses Swee Yean and Siew Ping …and without the four of them I doubt if there ever could have been a raptor watch, let alone such a successful one.

As a result of all the work from everyone I believe there are now 26 new MNS members, signed up on the spot, and a number of others who took the membership forms away with them; and that there were over RM3,000 in sales. Unfortunately the weather on Saturday and Sunday was not as co-operative as it could have been, with a subsequent drop in migratory arrivals, but Friday was a spectacular day with some 1,800 Crested Honey Buzzards and other species making landfall. In addition, there were some very co-operative local birds. Who will forget that Brown-capped Wood-pecker who could be relied upon to entertain visitors to the stand on cue; there were a whole lot of schoolgirls who had an insight into the sex life of Black-thighed Falconets and, thanks to the MNS members who shared their scopes, many people saw the things that delight birders every day – the colour of Orioles or Kingfishers, the elegance of Bee-eaters, the soaring majesty of Sea-eagles.

And to every birder and nature lover out there who wasn't at Tg. Tuan, you don't know what you missed! This was a meeting of like-minded people, intent either on counting birds or getting the conservation message across; no one could have asked for better company, and nobody could have done a better job of showing the non-birding public what a love for nature is all about—and why. This was MNS at its best. I can't wait for next year's Raptor Watch Week...

Thanks to all of you, especially to those who helped but also to those who just came along.

Glenda Noramly
(Hon. Secretary, MNS Bird Conservation Council)