Interesting Bird Sightings
Purple Heron Ardea purpurea
Hoe Eng Seng has reported the
sighting of a juvenile Purple Heron on 26 September 1999 near the Bayan Lepas Airport
perimeter fence. A single immature was present and seen and other birdwatchers have
confirmed sighting the bird at the same location a few days later. This is the first
reported record of this species for Penang Island.
A photo of Purple Heron by Laurence Poh
Little Grebe Podiceps ruficollis
Kanda Kumar reported a pair of
adult Little Grebe on 2 October 1999 at the stagnant pool of the Batu Uban coastal
reclamation area near the Penang Bridge. This area has long been left to be
overgrown with scrub vegetation and also mangrove vegetation. The grebes are
normally freshwater birds but the pool in this case could be brackish as this was at one
time an inlet from the sea. The two grebes would most likely be passage migrants on
their way south. This is a first record for the whole of Penang State. Other
birdwatchers in late November have recorded chicks and additional adult birds.
Some notes on Little Grebe in Penang
A photo of Little Grebe by Laurence Poh
see also sighting reports for April 1999 / July 1999 / September 1999 /
