The Tanjung Tuan Raptor Watch, started by two friends of mine who had a dream, had its tenth anniversary this year. I have missed a couple – when I was in Sabah or overseas – but otherwise I am there every year.

And every year that I am, I get interviewed by Reuters.

I have no idea what happens to these interviews because I never see them turn up on TV, and have never had anyone say that they saw one. I suspect that they go into a comedy file labelled: “The Bird Lady flitters again!” or maybe “Year by Year Documentation of the Increasing Decreptitude of the Scrawny-necked Vulture”, or something equally unflattering.

You see, I usually spend much of my time standing in the sun showing school kids birds through a telescope, or counting raptors, or some equally unglamorous thing. I drip with sweat in tropical heat, I am without make up, I have a hat jammed on my head – and to wear the usually unflattering raptor watch Malaysian Nature Society T-shirt is de rigeur. Reality TV this might be, but honestly, watching skinny would-be models viciously vying for the opportunity to come back next week is loads more fun.

I rant a bit about conservation and birds and probably say exactly the same thing year after year. Do tell me if you ever see one of these clips.

Winter begins to close in on the north.
And down here, in Malaysia, we know.
We know because the birds start arriving…

Saturday I was one of the presenters at a raptor identification workshop. What better than to spend a day in the company of a group of maniac birders? Great fun for me, anyway. Probably utter confusion for some of the beginners.

Sunday we followed up with an early morning trip to Bagan Lalang, where we got to hang out on a bund (those are mangroves behind us) and watch the bypass of Oriental Honey Buzzards – a few hundred – and Chinese Goshawks, also a few hundred. And an Osprey for good measure. All as they travelled south through the Malay Peninsular, seeking warmer climes for the next few months.

Yes they came.
In fact we saw our first birds while still driving from our home in the Klang Valley to Port Dickson.
And they came in over the Ilham Resort in a steady stream until we left…
No matter how many times I see this, it never fails to move me. Never.
And to think they have another 10,000 kilometres (6,200 miles) and possibly several months to go before they arrive back to the place where they were born. Those who make it…
Some of them won’t.
Some will fall to people with guns.
Some will drown after falling into the sea with exhaustion.
Some will die as a result of starvation or storms – starvation because we humans think its good to have loads of kids and develop the world into a place where there is no room for wildlife.
Migration moves me. Every time.

Why don’t you have a look tomorrow?