BIRD WATCHING

Date of Experience	14th November 2010
Venue Experience	Wasan Paddy field
Purpose of Experience	To know types of bird that found in Brunei.
What was the highlight of the experience? The highlight was to see different types of bird that found in Wasan paddy field.
What aspect of the experience caused you the most anxiety? Some of people didn’t like to experience themself in bird watching. This is because of difficult to find the bird and its need time to see it appear/ emerge. Nowadays, people just can see it easily at Tamu Kianggeh (selling birds) or in TV. But when you experience it by yourself, you will feel it different. You will try to closer the bird and curious to know the name. With the help of some expert people from Brunei Museum, there were no problems for us to recognize the bird.
Was there any aspect of the experience that surprised you? There were many different types of bird found at Wasan paddy field such as pacific swallow, little egret, common sandpiper, pipit Labuan, plumed egret, cattle egret, wood sandpiper and wondering whistling duck. I thought that egret had one type of species only but surprisingly there were many species of it found with different characteristic and name. For example like great egret, little egret and plumed egret. These birds were different in colour of beak and leg. Also different in height. With these different appearances, it helps us to recognize easily the types of bird. Before we went home, I saw many birds were in the mud of paddy field. Surprisingly, even the farmer doing his work with his noisy machine, the birds were still at their place and didn’t fly away.
What were the three most important things you learnt from the experience? To identify the bird, we have to see the colour and the height of the bird. If you want to see the bird, try not to use bright colour clothes. This is because bird will feel themself in danger and could make them fly away. The better clothe is by wearing less bright colour clothes or like farmer clothe, so that you can have a chance to see the bird closely as they didn’t realise you.   The best way to see the bird is by using DSLR camera. This is because camera can capture a picture of bird rather than using binocular. Also if you are using camera, you can play it back and zoom in to the part you want. Moreover, you wouldn’t miss the bird even if it is flying faster on the sky. This also depends on the zoom in and the quality of the camera. If you have high megapixel and zoom in, then you will have a good picture of bird.
Which aspects would you include in your future behaviour based on your learning from this experience? I will try to encourage other people to experience in bird watching and make them love animal that lives in this world especially birds. As we know that in this few years, many birds were suffered died because of viruses. I think we have to save and protect birds before it become extinct.