Bukit Lanjan Birding Sites

Bukit Lanjan, by now is almost in the midst of affluence PJ, is the highest lone peak in the Klang Valley. There is winding road of 2.9 kilometer long on the south slope serving the Telecom. With new Celcom tower, there are twin towers at the peak. Most of the hill's gradual southern slope is of monoculture, rubber trees. On the steep eastern and western slope, durian trees. There is a small patch of pristine tropical forest at the peak.

The trigonometry station is set at 333 meters as compared to this point at the sign board. As the sign says and the future plan at the developers site office shows that the whole hill is earmarked as building lots for bungalow. The developer had completed theirs.

The road leading to the Telecom towers is an public access road. There are now 2 guard houses built. With a 4X4, so far I had not experienced any difficulties

A signage at the top of the hill.

Prior to the development of this hill, this mountain despite of limit diversity is still a worthwhile destination. For example, at this summit, each morning we were sure of the presence of the Black-tighed Falconet preying on the night insects attracted by the night's lightings.

Lower down the slope, the predominant residents were Stripe-throated and Olive-winged Bulbuls. Among the crowd, there will be a few Yellow-vented and Black-headed. The other residents were a family of Hill Mynas and Golden-throated Barbet . I started listings and with the commencement of development, the efforts were meaningless.

The gate at the Telecom's building

At the summit, the perimeter fencing allows birder to get to an open area fronting a forest. This is one of the two refuges left to see birds in the wild. So far I only got to see the Shrike and Barbet

Perimeter fencing of Telecom Towers

Bukit Lanjan while cannot boast of a good range of birds, definitely was a good birding sites by shear numbers of birds available at most time.

With the traffic and clearing, this fact is now history. The number of migratory Tiger Shrike had being reduced to a mere 3/4 individuals and the Forest Wagtails hardly made their appearance. At the lower end, a trail goes into the western slope. Calls for the Bulbul still brings up hope. The Shamas are there. In the clearing where the bungalows are, the lone Crested Serpent Eagle and hordes of Starlings, White-shouldered with Philippines-glossy still perched on the naked branches.

Upper part of mountain in original state