After a hectic year chasing birds, culminating in 582 of 742 species seen, Dennis Yong reflects on his flight of fancy with SU MEI TOH, who finds out that even the best naturalist cannot see them all.

Written by Su Mei Toh on 12 Feb 2007 with 0 comments. Be the first!

Dennis Yong is busy getting his life back. Poring over his emails and faxes to plan his next bird tour, he trades repartees with Mano Tharmalingam in the next room, his partner at Kingfisher Tours, answers my questions with his typical self-deprecating good humour, and throws in a few anecdotes about what he's been up to in the last few months for good measure.

Relaxed, chatty and cheerful, it's clear that the pressures of 2006 no longer "prey on his mind" - a phrase he repeats throughout the interview. However, it has paid off: A brand new chapter in Malaysia's birding history is now sealed - Malaysia's first ever Big Bird Year.

Dennis, Malaysia's foremost self-taught natural historian had spent the whole of 2006 on the trail to view all 742 recorded bird species in Malaysia. His reason: just to be able to "give an answer to anyone who asks me how many birds can be seen in Malaysia in a year," as he said at the start of his quest. The answer, so far, is 582 birds, just 18 shy of his personal target of 600 species (see previous Big Bird Year features to find out why not all 742 species are likely to be found).

He also heard a dozen more but unfortunately, these won't be counted in his total due to his strict rules to sight them. "Other [Big Bird Year efforts] might count 'heard' birds too, but I set out to see them, which takes a lot more time." Those familiar with Dennis will know that he's got the sharpest ear in the business and is armed with an encyclopedic memory for birdcalls, so just listing 'heard' birds would not be the challenge he sought after.

However, it's been a good chase, says Dennis. "I am disappointed I didn't see 600, but I think I've done well. I know I could have seen more if there was more time, or if there weren't as many setbacks." At the start of the Big Bird Year, he had lost his binoculars (and endured a featherless fortnight before he received a replacement); had his car in the workshop more times than he cared; and he still had to conduct tours.

The last month was unsurprisingly hectic. Dennis tried to chase down his remnant birds come rain or shine - and as the monsoon season had set in, it was mostly rain. He was literally flying around: he flew to Sarawak for the first time, and also flew up and down Malaysia's highways. "I was in Sarawak, Langkawi, Perlis State Park, Fraser's Hill, Kuala Selangor. I wanted to go to Johor as well, but of course it was flooded."

To complete his Big Bird Year, he relied on his vast network of birder friends who fed him information on useful bird sightings. However, without a mobile phone or even a pager, he usually received news of sightings rather late. This meant he missed some birds, or had to retrace his car journeys multiple times.

As though to make up for all his troubles, the year ended on a sweet note. "My last bird was the Brahminy Starling. I was very surprised because it was a new record for Malaysia. And it's the only one of my lifers that I discovered by myself." He's seen five lifers altogether the past year (which are birds not seen before by a birder, therefore new to his 'life list'). Besides the Brahminy Starling, two others were also first records for Malaysia, the Small Buttonquail and the Hueglin's Gull.

After his manic year, what's next for our intrepid birder? "Do everything I could do before... go back to normal. Go fishing."

LOOKING BACK AT THE FIRST BIG BIRD YEAR

WA: What were your most difficult moments?

Birding by yourself can become a joyless task, it became like a rat race. It's the waiting alone for hours that prey on your mind. You're constantly torn: do I sit here for another three hours to wait to see if the bird turns up or go to another place? Your mind's telling you that maybe just down the road the bird will be there.

Usually I hear the bird first and identify it, but because I set myself to find it that's when it gets difficult. I had to fight the temptation to list something that I only heard.

Then there was all that driving. There's very little protected forest left, which means a lot of driving between them. I was sleeping in my car a lot, rain or shine. Just chasing birds, alone. It really needs two or three persons to do this, for the company on long car journeys.

WA: What were your best moments?

When I'm out birding with friends. And also seeing people out there birding, especially at odd hours - if I come across someone birding at 10 pm for example, I'd be very happy. It's just a joy to see people out there birdwatching. So I don't have a best "birding moment", people moments were more important.

WA: Do you think your record is breakable?

I reckon it can be beaten. If I do it again, I'd count the heard birds too. Basically if you want to do this well, to break the record, you can't hold a job. I was lucky to be able to piggyback my job as a bird guide. I read of a guy who did this who blew his whole inheritance. I'd really like somebody else to do it. It's an expensive venture. But I'm very happy to have done it the way I did it.

WA: What was that?

I did it without a handphone! I'm very proud of that.

WA: What else would you do differently?

Apply for a Tourism Malaysia project grant! If I were to do it again, I'd like to have support: money and personnel at your beck and call, a chopper on standby. If I want to break my record it has to be more organized, like a campaign almost, and with a team of drivers. But I don't want to do it again the way I did it.

WA: From your list, what can you tell about the state of Malaysian birds?

On its own the list has got its limitations. But you can tell bird distribution, for one. We can't use it to look at conservation status, because once I saw a bird, I stopped looking for more (of the same species). To look at conservation status, it's better to have a list of birds seen annually by all the birders. Then you can tell how common some birds are. It's not done yet, but it can be done. A lot of people are starting to list the birds they see in a year, so it's a matter of getting everyone's list and monitoring the data. Like how Wetlands International has a waterbird census; MNS plans to do a forest bird census. So it's getting there.