New Straits Times 12 Mar 12;
UNIQUE SANCTUARY: 193 bird species, including 93 from faraway lands, make Kuala Gula their home, writes S. ISTA KYRA
DZUL Zainon and Saadiah Kamarudin are at work -- he is fishing for sea bass and she, looking for crabs -- when those furtive glances turned into telepathy.
"One day, she helped to hold my boat steady as I collected the catch from the nets and we fell in love," he said, grinning.
Now, 50, and blessed with five grandchildren, Dzul is upbeat about the prospect of his beloved Kuala Gula, famed for being a bird sanctuary, filled with egrets, storks and herons.
Dzul still goes out to fish, but his wife operates a food stall and limits "crab-fishing" to once a fortnight excursions.
Her pursuits are now integrated with the sanctuary.
A member of Sahabat Hutan Bakau Kuala Gula, Saadiah is the association's head of arts and craft.
She is conducting art classes to students visiting the sanctuary. She teaches them to make handicraft out of cockleshells and fish scales.
The 48-year-old also assists in organising several mangrove replanting projects, aimed at tourists.
In her free time, she likes to carry out gardening experiments.
Saadiah has successfully planted two different mangrove species in a cylindrical tub in her front yard.
Kuala Gula, aligned to the East Asian-Australasian shorebird flyway, is an important staging and wintering site for migratory shorebirds.
While some villagers are not aware of its importance, people like Dzul, Saadiah and Tan Eng Chong, 46, -- the local tour guide -- will share interesting tidbits to those who care to listen.
In his six years as a guide, Tan said he had learnt to spot a variety of species, such as bee eaters, kingfishers, swallows, bulbuls, herons and egrets.
He had also spotted the endangered milky storks during his tours, but added: "However, I think I've seen fewer than 10."
Tan says as birds are "known to be shy", a binocular would come in handy.
Kuala Gula in Perak is one of the many fishing villages in the 40,000ha Matang wetlands and mangrove forest, which has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by the Malaysian Nature Society.
According to MNS's book, Birds of Perak, Peninsular Malaysia -- and Where to See Them (2006), 193 bird species have been recorded in and around Kuala Gula, out of which 93 are migratory.
The migratory birds are from as far as Siberia in Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Japan and China.
Besides waterbirds, Kuala Gula is also a sanctuary for resident bird species such as Mangrove Pitta and Great Tit as well as pigeons, cuckoos, woodpeckers, babblers, flycatchers, tailorbirds and sunbirds.
Bulbuls, mynas, bee eaters and mynas are also known to frequent the open areas.
There are also nocturnal birds, among them owls and nightjars. However, the most commonly seen species are the Collared Kingfisher, Brahminy Kite, Chinese Pond Heron, Little Egret and Great Egret.
The Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) has set up a ranger station in the area, to carry out enforcement and research on the large number of waterbirds and several threatened species.
Dzul who is from Selinsing, Bagan Serai, says he is staying put and is in fact looking for better prospects.
"I hope to save up enough money for a licence to take tourists out on my boat.
"That is more lucrative these days, especially during the school holiday season," he said.
