Friday, July 10, 2009

Kuala Lumpur Bird Park

One of the first places that I visited after moving down to KL was the KL Bird Park, thanks to my good friend Nick. :) Seeing that I'm such a newbie and all, he kindly offered to bring me around on the first weekend I was in KL to the famed Bird Park. We reached there around noon, under the extremely hot sun. *gasp*

P1030120
Bird park, Kuala Lumpur

First things first, tickets! There is a booth at the entrance for ticket purchase, and it costs RM15 for adults with MyKad and RM42 otherwise. So make sure you bring your MyKad along!

P1030121
Ticket booth

At the entrance of the park, there was this mini man-made waterfall with the banner Taman Burung Kuala Lumpur which literally translates to Bird Park of Kuala Lumpur.

P1030123
Entrance pond

The funny thing to note is that the first animal I saw once I entered was not a bird! It was 2 monkeys! *LOL*

P1030125
Monkeys greeting us?

The bird park is nicely maintained with plenty of water falls and ponds surrounding the area. I saw ponds here and there that I sometimes wondered whether I was walking in circles. *LOL*

P1030126
Mini waterfall

P1030127
Pond

Shortly, I spotted the first bird! It was a blue peacock! However, it didn't seem to have any feathers left on its tail. :( Poor thing!

P1030142
Peacock with no tail feathers

The good thing about the bird park here is that they employ an open concept. Most of the birds are left freely flying about around the visitors, except some of the more dangerous/uncontrollable ones in cages. That is why I had the chance to walk up close to the peacock to take a picture with it!

P1030147
witch with peacock

The wise owl looked like it's sleeping. Or does it always look like this? :P

P1030141
The wise owl

One of the more popular birds on display in the park was the hornbill. I saw one almost in every 10 minutes. Some were inside a cage, some were flying about freely.

P1030132
Hornbill

I really feel like touching its very big and hard beak.

P1030184
Another hornbill

I wonder what bird this was. It looked like hornbill but the beak shape was a little different. And it's got blue colour around its eyes!

*Updated: The bird below is a Toucan. Thanks for the info ;)

P1030222
Toucan

There were plenty of feeding areas set up for the birds. By feeding area, I meant a dead tree with papayas stuck on its branches. The picture that I took still looked fine, but wait til after the birds attacked the papayas. It's a gross scene you do not want to see.

P1030149
Feeding on papayas

Sound of water was always distinct surrounding the park, giving it a peace and calm ambience. Very soon I was greeted with another waterfall.

P1030151
Mini waterfall

While admiring the waterfall, Nick ran up to me and gave me a signal to follow him. He looked really anxious so I ran up to his direction, only to be met with the most prized view! It was a beautiful peacock with its feathers spreaded open! And it was walking about on its own freely, not afraid of people at all. Look at how nice the feathers looked (while they're still around). :)

P1030160
Beautiful peacock with open feathers

It sort of knew that we were taking pictures of it and started to parade around, even showing us its butt! *LOL* The feathers were so long, I think once spreaded out, they're almost as tall as me. Almost. :P

P1030161
Back view

Moving on to more other weird birds that I never saw before. Such as this one behind the fence. It looked like an ostrich to me.

P1030168
Curious bird

Then, there was a whole pond dedicated to the flamingo! Lots and lots of flamingo either swimming or eating by the pond. It was a serene view indeed, just watching them.

P1030169
Flamingo pond

P1030255
Flamingos standing

P1030257
Swimming flamingo


P1030177
witch at Flamingo pond

I also spotted a pelican, I think! It should be a pelican, cause I googled it! *LOL* It looked like it's constantly shrugging.

P1030174
Pelican?

Oh, then there was this bright blue bird that I couldn't miss from afar. I have no idea what bird this is, with red eyes to boot.

P1030182
Bright blue bird (BBB!) *LOL*

When you're tired walking, there is also a gift shop and cafe in the park for you to rest your feet or quench your thirst. The cafe is situated uphill, so you actually get a good view of the park from above. Not to mention the plentiful chirps and sounds of birds accompanying you too. :)

P1030185
Gift shop and cafe

See what I told you? Another pond! This was filled with plenty of fishes! And the water was surprisingly clear.

P1030187
Fish pond

P1030262
Lots of fish

For those who like souvenirs, there is actually an area in the bird park for visitors to take pictures with the birds, trained by the trainers, of course. You pay a fee of RM10 or something, and the trainers will place birds all around you and take a portrait of you! Just like what the family below was doing. :) It's the perfect souvenir to take home.

P1030190
Picture with birds

P1030197
Backdrop for picture

Spotted some white parrots in the picture-taking area. They're all so tame and quiet!

P1030194
White parrots

Just next to the picture-taking area, was this cage with a white macaw. There was even a board outside the cage that stated "My name is Coco"! Haha, so cute! Too bad it didn't speak at all. But I loved its feathers! They're so smooth and dense and shiny. And white! I love white!

P1030199
My favourite bird - Coco!

Nearby, there was another bird in the cage too. And this bird was more cheeky. Nick tried to tease the bird by placing his finger on the cage and the bird actually tried to claw him! Gosh! And I managed to capture it (accidentally). So fierce, this bird.

P1030201
Naughty bird trying to claw my friend's finger

Soon, I saw this banner saying World of Parrots, but strangely, they put statues of hornbills on the banner, instead of parrots! That's weird...

P1030203
World of parrots

I saw another white parrot inside the World of Parrots, but this time it's not caged.

P1030205
Deep in thought

Another one in red and green.

P1030207
Red and green parrot

One could also opt to purchase bird feed to feed the parrots, which proved to be quite a popular idea among the visitors.

P1030208
Parrot-feeding

What is this bird called? It has such a long beak. *Updated: It's a stork! Thanks to khengsiong. :)

P1030227
Long beak bird - Stork

Since our visit was around noon time, we were lucky to be able to catch the bird show! There's one at 12.30pm and another at 3.30pm daily.

P1030232
Bird show!

This was the amphitheatre where the bird show was held. Since seats were first come first served basis, one needs to be early to save a seat. It was fully packed on the session that I went.

P1030234
Amphitheatre

I managed to capture some of the more interesting performances from the show. This was the parrot/macaw (I could never differentiate) cycling.

P1030236
Cycling parrot

Then this was another parrot saying "Hello" to us.

P1030238
Speaking macaw

And here is another parrot performing somersaults! So smart. :)

P1030240
Doing somersaults

Just outside the amphitheatre, I spotted another waterfall yet again. This time, there was even a rainbow underneath! Thankfully, my camera was able to capture that.

P1030249
Waterfall with rainbow

P1030254
witch at the falls

P1030263
The waterfalls front view


The visit to the bird park was really something new to me. Who'd know that in the midst of the hustle and bustle of KL city, there would be a place that exudes calm and tranquility, just a stone's throw away? Definitely a nice place for family outings during weekends. Or for photographers to take pictures. :) And surely for tourists!

Opening hours: Daily from 9am to 6pm

11 comments:

Borneo Falcon said...

It might be hot in the afternoon but it is also the best time for photo shoot.

khengsiong said...

So many photos, takes forever to load -_-"

Yeah, KL Bird Park is a good place to hang out. I've been there many times. In fact, I went there twice last year after purchasing my 85mm lens.

meifong said...

I remember going there as a kid in primary school!! Don't remember any of the birds though...lol

Irenelim said...

KL Bird Park is indeed a nice place to relax and see some animals. Thanks for showing so many pics, they are lovely!

Big Boys Oven said...

we were here a year ago, great place too bad we were soaked with rain! :)

Neo said...

KL Bird Park is good for wildlife photography. I was there not too long ago and totally enjoyed shooting the birds. :)

khengsiong said...

Ah... now I can see the photos. The 'pretty unknown bird' is a toucan.

The bright blue bird is probably a pheasant, but I am not really sure...

The long beak bird is a stork.

Heck, I've been to Bird Park so many times, I know so many species of birds ;)

Neo said...

khengsiong is a bird specialist now. :)

So when does the witch wanna play a game of badminton with me?

foongpc said...

Nice pictures of birds and ponds and waterfalls!

Haha! The owl is indeed sleeping! i think it's more lazy than wise! haha!

Love the calm pond filled with flamingos!

Yes, it's weird that they placed statues of hornbills at the World of Parrots. Maybe the person in charge do not know the difference between a parrot and a hornbill! LOL!

Ooh! I like the white parrot which was deep in thought! Beautiful!

TheJessicat said...

heyya dearie, that bird w the colorful beak is a toucan.

:)

iamthewitch said...

Borneo Falcon: You're right... Pictures are nicer in the afternoon. I guess one has to sacrifice for the sake of nicer pictures! ;)

khengsiong: Wow, didn't know you're a fan of birds. :P But thank you so much for educating me on the bird names. :)

meifong: Haha, you still remember ever visiting this place so long ago? Not bad indeed. :)

Irenelim: You're most welcome! Yeah, it's a good change to visit this place rather than just malls during weekends. :)

Big Boys Oven: Ahh.. Instead of getting burnt by the sun you're soaked in rain! What luck! I guess no matter how much I complain about the heat, I wouldn't trade it for heavy rain. :P

Neo: Oh yea, you're definitely not the first to say that. The friend who went with me Nick also suggested this place for photography. :) And as for badminton, I really need to brush up my skills first! :)

foongpc: Haha, lazy owl! That's funny. :P And thanks for the compliment on my parrot photo. :)

Jessica.T: Thanks babe! :)