Banyak Island with Exotic Seabird #TheLightofAceh (1)

Birder getting up close to seagulls

 A bird watcher paradise. Thousands and thousands of Sea-Eagle flying over your head. Seagulls cliffs painted white by the sheer number of birds breeding there. The constant and powerful roar of thousands of Trinil Bedaran calling at the same time.

The power of an Egret as it drives and penetrates the water like a torpedo in the hunt for fish. These are all but a few of the things you can experience when watching the birds of the Banyak Island.

Birding Aceh: Banyak Island with Exotic Seabird

Banyak Island shore is one of the richest bird-watching regions in Aceh. On the shores and islands of the Banyak Seas live a real kingdom birds. This magnificent site, in combination with harsh nature, will leave you in awe of nature regardless if you are a birder or not.

White-bellied Sea-Eagle in flight

The Singkil’s island was home to the most densely populated bird I’ve eve seen. Even non-birders like me were in awe of the sheer numbers. At times I felt like I had sailed into this vortex of another world where birds were in charge and humans were the low ones on the totem pole.

It was a strange feeling being so remote and so outnumbered. The longer you look at the wood pulled the more your eye hones in on the birds and the more you see. It’s like an optical illusion.

“What kind of birds are there?” 

I ask to Fachrizan and Khairul. There were more birds than you can ever imagine on the various island we visited throughout the trip. Flying overhead, on woods, everywhere. And amazingly I only got shit on once.

READ TOO: Banyak Island Hopping Trip and How To Make The Best of Them

To the non-birder like me, I referred to them by their looks; the black and white ones, the ones that looked like a color mixed, the white-bellied ones always perched on top, the ones with the orange feet, the ones that has wide wings, and the ones with the long neck.

But to the birder name are important; they saw the Sea-Eagle, Eagle, Seagull, Crested terns, Regular terns, and the Trinil Banderan.

Balai Bay Bird

Our first stop at Banyak Island.  We battled some large swells but it was worth it to get a first glimpse of the Banyak Island birds. The edges of Balai Port is typical habitats for one of Tasmania's most spectacular birds the (Haliaeetus leucogaster) - White-bellied Sea-Eagle a bird of prey with a wingspan sometimes exceeding 2 m and a weight of up to 4.5 kg.

Malelo Shore Bird 

Malelo Island sits in the middle of the Ragit Island and is a stunning landscape.  I was mesmerized by the combination of the turquoise sea water, the white birds, and the dead coconut trees formations. Tern flew scattered when the traditional boat that landed on its shores. Here there are two types of terns, crested terns (Sterna bergii) and regular terns (Sterna hirundo).

Seagull Stanon Wood Piling On Malelo Beach.

The birds swooped down around us to dive for fish, they floated in the water, and some even had territorial fights.  It was my best, and last, bird cliff!

What does it Take to be a Birder?

I suppose patience is involved and that’s the main reason I’ll never be a birder. Birders love details –they are left brainers. I’m not interested in details, I just want high-level information and then let me go back to thinking about the colors of the landscape, the shape of the clouds, the light dancing off a mountain peak, and the moody fog hanging over the horizon; classic right brainer.

Eagle takes flight over

One piece of equipment a birder needs? Binoculars. And of course I didn’t have any, but I did have a Nikkor 105mm zoom lens! As the expedition traditional boat went on each day I got better at capturing the fast moving birds with my big lens.

@zlvn - A wide variety of seabirds in the friendly heart of Southeast Aceh. Birdwatching on Banyak island is a truly experience for nature lovers!

Thanks for visiting Birding Aceh: Banyak Island with Exotic Seabird article. I hope things will get interesting going forward. 

This trip sponsored by Department of Culture and Tourism of the Province of Aceh. Realising Aceh as One Syariah Featured Travel Destinations in Southeast Asia in 2017 #TheLightofAceh #HalalTourism

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