I didn’t really anticipate that my recent vacation to Malaysia would include so much nature-oriented activity. Though, I guess the only thing I really planned on doing was noshing through Malaysia’s fantastic cuisine. And I did. But there’s only so much eating one can do in a day. Sometimes it’s necessary to walk around a bit, and luckily, Kuala Lumpur offered some awesome locations to do just that.
For the budding wildlife photographer that I (like to dream that I) am, KL gave me the Bird Park. And, not being the biggest fan of true wildlife and outdoorsy things, it was a relatively tame introduction to nature. (Especially considering what else Malaysia has in store, but more on that later)
Wide pathways, cages and barriers for “dangerous” creatures, and animals so used to human interaction, they practically pose the second you fling up your camera.
I’m not even the biggest fan of birds, but I thoroughly enjoyed the KL Bird Park. Just look how cute these things are!
It was impossible not to get caught up in the fact that there were thousands of beautiful, unique birds to see so up close.
That was especially great for “safari photographer kirstin” because I’m still using the kit lens on my Canon Rebel.
Most birds didn’t mind if you crouched right up next to them (but I wouldn’t recommend trying to pet them).
This is a milky stork, and he’s endangered.
That meant I wasn’t allowed to pick him up and take him home with me, despite that we had grown so fond of each other after our little photo shoot.
A supurb model, if I do say so.
One of the best parts of the bird park?
Baby ducks and chicks!! Look at them all huddled together under their heat lamp. I wish I had sound to match these photos, they were cheep-cheeping so adorably.
We could even pick them up!
(They’re fragile, and it freaked me out a bit)
I guess you could say that there weren’t just birds around. There were also scatterings of koi ponds and gratuitous amounts of small Malaysian children. But that was true everywhere I went…Malaysian kids sure do seem to have much better field trips than I ever did.
The park had several restaurants and gift shops, as well as an appropriate number of beverage and snack kiosks, which is comforting. It’s a big, BIG park, and I was definitely wishing for some of those amenities on a later nature excursion…
but more on that later!
