Piasau Nature Reserve

Piasau Camp was built as housing for Shell staff in Miri and when the company moved out the state gazetted the ground as a nature reserve in 2015 - about a square kilometre of mature planted trees, lawns, ponds and mangrove edge, with the old bungalow plots still visible under the vegetation. What made the case for protection was a pair of oriental pied hornbills that had nested in the camp for years and become locally famous, and they and their descendants are still there, along with sixty or seventy other bird species, otters in the creek, and monitor lizards. It is an easy urban reserve: level walking trails, boardwalks, a visitor centre, and enough tree cover to be pleasant in the middle of the day. Early morning is when the birds are active and the light is good.

The landscape

• Nesting hornbills - the oriental pied pair that prompted the reserve, and their line.
• A former housing camp - old bungalow plots visible under mature planted trees.
• Level trails and boardwalks - easy walking with a visitor centre.
• Otters and monitor lizards - in the creek and along the mangrove edge.

When to go

All year; early morning for the birds. Half a day.

What to expect

It is small and urban - an hour or two covers it. Hornbills move around and are not guaranteed on any visit. Midday is hot and quiet for wildlife.

Nearby

Miri city and the Grand Old Lady oil well are close; Lambir Hills is south.