Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Saturday, March 26, 2016

The Bornean Falconet surveys the neighbourhood

The tallest dead twig from where the falconet surveys the neighbourhood for insects and small birds
Location : Cempedak Hill, Zone G

 A sharp shriek sent me looking around for its origin.  I saw something dashing above me and my eyes followed its movement till it  landed on the tallest twig of the Cempedak tree at Zone G.  Today's sighting is a pleasant surprise for the fact that the Bornean Falconet (Microhierax latifrons) have never come this close to the house.  The best shot I got of it was about 40 meters from the tree before it flew away.  The falconet belongs to the smallest raptor species in the world.  What strikes me about this bird is the pale buffish belly and an overall black and white body.  Its sighting is always welcomed at the park.  
View of the group of trees not far away from the sighting where I worked and saw the dashing movement of the bird above ....

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Vertical gardens at the park

Provinsi Lady Palm, Zone C

 There are lots of vertical gardens at the park. I mean the oil palm trees provide the best environment for many shade plants especially the ferns species, climbers and orchids to germinate on the damp, organic and fertile cut bases of the oil palm leaves that are left after successive harvesting. One advantage of keeping these vertical gardens is that you don't have to worry about watering or fertilising the plants.  The plants get their nutrition from  the rotting organic cut bases which are kept moist under shade.  The cut bases also contain dead insects as well as birds droppings which help fertilise the growing plants.  In order to take advantage of the available space, more suitable plants like orchids can be attached. Let the orchids then grow naturally with no maintenance whatsoever while enhancing the 'garden' with colour and a little fragrance.
Bird's nest fern ( Asplenium nidus)

Growing luxuriously are the Nephrolepsis  ferns 

Corsage fern (Davallia denticula) grows extremely well on the tree trunks

Pigeon orchids are a common species that adapt well to the oil palm trunks.

Friday, March 18, 2016

Beautiful pigeon against the evening sun

Pink-necked Pigeon - male
Location: Cempedak Hill, Zone G

 The Pink-necked Pigeon surveyed the neighbourhood from above the Cempedak tree.  It is a welcoming scene to witness it resting comfortably against the evening sun.  This wild bird could be seen singly or in a small flock.  They fly swiftly in straight direction.  These birds are very colourful or more aptly the male of the species.  It is no secret that their favorite perch is the Cempedak tree located at one of the highest point of the park at Zone G. It is easy to check whether the birds are resting at the treetop because they can be sighted from a distance especially when resting on the tallest twigs. This makes photographing them a lot easier as at least we know of their presence without wasting too much time looking for their whereabouts.   It remains next how we are going to approach them closer without alerting them.  I never get tired of photographing these lovely birds and today's is no exception.
The neighbourhood - Zone C