Page views roundup for 2016

I am pleased to note that total pageviews for the blog as at 20 December'16 is 73,894.  Thank you all for visiting the park online. Do come back again next year.

Butterflies and more butterflies in December

A Plaintive Cuckoo in plain sight

View of the park  18 Dec'16

 It looks like a lazy Sunday.  At around 7 am I took a walk around the park to check out the greenery and nature.  The mix of leaves, branches and colour are a delight to my eyes, as I wander around the park to seek for surprises.  This year the month of December has been a let down.  It should be raining on daily basis but for about a week now the rainy monsoon left no down pours. The ground thus remain dry where ever I walked.  Have the global climatic changes elsewhere resulted in a drier monsoon for Bintulu? I am fortunate to be engulfed by massive structures of greenery as I walked underneath the canopy of tall trees of various species. This is the kind of living world that I seek, a silent walk in nature to help  re-collect my mind as often as possible.  The surrounding landscape makes me admire nature for the many stories it want to tell me. And today nature gives me a rare insight into one of its bird species.  For about an hour I was hearing the familiar call of the Plaintive Cuckoo, a bird more heard than seen in Bintulu.  In my mind it must have signaled me to hunt for the bird and perhaps photograph it.  I was camera ready when I saw the Plaintive cuckoo in plain sight.  It was perching on the branches of a dying Cempedak tree.  I took several shots of it from various angles to capture what was once a tremendous challenge for me.  This morning walk was well paid for with the capture of the bird and the music it made.  The Plaintive Cuckoos utters an ascending call which I hear every day in the morning and evening but fail to capture the origin until today.  The call sounds like " teet- teet- teet -teet ta ta tay".  In zooming the pictures, I noticed it has a grey head, neck and upper breast.  Its lower breast to under-tail coverts has a pastel orange colour.  Its feet yellow and has a black bill.  What strikes me was the position of its perching, as if it was sitting upright and  parrallel to the branch.  Indeed this morning walk was a moment of truth for me with the sighting of the Plaintive Cuckoo.

Plaintive Cuckoo seen at a distance 

Close-up of the Plaintive Cuckoo.
Location : Zone E

Naturally at the park

Sunday walk in the park

 The morning fresh air blew gently over my face as I walked past the botanic islands. Quietness and peacefulness reigned by the jungle floor where I moved slowly to observe nature.  I am indeed blessed with the presence of wildlife in the park.  It is abut the best place in the world to see nature on an everyday 24x7 basis, and with hardly any cost.  These are kind of benefits I enjoy after about more than 10 years of developing the park.  It is a world of difference when you can step out of your house to discover the unending surprise of nature.  Truly life is worth living everyday when you live with nature's wonders.
For once let the pictures do the talking....

By the butterfly garden

Tis harvesting time!

Note: The above pictures taken during harvesting time on 3 Nov.16

Well, just birds

Oriental Magpie-robin (Lopsychus saularis)

Pink-necked Green Pigeon

 It has been raining since dawn this morning till past noon time. There is not much outside activity that could be done except walking around the park looking for some active wildlife especially those of the feathered species.  The big birds were hardly seen but their smaller relatives were everywhere merrily making music.  The Oriental Magpie-robin, Pink-necked Pigeon. Chestnut Munia and the Spotted-necked Dove made up the day's list.
At close to ground level (near Zone F)  I saw one juvenile Chestnut Munia without the characteristic black hood.  It was busy plucking the grass seeds from a long branch that bent on its weight.  A pair of Spotted-necked Dove seemed to enjoy moments together, while up on the Cempedak Hill the colourful Pink-necked Pigeon surveyed the neighbourhood from the tallest perch of the Cempedak tree. Well, today was just birds!.

Juvenile Chestnut Munia ( Lonchura atricapilla) - "Pipit Rawa" (Malay)

An adult Chestnut Munia with the typical black hood.

Spotted-necked Dove (Streptopelia chinensis) - "Tekukur" (Malay)

The monsoon rains have come

The end of year monsoon has come.  A few days ago I noticed that the rains have habitually poured during the nights.  The rains will continue to pour though lightly till the first part of the morning.  The arrival of the monsoon  is a welcomed phenomena at the park.   

After the cutting

View of Zone E , looking south

Zone F, looking west

 The grass cutting operation is regularly done to help change the perception that an oil palm plantation need not look like an uninhabited place, unkempt, dangerous to walk around and of no beauty.  The proceeds from sales of the ffb (fresh fruit bunches) have been instrumental in providing the means to undertake grass cutting works at the park.  This is because the grasses here are never applied with weedicide since day one.  Based on the Kambatik landscape design philosophy and aesthetics, it is indeed a pleasure to work and walk around the park.  After about ten years of development, the natural environment is flourishing well as evidenced by the return of wildlife to the park, chiefly the birds, butterflies and bees.   Here are some photos showing areas of the park taken just after the grass cutting operation at Zone C, E and F.

View of Zone C, near Butterfly Garden, looking east.

View of Zone E, looking north

View of Zone F, looking south

View of Zone E, looking north

View of Zone E, looking west.

View of Zone E, looking south