A day in the park ( 28 Aug'16)

Great Mormon butterfly at the Yellow Ixora bush, Zone C.

Wild red ginger flower
Licuala Hill, Zone I

 A day in the park could be a many splendoured thing.  I started the morning walk early and was greeted by the Great Mormon butterfly which was busy siphoning the nectar from the flowers of the Yellow Ixora.  I walked further into Zone I to check out the jungle trails there.  At the western slope of the Licuala Hill I stumbled upon a rare find that kind of made my day.  This is the first time ever that I come across a really wild red ginger flower.  It rose from beneath the ground (inset) and there were traces around the area that the stems were bitten or eaten by some kind of animals.   My wild guess is the Sambar deer's doing. The flowers produced some nice fragrance.  I spent a good half an hour around the site and cleared the trail properly.  Should I call it the wild red ginger trail?  Next to the wild ginger plant was a flushing treelet showing really attractive red young leaves.  I had on an earlier occasion trimmed this treelet to enable it to produce new branches which today I saw it did produce new branches and new flushes.  After the morning walk, I decided to pluck some fresh ferns (miding) at the Keruak wetlands of which I obtained sufficient quantity for lunch.  Yes, lunch was served with miding mixed with bamboo shoots cooked in coconut milk.  The cooking was done perfectly by my wife.  All of the vegetables were harvested freely and freshly from the park, the kind of healthy food I like.  Well, after lunch it was business as usual with harvesting of the oil palm fresh fruit bunches.  What kept me excited about working today was the abnormally high price of the ffb currently i.e. at RM 430/ton. Compared with last year the price of ffb was a meagre RM 330 on average (ramp price or at middleman's collection centre). For much of the period since January this year, the average price has been hovering around RM430/ton for many reasons which I will write in future postings.  Therefore, this year is a lot happier year in terms of the oil palm small holder.  I have read in some reports that the price of ffb will probably rise further throughout 2017.  Well, all this would be excellent news for the park as more money means more funds available for better amenities and care of the park.    After harvesting and before night falls I climbed the Licuala Hill again to catch a glimpse of the Tiong birds and witness the sunset from the hill.  I was rewarded by a good sunset but I thought I direct my camera lens instead  on the the wild grass flowers and view the sunset through them which produced a beautiful photographic capture.

Jungle treelet with red flushes, a potential for landscaping plant.

Fresh and free 'miding' young fronds for lunch

A lunch plate of mixed vegetables - miding combine with bamboo shoots cooked in 'santan' or coconut milk.

Oil palm fruit bunches in close up.  This month of August the price of oil palm ffb (fresh fruit bunches) has hit an average of RM 430/ton at collection centre or ramp price. 

It's harvesting time.

Before the day ends the Tiong birds (Hill Myna) perched on a tall dead tree at Licuala Hill

An artistic view of the sunset