Here comes October

Come September

Views in August

Eid Mubarak 2017/Salam Aidilfitri 1438 H

A beautiful Papillionidae species - Arisbe antiphates

 I am somewhat flattered with the arrival of the Arisbe antiphates butterfly here.  It was a memorable occasion for me as I watched this slow flying butterfly resting and then flying off over many places in the garden, especially the Butterfly garden area where I first sighted it.  This is the first time on record that this butterfly is seen by me after staying for about 11 years at the park.  It's a beautiful specimen that crossed my path on the 7th of June'17.

Papillionidae - Arisbe antiphates
4 June '17

Stick insect

The Chestnut -breasted Malkoha pays a visit

It was another thrilling encounter this morning when I stumbled upon the Chestnut-breasted Malkoha ( Phaenicophaeus curvirostris)   I could sense its presence about 20 meters away by its peculiar low call when I was approaching Botanic Island One.  After a while of looking its whereabout and keeping still beneath the tall trees and dense canopy, my eyes were suddenly attracted to a dark moving figure among the leaves and branches.  My patience was rewarded when the Malkoha came out more in the open.  Here are a few shots on this morning encounter.

Chestnut-breasted Malkoha ( Phaenicophaeus curvirostris) 

One up for the park- a juvenile long-tailed Nightjar

Early April the Long-tailed Nightjar was seen frequenting the open ground near the Cempedak Hill and I was hoping that the adult bird will produce an offspring.  Today, after a lapse of a few weeks I decided to catch up with the bird.  To my greatest surprise I saw a young Nightjar chick at the spot where the adult frequented before.  I did not have the chance to see the eggs since I was away in Kuching.  Nevertheless, the presence of the juvenile Nightjar  is one up for the park as a wildlife sanctuary.

The Dollar in sight

Dollar bird perches on a tall dead tree branch at Licuala Hill, Zone I

 Today I'm extremely lucky to have another shot of the Dollar bird, belonging to the Roller family.  From my experience so far, I have only seen this bird coming to town solo.  Its red beak and bluish body is very attractive.  From far, I couldn't specifically recognise this bird because the shot was taken from about 100 meters.  After zooming in on the image then it's confirmed.  This Dollar bird is known to build nest in a hole of the coconut tree.Apparently on this sighting it did not utter any call or sound.

In the background is the Dollar bird, abut 100 meters away. Note the colourful red flushes of a jungle treelet at the foreground.
View from Botanic Island Two, Zone I, looking north.

Catching up with the park

View of the park, looking south from Rusa Hill.

' But-But' (Malay) - Centropus sinensis.

 Before the month ends I thought I would walk around the park this morning to observe nature here core intimately.  The jungle green is everywhere with plenty of colours added.  The shape, texture and size of leaves are so diverse I feel it a joy just to observe and touch them.  Mind you its's just a walk in the par.  Surprises are common.  The sighting of the 'Burung-But-But ( Centropus sinensis) as Malays call this quite large bird makes me mindful of the need to preserve nature and its habitat at the park.  Then I stumbled upon the very interesting Tree Shrew with its very dominant round eyes.  It was seen eating something from the oil palm fruit bunch, not insects but some vegetative matter.  The Tree Shrew is a small mammal that pride itself among the trees but have nest or homes in burrows below. The Tree Shrew below is still a juvenile but seems to enjoy the park very much.

Leaves and colour at Botanic Island Two.

Update on the park

 A little update is necessary as I have not blogged on the park in January as often as before for many reasons.  Chiefly due to travel, v. poor internet connection at the park (despite just a kilometer away from the Bintulu international airport!, which is 22 km away from Btu town) and busy researching on management topics for mentoring and training purposes.  After a short jungle trekking yesterday, I noticed the Licuala Hill has well-preserved  stands of mature Licuala palms, a new cover plant more like a climber have been 'discovered' and a jungle treelet that produces blood red young leaves is doing fine.

A line of Licuala spp. palms at Licuala Hill.

New 'discovery' - a cover plant with climbing habit.
Location : Botanic Island Three

A young stand of Licuala spp

Jungle treelet with blood red flushes (still unidentified)

View of Zone G from Provinsi Rusa

A 20 kg Jackfruit, compliments from the park.

 It's a hefty fruit.  Weighing 20 kg and fully ripe.  Today I harvested the tree fruit known locally as 'Nangka'.  It is very succulent and possesses a very distinctive aroma.
It's a good way to start the new year eating fresh fruits to your heart's content.
Knowing that it is free for the eating makes you feel a lot happier.
Compliments from the park.
Below are close-ups of the delicious fruit.

A colourful day to start the new year

 It's a good way to start the new year.  Early in the morning I was chasing a small flock of bee-eaters that were busy making calls and at the same time hawking for bees.  It is a regular occurrence at the park whenever the swarm of bees are blown here a flock of bee-eaters would begin their chase.  In the midst of the warfare, some of the bee-eaters would take a rest at the perches to batter the bees on the branches for a knock-out effect on their prey.  I took considerable time to watch them  having their morning breakfast in between their beaks. The Blue-throated Bee-eater is a very colourful bird with green wings, blue throat and upper-tail,

Location : Cempedak Hill, Zone G