Black Magpie

Early in the morning, the Black Magpie is seen perching at Pazau Lookout, Zone C.  This bird is becoming a regular visitor to the park.  

Blue-throated Bee-eaters after the bees

Blue-throated Bee-eaters at the Cempedak tree
Location : Cempedak Hill, Zone G

 It was just yesterday that the bulbuls were seen having a field day chasing and catching the bees at Botanic Island Two.  Today early in the morning (8.00 -8.30 am) I went to do a little bit of birding at Cempedak point.  On top of the Cempedak hill stands a few cempedak trees (Artocarpus integer) that provide perches for the Blue-throated Bee-eaters to rest and enjoy their catch.  From the perches the bee-eaters organised many sorties.  They came back to the perches to batter the bees before consuming them. The park is a passageway for the bee-eaters to go southerly every morning to hunt for food and use the same route to return home in a northerly direction  in the late afternoon. The calls of the bee-eaters are everyday music heard at the park.

Birding at Paya Point

Female Brown-throated Sunbird feeding its young at Paya Point

Female Brown-throated Sunbird

 The birding look out area called Paya Point is located between Zone B and C, covering an area about half an acre.  In Malay 'Paya' means swampy area. The area collects rain water from three hills that are the headland of the swamp.  The area is water-logged and thus the natural vegetation is mainly grasses, creepers and small trees mainly the Simpoh Air (Dillenia suffructicosa).  I have cultivated heliconias somewhere in the middle of the area and these are allowed to grow wild as part of the natural landscaping.  In between the tall leaves of the heliconias can be observed the female Brown-throated Sunbird and clinging on the long grasses are the Chestnut Munia and Dusky Munia.  As added bonus there are  lizards and tree shrews for surprises.  At ground level have been sighted monitor lizards, frogs, White-breasted Waterhen and many species of dragonflies.

View of Paya Point, looking east.  Note the tall heliconia plants in the middle of the swampy area.

Thickets of grasses, ferns and creepers are nesting grounds for Munias, White-breasted Waterhen, butterflies, dragonflies, frogs etc..

In the far background are the round and broad leaves of the Simpoh Air (Dillenia suffructicosa) .  These tall shrubs or small trees are frequented by bulbuls, squirrels, tree shrews, pigeons, sunbirds and flowerpeckers.

Chest-nut Munia foraging for grass seeds at Paya Point

Tiny birds are at Heliconia point

Eastern Crimson Sunbird at the Chinese hat plant
Location: Heliconia point, Heliconia Valley, Zone C

 The Eastern Crimson Sunbird's beak is design fitted for siphoning nectar from the Chinese hat plant.  Such wonders of nature can be easily seen in the park.  So is the Little Spiderhunter and the Brown-throated Sunbird's bill.  They are sharp and on many occasions these birds take the short cut to reach at the nectar by just piercing through the base of the flower.  The are many species of birds that can be seen regularly visiting the flowers that are purposely cultivated for attracting them at this birding spot.  The planting include ixora species, Chinese hat plant, many varieties of heliconias, hibiscus and also plants belonging to the ginger family.  Additional bonuses on the sidelines may include tree shrews, squirrels, butterflies, lizards, praying mantis, stick insets, etc..

Little Spiderhunter at Heliconia 'Sexy Pink'

Brown-throated Sunbird at Heliconia'Sexy Pink'

More green pigeons at Cempedak point

A small party of Little Green Pigeon
Location: Cempedak point, Zone G

Male (below) and female (above)

 The Cempedak Hill is named after the group of Cempedak trees that are planted on top of the hill.  The trees provided convenient perches for many birds such as the pigeons, doves,magpie-robins, bulbuls etc.  The Cempedak point is one of the tallest spot for birdwatching at the park and provides a scenic view of the landscape and topography of the area.  This morning I observed a small party of Little Green Pigeons comprising of two males and two females trying to out do one another on the perches.  They were later joined by a threesome of Spotted-necked Dove called 'Tekukur' locally.

Spotted-necked Dove

Beautiful sunset from Sunset point

View of Bintulu sunset from Sunset point (Birdwatching point)

 I was hoping the Tiongs would show up by  their favourite tree this afternoon.  They didn't, even at sunset time.  The Sunset point is a birdwatching location situated on a tall hill at Zone I.  Previous sightings here included the Blue-throated Bee-eaters, Dollar bird, Brown-throated Sunbird, Hill Myna, Little Green Pigeons and the Black Hornbill.  This is also the best location to see the Bintulu sunset from the park.  Here's today's views....

Watching the whistling Tiongs

 At the birding point which I called the 'Sunset point' at Zone I (near Provinsi Licuala ) I watched the two Tiongs (Hill Myna) whistling their time away.  There were three perches which they used exchangeably to rest and preen themselves.  While perching they would make loud whistling calls familiar to most Sarawakian that can be heard kilometers away.  However it is the tallest tree around the Sunset point that they call home because it has a hole that they adopt as their nest.  Here's more pictures taken today of the two Tiongs....