Views of the park in 2020

It's autumn at the Kambatik Park. The place is a gallery of colours to feast the eyes and brighten up the soul.

Views of the park taken on 19 Feb'2020.

Camera :  Canon EOS 1100D

Eugenia oleina flushes

Zone D

Zone A

Zone G

Zone D

Butterflies by the flowers of oleina

Flowering Eugenia oleina tree that attracts the butterflies, Zone B
9 August'15

After shedding , its time for a show of true colours

After shedding all of its leaves, this jungle tree species is starting to show its true colours- very bright yellow colours.
Zone C

 What a unique jungle tree.  After shedding its leaves, it is starting to regenerate with new flushes.  Colour diversity in the landscape is arresting to the eyes.  It is picturesque and at the same time gives an added ecological interest.  While the jungle green is as it is generally known evergreen, there can be a few jungle tree species that does not enter into the evergreen category.  Others could be a variant of a semi-deciduous type where the shedding is partial.

View of jungle tree in flushes as seen from Zone B.

Flushes of the Eugenia oleina, Zone G and F
2 July'15

Now showing ...Ole! Oleina!

All images taken on 18 July'14

Starting to 'snow' at the park

 The Eugenia oleina trees are starting to flower.  The flowering seems to be very intense this year due to the prolonged drought season . All over the park the oleina trees seem to have been covered with snow.  Usually when the flowers are produced, many bees and butterflies will frequent them.  Here's a look at some of the 'snowing' trees....

Oleina buds bursting into flowers

 The prolonged drought have started to stimulate more buds of the Eugenia oleina tree to burst into flowers. There are about a hundred of these trees planted all over the park. I am looking forward to have more photoshoot session with the butterflies this season due to heavy flowering of the oleina trees.  Besides butterflies, the flowers attract other kinds of wildlife especially birds and bees.

Birdwatch album - Philippine Glossy Starling

Philippine Glossy Starling
(Aplonis panayensis)

The Perlings would visit the park when the jungle trees bear fruits or the ornamental Eugenia oleina trees black berries are produced after every flowering season.  They come in big flocks for days on end but they don't settle or make their homes here. The adults are all black with a green gloss and a conspicuous red iris.  Juvenile or immature birds are whitish below and streaked with black.  When they roost on the dead tree branches they produce loud chatter and will fly off simultaneously if provoked or are alerted.

A juvenile or immature bird have slightly whitish and streaked with black on their breast and body below.
This bird is eating the ripe fruits of the Eugenia oleina trees that are purposely planted throughout the park to attract many forms of wildlife.

Starlings or Perlings as they are generally called are social birds, flocking together and roosting in large numbers.

Birds of a feather flock together.

Flushes in the park

Pometia pinnata - Kasai (Malay)

Dillenia suffructicosa - Simpoh air (Malay)

 In a broad sense we need colour in a park to make it a beautiful and memorable place  to visit.  In the evergreen tropical forest environment, flushes are a welcome change providing an autumn-like atmosphere that can actually be seen throughout the year.  I am fortunate to have a good collection of native plant species that produce varying colours of young leaves.  Among the significant ones are the Pawas, Simpoh air, Jering and Balem trees.  To make the flushes appear many times, I have introduced many other tree species like the Ceylon Ironwood , Eugenia oleina and  Kasai . 

Messua ferrea - Ceylon Ironwood

 The Ceylon Ironwood tree produces young leaves in pink flushes and they hang limply in tassels until they become harder and leathery.

a jungle plant species, native to the park..

Eugenia oleina - Syn: Syzygium campanulatum

The Eugenia oleina trees was the first batch of trees I introduced here as roadside trees along the park roads.  They have small narrow pointed leaves and produce young leaves in appealing pink colours. The oleina trees when in flower attract hordes of butterfly species, birds and bees.  At fruiting stage the fruits are savoured by the Philippine glossy starling birds and bulbuls .

Eugenia oleina

Pawas

 The Pawas tree is native to the park.  To the best of my knowledge I noticed that after a season of arrival at the park, the Philippine Glossy starling birds would leave behind seeds of the Pawas in their droppings from which later sprang hundreds of seedlings of the Pawas tree in the forest undergrowth.  The young leaves of the Pawas can be eaten raw as salad or 'ulam' in Malay.

Pawas , belong to the Lauraceae or Laurel family.

Pithecolobium lobatum - Jering (Malay)

 The 'Jering' tree produces fruits that can be eaten in many ways, as salads or desserts.  Its young leaves are a maroon in colour and very attractive to see at a distance.

I guess I will try in future to add more tree species that have colourful flushes to make the park full of colours at any time of the year because some flushes envelope whole trees or canopies and appear very regularly throughout the year.

Pithecolobium lobatum - Jering (Malay)