January rains and flash floods

Flash floods at fall back area , Zone F.  As fast as they come, they leave the scene once the rains stopped.  Flash floods occur when it rains heavily  for at least two hours.

Paku Kelindang (Iban)
Blechnum orientale

 Situated in the headlands, the park is subject to flash floods because of the small size, shallowness and the  many turns of the  of streams here. The flash floods happens regularly in the rainy month of January but it  affects mainly the fall back areas.  These are areas on both sides of the streams (valleys) that are planned to receive as much excess water and let it overflow the banks and  surrounding areas.  This phenomena is however short-lived, lasting about two to three hours when the rains are extra heavy.  Flash floods are a welcome site here because they clear unwanted debris, replenish the banks with a new layer of soil once the floods subside and bring to life many activities associated with water.

Heavy rains at Zone C.

Little Spiderhunter comes a calling in between rains....

January clouds and rain

A January sky

 The January rains have been at the park for about two weeks now.  In the first half of the day, the sun is bright and sunny but come afternoon, the skies turn cloudy, from drizzle it pours heavy till evening time and continue in the night till next morning.  We are still in the season of the north-east monsoon and historically the rains will fade only in February.  There is little time to do field work during the rainy season.  Whatever little sunny hours and bright daylight need to be used wisely because once the rains come there is little outside work that can be done.  Very much I want to do more blogging and research work in the afternoon when it rains, there is yet a major problem.  The internet connectivity in Bintulu for the last few months  is extremely poor and sees no light of day.  Thanks and no thanks to Celcom for its poor service in Bintulu.  Like tonight it took me three hours to load these three pictures.  Surprise is too soft a word.