Stingless bees colonies at the park

A hollow tree trunk at Botanic Island Two serves  well for a stingless bee hive.

Stingless bee collecting pollen from 'Sepenuh'
(Eurycycles amboirensis)

 I have more time to study wild bees population at the park now.  Its one of the advantages of having conserve the wilderness in the park.  I am on my new journey to find out more about  these interesting insects.  My focus is on the stingless bees (melipones), which are naturally  plenty in the park, are not harmful and can be kept as pets.  They come in various sizes and so far I have managed to keep three species for propagation purposes.  I am considering also to add more species by getting them from outside origins and introducing them to the park.  As starters and teasers here's some pics I took recently.

A stingless bee hive built on the leaf base of the 'Travellers palm' ( Ravenala madagascariensis)

Young juveniles

Sipping stingless bee honey which has a sweet and sour taste directly from its honey pots.

Busy like a bee. Stingless bees moving house, finding a new man-made home.

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

Naturally at the park

Sunday walk in the park

 The morning fresh air blew gently over my face as I walked past the botanic islands. Quietness and peacefulness reigned by the jungle floor where I moved slowly to observe nature.  I am indeed blessed with the presence of wildlife in the park.  It is abut the best place in the world to see nature on an everyday 24x7 basis, and with hardly any cost.  These are kind of benefits I enjoy after about more than 10 years of developing the park.  It is a world of difference when you can step out of your house to discover the unending surprise of nature.  Truly life is worth living everyday when you live with nature's wonders.
For once let the pictures do the talking....

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

Banking on the grass seeds

Chestnut Munia ( Lonchura atricupilla) with characteristic 'black hood'

Heads down to pluck the seeds

 The Pipit Rawa (Malay) is a very common bird in the park but is not usually easy to get a good picture of it.  This is because being  a social bird it travels in a small flock like what I encountered today.  I had to hide behind a wall of bushes to enable me a closer view of the birds.  It was my lucky day as one of the birds was not alert to my presence and thus afforded me a little bit of luxury in getting up- close and personal images of the bird eating the grass seeds.  I have seen its habit of hanging on the grass stalk and while the grass bends the bird would attempt to pluck the grass seeds heads down.   At the inset , the bird has to bend low in order to pluck the grass seeds.  Its stout beak is perfectly structured to assist in crunching the seed before consuming it. The presence of grassland at the park has proven the wisdom of maintaining them to function as food banks for little birds like the munias.

 

A 'black hood' makes this bird very likeable.  The feathers seemed well-groomed.  The chestnut colour throughout the body is attractive against the greenery.
Grassland at Zone F

A butterfly mimicking a dry jungle leaf

A Leaf Butterfly

 I am observing for the first time today a leaf butterfly that has the underside patterned like dead jungle leaves. It has even a remarkable short and dark leaf stalk structure at the end of the wings.  The leaf-life underside has deeply ingrained veins.  It was attracted to the rotting Jackfruit from which it was enjoying the liquid nutrition for nourishment.  It was very engrossed in sucking up the liquid that it was not difficult for me to sneak up a close look.  When eating, butterflies throw out their coiled tubular proboscis into the sweet and fleshy pulp of the Jackfruit (see inset).  However it is to be noted that the condition of the Jackfruit is over-ripe and in some parts rotting.  With its wings closed in a vertical position, the butterfly assumes a perfect camouflage of a dry jungle leaf.

Dried and dead jungle leaves with patterns and colours that are mimicked by the leaf butterfly. 

A leaf butterfly with dry leaf-like pattern and colour
Zone C

Attracted to the Jackfruit

Orange-bellied Flowerpecker at the Jackfruit tree

Male Orange-bellied Flowerpecker

 The over-ripe Jackfruit has been attracting many birds and small animals.  Chief among them were the Plantain Squirrel and the Skink.  Not to miss the fun today was the Orange-bellied Flowerpecker too.   Though the Yellow-vented Bulbul  did try to come close to it, my presence alerted it and off it flew.  The quirrel seemed to be really enjoying the flesh of the fruit but not the seed, which it simply drop onto the ground below.
The attraction of the Jackfruit will last for a few more days in which I would be eagerly waiting to see if the male brings along its female counterpart for a photosession.

Plantain Squirrel holding seed of the Jackfruit
Zone C

A short and rounded pitcher plant

Short and rounded pitcher plant variety growing wild at Zone G.
This variety is different from the others that are long and elongated that grow abundantly wild in the park.

 There are a few varieties of pitcher plants that grow wild or naturally at the park.  Over the years I noticed only the long or elongated variety prevailing and they may come in short to long dimension. On a recent walkabout I stumbled upon a different variety that is short and rounded as in the picture above.  Pitcher plants are nature's wonders because they are considered 'carnivorous'.  Check out other postings of pitcher plants in this blog by following this link...>>>http://kambatikpark.blogspot.my/search/label/Pitcher%20plants .

The long or elongated variety of pitcher plant prevalent at the park.

Black-tipped Archduke

Black-tipped Archduke (Lexias dirtea merguia)
Zone C

Underside wings

 While many butterflies are attracted presently to the nectaring plants that flower profusely at the park especially the Eugenia oleina, the very attractive Black-tipped Archduke is seen favouring the rotting fruits like banana skins,on the forest ground.  I find great pleasure observing the bright and luminous blue colours of the Archduke.  This is in contrast to the dull brown underside wings.  This butterfly can be seen scavenging on the forest floor and move about slowly without being unnecessarily alarmed by human presence, thus my ability to get closer pictures of it.