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.

A Plaintive Cuckoo in plain sight

View of the park  18 Dec'16

 It looks like a lazy Sunday.  At around 7 am I took a walk around the park to check out the greenery and nature.  The mix of leaves, branches and colour are a delight to my eyes, as I wander around the park to seek for surprises.  This year the month of December has been a let down.  It should be raining on daily basis but for about a week now the rainy monsoon left no down pours. The ground thus remain dry where ever I walked.  Have the global climatic changes elsewhere resulted in a drier monsoon for Bintulu? I am fortunate to be engulfed by massive structures of greenery as I walked underneath the canopy of tall trees of various species. This is the kind of living world that I seek, a silent walk in nature to help  re-collect my mind as often as possible.  The surrounding landscape makes me admire nature for the many stories it want to tell me. And today nature gives me a rare insight into one of its bird species.  For about an hour I was hearing the familiar call of the Plaintive Cuckoo, a bird more heard than seen in Bintulu.  In my mind it must have signaled me to hunt for the bird and perhaps photograph it.  I was camera ready when I saw the Plaintive cuckoo in plain sight.  It was perching on the branches of a dying Cempedak tree.  I took several shots of it from various angles to capture what was once a tremendous challenge for me.  This morning walk was well paid for with the capture of the bird and the music it made.  The Plaintive Cuckoos utters an ascending call which I hear every day in the morning and evening but fail to capture the origin until today.  The call sounds like " teet- teet- teet -teet ta ta tay".  In zooming the pictures, I noticed it has a grey head, neck and upper breast.  Its lower breast to under-tail coverts has a pastel orange colour.  Its feet yellow and has a black bill.  What strikes me was the position of its perching, as if it was sitting upright and  parrallel to the branch.  Indeed this morning walk was a moment of truth for me with the sighting of the Plaintive Cuckoo.

Plaintive Cuckoo seen at a distance 

Close-up of the Plaintive Cuckoo.
Location : Zone E

Early to walk, eager to work

Plantain squirrel scavenging for insects

Nimbled by squirrel

 Went about the park early.  The morning seemed cloudy and hopefully there'll be no rain, not before the harvesting of the fresh fruit bunches are done with.  A Plantain squirrel was busily hunting for insects at the very end of the branches.  On ground level some ripe fruits of the oil palm bore marks of being eaten by the squirrel.  The main produce of the park that helps to sustain its operation are these oil palm fruits.  Today is harvesting day and the ffb will need to be exported to the wholesale buyers or middlemen buyers later in the day.  At ramp price (i.e. the collecting/buying center) the price per ton is about RM 300 currently.  Before starting work  I stumbled upon a Blue Glassy Tiger when walking through the Botanic Island One....The day is gonna be a fruitful one...hopefully.

Close-up of the oil palm fruit

Blue Glassy Tiger

Walk in Botanic Island One

Oil palm fresh fruit bunches (ffb)

High above, down below

Eagle gliding in a widening gyre

Walking around the park.  Walking on fallen and dead leaves on the forest floor and footpath.  The sun shines softly on the ground and heightens the duo colours of the Bauhinia, a creeper that is seldom planted outside the forest though it is native to Bintulu.  Walked through muddy areas and found a red dragonfly posing for a while on a thin grass blade.  My eyes searched through the middle story, column of leaves and finally the top of canopy.  A bulbul was making its call, a Yellow-vented Bulbul by the colour of its vent.  Scouting further I saw up in the sky an eagle circling the park.  The sighting finally makes the morning for me.  I am not sure what species it was.  Could it be the Crested Serpent Eagle for its broad band of white bar on its tail?  There is so much more to nature discovery at the park....

Bauhinia semibifida

Yellow-vented Bulbul

Walk in the park...

Zone I

A walk in the park

Zone C (foreground) and Zone F (background), looking south

 The weather this morning was cool and cloudy.  A walk in the park was a breezy affair.  I was trying to catch what's purple this morning.  The Senduduk and the Bamboo Orchid flowers  answered my quest.  Then I caught sight of a butterfly.  More about the butterfly photoshoot session in the next posting.  The inedible fruits of the Pong-Pong were seen fallen on the lawn below the tree.  They sure look appetizing but sorry they aren't edible.  At Zone C I walked through a section of the area that was under heavy oil palm canopy.  The humid and shady micro-climate of the place was ideal for many shade plants.  Here's more pictures to tell the story....

Ripe Pong-Pong fruit, looking delicious like red apples...

Bamboo orchid

Senduduk flower

Butterfly at Zone C

Zone C (foreground) and Zone D (background)

CU of a shade plant below the oil palm canopy.

Nature can jolt our heavy limbs

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis - Bunga Raya (Malay)
Zone C

Yellow-vented Bulbul

 Nature sure has a pretty way to lighten up the morning.  The red hibiscus gives out a hot jolt, makes my steps lighter as I began to make rounds at the park.  The Yellow-vented Bulbul, high on the Cempedak perch broadcasts its bubbling calls throughout the land.  The ripe fruits of the ficus species, Ficus grossulariodes - called 'Lengkan' by the Ibans have enough berries to attract birds to enjoy them and then spread the seeds around the land.  The fruits are edible and the young leaves are cooked as vegetables. Before calling off the brisk morning walk (and climb) I spotted the Pink-necked Pigeon and The Oriental Magpie-robin sharing the perch at the Cempedak Hill. Looks like its gonna be a fine day.  I'll be back blogging later as I would like to take time off to see the 'big kites' at the Bintulu International Kite Festival later in the day....                                              

Ficus grossulariodes - Lengkan (Iban)
Zone I

Pink-necked Pigeon (left) and Oriental Magpie-robin (right) perching on Cempedak branch
Zone G

Early mornng rush

Plantain squirrel joins the early morning rush for ripe fruits..

Kantan - Torch Ginger

 It was a pleasant morning walk.  Despite the puasa or fasting  I seldom miss an early morning walk in the park.  There is always something invigorating watching the early morning birds twitter and dash for the early morning seeds.  Soon many other birds join in the early morning rush for insects, nectar and ripening fruits.  Today many plantain squirrels showed their natural skills,  effortlessly climbing tall huge trees, jumping from branch to branch and often nibbling vigorously at some ripe oil palm fruits to their hearts content.  At the start of day, the flowers of the Kantan (Etlingera elatior) shows its pink bracts, looking fresh in the early morning dew.  These sharply spicy-fragrant inflorescences are very much sought after by chefs in Malaysia in the making of the 'laksa' dish. The morning never fails to brighten up one's spirits.  The shining red colour of the common hibiscus called Bunga Raya in Malay start to bloom early every morning throughout the year.  This variety which was picked as the national flower of Malaysia in 1957  has single red and semi-pendulous flowers.  It is nice to see how nature tries to captivate one's attention in its early morning rush ..... 

Bunga Raya - national flower of Malaysia
Family : Malvaceae - Hibiscus family

Early morning stroll

Jungle Crow perching on a Cempedak branch

Jungle crow in flight

 It may not be an ideal time for photography due to  subdued light but the coolness of the morning air, fresh and unpolluted makes walking in the park a sea cruise.  The breeze was gentle and many twitters and  calls of the early birds were heard.  The coarse voice and hollow whistle of the Jungle Crow broke the morning silence.  In flight its wings gave loud resounding flapping reverberations that is attractive to any nature lover.  At one turn of the walk, I noticed the heliconia shrubs producing rich orange colours in 'golden torches'.  A slight walk up the Cempedak hill was met with lots of young, unripe fruits which could be cooked as vegetables.  This season there seemed to be a dozen of these trees ready to bear their seasonal fruits.  Not to be missed was two regular visitors to the park, a Little Green Pigeon and a Magpie Robin.  To enjoy nature early in the morning is like a fresh breeze gently re-energizing  a tired heart.....giving it a good morning kick start. 

Heliconia psittacorum - Golden Torch

Cempedak tree in heavy fruiting

Magpie Robin

Little Green Pigeon

Walking Mama Daisy and Inul in the park

Location: Midhill footpath, Botanic Island One

 It is real fun to bring Mama Daisy and Inul for a walk in the park.  Often times they would follow me early in the morning to have an early morning walk when the air is cool and fresh.  I don't keep dogs but cats are my pet interests. Mama Daisy is living with us for about 10 years now.  Inul was born at the park and over the last five years they have followed me in more than 40,000 km of road travel to Kuching from Bintulu.  I have created a special blog about their traveling adventures called "Hav Paws will Travell" and can be accessed here..>>>http://havpawswilltravell2.blogspot.com/

Location: Botanic walk, Zone E

Location: Liana walk, Botanic Island Two

Mama Daisy, now 10 years with us

Inul, given birth by Mama Daisy at the park.