Festive Covers

Every year in Sarawak the  start of Gawai holidays are fixed on the 1st of June and the many ethnic groups ( Ibans, Bidayuh, Orang Ulu etc.) celebrating it would be given two public holidays :  1st  - 2nd June.

The Eid Mubarak festival or Hari Raya Aidil Fitri (Malay) was celebrated starting the 15th of June and we took three days of no work at the park to spend time with family and relatives in Bintulu.

The month of June this year is filled with holidays.  It started early with the Gawai, then Hari Raya Aidil Fitri and in between the school holidays.I have prepared cover pages/banners in welcoming the festivals and holidays as there were times of rest and short holidays for us too at the park from the hustle and bustle of work. Enjoy your holidays.

From Brood to Born Free

A brood of Pipit Rawa (Chestnut Munia)

I have been observing a brood of Pipit Rawa (Chestnut Munia) at Zone G.  After freeing them from its nest two weeks ago, I had on many occasions seen them flying about the park in a small flock.
I am happy that the ecology of the park has managed to sustain its population. Pipit is a common word used by the Malays to name birds that are commonly known as munias, sparrows and of course the pipit itself (e.g the paddy field pipit).  Here the presence of wetlands and large areas of tall grasses provide the chief food in form of grass seeds to the pipit birds.

Juvenile Pipit Rawa ready to fly off.

Adult Pipit Rawa or Chestnut Munia

A Fungi and a handsome fungus beetle.

At Botanic Island Two I came across a huge thick fungi that had a beetle below it. The beetle belongs to the Endomychidae family and are commonly called 'Handsome Fungus Beetles' due to their association with fungus. The four yellow dots on its black elytra (hardened forewings) were in striking contrast.