N Abghani

A date with Christy

2012-02-16T21:46:00.007+08:00

Poise, elegance and speed in one truly leggy package.

It's February ... Valentines Day was just over; smells of dried bubok and fresh belacan now fills the air. I've got a date with Christy, every February at Lutong Beach.

Digiscoped via afocal coupling. This image was cropped to get rid of the vignettes at the corners.

600mm, uncropped.

Took the liberty of ordering a couple of odds and ends from Shashinki.com to match the Sony SLT33+50mm with the Leica APO Televid 77 on 20-60x eyepiece for digiscoping. So far the "afocal coupling" is rather fiddly and cumbersome, alignment is mostly via eyeballing which is less than perfect and sometimes resulting in most dismal output. Presently hoping that a JJC 52mm lenshood (paired to the eyepiece) and 49-52mm step-up ring (paired to the 50mm) will see better results ... perfect polar alignment is expected.

The subject, Chinese Egret frequents our shores regularly. Largest numbers were recorded in Bako-Buntal in recent years. In lesser numbers are locations such as Kuala Balingian and Brunei Bay. Lutong Beach is fortunate to have at least a single visitor every year. On several occasions sightings of single Chinese Egret have been made in Bungai, Luak Bay, and Kuala Baram.

It is regularly seen with it's more common comrade the Little Egret, sometimes seen hunting together on the beach, at other times chasing one another trying to protect a particularly choice patch.

These two are indeed a pleasure to watch. Skittish at first, they soon grow accustomed to photogs and digiscopers and will normally tolerate our presence to sometimes what maybe termed "close proximity". If the hunting is particularly good, they would be completely oblivious to human presence altogether.

Awareness to their presence and conservation value is sadly limited in these parts. Most commonly lumped together as the "white egrets" with many not realising that there are actually: Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Pacific Reef Egret (white phase), Intermediate Egret and Great Egret. It's good that they receive scant attention from unwanted elements, however this also means very little is done for their continued protection, habitat preservation and conservation.

Efforts to get the local children interested in Lutong Beach Chinese Egret has not made much progress. A local school adopted for a birdwatching program via sponsorship of a corporate body is making little progress in getting children out and about learning about these beautiful creatures. Getting progressive educators to inculcate outdoor learning additional than that required by our Natioal Curriculum is a losing uphill battle.

For now here in Lutong and perhaps all of Northern Division, only a handful of birders are aware of the visits by Chinese Egret to our shores. With suitable habitats disappearing, beaches reclaimed and developed, most would not notice if one day they fail to return.

I for one would not want to miss this February date, afterall Christy and I have been seeing each other since 1996.

Walkabout Kpg Masjid Beach

2012-02-06T20:49:00.004+08:00

The path taken on the beach this morning, 2kms to end of trek about half-way to intended destination. The actual location of the Grey-headed Fish Eagle's nest has to be along this part of the beach as one individual was sighted nearby. The nest tree can no longer be seen from the Kpg Masjid road, cause unknown for now. It could've been destroyed by natural causes or felled.

Went to checkout Kpg Masjid Beach this morning to see how much walking was required to get to a suitable site close enough to the edge of the SY Prawn Farm for a campout.

Originally intended to drive from one of the access road but discovered the ground to be too soft with woodchips mixed up with sand. Decided to walk instead. Distance walked was almost 2kms along the beach ... mostly swampy on the beach side with pandanus, casuarinas and nipah palms. According to locals there used to be an old sandy path which was used as the main thoroughfare in the older days before tarmac was the norm. From Google this could be the now barely visible trace of tree less path , but appeared covered with tall grass. Definitely would be an efford to trudge through those.

On the way back to the car, saw a Grey-headed Fish Eagle enjoying it's meal on one of the branches of a very tall and old casuarina. Also sighted a couple of Collared Kingfishers, Yellow-bellied Prinia, and several Common Sandpiper foraging on the beach ay separate locations. Several swifts were hawking for insects on the open tall grass section.

We saw a bunch of Wandering Whistling Duck and quite a number of egrets (mixed flock) during the recent AWC at SY Prawn Farm, it'd be great to get closer to the actual site to photograph this area and perhaps locate a few other waterbirds that might not have been recorded here before.

A juvenile White-breasted Waterhen spotted along the tall grasses towards Kpg Masjid on the way back from the beachwalk.

View in the opposite direction (East).

The view towards the Kuala Baram lighthouse (West).

From the recce and map, it can be concluded that the walk to a suitable site to spy on the ducks (and other possible waterbirds) would be about 4-5kms (45mins leisurely walk one way) with one very small stream crossing. The stream might not even be there during the dryer months. The distance from the beach to the tarmac is approximately 500-600m covered with tall grass, some sections could be wet and interestingly enough several patches of forests. So far there isn't any flat open space suitable for camping other than the beach itself, so for a campout a low tide day would be the best option.

It would be interesting to see what else could be lurking in a swampy site like these which does not actually see much human presence especially after recent development of the peatswamp between Sg Baram and the tarmac (cleared and already planted with palm oil).

Happy Lunar New Year 2012 from Hilltop Garden

2012-01-23T01:20:00.003+08:00

Kpg Masjid, Kuala Baram Ride 02nd Jan 2012

2012-01-03T06:47:00.005+08:00

A quiet avenue lined with mature trees, however of late there've been some clearing and planting activities by Shin Yang. The native swamp would definitely be replaced by some cash crop such as palm oil and those fast growing, thirsty non-native trees for the pulp industries (as in other locations around Kuala Baram). Hopefully they'll keep the trees along this road intact.

We love this place because there's not much traffic, lots of birds and on most days cool from the sea breeze.

Our first rest stop, we started quite late having finished breakfast only at about 1030hrs. Another half hour drive from home to get here, so we didn't till it was well past 1100hrs. Thankfully for the clouds, though it was warm, it was positively pleasant. It could've been much hotter without the sea breeze and big shades rolling by every so often.

We reached out favorite spot along the old Kuala Baram ferry point just past noon. With plenty of water, rambutan and good cycling, we all arrived in good spirits and lots of smiley faces. We rested to the max, to recharge with idle chatter, listening to the birds and just enjoying the breeze along the mighty Sg Baram.

The ride back, it was harder now that it's in the middle of the afternoon. We made several stops to replenish our energy.

The little shack where we rested to enjoy the afternoon breeze.

Fruit from the nearby mangrove.

A bird's nest at one of our rest stop, looks to be that of a fantail of sorts.

A Lesser Coucal, another unfortunate roadkill victim. This bird has a suicidal tendency to lurch across the road whenever there's passing traffic inadvertently hitting passing cars to sometimes tragic end.

Family ride to Kuala Baram on New Year 2012

2012-01-02T08:24:00.003+08:00

It's the New Year and we decided to cycle together to Kuala Baram for 2012. Bikes loaded, we set out after a hefty breakfast of dimsum and noodles at Ming-Xin. Though we left rather late in the morning, with the landas and all, the skies were gloomy and full of clouds providing us with ample shade for our intended ride.

We started at Shell offices, our first stop was at Kpg Batu Satu.

Due to very heavy winds blowing against us from the opposite direction, our second stop was three minutes away from the first stop when Aisya yelled, " Papa, I need a rest!"

Resting at our second longest stop when the wind raised up and the rains started to come down, it almost blew the hut away.

The bikes resting in the rain as we stopped at our longest stop for the trip on account of the initial drizzle that turned ambitious and become a full downpour. The stop was a good one with plenty of sheltered dry space by a small estuary just before Toh Pottery. We observed fiddler crabs, Great Egret, Little Egret and Common Sandpiper while waiting out the rain. We pushed on ahead in the wet anyway when the rain didn't look like it was aiming to let up.

When we left Toh Pottery heading back, the sun was almost shining and the rain clouds parted. On the way back we rode all the way to Kpg Batu Satu, the wind was still, so the ride was effortless and smooth ... Ali and Aisya were flying on the tarmac continuously spraying rainwater on their backs as they cut through the puddles collecting by the road verge. I haven't had this much fun cycling since my first romp on my Halo back in 1990 in a downpour.

Ali executing the Wounded Crane on a Little Rock Move as the tides rushed in.

The Walk on Water Move was a bit tricky when Aisya kept running away everytime the tides rushed in.

Route to Roost Site Pasir Puteh

2011-12-25T09:13:00.004+08:00

Returning to roost.

Saturday, 1st day:

I stumbled upon a route to a roosting site somewhere around Taman Bukit Gedombak, Pasir Puteh yesterday. There were waves upon waves of egrets (mixed flock) flying south towards Tok Bali/Semerak area to their roosting site for at least an hour between 6:30-7:15pm. It was an amazing sight to behold especially when you're looking up from underneath them.

The 400mm kit was ideal to get the egrets as they flew by up above. The 11-16mm on the 7D was too wide, the birds were too small. The kits lens would have ideal to record the whole event on video and of course I didn't have it with me. The typical "should've"s!

There were literally thousands of birds streaming overhead continuously till sundown.

Sunday, 2nd day:

It was literally in the thousands again today. It all started at 1800hrs and didn't stop till sundown which is 1930hrs in these parts. The call to prayer for Maghrib was well underway as I made my way back to the car which was parked 800m away.

Today unfortunately I heard several shotguns blasted from a location further away, likely targetting these birds but I can't be sure. Pond Heron are known to be seasonally taken for the pot in this area but recently I have heard of egrets suffering the same fate.

Pictures to follow.

The few making it's way to the roost site. The spectacle continued until the sun was well over the horizon.

The egrets streaming overhead shot from my hiding spot below some leafy trees.

A flock making their way south. The streaming flocks started from 1800hrs and continued all the way to 1930hrs non-stop. The flocks originated from their feeding ground in the paddyfields around Jelor, Merkang and the surroundings.

The egrets' approach was via Bukit Gedombak (from both sides of the hill) in the North and flying South towards Tok Bali. The roosting site is likely to be situated in the last final stands of kayu gelam after Bukit Gedomdak before Tok Bali. The red-star marked the location I was at while making these record shots.

The zoomed out area. A significant portion of the countryside in these parts has been opened up for new roads and flood mitigation measures over the years with Bachok/Tok Bali/Pasir Puteh seeing the most change in landscape. With these activities old inaccessible roost sites were most probably destroyed and access made much easier for hunters on motobike through the newly built mudtracks.

Sunny Sunday Cruising with the Batavus Lente

2011-12-18T17:27:00.004+08:00

27 kms from Tg Lobang and back.

Didn't notice this guy's T-shirt until I got home.

Miri's very own marina, I still remembered a remark by one federal minister made during a meeting with Miri Municipal Council, "Why would a place like Miri need a marina?" This was way back in 1998.

Samling's multi-level apartment coming up next to Miri Marriot Resort and Spa. My own remark when I first step foot in Miri from KL, "Why would anyone want to live in an apartment in Miri?"

The Batavus Lente made a good fit at the back of the Pajero.

Sibuti Wildlife Sanctuary by bike

2011-12-18T16:08:00.004+08:00

The 18km return route to Sibuti Wildlife Sanctuary from SK Kpg Masjid.

We drove out at 4:30pm after ding-dong-ing at home the whole day. By the time we reached SK Kpg Masjid's jetty it was already a few minutes past 5pm.

The two MTBs were quickly offloaded and biking we went. This was supposed to be a short ride to refamiliarise ourselves with these nifty human powered two-wheelers. Clare last cycled probably way back in the summer of 2004, our last Dutch summer before we returned to Miri. I've been cycling a hybrid-roadbike occasionally for exercise since June 2011, so by right my biking is less rusty than Clare's.

The first segment of the road is surfaced, the second segment is also surfaced but with compacted medium sized gravel, the last stretch to the Sanctuary is still hardened fine mud. In many places there were potholes and wet muddy patches. Ideal for fat tires with multiple gear options.

One could make it fun by sprinting through the muddy patches but since it's our first ride, it was much more fun riding quietly and getting as close as we can to the roosting macaques and pigeons along the route. The time as well as just about settling down time for these critters with sunset only an hour away. There were several troops of monkeys all along the path, some were busily crossing the path to get to their favorite branches, the kids would definitely have loved it.

We arrived at the office just as Suni was finishing up his grasscutting chores. Suni is one of the four rangers stationed at the sanctuary. His family took up residence at the double storey wooden building that also couples as the Sanctuary office. They venture to town only for kids' schooling and getting supplies for the family. It seemed an ideal life surrounded by nature all day and nights, Suni's children seemed to love it most.

This sanctuary provides ideal habitat for crocodiles, but crocodiles are not popular subjects around here. Suni mentioned two recent cases of crocodile attack nearby. Though in both cases, the victims survived the separate attacks, the manner of which the attack occurred dismayed the locals. It took place near the village and not some quiet spot away from human habitation. The cases definitely didn't improve people's views on crocodiles around the sanctuary. Somehow the myth that "crocodiles don't attack villagers" is getting eroded quicker by each attack.

We left Suni and his family just as the sun was diving beneath the horizon. We promised to be back with the children next time around, perhaps maybe camp overnite to spy on the Buffy Fish Owl that has a favorite perch right in front of the park office. And of course to check out the eyeshine if any local crocs in nearby canals and small rivers.

Soon enough we'll be biking the 18km return trip with plenty of things to see along the way.

Leisurely ride, you'll never forget how to cycle, it might be wobbly at first but once it sinks in, it quickly becomes an automatic reaction.

The swamp getting ready to receive sunset. Sibuti Wildlife Sanctuary is not yet open to the public, SFC has an office at the Sanctuary to keep things in order. BTW, there are crocodiles in them there canals.

The sun setting as we cycled back to our waiting car.

Batavus Lente is Back!

2011-12-17T21:50:00.006+08:00

There should be no other word to describe it other than utter callousness. I'm not quite sure how it happened either.

This was a well-beloved bike, my Batavus Lente, bought in 2001 back in the village bike-shop in Rolde. It cost a pretty penny even then but most of the bikes at the shop were meant to serve a lifetime. This bike was a constant companion of mine: weekday commuting, weekend shopping, excursions with the kids when Ali was a toddler and Aisya was still a baby.

It served well ... rain or shine, windy or sunny, weekdays and weekend. We were very close to signing up for the Dutch summer cross country national cycling event, but decided against it in the end after some consideration mostly the time commitment required, and the two little ones that would have to tag along.

Then we came back and settled at 582 Hilltop. The Lente was left aside, parked idle ... day-in and day-out. Present but unused. For 7 years it sat there untouched and not cared for. Bikes became almost non-existent in our family, almost foreign. They were at one time a big part of our daily lives. Then busy took over ...

With almost seven year under the bridge, Ali and Aisya are both bigger now. And they started to get interested in cycling. It started with two bike purchases (Nexus BMX) for the kids, the hybrid-roadie (Specialised Sirrus) for me to burn some fat with, later two hardtail mtbs (Specialised Myka and Scott Aspect 40) for Clare and I. There's also the folding bike for Clare's anticipated emergency dash to the grocery store for milk or bread.

The Batavus Lente has risen again, how apt. A short sojourn at the local bikeshop, and a few minor reburfishments (most of the major parts are not available in Miri) later, the Lente is now back ... aged slighty but fully functioning as it should. It will feature regularly in our family once more.

2011 will be marked by the revival of the Batavus Lente into our family and 2012 the start of our family cycling forays. Bicycles will definitely return to be a big part of our family activities again just like the Rolde days. Busy safely locked up, keys thrown away for good.

PS:

Now let's see how I'm gonna lug the 600mm onto the Lente for biking-birding excursions in the countryside.

Weekend Birding at Lambir Hills

2011-11-28T12:45:00.009+08:00

An obliging bulbul on a macaranga, and behind him the fruits many birds go for.

Not 4 weekends ago, while visiting Lambir with the kids, we met a birder with his father attempting some bird photography at Lambir Hills National Park with a 500m. His first question was : "Do we have a bird guide?". Short answer : "No, we haven't got one here in Miri unless you engage someone beforehand from tour outfits in Kuching or KL. Those guides in KK would be closest!"

Lambir Hills National Park is a big place. Birdwatching is probably manageable on your own if you know the birds and you are adventurous enough to venture into the trails alone. You'd still need a few days to do the place justice. The Lambir 2002 Birdlist (Shanahan & Debsky) boasts a comprehensive list of 200+ birds. There hasn't been any more complete work to date since then.

For bird photography, it's probably best if you are already aware of where the birds are going to be. This is where local knowledge, perhaps built over the years of birding the area or collective birding experience come into play. A bird photographer can quickly set-up in a designated place known to be having regular bird visits thus guaranteed results.

Over the years, many birders have been to and birdwatched at Lambir. Some of this additional information is added to the list maintained at the Park HQ Office. Occasional visits by Miri birders added some more valuable bird sightings to the list.

If you are visiting only for a day or two, some of the following locales within the Park complex might be useful to you. If you have more time, book yourself into one of the hilltop chalets and do your photography to your heart's content from your chalet windows within the confines of your comfortable temporary hide. If you feel lucky surely go lug your equipment along the Innoue-Pantu Loop trail, there are several choice spots along the way for very shy birds that do come out calling once in a while. Persistence and patience do pay off in these parts.

My favorite places has always been just around the HQ complex. I'm not looking for any rarities in particular, any bird photograph is an image worth making in my mind. Some of these pictures I have made while checked in at the Hilltop Chalet. One of these days I might just try to lug the 600mm, tripod with Wimberley head as well as other associated accessories into Innoue, it's not yet time for now.

One of my favorite spot is Chalet No. 3 just up the hill behind the temporary canteen just after you've passed the old park office. In between the chalets there are a few nice rhododenrons and macarangas. A few other fruiting plants I don't recognize. These are perfect spots for birdwatching and bird photography without having to lug heavy equipment too far into the trail. During furiting seasons, these spots are a hive of activities.

Dusky Munia are commonly seen flitting about the neighbourhood. These days, the park has put up several nesting poles at a few locations for this beautiful endemic. At least 3-4 kinds of bulbuls and sunbirds make their stops at the macarangas picking up juicy little ripe fruits. My personal favorites are Hairy-backed Bulbul and Purple-naped Sunbird. Another favorite, Spectacled Spiderhunter, the largest spiderhunter in these parts are regulars here.

Fruiting trees are all tell tale signs that the site could be your next productive site as far as birds are concerned.

Chalet No. 3 from across the wooden bridge. A fruiting macaranga in between Chalet 3 and 4 guarantees bulbuls, sunbirds, flowerpeckers and spiderhunters. A rhododendron is also nearby.

Another spot, the camera is pointing to a fruiting tree a favorite of bulbuls, barbets and leafbirds. Occasionally a squirrel or two would drop in.

Little orange fruit (unidentified) a favorite of several species of bulbuls, barbets and leafbirds.

If you are lucky you'll spot nesting Dusky Munia busy flitting back and forth tending or building nest for the season. Bornean Brown Barbet and Greater Leafbird are regularly seen picking up ripe fruits in this area.

Areas surrounding Hilltop Chalet is probably second only to Chalet No. 3. Here if you are early, you can point your lens towards babblers which are very active very early in the morning and late afternoon. There's also an unidentified fruting tree with little black berries and macaranga in front of the chalet. You can shoot all day from the comfort of your chalet living room.

Down the hill from the Hilltop Chalet is a small pond, quiet by the side with a little shelter on it's shore. Here Blue-eared Kingfisher, Stork-billed Kingfisher have been recorded. Black-naped Monarch stops by for a bath on hot days. Banded Kingfisher so far has been heard but has not yet been seen. You'll be probably be more lucky with the Rufous-backed Kingfisher in the same area.

This little pond is a confirmed favorite of at least three species of kingfisher as well as other birds. Occasionally a terrapin would pop it's head out of the water.

For the more stout at heart, a foray into the Innoue trail just behind the Hilltop Chalet could be just the thing to get you pumping. Other than the babblers, pittas and trogons regularly calls a short distance into the trail. Only a few birders have been privileged with photographs of both species. Further up towards Pantu shelter, sightings of Bornean Bristlehead has been made on numerous occasions. Near a small valley where a wooden bridge cross a little stream, there's a little pool of water on the right where a Banded Kingfisher regularly calls though he has yet to be sighted much more photographed by anyone.

With 200+ species of birds on it's list, those spending a few days at Lambir Hills NP would surely be rewarded with sightings of at least 1/3 of the birds there. A single half day trip maynot be enough for everyone, but it surely rakes up your chances of getting the less regularly seen quarries.

Nazeri Abghani/Nov 2011

PS:

Recently accomodation options at the Park have at least tripled with the addition of several new modern concrete chalets. Pick those closest to sites above for comfortable birding from the confines of your chalets.

Birding Merkang Nov 2011

2011-11-06T18:32:00.005+08:00

Merkang's networked roads in the paddyfields.

Back to Merkang - a week off work just before the school break to send the kids back to Kelantan for their annual immersion of kampong life. Also the twice yearly visit to check-out and keep up the family home.

The kids are a year older, and with their eldest cousin Afif being 13 now, it's a bit easier to leave them at home for a couple of hours while I go check out the birds in the paddyfields of Merkang just at the back of the house. Normally by the time I get back home with the day's breakfast, they'd still be curled up in the living room, still asleep.

These annual trips has become something that I most look forward to every year since Mom's passing. It recharges, with plenty of time to reflect on past years events and look forward or plan for the upcoming new year. Dusting up the family home, packing away a bit of Mom's knick-knack are theraupatic.

The kids love the space to run around, watch tv or play games all day with their cousins. Roaming the paddyfields fishing and collecting siput sawah are probably some of the activities they most look forward to this time of year.

Merkang in my backyard is mostly actively worked on paddyfields in the area connecting Merkang proper, Padang Pak Amat, Jelor, Pauh Lima and several other villages in the area. Clumps of little hills scattered the landscape, for most parts they are flatlands planted with paddy with rows and rows or irrigation canals and good network of kampong roads, some surfaced and some not.

The birds you see here are the regulars you'd see in perhaps many of the paddyfields in Peninsular Malaysia. You've got the waterbirds : egrets, snipes, herons, bitterns, crake and the likes; you'll have raptors, the most common being the kites and harriers; and then you'd have the seed eating variety such as munias, grassland types of birds. Kingfishers are a personal favorite along some of the clear water canals that meander along the road network. One rare sighting was of the Crested Partridge a couple of years back, a sighting of a Watercock still remains unconfirmed.

I usually start off just after daylight, traverse the road network by car and shoot from the car window. The likes of Pond Heron, Egrets, Kingfishers are very skittish here, perhaps due to regular hunting for the pot by the locals (especially the pond herons and bitterns). The 400/5.6 and 600/4 are both attached to Canon 7D bodies respectively on the front passenger seats. The 400 for quick grabshots while the 600 are reserved for more slow work where the quarry if comfortable and unawares.

I hardly use flash because the attachment on the bracket would fit the car window, it's quite a challenge trying to maneuver the 600 in a car, much more with all sorts of accessories attached to it. Back in the boot, I have the Gitzo ever ready, so far it hasn't seen much use in the paddy fields. In fact I was thinking of just ditching it for any upcoming Merkang trips, replacing the Gitza instead with a beanbag.

The shots have been half-way decent half of the time. With not much traffic during the early morning hours, the birds get spooked less, so opportunity for good captures are rather high. So far other than the raptors, most other quarries have afforded some decent images.

Below is a selection of images captured in Nov 2011:

Black-shouldered Kite is probably the most successful and abundant raptor in the Merkang paddyfields.

Harriers are also sighted regularly and is the biggest raptor around these parts.

White-throated Kingfisher, the most common kingfisher species in paddyfields.

Pond Heron is another ubiquitous species near the water's edge. A very skittish quarry being regularly hunted by the locals for the pot.

Old friend Little Egret, it's always a grand sight to see them fly into the paddyfields in big flocks in the early of the morning and to see them off again in the evening.

A Common Kingfisher perched unawares nearby a clear water stream that branched off one of the irrigation canals. By the time the 600m was poised for a photo, it did a fast dissappearing act not to be traced again.

Chestnut Bee-eater on a dead branch in early morning light.

Another Pond Heron photographed with a 400mm from the car window as it was ready to fly off again.

The children also tried their hands at bird photography on this year. Afif finally got the hang of the 400mm and made a couple of decent shots before the week was over. Aisya and Irfan concluded that the lens and camera were far too heavy for them, Irfan got excited with the prospect of owning his own pair of binoculars one of these days.

Ali has a fair ways to go yet to be converted to a birder. Several more similar outings in the backyards of Merkang, I am sure we'll have a few more birdwatchers in the area.

Short jaunt into Latak Waterfalls, Lambir

2011-10-29T21:32:00.003+08:00

Two brats cooling off at Latak Waterfall.

Honey. I'm home.

Bloom.

The fairy garden.

The Selunsor.

Nobody wanted to go anywhere this morning, it took a whole lot of cajolling and pouting to finally get the kids into their walking shoes. Additional junk food from the gas station and a bottle each of fizzy drink finally sealed the deal. Even then the agreed concessions were : there would be no heavy trekking, there would be no prolonged photography session of any sort along the trails and the trip would only involved a short jaunt to Latak Waterfall and back.

They warmed up a bit after the usual crack-ups at "Pelir Kambing" point, the tarantula was deep inside it's lair, the entrance squeaky clean ... so the kambing won hands down with all around positive approval rating on the way in. "Bird-poop" spider hasn't been around for a while, refreshing that both kids remembered the location, and spent all of 2 seconds looking for the tiny predator.

The walk over to Latak was brisk passing the Walking Palm which hasn't made much progress all these 15 years, it's still in the same spot. Maybe it liked it's present spot so much, it's not bothered with walking anymore ... a contented palm. The Selunsor is as resplendant as it had been when I first laid eyes on it back in 1991 if not more. It's girth has increased a wee bit after almost twenty years, the change is much less than mine comparatively in as many years, and it's got height on it's side.

We got to Latak Waterfall on a typical quiet Saturday morning, other than a few completely soaked female teachers (fully attired, head to toe) who arrived much earlier for a unhindered jungle swim, we were practically the only ones there. Latak has always been a popular convenient picnic spot for visitors to Lambir Hills, plenty of shade, more than enough shelters and always the cool inviting waters of the falls.

After a frolicking good time with the resient little shrimps inhabiting Sg Latak and a spot of sunshine, we took off about lunchtime just as more late risers were making their way to Latak.

Cycling Sibuti Wildlife Sanctuary, Bekenu

2011-10-22T20:27:00.002+08:00

There's crocs in them murky waters.

Both were mighty glad to see tarmac again.

Resting in the shade.

A most beautiful spot to snack and listen to the birds. The sanctuary is not 10 mins away.

The plan was to cycle all the way from SK Kpg Masjid to the Sibuti Wildlife Sanctuary Office, maybe go say "Hallo!" to Uncle Sunni and Uncle Remli at their worksplace. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

This was the first time the kids had ever attempted off-road cycling. Though their tires were fat enough, the riders weren't used to cycling over gravel roads with potholes here and there. Perhaps it was too soon an introduction to dirt biking. It was unfair to say to least, it was their first double-track, my skinnies didn't like it either.

"It's bumpy ... my butt hurts!" was all that Ali managed to yell all the way to the hut half-way to the sanctuary. We didn't get to say hallo to Uncle Remli but bumped into Uncle Sunni along the path as we were leaving for the car.

Kids' Cycling Weekend

2011-10-15T19:38:00.005+08:00

A weekend free of activities is not easy to come by, it was with great delight and relish that the family finally afforded two days of activity free weekend after a September chock full of stuff.

On Saturday, free of tuition, replacement classes and dentail appointments and other even lesser chores we packed up the two bikes and drove off. Destination : Bulatan Park. This was the first time ever the kids got to road test their bikes outside the confines of our home since we bought the bikes in June. All this while all they had been doing was to practice their bike maneuvers around the house. They went about the Shell Traffic Games lanes over and over and over again as if to finally release all the cycling angst they've held within all this months.

On Sunday, we decided it's time for more open road cycling. With the two bikes packed up, we headed to the old Kuala Baran Ferry road, on the other side of Batang Baram. Both Ali and Aisya had a field day cycling on the open road, almost traffic free. The overcast skies helped shield them from the sun ... the breeze from the coast and open areas add a tad of a challenge. With an hour break at the old jetty, they both cycled a total of 8kms roundtrip. Aisya wanted more but reluctantly gave in when Ali decided that he'd had enough paddling for the week.

To top off an already perfect weekend, at least from the kids' point of view, we lunched at Mac D in PermyJaya ... between the two of them they gobbled 5xDouble-cheeseburgers!!! Rather unsure whether that's something I should be proud of.

Aisya braked too hard on the way back and tipped over.

Aisya had more than enough practice at home, as cool as a cucumber on two wheels.

Ali meanwhile with less practice was still nervous and trying his best to cycle a straight line.

Both the kids finally getting the hang of their wheels and actually relaxing and putting out a smile.

Growing up in a kampung setting, I counted myself lucky when Mom finally relented to my requests for a bike when I was 12 ... after I delivered the grades. With a bunch of friends our days were more free then, we cycled all over roaming the countryside leaving the house as early as 5am and returning as late as dinnertime. Sometimes just roaming around, sometimes trying out far-away fishing holes. Those were exciting and more innocent times : we didn't have parents chauffering us around then watching our backs 24/7.

Camping at Suai Beach : Ritz Carlton

2011-10-12T19:14:00.000+08:00

Nazeri, Zeana, Maye, Radhika, Mad Ali, Sara and Roslee about to cross the river from Hilton 2 heading out to Kpg Kuala Suai Dec 2008. Photo by Rabani HM Ayub taken on the 3rd day of our trek..

One of the reasons for making this trip was to observe dark skies in Suai, another was to recollect fond memories of camping in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of like minded friends back in 2008.

We first camped out at the location dubbed Hilton Camp2 during our Long Beachwalk back in December 2008. It was serendipity that we reached the site slightly later than expected and by then were not able to cross the river due to high tide, thus camped by the riverside instead. Tired, hungry, we ran out of food as well as water. A few minutes after setting camp, heavy storm clouds approached, it rained heavily and all we had was soaked. As night settled in, the skies glowed with brilliant stars. The glorious sunset and nightscenes that evening were perhaps the most memorable; not the blisters, not the oats and tuna sandwich dinner; not the rainwater tea or the lurking single crocodile we spotted in the river at dusk. After 3 days of walking, the smiles on everyone's face that night was priceless.

This 2011 trip had young pre-adults with us. Rabani, Sara and I were the only ones from the long beachwalk crew that could make it. Musa who was on the original recce crew prior to the Longwalk was also determined to come along with us for the 2 nites camping. Phillip, Adeline, Liza, Ben, Darren, Tiffany, Kenisha, Kendrick, Ali, Shamsul and Abdul were first timers to the area.

We drove to Kpg Kuala Suai through the oil palm plantation. The drive over was smooth and without much drama ... other than the depressing rows upon rows of palm oil; a dozen perplexed looking Indonesian plantation workers we passed along the road who was immediately engulfed in dust behind us.

What's more depressing was perhaps the newly opened up acreage of plantation : recently bulldozed zones, blackened tree stumps still standing while others with lingering amber. The area had been burnt all the way from the edge of the existing plantation to the coast. Another area of peatswamp undergoing conversion by fire.

With backpacks fully loaded we had everyone walking with their own rations for the 3days-2nites camping including 3.o L water. After 1.5 hrs of walking, we made camp at an inactive river, recently sanded up and choked with logs. There was plenty of room for our tents in the sand, plenty of wood to keep the fire going over the two nites. The new campsite was quickly dubbed, "Ritz Carlton". Hilton 2 was not 40 minutes away.

The area was quickly turned to a home away from home : 2 big fireplaces and working kitchens with an unlimited open space for everyone. RC would've made a perfect basecamp for longer stays except for the lack of flowing freshwater.

That first nite we were afforded magnificent views of the Milky Way; we found the Suai dark skies we were after. Scorpio was right in the middle of the display as the sun dipped below the horizon; Orion came later towards the start of the next day over a beautiful cloudless sky right over our campfire.

The next day we walked over to Hilton 2 along the beach: tide was low, the day bright and overcast, the air fresh from South China Sea.

For the short 40 minutes walk over, those who participated in the Long Beachwalk recollected the events from 3 years back : the magnificent beach scenery, quiet and deserted; the friendship we honed over the few days of hard slog and blistered feet as well as the motives each one of us had for undertaking the longwalk.

The glorious sand at Suai, at times a bit muddier depending on the season.

The crew of 2011 Ritz Carton camping weekend looking sprightly and refreshed after 3 days and 2 nites out in the middle of nowhere. (Rabani and Nazeri not in the picture).

Our home away from home, by the time we left on Sunday, the area was clear of logs ... it's an open spacious sandy place perfect for sunseekers.

All around the campfire just after dinner.

Going back was like both saying "hello" and "goodbye" at the same time. The quiet and deserted beach wouldn't be quiet and deserted for long. Big changes to the landscape already took place along much of the the coastlines. We were glad to have walked the place many years back experiencing it in the last few years of its pre-existing state. Hopefully there'd be a few more years of that which would remain, if only just.

There would always be Milky Way, Scorpio and Orion I guess in the dark of Suai nights, traversing the skies over similar stretches like Hilton 2,and Ritz Carlton. That is before something more sinister takes to the skies.

Scorpio and the Milky Way just after sunset from Ritz Carlton.

Read more on Scorpious here.

Birdwatching in Bakelalan II

2011-10-10T20:22:00.001+08:00

Cikgu Sang Sigar encouraging birdwatching as a hobby amongst his students at SK Bakelalan.

It was almost a year ago that a bunch of us dropped in on Bakelalan to do a bit of birdwatching. Though there was a bunch of us, there were perhaps 3 birdwatchers among us intent on birding in the area. We were actually there to trek GunungMurud Oct 2010, the birders however were quickly roped into giving a crash course on birds and birdwatching to SK Bakelalan through Sang Sigar, assistant principal and proprietor at the guest house we stayed at.

It's always pleasant birdwatching in Bakelalan, by the time we left after scaling Gunung Murud, Yeo Siew Teck compiled a list of 123 birds but not all restricted to the kampong area. Ashy Drongo, Black-headed Munia, Orange-breasted Flowerpecker, Striated tit Babbler were ticked just around the village paths. The rest were ticked along our trek to the summit and back. It remains that at least more than half of the birds on our list were acquired in the easy places around the settlement.

The potential for birdwatching in the surrounding area has not been adequately explored, many past birders to the area has expressed exasperations over the lack of knowledgeable bird guides in the area. It's still a very recent hobby here as far as the locals are concerned. The question then arise : who are the best persons to bird the area other than the very persons living there 24/7. The proposal was simple : teach the local youngsters about birds, in time they will be our new resource for birdwatching and bird conservation locally in the area. After all Gunung Murud, Batu Lawi and Pulong Tau are all within walking distance from Bakelalan.

Thus started the ad-hoc preliminary initiative to teach the local children about birds and the wholesome hobby of birdwatching. Introducing the birds to these young people could very well increase their awareness of our feathered friends and ultimately their appreciation and conservation. Yeo, Nazeri, Sara, Chris and Faye initiated the first basic lessons back in Oct 2010; this year Peter, Nazeri, Amer and Ali embarked on exposing a second batch of students to birds and birdwatching.

In any rural setting, any available resource is quickly associated as food resource. The time is now if not 70 years ago to make the people of places of conservation value like Bakelalan, Bario and others more connected with the conservation work that are taking place elsewhere in bigger less bird diverse area. It might not be too late for the rural children to appreciate birds on a higher aesthetic level rather than quickly to associate it to a bowl of soup at the dinner table. Once these youngsters value birds more than just as a food resource, it will become clear to them that conservation is the only right path to follow.

Black-headed Munia, found in abundant numbers near grassy areas of Bakelalan.

Perched in the paddyfield.

Looks to be a perfect spot for early morning and last afternoon birdwatching, high up in the hills.

White-breasted Waterhen looking wary by the edge of the paddyfield.

With sufficient investment in time and effort from the school, its teachers and birdwatching fraternity, we hope that one day there'll be more birders in Bakelalan both in the form of a local as well as in the form of the paying tourist variety.

Bird list of Ba’Kelalan from 18^th till 21^st October 2010 (not limited to Bakelalan village) by Yeo Siew Teck

1 Cinnamon Bittern Flying over / In flight

2 Little Egret Feeding

3 Black Eagle Flying over / In flight

4 White-breasted Waterhen Heard and seen

5 Common Sandpiper Heard and seen

6 Spotted Dove Perched

7 Lesser Coucal Heard call only

8 Glossy Swiftlet Flying over / In flight

9 Gold-whiskered Barbet Feeding

10 Mountain Barbet Feeding Endemic

11Bornean Barbet Heard call only Endemic

12 Rufous Woodpecker Heard call only

13 Crimson-winged Woodpecker Pecking

14 Banded Broadbill Heard call only

15 Black-and-yellow Broadbill Heard call only

16 Golden-bellied Gerygone Heard and seen

17 White-breasted Woodswallow Perched

18 Ashy Drongo Perched

19 Pied Fantail Heard and seen

20 Pacific Swallow Flying over / In flight

21 Yellow-bellied Prinia Heard call only

22 Yellow-vented Bulbul Heard and seen

23 Rufous-tailed Tailorbird Heard and seen

24 Ashy Tailorbird Heard and seen

25 Black-throated Wren-babbler Heard and seen Endemic

26 Asian Fairy-bluebird Heard call only

27 Oriental Magpie-robin Heard and seen

28 Yellow-vented Flowerpecker Feeding

29 Orange-bellied Flowerpecker Heard and seen

30 Plain Flowerpecker Perched

31 Brown-throated Sunbird Heard and seen

32 Crimson Sunbird Feeding

33 Little Spiderhunter Heard and seen

34 Eurasian Tree Sparrow Feeding

35 Dusky Munia Heard and seen

36 Black-headed Munia Flying over / In flight

37 Grey Wagtail Heard and seen

38 Red-breasted Partridge Heard call only

39 Cattle Egret Feeding

40 Crested Serpent-eagle Flying over / In flight

41 Little Cuckoo-dove Perched

42 Thick-billed Green-pigeon Feeding

43 Banded Bay Cuckoo Heard call only

44 Greater Coucal Heard and seen

45 Bornean Frogmouth Heard and seen Endemic

46 Whiskered Treeswift Hawking for insects

47 Rufous-collared Kingfisher Heard call only

48 Stork-billed Kingfisher Heard and seen

49 Rhinoceros Hornbill Heard call only

50 Helmeted Hornbill Heard call only

51 Maroon Woodpecker Heard call only

52 Banded Broadbill Heard call only

53 Black-and-yellow Broadbill Heard and seen

54 Golden-bellied Gerygone Heard and seen

57 Scarlet Minivet Heard and seen

58 Bornean Whistler Foraging Endemic

59 Spangled Drongo Heard and seen

60 Spotted Fantail Heard call only

61 Black-headed Bulbul Heard and seen

62 Black-crested Bulbul Heard and seen

63 Red-eyed Bulbul Perched

64 Ochraceous Bulbul Heard and seen

65 Ashy Bulbul Heard and seen

66 Arctic Warbler Foraging

67 Yellow-bellied Warbler Heard and seen

68 Black-capped Babbler Heard call only

69 Chestnut-backed Scimitar-babbler Heard call only

70 Grey-throated Babbler Heard and seen

71 Striped Tit-babbler Heard call only

72 Chestnut-hooded Laughingthrush Heard and seen Endemic

73 White-browed Shrike-babbler Heard call only

74 Brown Fulvetta Heard and seen

75 Chestnut-crested Yuhina Feeding Endemic

76 White-bellied Yuhina Heard and seen

77 Pygmy White-eye Feeding Endemic

78 Rufous-winged Philentoma Heard call only

79 White-tailed Flycatcher Perched

80 Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher Heard call only

81 Greater Green Leafbird Feeding

82 Bornean Leafbird/Kinabalu Leafbird Feeding Endemic

83 Olive-backed Sunbird Heard and seen

84 Grey-breasted Spiderhunter Heard and seen

85 Crested Serpent-eagle Flying over / In flight

86 Blue-crowned Hanging-parrot Flying over / In flight

87 Drongo Cuckoo Heard call only

88 White-crowned Hornbill Heard call only

89 Whitehead's Broadbill Perched Endemic

90 Bornean Treepie Heard and seen Endemic

91 Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike Hawking for insects

92 Black-and-crimson Oriole Foraging

93 Black-naped Monarch Heard call only

94 Crested Jay Heard call only

95 Scaly-breasted Bulbul Heard and seen

96 Temminck's Babbler Heard call only

97 Rufous-fronted Babbler Heard call only

98 Black-capped White-eye Feeding

99 Velvet-fronted Nuthatch Foraging

100 Dark-sided Flycatcher Hawking for insects

101 Verditer Flycatcher Perched

102 Ruby-cheeked Sunbird Perched

103 Wreathed Hornbill Flying over / In flight

104 White-throated Fantail Heard and seen

105 Short-tailed Green Magpie Heard and seen

106 Sunda Bush-warbler Foraging

107 Mountain Blackeye Feeding Endemic

108 Flavescent Bulbul Perched Endemic

109 Yellow-breasted Warbler Foraging

110 Mountain Wren-babbler Heard call only Endemic

111 Eyebrowed Jungle-flycatcher Heard and seen Endemic

112 Barred Eagle-owl Heard call only

113 Brown-capped woodpecker Drumming/Pecking

114 Grey-chinned Minivet Heard and seen

115 Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike Hawking for insects

116 Blyth's Hawk-eagle Flying over / In flight

117 Pink-necked Green-pigeon Feeding

118 Indian Cuckoo Heard call only

119 Red-billed Malkoha Foraging

120 Chestnut-breasted Malkoha Feeding

121 Scarlet-rumped Trogon Heard call only

122 Orange-breasted Trogon Heard & Seen

123 Grey-cheeked Bulbul Heard call only

Last year we donated 2 Susan Myer's Birds of Borneo Fieldguide to Cikgu Sang and the community. This year we left another copy to the teachers who will be the torchbearers for this rural birdwatching effort.

It is hoped that by Jan 2012, we will have at least one AWC survey conducted in Bakelalan and by later by June a "MY Garden Birdwatch" event executed by the students and teachers with help from the birdwatching fraternity. Next trip : "How to enter Bakelalan bird sightings to BIW!"

Write-up and photo by

Nazeri Abghani, MNS Miri, Oct 2011

Niah NP Weekend

2011-09-20T20:01:00.003+08:00

It's been a while since we overnighted at Niah NP, the weekend after the trip to the West country seemed ideal to recuperate from jetlag and just hang-out listening to the sounds of the rainforest. We booked a fan-cooled chalet at Niah Park and stayed for the long weekend.

It was a quiet weekend of just lounging about with windows open and ears perked up to listening to the incessant calls of barbet, broadbills, hornbills and numerous sunbirds that flit through the idyllic minimalist garden setting. With comfy chairs set up on the verandah facing flowering hibiscus, we savored the views of a pair of Brown-throated Sunbird that came to visit flowers on an hourly basis. Fleeting about the same path, beautifully painted butterflies came and went.

Male Brown-throated Sunbird.

Female, Brown-throated Sunbird.

Male, Purple Sunbird/Van Hasselt's Sunbird.

A beautifully marked male Golden Birdwing Troides Amphrysus.

Our chalet situated not far from the river afforded us unparalled views of the comings and goings of visitors to the park. The weekend being a three day weekend proved to be busy for the boatman and park staff. Visitors came and went at all hours from 7am till late in the afternoon. Outside of those hours we had the park to ourselves, it's akin to living in a simple manor surrounded by a large well tended garden.

We took our meals at Batu Niah rest-stop, 30minutes away by car. Reason being the canteen was rather sluggish with limited fare on offer. At the rest stop, food on offer ranged from chicken wings, roti canai, mee kolok and all sorts of other delectable local meals simply prepared.

Milky Way in the garden.

The drive out gave us a chance to scan the skies for some magical dark sky wonders. Being away from the brightly lit Miri City ie. less light pollution gave us clearer views of the surrounding nite skies. On one of those nights, perhaps only the 3rd such occasion in our umpteen years in Sarawak, we were blessed with a spectacular view of the Milky Way ... right from the front porch of our humble chalet.

The stay Niah NP gave us the quiet weekend we longed for, delectable little pleasures meant to be taken in small doses.

Information for visitors:-

Niah Caves NP offers a range of accomodation choices :

a) Fan-cooled dormitory rooms-4 rooms per house, 4 single beds per room with attached bathroom and shower and a huge common living area. Best value for money at $40/room.

2) Fan-cooled chalets-2 rooms per house, 4 single beds per room with attached bathroom and shower. Comes with a refrigerator, living and kitchen area. A steal at $159/house.

Also on offer are the air-conditioned VIP chalets and air-conditioned chalets. For enquiries, please call Niah Caves NP at 085-737450/737454 or fax 085-737918.

More information on the park can be found here.

Birdwatching out West

2011-09-18T14:57:00.004+08:00

I took a few days off work for a long weekend break to go visit out West last week, to explore some birdwatching potential amongst others and for a general look and see. The bags were packed : laptop, camera and one lens, wide because it's smaller and lighter; and several changes of clothing. The biggest mistake ever had to be the decision not to lug along the 400mm.

Since there's a few sunny days still left over the summer ... there were still some birds around! The residents were aplenty, and I whacked myself bigtime for not bringing the long lens along for the ride. The 11-16mm wide lens was proven a good lens for birding dead birds at best, lousy for birds in flights or even a bit ways away. Even at 3 feet away, on file the House Sparrow came out only the size a large tick. And there were many birds that last few days of summer! Many!

I ticked several Common Coot, Tufted Duck, Grebes (not sure which since I didn't even pack a bino), Eider and more seagulls one can whack a stick at. Did I say Eider already?

The little lake facing my hotel room : Grebe, Tufted Duck, Common Coot, Mallard, Gulls.

The graceful swans which are part of the decor along the harbour; not pictured are more Gulls and three Eider.

The frenzy flight of seagulls towards the end of the day.

The few images more suited to the wide angle lens taken around the harbour during the last few hours of sunny Sunday.

Wooden white painted houses by the harbour.

Soaking in the sun at the waterfront watching the locals pass by with the not so good for birding wide-angle lens.

Note to self :
Make sure to pack at least a 400mm and a bino no matter where you go, leave the extra shirts behind. I've gone soft this past year or so ... the old me would've picked up a 150-500mm at KLIA upon departure if not at Amsterdam Duty Free for use during the few days lay-over. Extra shirts are for sissies ... or an older guy like yours truly.

Birds in Kudat II

2011-09-18T14:16:00.004+08:00

Kudat isn't actually famous amongst birdwatchers as a birding haven, at least not to my knowledge. Most of Kudat is cultivated, I was told this was so all the way since the late 1800s initially with coconuts, later rubber and now palm oil.

Driving around the the area, we did noticed a few green "hutan simpan" labels along the roads we took, but that was all. Perhaps more birders needed to come around and do a bit more birdwatching in the said hutan simpan to prove that there'd indeed be hidden birding jewels amongst the greeneries that's left in and around Kudat.

It didn't take us too long to stumble upon Top Victory Zoo near Parapat, along the main road to Kudat. It was actually a privately owned oil palm plantation; with kept animals as a side attraction. There were many caged birds, some in steel wire cages clearly too small for them and a few with injuries requiring urgent attention.

On first impression, it looked like a personal menagerie gone bigger than it ever should have. A private zoo gone awry. A private collector gone mad. There were rare birds and raptors; leopard cats, civets, crocodiles, binturongs ... all seemed out of place in someone's backyard on the side of a hill surrounded by palm oil. Visitors are charged $5 (Malaysian) and $10 (non-Malaysian), there were no proper parking facilities. Vehicles are requested to park along side the main road. There were a couple of tour buses the day we visited.

There were no professional care givers, only a couple Indonesian workers tending to the oil palm, the machinery and tasked with feeding the animals and cleaning the cages. A sad place to be to say the least, especially if you are on the inside of a steel cage.

Who looks after places such as this? Is there a minimum requirement for proper operation such that the welfare of the caged animals are well looked after? We left the place saddened by the thought of wild birds caged up in tiny little spaces; and the beautifully marked leopard cats cowering in wooden crates inside their cage.

Do we need places like these?

More pictures of caged subject at this link on Flicker.

Birds in Kudat I

2011-09-06T05:42:00.010+08:00

I had brought along the big lens anticipating a couple of days shooting images of birds at Gunung Alab Resort near The Crocker Range National Park. Little did I realised that it's a fair distance away from Kudat, our chosen base this time around. It would have taken us 6hrs for the Kudat-KK-Kudat leg, perhaps another 6hrs or more for the KK-Gunung Alab-KK leg; which would definitely entailed an overnite stay at the resort. That idea was quickly abandoned after a brief feedback session with the children.

So the big lens sat in our hotel room securely locked up in a suitcase the whole time we were in Kudat. Instead, armed with only the 11-16mm and 400mm, we explored Kudat. We saw much in terms of casuarina lined beaches, white sands and secluded idyllic coves with little or virtually no human presence. However, in terms of bird-life, we saw only the usual suspects.

We had a nice encounter with a Black-shouldered Kite at Simpang Mengayau. The little raptor was surfing the sea breeze hunting for a meal. We managed to shoot it at eye-level. There were several other kites seen at Sikuati, and a few of the other beaches. We saw Crested Serpent Eagle, Changeable Hawk Eagle near Parapat soaring above the highway; and a couple of White-bellied Sea Eagle as we were approcahing Limau-limauan on one of our excursions.

In general, Asian Glossy Starlings dominated the town area together with Yellow-vented Bulbuls. At the waterfront, we saw Brahminy Kites, Little Egret, Great Egret, Little Heron, Pacific Reef Egret, Black-naped Tern and possibly a Great Crested Tern (need to check).

While at Pantai Bak-bak we stumbled upon a whole colony of nesting starlings as well as several Collared Kingfisher. Many of the beach gazebos were left under utilised, some completely abandoned, these became perfect nesting sites for the starlings. There was also a small birdwave consisting of Common Iora with sub-adult, Dark-necked Tailorbird, Brown-throated Sunbird and Olive-backed Sunbird the time we were there.

One site that would've been nice to explore was the Waterworks station along Jalan Lau San on the way to Tg Simpang Mengayau. It's along an uphill road fringed by a forest reserve. It was unfortunately a restricted area, we should've taken the time to enter the compound and ask for permission to birdwatch there.

We did however stumbled on a more disturbing place for birds. We made a pit-stop at Top Victory Zoo near Parapat to check out what's in store, what we saw was rather disturbing!

( ... to be continued in the next entry ... Birds in Kudat II)

Terns at Kudat Banggi ferrypoint hunting for bait-fish amongst the fishing boat. A Brahminy Kite was also spotted near the same area.

Black-shouldered Kite cruising at Tg Simpang Mengayau.

Iora looking for breakfast at Pantai Bak-Bak.

Milky Way ever so faintly

2011-09-04T21:22:00.003+08:00

Still hot on the trails of Milky Way from Kudat and Tg Simpang Mengayau, we decided to wander over to Tusan Cliff and see how dark the skies were over this side. With the moon almost quarter full up in the skies, it wasn't all too dark for a perfect shot of our galaxy.

Kudat city lights proved too bright for our Milky Way, this shot was made at the Kudat Municipal padang by evading the streetlights as best we can ... still too bright.

A small break in the skies revealed a spattering of bright stars at Tg Simpang Mengayau hidden by the evening clouds. The place was perfect for dark skies if only the nite wasn't so cloudy.

Kudat Nights

2011-08-30T20:49:00.002+08:00

A site at the junction to Pantai Bak-bak, stars were brightest for the first minute of our arrival. Unfortunately thick clouds quickly moved in after only a few shots. Definitely a must go back site.

This shot was made in the parking lot of the club by putting the camera on top of our car facing up to the sky. The following shots were made after dinner at the Kudat Golf Club just by the Club's restaurant. The skies were brilliant amidst pollution from the spotlights at the driving range next to the restaurant.

Kudat is looking great for dark sky parties ... there's plenty of secluded but accessible coastline well away from the bright lights with ample foreground interest, rocky shores of Tanjong Simpang Mengayau being one of them and there are no less similarly interesting features around Kudat.

Explore Kudat

2011-08-30T17:28:00.002+08:00

Explore Kudat 26th Aug-02nd Sep 2011. Our route around the countryside, wished I had a convertible to zip around the small backlanes, stopping by white-sandy beaches to cool off now and again.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri

2011-08-30T15:07:00.002+08:00

First day of Aidil Fitri, 30th Aug 2011 Kudat, Sabah.

Choo Tse Chien, Birding Maestro and Buddy

2011-08-24T23:17:00.004+08:00

Today, 24th Aug 2011, we lost a birding maestro and good friend, a major player in the Malaysian bird photography scene.

Tse Chien helped us celebrate our first World Migratory Bird Day in Miri, our very first in Sarawak. He has been a constant inspiration to our own birding work here in Miri, supportive and forever ready to coach, goad, instigate and inspire birdwatching and bird photography activities locally. He was with MNS Miri on several occasions traversing rural villages talking to and inspiring little birders with his amazing bird images.

Always remembered as the kind and jovial person by whomever he meets, he helped us set up our very first Bird Photography Exhibition with his enthusiasm and beautiful bird imagery at Borneo Tropical Rainforest Resort on occasion of MNS National AGM 2009 in Miri, also a first such exhibition in Miri if not the Northern Division.

His mark was not only left in Miri. He actively contributed to the first Langkawi Bird Festival together with Irshad Mubarak, MNS Langkawi and others. He was also a regular contributor to the Sabah's Borneo Bird Festival ever since it's inception. He has inspired us and his many other photographer friends to the beauty of birds; turning photographers to birders from Perlis to Sabah. His images are almost always up close, personal and with his signature heavenly bokeh as background.

Choo Tse Chien, buddy, may you rest in peace surrounded by all that is beautiful and heavenly in creation.

We will miss you.

Moon 21st August with Jupiter

2011-08-21T15:33:00.004+08:00

Indigo Moon (post-processed).

Two images of the Moon with different exposure (one correct exposure for the moon, the other correct exposure for the sky ie. over exposed moon) stacked together giving the Moon a luminous glow.

The Moon's almost half moon this day 21st August. It's also a day when Jupiter was closest to the moon.

With space objects ad-infinitum circling around the universe since the beginning of time, surely none of them can go off to have a jolly trip out of orbit for the sake of a nutter-blogger bent on making believers of the gullibles amongst us. Even if the nutter has to cowardly attribute the disclosure to the country's top astrophysicist who happens to be the UN Earth's Official Alien Responder ... he's still a nutter, go find something more productive to do.

Starchart 0500-0600hrs 21st Aug 2011 (Sky n Telescope).

Sometime in Tusan

2011-08-21T07:00:00.002+08:00

It was so dark that only 30sec, f2.8 and ISO 3200 would do for this brief take.

We zipped over to Tusan Cliffs last night, it was nice and completely dark. Unfortunate for us by the time we set up tripod, laid-down the mat ... dark storm clouds started moving in. After about 6 or so exposures, the dark clouds completely covered the skies. It poured even before we reached home 2330hrs!

Somewhere near Lambir

2011-08-20T15:12:00.002+08:00

We left the house at 2130 hrs ... hunted for a dark spot. Bukit Song looked perfect but felts kinda spooky, so we drove on down the hill towards Lambir Hills NP and settled at a spot after the longhouses about 800m from the park. It was dark but up in the clouds you can still see reflected luminosity from Miri.

The skies on the side of Lambir Hills was clear, we peaked at how brilliant the skies were as we drove along. The clouds were drifting in slowly. The skies across the road at our chosen spot looked even better ... only the pylons were criss-crossed the horizon, killing all hope of a good starry nite image . We waited for a lull in traffic and shot a few frames from where we parked.

On the way home approximate 2250 hrs we noticed a bloodshot moon slowly rising. It was huge and red, it would've a great pic with the 400mm. We finally reached an ideal spot, the moon over yonder just above the horizon, still red. We maneuvered the car in place, the dear Moon went and hid herself under some dark clouds.

It never came out.

We thought the tag "Moonhunter" was kinda moronic since there's published charts of the moon's path for everyday of the year. Pick a day ... any day, you'd know where dear Moon would be.

We drove back home almost 2330hrs and fell straight into bed.

Moon 19th August

2011-08-19T06:05:00.003+08:00

The Moon this morning approximately at the call to Subuh prayers 19th August, 1/500sec-f8 at ISO400, two shots stacked.

Orion's sword

2011-08-19T05:55:00.002+08:00

THE ORION NEBULA glows brilliantly as the middle “star” in Orion’s sword taken with 400mm x1.6crop factor at 1sec (stacked) on ISO 6400 ... still noisy as a fish market.

Sky so blue at Kuala Baram

2011-08-17T21:40:00.003+08:00

Conditions looked perfect this morning for a blue-skies picture at Kuala Baram, rushed out and got there just before seven. Cool breeze, brilliant light!

Nightly Escapades

2011-08-14T12:14:00.006+08:00

Weekends activities after dark ...

In the early morning hours (circa 2 or 3 am) of 13th Aug 2011, peering into heavens with the naked eye. That night was supposedly to coincide with the peak Perseid meteor shower in the Northern skies. We sat, waited, enjoyed the sometimes cool breeze from the ocean before us and battled with angry and relentless swamp mozzies which perhaps have never had sweet blood at this time of night before for a long while.

Side street astronomy with the eager youngsters of Kpg Masjid, Kuala Baram the same morning about 3 am. More photos at this link on Facebook. We were joined by young folks from a village nearby who were eager to count meteors. They waited with us, battling the same mozzies and with more that enough energy to last until morning time. Thankfully all managed to observe a few meteors streaked through the early morning skies, the children were ecstatic. It was tough peeling them off the roadside for the minder to take them home for sahur.

Figuring our Orion this morning 14th August 2011 at home, just after sahur about 515am. With the aid of Android phone apps, perusing through the nite's star map has never been any easier. Run the program and point to the skies ... now lets see if there's already an app or two to run viewers through a narrated tour of the heavens. "To the right of Bellatrix, approximately ...".

Strolling with my girl

2011-08-13T18:20:00.007+08:00

I took time off work yesterday to ferry the kids about for their piano tests; Grade 2 for Ali, Grade 1 for Aisya. Though both kids are not that fond of piano as much as they used to when they were younger, I believed they should have a regular activity to revolve around other than school, tuition and Mandarin. They've stuck with music this far, not sure whether they'd be willing to go further after the test .

With approximately an hour to spare before picking up Ali for his session after sending him to school, Aisya and I went to Kuala Baram for a short stroll. I've been there many times over the years. In the early days after relocating to Miri to take pictures of the changing coastal landscape, later counting migrating waders during migrating season and Asian Waterbirds Census in January.

I have not been there with Aisya, one on one. Initially skeptical as to why we were there at first she slowly warmed up to the place. Most times we are at the beach, it was to run around and splash about. Today, we were just sitting on the rocks watching the clouds go by, peeked at the mudskippers and enjoy the cool morning breeze.

"Papa, I think I like this place! I like the rocks, I like the sounds of the birds, I love the mudskippers ... can we stay here longer!"

Ever since we were back in Miri, when they were still young little tykes, I've taken them to the beach around our home. They've always love it: the running around in the water, splashing each other. Today this is the first time I've heard Aisya profess her fondness for a place such as this. It's wet, it's muddy, crawling with strange creatures ... the fact she likes the place as it is warms up my heart.

This spot can be her special spot too.

Kpg folk crossing the shallow lagoon after an early session of beach-combing, one of my favorite past time.

Nature taking over barren rocks.

Aisya maneuvering her tiny self on the big boulders forming the erosion control barrier.

Sulky fella on a rock.

Big papa mudskipper having a splashing good time in a brackish pond nearby.

House Crow in Kota Kinabalu

2011-08-12T05:39:00.003+08:00

House Crow Corvus splendens and it's attempt at nest building. We saw these birds, more common in Klang, in KK right in front of our hotel. Apparently a breeding population have been here in the city since 1997 (Phillip's Guide to the Birds of Borneo, Quentin Phillips and Karen Phillips 2009) with a first record made in Papar back in 1983.

We were told by one of the guys that there are a lot more of these birds over on the islands and that they are actively sought out by locals in some magic money making rituals. We figure he has just the boat to take us out there and make some money out of us too had we taken the bait ... watching the birds in the city was fun enough for us then.

Short weekend in KK

2011-08-12T04:07:00.004+08:00

The 30% discount store at KK's latest shopping mall.

It was quite a while ago that I last spent anytime in KK, my most favorite city. At one time I was there almost every quarter if not at least twice a year. So it was with much expectation that I agreed to a weekend in KK amidst a busy month at home.

In KK, a favorite spot has always been the Phillipines market, though much more vibrant before the immigration crackdown, the spot still hold some fond memories for me. There are less street kids but there are still around if you look around with scrutiny, the kids are a part of Sabah's vibrant street life. The nite market at the same spot comes to life immediately after nitefall. You can get anything there, practically.

The view from our hotelroom. My favorite hideaway in KK has to be Hotel Diamond, a $50/nite joint near the old immigration office ... Wisma ???? Cheeky but friendly staff would man the front desk during the day, a burly security fella at nite. Warm water in old Chinese flask is a unique feature, delivered to your room by the chambermaids daily. Outside, street life bustled at all hours of the day. These days I stayed at a slightly posh hotel mingling about with tourists and dull conference attendees ; they moved the immigration office.

A nice stop-over place has to be the Kota Kinabalu Wetlands Center at Likas Bay. This place is well hidden amongst the spacious bungalows near Likas town. The mangroves are growing well, and nature taking it's rightful place rather nicely here over the past few years. If you are into birds and any other small mangrove critters, this might be a great break from the all day shopping in the city center.

Green Imperial Pigeon seen roosting the middle of Kota Kinabalu city.

The band playing into the wee hours at the hotel lounge, a more sedate version of the KK nitelife. Most entertainers at lounges similar to this are from a neighbouring country, I like the more respectable attire of these folks here though the songs they play were a tad "sleepy". But then again, there are worst places.

KK and Sabah in general has something for everyone. The islands, the mountains and the streetlife has always been more than a handful for visitors. These days shopping and dining has been added to the list of things to do here too, with less than an hour flying time from Miri, it's no reason not to come around and visit more often.

It's been a good trip.

Images from the famed Gaya Street Sunday Market:

Artwork for sale.

Sea-shells for sale.

Butterflies (paper craft) for sale.

Puppies for sale.

Masseus for hire, there's actually a bee-line queing up for these professionals.

Shooting stars in the backyard.

2011-08-05T20:32:00.005+08:00

I got instantly inspired after looking through a friend's recent gallery of the Milky Way made someplace 45mins from home. With a very simple set-up, Sam managed to put into pictures what I had in mind to do for a while now. Getting the right sky is rather tricky, last night was rather clear, so I gave it a shot ... well, let's just say a few.

Not great pictures, but now I'm positive it could be done with merely the tools I already own: a digital camera, a tripod and cable release. One of these nites, the cloud's going to clear up and the heavens will reveal itself sparkling unto me.

Sam Ting's Milky Way pictures on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2091626782458.110065.1598930321

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1389789596967.49494.1598930321&type=1

The Firefly Cruise that got stranded at the bottom of Sg Raan

2011-08-04T05:49:00.006+08:00

As a part of our post-AGM activities, fireflyers offered a nite cruise to see fireflies at Sungai Raan the evening of the AGM.

Everyone was looking forward to this Sg Raan river cruise : fireflies, crocodiles and idyllic fishing village setting all along a tiny river by the side of a road which everybody from Miri overlooks on their way south to Bekenu or Bintulu.

We hired three boats in total, as the nite drew on, everybody's anticipation was definitely on the way up. When the boats launched off the jetty, the kids were visibly the most excited.

As we left, there were already a few patches of congregating firefly zones along the river as we moved upriver into Sg Raan. The kids were definitely excited about these little flickering creatures, we knew for sure they'll be even more excited when we reach the stretch with the highest density of display trees just over yonder. Perhaps add a crocodile sighting or two, they'd definitely be filled with adrenaline by the end of the nite.

A loud thud when the boat bottomed out at a section just after Hawaii Beach made our hearts sank, escpecially so for fireflyers ... tonite was meant to be a nite of fireflies for the kids. With the tide not showing any signs of receding, it was confirmed that water wouldn't be rising at least till midnite, we resigned to the fact that we'd be stuck in Sg Raan the nite's knee deep water.

After half an hour or maneuvering and struggling to free the boats, a strenous effort by the boatmen, we decided to call it a nite. With the "bright flickereing" stretch only 10 meters away, we decided to turn back not feeling as high as we'd initially thought we would.

The kids were excited enough about the boat ride and being stuck in the middle of the river; they'd perhaps be even more so if they'd witness the flickering of fireflies all along the river and maybe spot a couple of fickering eyes of a crocodile or two at the water's edge.

The boats finally managed to pull themeselves out after much effort and we headed back to the jetty. The display trees at the start of the streth was still flickering bright when we passed them on the way back.

Stars at Baraya

2011-08-04T05:31:00.001+08:00

Nightshots at Baraya laut Resort, 30sec exposure, 11mm/5.6 at ISO 1600.

MNS Miri Branch New Committee for 2011-2012

2011-07-31T21:02:00.002+08:00

MNS Miri concluded their Branch AGM held at Baraya Laut Resort, Kpg Baraya, Miri, Sarawak 30th July 2011 with the election of fresh faces for branch Committee. The AGM went smoothly with twenty-two stalwart members attending the event.

The new committee,

Chairperson : Peter Pillai

Vice-Chairperson : Musa Musbah

Secretary : Joyce Sivalingam

Treasurer : Amer Matridi Mansor

Committee : Miriam Chacko, Marlene Lim (Co-opted)

Immediate-past Chairperson : Anura Dason

Those in attendance were later treated to an early dinner consisting of kelupis and satay ordered specially for the occasion. Dinner was then followed by a short firefly cruise along Sg Raan for members and their family.

Special mention goes to Committee members from 2010-2011 who made this event all possible.

Here's to another productive year for MNS Miri!

MNS Miri

Kuala Baram Morning

2011-07-29T05:53:00.004+08:00

Felt like a morning out by the lagoon listening to Yellow-bellied Prinia, Striated Grassbird, Asian Glossy Starling, Pied Triller and Collared Kingfisher instead of the tiresome drone of the workstation in the office.

How soothing the pounding waves are in the right setting.

Little mangrove claiming it's rightful place on the mudflats, this area was previously lined with nipah palm which got eroded away in time. A few feet from the erosion control boulders, native plants are slowly claiming it's stake.

Purple Heron perched on top a an established mangrove plant. At other times there'd be Grey Heron, Collared Kingfisher and Common Kingfisher on the branches.

Little mudskippers playing at the water's edge. Bigger mudskippers restrict themselves to a brackish stagnant pond nearby which is connected to the lagoon at high tide.

"Hey, your lovelies, do you come around 'ere often?"

Paradise in small little unpretentious packages makes the 10 minute drive out here worthwhile, everytime.

Aisya is 9 years old!

2011-07-06T23:12:00.003+08:00

Aisya celebrated her 9th birthday, 02nd July, at home with an American Chocolate cake, Mommy, Daddy and her big brother Ali.

Aisya's big koko, her bestest friend and sparring partner.

At brunch the week before her birthday ... counting the hours to her 09th birthday.

Graduated her three wheeler to a two wheeler which she herself timed to coincide with her birthday. The bike was purchased approximately a month ago and she's been on it (with the 3rd wheel attached) every chance she got. On her birthday, the support wheels went off and spinning around the porch she goes!

Keluang Fly-by ....

2011-07-02T11:14:00.003+08:00

About twenty of these big flying foxes made a flyby our house one morning, probably from the same flock from Kuala Niah that got blown over by an impending storm over the horizon. We have never seen these fellas before in the neighbourhood. Hope to see more of them ...

Tried my new wide this morning: Tokina ATX 11-16/2.8 Pro DX

2011-07-02T10:27:00.005+08:00

Many fellow photographers have been saying many good things about this lens, thought I'd jump onto the bandwagon. Might as well since the widest lens I have now is only the Canon kit lens 18-85 that came with the 40D I bought a few years back.

Honey, hurry back ...

Pop!

Leica 90/2.8 on Vaio by Tokina 11-16/2.8

My absolute favorite wide has to be the chrome CV 15/4.5, focus free at 5.6 on a rangefinder ... on film. The Tokina would be closest to that on the 40D and 7D at 11/2.8. The "advantage" of quick digital images and distadvantage of bulky digital SLR.

Now waiting for an opportune moment to make wide sky shots of twinkling stars!

The Tokina ATX 11-16/2.8 PRO DX is available online at www.shashinki.com and possibly Yu-Teck Enterprise at Merdeka Mall, Miri, Sarawak.

Sape maestros at Pustaka Miri Showcase

2011-07-01T04:52:00.001+08:00

Long Moh, Long Mekaba ... all the old masters are still in these two places.

Loops on the 19th and 26th of June.

2011-07-01T04:43:00.003+08:00

26th June. Bakam or bust ... it was a bust, started out too late but overall a good loop. Jalan Riam-Miri-Airport Road uphill was broken into 2 segments (1 stop). The uphill is shorter range than Jalan Cahaya but faster ascend.

19th June. Jalan Cahaya uphill towards Miri-Airport Road is gentle but brutal in one go, so it was broken into 3 short segments (2 stops).

Saturday Loop Around

2011-06-12T22:33:00.003+08:00

Rest stop at Pujut Padang Kerbau Bust depot, 0:32min from starting point.

Leg no. 4, covered 20kms on this ride, downhill along Jalan Riam on the way out, short uphill stretch along Jalan Cahaya, and main airport road on the way back, 08:01am at the gate.

Loop around on a Saturday morning.

2011-06-11T09:52:00.003+08:00

Kpg Batu Satu, Kuala Baram

While waiting for the men at sea.

42kms loop, half of which was in pouring rain 04th June. Tested Tg Lobang slope, on foot!

A short run to Luak Beach and back ...

2011-06-02T19:10:00.003+08:00

Luak Bay Esplanade at 0655hrs approximately. A few families with young children testing the surf, most kiddoes where to scared to enter the water. Good for them caused there've been a few jelly-fish encounters in these waters in recent weeks. A lone hobby fisherman came and sat with me showing me this one fish (garfish) he got after spending half a morning in the water with his pukat. "Tough life being fisherman ...", he said looking forlorn.

Today's route 16 kms, 40mins going in and 40mins back with a 20 min break at destination and 20 minute loitering around a neighbourhood I'd never been to before after living in Miri all these years. The ride consisted of a moderate downhill run at the start, uphill crawl on the way back ... very slowly in the saddle.

Hitting tarmac today for a change ...

2011-05-31T17:40:00.006+08:00

Iinocently went into Lian Huat bikeshop Sunday morning with the family to check out motor-bikes (kapcai, electric scooters and perhaps a 150cc) but eventually ended up with 2-BMXs for the children and a hybrid roadie for yours truly. Cheaper than the motor bikes for sure.

Cycling used to be a big part of my daily routine: 6:30-7:30am rides before; and 5:30-6:30pm rides after work when living in Miri. Weekend rides with like-minded folks almost every Saturday and solo rides on Sunday. In flat Holland while working in Assen, I cycled to work and back daily together with other colleagues and schoolgoing children.

That routine abruptly stopped when we returned to Miri end of 2004. The 2 Dutch bikes simply fell to disrepair with no place to go, Hilltop, where we live is kinda hilly was the excuse.

Today was the first day I took out the bike and cycled again! Felt kinda good ... waiting to see what pains crops up tomorrow!

Seven-speed old skool roadie.

Single-speed old skool custom built roadie with an upright handle bar, in voluptuous red!

Broke it in this morning through a 32km Hilltop-Lutong-Pujut-Bypass-Kpg Lusut-GH-Jalan Cahaya-Hilltop loop. Other than hairy downhill runs in tandem with Miri drivers, toxic exhaust fumes, sooty road grime, and thigh-busting uphills at the end, it was kinda fun but most painful.

Leg01_31May2011 covered 32kms from Hilltop to the office and back.

Sunny days ahead ... II : Tusan Beach, 30th May

2011-05-30T16:01:00.003+08:00

A 15footer looks minuscule against the cliffs of Tusan.

The kiddoes claiming their righful place in the sand under the sun; croc's (actually we saw only one "friendly" fella the other nite) basking yard.

Dig'em up; plenty of sand for everyone.

Sunny days ahead ... I : Bungai Beach, 16th May

2011-05-30T15:51:00.002+08:00

A 12-footer on Bungai Beach 16th May; can't remember when I took out to the beach to test the waters.

The kids surely had a goodtime; the past few weekends they've been to coastal villages with us for the community outreach program but was barred from entering the water. On the 16th they finally had their fun.

Kids doing what kids do best; just running around after each other. Reminds me of a little kid (baby goat) I kept as a pet when I was little.

Speed queen vs girth!

Folks at Kampong Kuala Suai

2011-04-05T06:05:00.007+08:00

What's left of a once bustling riverside community in Kampong Kuala Suai. Two years ago on our first visit here, this houses still had curtains adorning the windows eventhough abandoned, those have since crumbled to the ground.

Most of the villagers have prospered and left for greener pastures elsewhere with Bintulu and Miri being the prefered destinations. At the end of the logging boom, villagers witnessed the hustle and bustle of a logging station ebb away with the outgoing tide. With no more jobs, there were less and less people. The last to go was the village school which prompted further emigration of villagers. Even the surau was left wanting and without a dutiful congregation. The Ketua Kampong moved to Bintulu and only occasionally returned to oversee his charges, one of whom is his brother above.

Amer, nephew of the Ketua Kampong moved to Bintulu to land a job with Poslaju Malaysia. Married and recently blessed with a 1.5 year old Shakira above, the family makes regular trips back to the kampong to familiar surroundings and to see relatives still clinging to what's left of the old days. Those who chose to remain continue as fishermen, a typical vocation of coastal communities in the area. With the coming of oil palm plantation JV at the fringes of the kampong, some have become successful planters and enterpreneurs in nearby Sepupok and Batu Niah. With the passing of the elderly folks with time, there'd be even less and less reason to return.

Sakinah goes to school in Bintulu where her family is; here enjoying a morning's play with her seemingly intrepid cousin Shakira. The two girls made the trip from Bintulu by car and later by boat to the kampong with their grandparents and parents for a week long holiday. Shakira exhibited uncanny familiarity with the Sg Suai when she was let loose reluctantly for the first time by her doting grandmother.

The two girls having a frolicking fun time in the shallow waters of Sg Suai. This is Shakira's first venture into the river.

Sakinah being playful.

Shakira getting ecstatic over a newfound plaything. Years of seafaring lifestyle of her community peaking out unabashedly as she played in the river, she defintely has Suai in her blood.

Words and images by Nazeri Abghani

Note:

Amer recently purchased a used Nikon D2X, he plans to document what's left of his villages during his holidays.

Weekend at Suai Beach

2011-04-04T06:24:00.006+08:00

Went to Suai again over the weekend after what seems like a very long absence. Almost forgotten what tranquility tastes like since our last few visits there June 2009, April 2009 and our first Dec 2008 for the long walk.

Two years is a long time by any measure, longer for a quietly vanishing place like Kampong Kuala Suai. Though the surroundings feels the same and warmly familiar, the abandoned houses looked more wretched, the place slightly more empty and lifeless. Tok Usu, the oldest crocodile Shaman we knew, had passed on, August 2010 to be exact. Most of his relations had moved to either Kpg Muhibbah, Kuala Baram; Sepupok near Niah and as far as Bintulu. Surprised that Pak Yusof Gayu didn't mention this to us. There are also less young people about. Only Azman our boatman, nephew of Tok Usu, and family are still staying put in the kampong. He's carrying on with the fishing, making daily trips to Suai Bridge as and when necessary.

Abang Rahim is still there, he sorted out all the necessary to make our weekend stay at the kampong possible. He still remembered our fondess for his salted fish. We gobbled it up like biscuits on our last visit, so this time he made four generous portions for us to bring back to Miri. We finally met with Pak Adeni, the official Ketua Kampong as we were leaving Suai Bridge by boat the evening before. We stayed at his guesthouse and had the pleasure of the company of his family for a scrumptious breakfast the next day. We were supposed to have waited for him that morning for more chit-chat, but had to leave before his arrival. We only crossed path halfway Sg Suai on our return trip. Quiet places, tranquil and serene tend to stay that way as they have always been; only the folks slipping in and out as destined.

Kuala Suai.

Scum of life.

Starry, starry nite.

Reaching out to the heavens.

A glorious morning from time immemorial.

A beacon in the middle of nowehere.

Driftwood.

A stretch of sandy sand and lone casuarina tree.

Words and images by Nazeri Abghani

Kpg Masjid

2011-03-25T20:50:00.003+08:00

Decided to swing by Kpg Masjid, Kuala Baram for a spot of casual birding before going to work.

A subadult Black-headed Munia molting into adult plummage. These birds are so skittish here, getting a clear shot is a big challenge.

Striated Grassbird, they are now fairly common in the area.

Other notable birds seen that morning :

a pair of the cutest Blue-breasted Quail seen not 4 feet away from the car door.

a pair of Scaly-breasted Munia.

Empty Nest

2011-03-24T20:44:00.000+08:00

An empty nest belonging to a pair of White-bellied Sea Eagle. One of them looped by the nest but decided not to land that morning. The pair is usually seen settled by the nest most evenings.

What I want ...

2011-03-23T15:39:00.001+08:00

Marantz PMD661 Portable Solid State Recorder

Lawas Trip to see birds and then some

2011-02-17T05:02:00.012+08:00

The view north from our boat towards landmass while navigating the shallows just before the day's lowest tidemark.

We were in Lawas the weekend before Valentine's Day to check-out the birds of Trusan-Sundar Bay together with our SWS (Sarawak Waterbird Survey for Waterbirds and Wetland Habitats Survey for the Sarawak Coast) team Daniel and Rose as well as MNS Miri birding stalwarts Anura, Sara, Bor Seng, Musa, Majelah and Remli.

Our biggest set-back (if you were to look at it negatively) was the Lawas Festival! We didn't know it was taking place over the same weekend, so we weren't prepared with any advance room bookings, up till then comfortable with the assumption ("falsely" I might add) : "how many people could there be in Lawas?"

We ended up frantically searching for a place to sleep the first night and finally ended up on the porch of Kuala Lawas Field Station operated by Sarawak Forestry Corporation, sleeping on the hard cement (thanks to sleeping bags), constant humming of mozzies and aircond compressor unit as well as sharing bathroom facilities with probably close to 15 other SFC people who were also in town that weekend. Lucky we even had that, otherwise we'd probably all end up cramped at the back of Anura's 4WD.

The birding was great though. Together with Daniel and Rose, we scoured the Sundar-Trusan Bay from our boatman Ismail Ahmad's house at Pulau Sari in two boats. The birds at the coast of Lawas to this date have received scant attention if any. SFC has been conducting sea grass, turtle, dolphins and dugong studies in the area over many years. Fisheries Department also has a firm presence. Not many has done bird work there since NWPO commissioned work back in the mid 80s and MNS IBA work in the early part of this decade.

On a previous trip here Feb 2010 during AWC, we counted 20+ Chinese Egret, Godwits, Far Eastern Curlew, Eurasian Curlew, Whimbrel and 2 Lesser Adjutant in the same vicinity. AWC work by UBD and PNHS over the adjacent Brunei Bay yielded similar high number of migrants over the years.

The highlight on this trip had to be the three Black-headed Gull we recorded on a sandbar located 5 meters away from a marked border of the sovereign state of Brunei. Other birds seen were White-bellied Sea Eagle, Long-tailed Parakeet, Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot, Brahminy Kite, Great Egret, Godwits, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Plovers, Eurasian Curlew, Whiskered Tern, Great Crested Tern, Lesser Crested Tern, Gull-billed Terns. An undisturbed sandbar towards the middle of the bay formed a perfect roosting haven for the waders.

A proboscis monkey was also seen lurking around near the bay, but it was too fast and too far to photograph.

Our survey was cut short when we aborted an attempt to continue our survey of the Bengkulit area in the north (Kuala Lawas, north of Pulau Sari) due to high seas. We made it back safely to Ismail Ahmad's house just in time for a late lunch and a bit of catching up with the SFC-UMS-UMT team involved in a turtle study in the area.

The second night, we decided to hang in Lawas town exploring the myriad (170 in total) booths set-up specifically for the Lawas crowd that weekend. We visited probably all the booths, Anura even managed a duet of "Awan Biru by Amy Search" with an obliging Immigration officer at one of the booths.

We visited a Recoda's SCORE booth with graphic images of the Sarawak Dams in progress; NREB booth's asking about Peter Sawal's fate post "Sg Sarawak heavily polluted" front pager; DID booth to engage them on their flood mitigation efforts "via clearing the banks of rivers of vegetation" and a few others. Did you know that we have an "Integrity Institute Malaysia", interesting to know who goes there.

We wasted the rest of the evening people watching at Hotel Sri Malaysia coffee house and enjoying the hustle bustle in it's lobby. There were many fasionable, colorful and infuential folks in town that weekend including our CM; and they were all mostly based out of Hotel Sri Malaysia. Who's who in Lawas and afield went through the same lobby we did.

The most expensive room in the hotel were reserved for the VVIPs, so when we finally secured a room, we ended up only in a run of the mill room. It was already 10pm then and all four of us (Musa, Majelah and Remli left earlier by car) crashed in one room, the softies got the bed.

Our Lawas birding trip turned out to be more than just a birding trip thankfuly. Not having been a regular in Lawas, only passing through most times either through the airport or the border crossing, we found Lawas to be a charming small town with big ambitions. Like all small towns in Sarawak, the slower pace, friendly folks, chaotic set-up, added significantly to it's draw. Hopefully when the town gets bigger, it'll retain some of it's small town quaint-ness.

We left Lawas via MASWINGS the next day on the last fight to Miri.

Birds :

Birds of a feather perched all together on wires in Lawas city center ... they were all over the place, and very chirpy too.

More bird images from Lawas can be viewed at Miri Birding.

Folks in Lawas:

Twins, two of Ismail Ahmad's sons, photo taken at the front porch. The kids have got Kuala Lawas as their backyard, Bukit Sari on the side, raptors and otters a daily sight.

Another one of Ismail Ahmad's boys (right) with his visiting cousin from Merapok. That weekend there we 24 people in the stilted house over the water and one bathroom, couldn't be worst than our one nite stay at the field station.

Nor Akhalily, one of Ismail Ahmad's two daughters. Lily is less shy compared to her elder sister who was much more elusive on the morning of our visit.

A refined front desk personality always make check-in a breeze.

An attractively accessoried statuesque lass sulking one late evening at the lobby of our hotel.

An out of town gentleman attending the Lawas Festival that weekend whiling the morning away after breakfast. All the government officers seemed to be stationed at the newly opened Hotel Sri Malaysia walking distance from the center of town.

A stylish young lady waiting for mommy for breakfast at the hotel.

Our warm and friendly hostess at the Coffee House at breakfast. It's amazing how cheery one be so early in the morning, she must be a morning person. Wait a minute, she's also cheery the previous evening at tea.

A distinguished gentleman reviewing the day's images at the lobby, must an amusing photo he's looking at.

The gentleman whose pictures are being reviewed by the distinguished gentleman.

Others:

The spectators at the Lawas longboat race, part of the main event at Lawas Festival.

Two winning boats dashing to the finishing line. Brute force definitely a requirmenet in this sport, they were quite a number of burly males on the boat.

A little lass amusing herself under the shade, filling up the water container with mommy's long-beans.

Datuk Amar Awang Tengah riling up the crowd close to the conclusion of the 30 man long-boat race.

Two gentlemen who are a part of Datuk Amar's VIP entourage over the weekend.

Groupie in the VIP tent, high fashion has cometh Lawas. Paris-New York-Tokyo-Los Angeles-Lawas ... one day! We couldn't get in our first try but managed to slither ourselves past the uniformed sentry while the crowd was pre-occupied with the speech.

Images and Words by Nazeri Abghani
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Kuala Selangor over the Weekend with Family

2011-02-06T20:58:00.006+08:00

I always thought all kids love monkeys, I did when I was a kid ... had several as pets. Different with little Vanessa, she's just petrified. Perhaps she's was overwhelmed by their numbers at the park.

Eight of us including 4 little children (eldest 10, youngest 4 years old) checked-in to MNS managed Kuala Selangor Nature Park for an overnight stay to check out the monkeys, egrets and possibly fireflies and owls.

After the 'townies' overcame their initial shock of the spartan condition of our 7 single bed room, we headed to town for lunch at Kuala Selangor's best lunch place as far as I'm concerned. There's about 40 ala-carte dishes to choose from for your lunch including obscure items such as kerabu paku, keli gulai masak lemak to sotong sumbat kukus. Seven plateful of rice filled to the rim with delectable local delights and individual drinks totalled a princely sum of $38, tough to beat if you are outside of Kuala Selangor.

After lunch we took a romp on the Majlis Perbandaran Kuala Selangor train ride up Bukit Melawati and looped back to KSNP for a well-deserved afternoon seista.

All were fresh-eyed at the start of our late afternoon walk around the park. The littlest one was excited and scared at the same time at the prospect of meeting up with real live famous monkeys of KSNP. The furry creatures were out in full force as they always do ... from flabby macho males to the tiniest little runt. The kids had a blast viewing them up close, little Vanessa decided right there and then that she didn't like monkeys.

The kids made all the way up the viewing tower (2nd) and round the loop of the mangrove boardwalk. If it weren't for Grandpa and Grandma, they would've gone further, excited by the encounters with waving fiddler crabs, mud-crabs, buggy-eyed mudskippers, wood-peckers (they've all this while were only familiar with Woody Woodpecker) and other birds. Both Alyssa and Vanessa were conversant enough to point to and call out Brahminy Kite by the time we ended the trail.

Silver leaf monkey.

The girls at Bukit Melawati, it was almost 2pm by the time we reached the top so please excuse the squinting.

Grandma and little Vanessa negotiating the trails at KSNP, the canopy around the trail has grown rather nicely to provide a cool shade to visitors. Extensive maintenance work are carried out on a regular basis especially to tame the growth of shrubs along the walking path.

The girls at bird tower No. 2, Alyssa, Vanessa and Aisya.

Our nitewalk wasn't too popular, we didn't spot any owls but managed to pick out several firefly larvae and two adult rover fireflies for show and tell the next day. The kids and both grandparents stayed in.

It's limitless to what young children can absorb about fascinating nature around them, if only we adults were interested enough to guide them through the mysteries of life at our own doorsteps. Deny them this simple opportunity for bonding, they'd happily resort to computer games other less fulfilling indoor pursuits.

Young Alyssa was persistent about why a firefly only lives for a few days even after Aisya's repeated attempt to explain to her that the larvae actually lives longer and is a major component of a fireflies' life. Ali, eldest in the group, proudly showed the earthworm that going to be the foodsource for our captured larvae. Both Ali and Aisya pretty much remembered in whole what Uncle Musa told them about fireflies many moons back.

"Uncle Nazeri, Uncle Nazeri! Brahminy Kite!", hollered little Vanessa as we ushered grandpa and grandma into the car on our way home the next day.

And for birding parents, you never need an excuse to do KSNP:

Grey Heron by the main lake.

Brahminy Kite by the main lake.

Black-crown Night Heron by the rookery, inner lake.

Purple Heron, by the rookery, inner lake.

Grey Heron, by the rookery, inner lake. Birders contemplating a trip to photograph the egrets and herons of Everglades ala Arthur Morris can flock over to KSNP to make the same genre of bird images at a fraction of the cost.

The Raven

2011-02-05T06:29:00.005+08:00

THE RAVEN BY EDGAR ALLEN POE

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.'

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
`'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -
This it is, and nothing more,'

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
`Sir,' said I, `or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you' - here I opened wide the door; -
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, `Lenore!'
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, `Lenore!'
Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
`Surely,' said I, `surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore -
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; -
'Tis the wind and nothing more!'

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
`Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, `art sure no craven.
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore -
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning - little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door -
Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as `Nevermore.'

But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only,
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered - not a feather then he fluttered -
Till I scarcely more than muttered `Other friends have flown before -
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.'
Then the bird said, `Nevermore.'

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
`Doubtless,' said I, `what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore -
Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore
Of "Never-nevermore."'

But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore -
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking `Nevermore.'

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
`Wretch,' I cried, `thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he has sent thee
Respite - respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! -
Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted -
On this home by horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore -
Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore -
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore?'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!' I shrieked upstarting -
`Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!

A few keepers from the last couple of mornings ...

2011-02-02T12:06:00.005+08:00

Chinese Egret

Chinese Egret

Chinese Egret

Kentish Plover

Kentish Plover

Quote of the week:

"There are some concerns among the leads that you are not exhibiting as much passion about your work as you do about your NGO activities!"

Beans, beanbags and mobile hide

2011-01-29T14:41:00.006+08:00

Juvenile Black-winged Kite home alone, juveniles at nest.

Another practising it's climbing skills up to the nest where the other juvenile sits. An adults watched closely from a nearby tree.

Armed with a recently purchased SkimmerSack stuffed with probably 5kilos of kacang hijau (at MYR$7.50/kilo), I headed out today to test the outfit in the field.

First stop was Pujut 7 Lakes, MNS Miri Branch members were there last week, you can read about their haul here. Musa revisited the site later that same week and came back with videos and pictures of 2 juvenile Black-winged Kite (aka Black-shouldered Kite) which could be the only 2nd record for Sarawak. So I had to get back and acquire some shots of my own.

The two juveniles were still at nest, when Aisya and I arrived at the location around 0900hrs. It was kinda amazing that the group missed the nest, the nesting tree was standing right in front of the spot where we were last week. Musa has sharper eyes than most of us present.

One juvenile was in the nest; another further down the tree trunk. The rusty wash on the fearhers was barely visible on camera. The adult wasn't too far away on another tree.

On the way back, we saw twelve Wandering Whistling Ducks in one of the lakes, as well as a Purple Heron and three Intermediate Egret. Initially the ducks were swimming in groups out in the open but quickly took refuge in the kangkong as soon as they heard us. I acquired several record shots and a video.

The SkimmerSack was quite nifty albeit the rather heavy 5kilo weight of the beans inside it. It plopped down securely on the rooftop, and sat there the whole time. With the sunroof open shooting standing up in the middle of the car felt kind of novel.

The big lens was placed securely on the sack, and was as stable as it can get. The rubber grip ensures zero opportunity for lens slippage, that was a superb touch. Managed a few seconds of video recording as well without any noticeable shake. The car efficaciously doubled as a hide with leather seats, air-conditioning and music if needed when birding is slow.

After the lakes, I drove the newly discovered "hide" to Lutong beach to see if there were any egrets on show. The tide was rising, there were a few Lesser Sandplover and crabs busy foraging. After locating a suitable spot with three LSP, I decided to shoot from the window this time.

With the engine off, all windows down, beanbag set on the driver's window and the big lens sitting snugly on top, I shot off a few frames with subjects very close by. The waders were curious but weren't afraid. One fella actually walked up right to the car!

I guess I have finally discovered the "right" way to shoot birds for me at least, for now: in the car, with the SkimmerSack nearby. Though shooting would be limited to where I can drive the "hide" to, I guess it's more than sufficient for now. Plenty of places to go to shoot in that fashion here in Miri. There's undoubtedly plenty of waders, egrets, kingfishers and other birds to keep me occupied for a while. The drybox would be missing the big lens soon enough.

Perhaps further down the line is probably a project to revamp the Pajero into a 2 seater 4WD birdhide: take out the backseat, move the right side front seat to the back. Anyone knows a chop shop in Miri who can help me with that?

Twelve Wandering-whistling Duck hiding in the kangkong after taking notice of the commotion we made.

Lesser Sandplover at Lutong Beach today shot from inside the car from the driver's seat using the SkimmerSack as support for the big lens.

Lutong Beach again this morning

2011-01-27T20:05:00.006+08:00

The other end of Lutong Beach on 400mm, uncropped.

Well, I went back to Lutong Beach this morning, this time armed with an EF400/5.6, Canon7D and a tripod with an Arca-Swiss B1 head. I figure I don't need the Wimberley this time around.

The waders were no longer at their expected roost, the tide much lower than yesterday. Perhaps the waders have flown to better pickings at Kuala Baram Lagoon, slightly more muddy there. Only the Chinese Egret was present, lurking at the water's edge. And it was an obliging subject, too pre-occupied with getting breakfast that it paid scant attention to the 5 legged creature on the beach.

I took pictures of my date as per usual, the subject seemed familiar with the routine. And the light this morning wasn't at all too bad, slightly less overcast than yesterday but not too harsh to create severe problems with metering.

It has to be said that it's a lot less fiddly to shoot with SLR+telelens as opposed to a combo of SLR+normal lens+telescope. You do loose significant reach of the telescope set-up (400mm vs 1700mm) but you gain the agility of a fix lens operation on an SLR.

Great magnifications come with great issues with regards to stability. Every little motion made will be exaggerated many times ... you can't afford to be shaky with a telescope set-up. A ball head and sturdy tripod however are sufficient to manage shake issues with the SLR+telelens set-up.

Another obvious advantage of the digiscope set-up is you get to make your observations, shots, recording further away from the subject well away from the subject's circle of fear. Of course if you are Photographer Dewa Tahap 9, you can do exactly the same within the circle with a point and shoot on a 35mm lens.

Flight shots are way easier to capture with SLR+telelens set-up. Though my panning still sucks big time, this morning I managed a couple of reasonably good record shots of a Peregrine Falcon. The small raptor was poised to mob the Chinese Egret but decided to halt it's pre-meditated sudden kamikaze move mid-air and turned tail in the opposite direction.

The first time I noticed Peregrine Falcon in the Lutong area was sometime back in July-August when two birds were observed squeaking at the top of Shell telecommunications tower not too far away. They're more regularly sighted further north closer to Kuala Baram area.

Here are a few images for comparison, obviously these are not ot "apple-to-apple" comparisons but close enough to practically assess which set-up is more suited to which situation. It is mostly common sense really, which perhaps every birder-photographer-digiscoper-amateur naturalist already knows, I just needed to run through the exercise myself.

Chinese Egret in the early morning light at Lutong Beach.

Chinese Egret on it's determined gait to hunt for breakfast, slim pickings today all the big ones got away. This image from SLR+400mm Telelens, cropped 45% to get similar sized image as below.

Chinese Egret as captured from the SLR+50mm lens+APO77 Telescope, cropped 20%.

The gutsy Peregrine Falcon assessing the situation after a fruitless first dive. Getting flight shots with the SLR+normal lens+telescope set-up is next to impossible especially unplanned shots, unless of course you are a Digiscoper Dewa Tahap 7.

On more than once I noticed both Chinese Egret and Little Egret rushing up to shore from the shallows where they were busy hunting to walk up the beach for 10-15feet on dry sand, pooped and walked back to the shallows to resume hunting. Perhaps they don't find it wise to get the water all murkied up.

Digiscoped Lutong Beach this morning with Sony DT 50/1.8

2011-01-26T22:18:00.000+08:00

The far ends of Lutong Beach.

Today I thought I'd stop by Lutong Beach and check-out who's there before lugging the rest of the bulky gear over for the annual Jan-Feb date with the Chinese Egret. It's been going on since 2008, notwithstanding the fact that all 2009 pictures came to nought when the hard-disk went missing.

With Leica APO77, Sony SLT33 and 50/1.8 in tow, sussed the beach with an expressed desire to test whether it's easier to tweak the 18-55kit zoom or fixed lens 50/1.8 with the scope set-up. Might as well since I'm already there.

Arrived at the beach approximately 6:30AM, still not much light. There were several Kentish Plover and Lesser Sandplover roosting and foraging in the area. And one common Sandpiper. No egrets in sight, so I took the opportunity to shoot the roosting waders instead. They were all pretty calm sitting around, preening and once in a while affected an upwards glance to the sky.

Aligning the 50mm lens to the scope was a bit fiddly at first. With the 18-55mm you can st zoom at 18mm, locate the eyepiece and gradually increase focal length to between 50-55mm to rid of all the vignette. With the 50/1.8 after considerable time stumbling over the right position to see through the eyepiece, one was still left with tiny amount of vignette at the coners, even at largest aperture of 1.8 ... forget about shooting at smaller apertures, it'll vignette to kingdom come. Exposure measurements alo become wonky mostly ... overexposing most of the time ie. instead of measing exposure on the image, it's taking exposure of the eyepiece glass surface.

When final "best" alignment was achieved in the end, one had to live with a tiny amount of vignette at the far corners. Center sharpness was excellent though. The front element of the 50/1.8 is built with an at least 2cm recess from lens front end. The 2cm++ space between lens front element and that of the eyepiece isn't a good thing. Any closer, you wouldn't be able to focus (manual only, impossible with auto). Come to think of it at 55mm the kit lens provide shorter front element to eyepiece distance ... less vignette, less stray light.

Image wise, the 50/1.8 is a tad better with a bit of crop to get rid of the vignette. More acceptably sharp images too.

Chinese Egret, only one lone bird this morning.

Kentish Plover juvenile roosting with a couple adult birds.

The same bird from a different angle.

An afternoon at Kuala Baram Estuary

2011-01-23T19:42:00.004+08:00

A little mudskipper.

Aisya with Kak Ayu, her cousin visiting from KL after her studies at Curtin.

A little prawn fishergirl.

A big koko son of an otai fisherwoman bagging his 1st catch of the day.

Birdies at Kuala Baram today

2011-01-18T19:18:00.006+08:00

It's been raining every morning since coming back from KSNP last Sunday, apparently the weather has been wet since last Friday. Talk of flooding, talk of clogged drains have been in the papers consistently over the past few days.

Went off to Kuala Baram this morning to check out the usual suspects, none was sighted from where I was standing which was quite a way from the flats. Along the route there were several Little Egrets, Intermediate Egret skulking along the waterways and drains. No signs of Collared Kingfisher at the usual spot. Drizzles turned quickly to rain, I got back into the car and drove to the office.

Decided to return to the same spot at lunch. It was still drizzling then too but not as heavily as this morning. Perched on the usual top of rockwall vantage point, I could hear the Common Kingfisher calling but couldn't place the exact location it was calling from. Now and again the waders would chirp in when they squabble.

There were clumps of Red-necked Stint, Lesser Sandplover, Sanderling feeding at the mudflats ... not in extremely large numbers but perhaps 100-200 individuals of mixed flock. Also heard was Pacific Golden Plover squabbling between the clump of sedges towards the middle of the flats.

It was a quickie lunchtime birding session before rushing back to work. Along the roadside just by Shin Yang's new oil palm plot sat a lone Grey-headed Fish Eagle, he's keeping a close eye on the surrounding drainage system from his high perch. Other than the dead tree trunk he's stationed on, there isn't anything else standing other than a crop of palm oil ... poised to take over the entire landscape in the not so distant future.

The eagle flew as a lone fisherman dipped into a canal nearby to check his net, the guy too was probably on his lunchbreak. I drove back to the office.

Phew! Glad I got that out of my system, next onwards to the wet and flooded lakes of Pujut 7 this Sunday.

Kuala Selangor over the Weekend

2011-01-17T21:47:00.007+08:00

Quiet walks with the accompaniment of chirping birds and insects well sheltered from the scorching afternoon sun.

A young macaque about the mangrove assessing his prospects in the scheme of things.

Aside from a few more new buildings in the compound, Kuala Selangor Nature Park still feels the same as it did way back in 1995 when I first step foot on it after travelling there by bus from Pudu with my then girlfriend.

The mosquitoes, the macaques and silver leaf monkeys are all still there. And the birds of course.

The loop trail is getting to be more magnificent ... the vegetation along the trail has grown nicely on either side of the laterite path creating a natural verdant canopy in between, providing ample shade for visitors averse to the scorching afternoon sun. Shelters are built over some thoughful interval along the entire length of the loop ... handy during unexpected downpours. There are also a couple of bird-watching towers to catch glimpses of the many feathered friends in the area.

The mangrove plank walk is now also back in operation after extensive refurbishment, it is now in concrete, affording visitors intimate encounters with some quirky denizens of the mangrove mudflats.

Crows at Bagan Pasir.

Great Egret in very early morning light.

Pink-necked Pigeon taking flight.

Buffy Fish Owl near the manmade lake.

Great Tit, it was nice to see it again if only for a brief second.

Water monitor doing the rounds within the lake systems, some are rather large but quite skittish.

Grey Heron feeding in the lake, quite a number can be seen here in the early morning hours, as skittish as the water monitors.

A shy dominant Silver Leaf male peering from the foliage.

Shy boy - why is he taking my picture?

Mudcrab looking for breakfast close to home.

Two mudskippers at home enjoying their cool mud-bath.

KSNP looks to be an ideal place for a simple no-fuss family get-away-from-the-city destination. Seafood places abound just a short ride across the Sg Selangor bridge. A few decent Mamak kedai kopis are also only walking distance away ... there's also TESCO a short 10minute drive from the park if you must.

Perhaps it's about time to introduce the kids to the monkeys ... them free ranging kind.

Camping at Kuala Niah

2010-12-28T19:57:00.005+08:00

Where we were over the weekend, camped 2kms from the rivermouth, along the sandbar of Kuala Niah. The red arrow pointing to the direction of flight of flying foxes spotted that day. Map by GoogleEarth, Track by Musa Musbah.

It was drizzling all the way from where we left off, by the time we reached Kuala Niah, it was still raining. We waited by the shore knowing fully well the stories of the notorious crocodiles of Sg Niah ... eager to get out of the rain, ever so keen to cross Sg Niah. It was still raining then. All eyes were nervously focussed on any little log floating downstream with the landas as we boarded the tiny sampan.

By the time the boat arrived, after we safely made the crossing it was still raining. We then started walking on the sandy beach of Kuala Niah, the rain still hadn't let up. In fact it rained the whole day that day till we reached our first campdubbed "The Hilton". This was way back in December 2008 during our Coastal Long Walk.

I wanted to go back to Kuala Niah and camped on the beach in sunny weather in December, almost assured even then that there would be one glorious sunny day when we'd be back on it's shores.

Sure enough the drive out to the junction from Bekenu was all sunshine unlike how it was 2 years ago almost exactly. By the time we passed the little rickety wooden bridge adjoining the oxbow lake however, it started drizzling. Dark clouds were looming over from the South West. It looked to be another December wet camp-out on Kuala Niah, how "unexpected"!

And it did rain, buckets full by 6pm ... those who stayed behind to cook dinner were soaked. Rit, Erny and Nazeri were happily running around cleaning the 4 siakaps, mixing spices, moving items to less wet zones, keeping the fire going and keeping rain out of the coffee pot. All at the same time.

Those on the boat soaked to their skins too.

It was all but a half hour downpour just before sunset. By the time the rain stopped, we've the table laid, full to the brim with dinner items : steamed siakaps, grilled siakap, siakap masak asam and siakap singgang. These complemented by steamed squid, kelupis and lemang specially brought in for the occasion.

The folks who went on the boat trip came back in time for a steaming dinner of all the above mentioned items. Tall tales of giant sized flying foxes flying overhead in the thousands were related excitedly over dinner.

It was great camping from then onwards. Clear skies with gazillion stars overhead, the moon was a bit late but it did come around by 10pm. Gentle breeze filled the air, the only noise was muffled conversations around the roaring campfire. Kids were busing running around chasing the waves well into the nite.

And then more twinkling stars appeared in the clear nite skies. That made it worth all the rain earlier ... fantabulous!

The splendid weather continued till mid afternoon the next day.

Our campsite under the young casuarinas, the exact entry point to the Niah-Camp1 leg of the December LongWalk 2008.

A muted sunset on Kuala Niah beach, not unlike the one we saw back then either.

The after dinner lull at the campsite.

A male Olive-backed Sunbird found roosting a low branch at the Kuala Niah sandbar.

A female Olive-backed Sunbird on another low branch along the trail on the sandbar. Other birds seen was a pigeon sp. and owl sp. No crocodiles were spotted along the the water's edge ... there was a close call that turned out to be a large log flopping about in the water.

2am Cloud and stars above the pounding waves.

Campers fast asleep outside their tents.

Pre-dawn morning lite with sparkling stars.

View from under the tent as a new day approaches.

The next day along the shores of Kuala Niah holds promises of another great weather day.

Words and images by Nazeri Abghani.

Kuala Niah Nite for Christmas

2010-12-27T06:43:00.002+08:00

It rained suddenly late afternoon on Saturday just before sunset, the rest of the weekend was splendid weather. Coupled with fresh siakap cooked on the open fire in a variety of dishes, pulut bakar (thanks Liew and crew from Batu Niah) and kelupis (thanks Anura and Kak Rose); it was an excellent Christmas weekend outdoors lulled by the contant roar of the waves of South China Seas; and the breeze was sepoi-sepoi bahasa.

Kuala niah nite

2010-12-25T19:59:00.001+08:00

Camping out

Aisya's Catch at Bkt Kluang

2010-12-24T21:43:00.004+08:00

Irfan landed the first fish a tiny buntal, notorious in such waters.

Aisya with her catch of the day. We come here without fail everytime we are back for the holidays ... this is where we had our last picnic with Tok Wan.

Chestnut-breasted Malkoha in Bekenu

2010-12-24T21:34:00.004+08:00

Driving along the kampong road towards Bekenu we stumbled upon this fresh specimen by the roadside, early morning traffic casualty no doubt. Looks as if he's just sleeping with eyes open.

Hyundai sonata 2011

2010-12-19T12:39:00.001+08:00

If only money grow on trees

Mala and Hatta : My two hopelessly romantic friends

2010-12-18T10:11:00.003+08:00

The session was held at Kpg Batu Satu beach even before their 2 year old son was born, when Mala was still carrying. The images did see the light of day when I took it out of the tank after I first developed them.

To my hopelessly romantic friends ... apologies for my long gestation period!

I need someone to pen an ode to romantics to accompany this piece ... anyone?

Mamiya RB67, 180/4.5 KL on Neopan 400 in Rodinal 6:30min 28 deg C ... must have been the last batch I shot, and developed! Film imaged on Sony SLT-33 on a lightbox, inverted, channel mixed, contrast adjusted to taste on PS.

Island Folks on Neopan 400

2010-12-13T20:13:00.002+08:00

Neopan 400, Rodinal at 1:50, 6.30min at 28 deg C.

Twin Towers by Night on Neopan 400

2010-12-13T19:33:00.003+08:00

Neopan 400 on Rodinal 1:50, 11mins at 18 deg C. Images were taken September 2006, left to ripe till now. Negatives photographed on SLT-33, inverted, channel mixed on PS, adjust layer and contrast to taste with unsharp mask.

Lampyridae

2010-12-12T10:54:00.001+08:00

Fireflies

Lutong Mangroves on Neopan 400

2010-12-10T20:14:00.003+08:00

Images taken way back in March 2008 during an outing at Lutong swamps with some friends. While everybody else were showing off their images minutes after the outing, mine only managed to be scanned only just.

Images were made with Mamiya RB67 with 180/4.5 KL on Neopan 400. Developed with Rodinal 1:50 at 7:30mins at 24 deg C.

These isn't traditional B & W in the true sense of the word: negs were recaptured using Sony SLT-33 with 55mm on a lightable, channel-mixed on PS (60:14:26), levels and contrast adjusted to taste, unsharp mask.

This seems like a good do-it yourself proofing work-flow I can do myself quickly ... should use a macro lens and a tripod next ala copy-work.

Pandanus detail on Neopan 400

2010-12-07T14:38:00.002+08:00

1st roll for 2010!

Last entry on Developing Logbook No. 1 :
NC12-Mala6 made 12-04-2008. Neopan 400 on Rodinal 1:50 mix at 25 degrees C.

First entry on Developing Logbook No. 2 :
NC1-Lambir made 07-12-2010. Neopan 400 on Rodinal 1:50 mix at 18 degrees C.

Gheesh how time flies ... which means that it was 2 years and 8 months ago since I last developed any films. Thanks to Danish for mixing up the new chemicals while he was here the other day.

There are 15 rolls of 120 films waiting to be developed from 2007, 2008, 2009 and 12 from most recent outings in Nov/Dec 2010; with almost the same number on 35mm only God knows from when and where!

KK Wetlands Sanctuary

2010-12-06T12:59:00.001+08:00

People, lets go waterbird n wetland habitats surveying in Sarawak this Jan and Feb

KK Wetlands Sanctuary

2010-12-06T09:30:00.001+08:00

MNS BCC-Waterbirds Group receives Shell Sustainable Grant 2011

Breaky

2010-12-06T06:47:00.001+08:00

In sunny kk

Weekend Images

2010-12-05T15:06:00.003+08:00

Night time of Peliau Beach, end of day Saturday.

Peliau bashed by the incoming tide, incessantly.

Rocks and clouds at Kuala Nyalau at the beachfront.

Bornean mahogany enjoying the expansive vista of Kuala Nyalau beachfront basking in the mid morning sun. You would've thought with such wholesome view it would've lived that little bit longer.

Swirling water remnants of waves that clambered up with the rising tide.

A rock which is a part of the Peliau Cliff left to fend for itself on the beach facing the big bad waves on a daily basis, early Saturday morning.

Tusan Cliffs. It was a rising tide so we didn't bother scrambling down. Much of the sandstone material has already been eroded over the years, biggest beating during the landas season.

Sg Tusan, what was a quiet little river completely inundated at high tide Friday evening.

Nazeri Abghani/Dec 2010

Chinese temple

2010-12-05T11:29:00.001+08:00

Chrome on black

Chinese temple

2010-12-05T11:13:00.001+08:00

On m3 cv35 skopar

Temple

2010-12-05T10:58:00.001+08:00

Chasing redemption

Peliau Beach

2010-12-04T22:47:00.001+08:00

Chasing sunset

SEG KL 2010

2010-11-30T08:49:00.001+08:00

Early morning start

Niah NP

2010-11-27T13:26:00.001+08:00

Lepak2x

Batman, et toi?

2010-11-25T00:10:00.002+08:00

Chasing sunset at Tg Lobang, Miri

2010-11-24T23:48:00.003+08:00

Some Birds at Kampong Merkang Paddyfields, Pasir Puteh, Kelantan

2010-11-21T13:20:00.011+08:00

A snipe lurking around in the paddyfields in the wee hours of the morning.

It was supposed to be a 10 day birdwatching and bird photography extravaganza ... NOT! The twice a year sojourn back home almost always has children, family and other folks involved, so putting birdwatching as THE agenda is sort of wishful thinking and almost bordering "dream on, you kidding me right" , it would never work.

Day 1 Friday - day of arrival, busy catching up with siblings, nieces and nephews and cleaning up the house and procuring supplies for the coming days.

Day 2 Saturday - managed one morning of sustained 2 hours of birdwatching while getting breakfast for everyone at home. The rest of the day gone to a trip to the airport to pick the other half who flew separately.

Day 3 Sunday - family picnic at the paddyfields, fishing and a bit of birdwatching.

Day 4 Monday - family trip to Kuala Besut

Day 5 Tuesday - family trip to Kuala Besut and Bukit Keluang

Day 6 Wednesday - Hari Raya Korban, forget about birdwatching

Day 7 Thursday - family trip to Bukit Keluang, the kids wanted to go to the beach and do some fishing. Came back in the afternoon to rush the preparations for a kenduri at home.

Day 8 Friday - another family trip to Bukit Keluang for the kids.

Day 9 Saturday - a sustained 3 hour bird photography from the car around the paddyfields, very productive.

Day 10 Sunday - a sustained 2 hr bird photography from the card around the paddyfileds on the way to fetch breakfast and get a couple of items from the Pasir Puteh market. The rest of the afternoon taken up by another trip to the airport to send my other half to the airport.

Day 11 Monday - left for the airport very early in the morning to catch a 0900 hrs flight to KL onwards to Miri.

A birding holiday is generally never a truly birdwatching holiday when family and young ones are involved, as evident above even a break intended for birdwatching (gear hauled for the purpose is proof) can be filled up with tonnes of other non-bird related activities.

When a vacation is with family, birdwatching may be relegated to when there isn't anything else on the cards. Fortunate for me the kids are ok with being outdoors for prolonged periods, at least for now. An opportunist birder can perhaps get many hours birding as well as getting a few other non-bird related items done while at the same time having fun with the family.

Mostly Cattle Egret flying by searching for breakfast.

White-bellied Munia. All these years in Sarawak we are pretty much resigned to Chestnut Munia, even Dusky Munia doesn't excite us as much anymore as it used to.

Common Kingfisher.

A juvvy Scaly-breasted Munia, these are apparently common in Kuala Baram too.

A Pond Heron.

A White-throated Kingfisher, numerous around here posing on all kinds of perches, one need not carry a perch from home for the shoot.

Cattle Egret are also numerous, newly harvested and tilled paddy provides ample opportunity for food.

With large expanse of paddy all around the neigbourhood, there are plenty of birding to do still. One good thing is that the locality is in our own home town, so every homecoming can couple as a birding holiday when time permits. It's only 5mins from home.

Any holiday is a good holiday!

Nazeri Abghani/Nov 2010

The coffee sub-culture in backcountry Kelantan is alive and thumping

2010-11-16T14:47:00.005+08:00

We may not have Coffeebean or Starbucks but that doesn't mean that the coffee culture isn't thriving in the backcountry of Kelantan and maybe other remote parts of the East Coast as in the bigger more metropolitan cities in teh country.

The tastebuds and what defines cool coffee culture maybe completely different from that the svelte coffee drinker of Bangsar or KL is used too. You definitely will not find coffee Luwak here, even if there is it probably wouldn't fly like at the other swankier coffee digs.

What may not be so obvious in the beginning gets pretty clear once you carefully read the prints on the promotional posters pasted all over the stalls, restaurant and coffee stops in the not so hip hang-outs though swarmed for reasons less than chic.

The target market seemed largely if not all seemed slanted towards men (not sure whether it is for obvious or not so obvious reasons) ... "Siang minum saje ... Malam jadi Raja ... Isteri pun bahagia"!

Some immediate eye-catchers :

Kopi Kucing Galak ...
Kopi Jantan ...
Black Stud Cappucino ...
Kopi Kerbau Jantan ....

There are apprarently serious pre-requisites for some of these blend; hipness, coolness, swankiness is not one of them. If it's got caffiene, it's got to be coffee, just I would not be the first to try.

Anyone for a cuppa, my place or your's?

Nazeri Abghani/16Nov2010

Finds in Kuala Besut old town

2010-11-15T17:07:00.002+08:00

An abandoned old engine in an abandoned old shophouse in the old part of town, surprised it's still there considering the craze for all things metal these days.

Back in the old days, there were not much here either other than a few trishaws, a jetty and a smallish but cosy market. These days it's a hodge-podge of new buildings housing a few commercial endeavours, tour agencies (being gateway to Pulau Perhentian and others), fishing related government agencies, several smallish hotels, coffee shops and parking lots for island holiday makers.

The trishaws are all but gone, and only a few of the old wooden shophouses are still left standing ... some have been coverted to walid houses for the bird nest industry. The quaint little market have been shifted to a new location in a bigger and allegedly better form ages ago it seemed.

Though the town didn't seemed as laidback as it used to be when I first roamed it with an FM2n and Ektar back in 1987 and a few more times after that, you still feel the quaint-ness here and there. The old shady tree by the main bus depot is still there standing taller, shadier and bigger. It even has a large bench built under its shade over the overgrown roots for idling the afternoon away.

And there's always a checkers game on at the benches ...

The brand spanking new tourist center equipped with tour agents, internet cafe, souvenir shops and other. All were closed the day we were there, off season I supposed.

One of the three original old shophouses still left standing in the center of old town, favorite haunts of oldtimers.

You cannot do without an internet cafe these days where ever you go, and purple is in this year.

The town's several hardware store catering to the used to be the fishing fraternity but now mostly tourism players.

An old Chinese shophouse, half of which has been converted discretely to a walid house, it's presence isn't too discrete though considering the constant chirping to attract the birds.

A lady proprietor of the only jeweler in town, the shop's seen better days for sure.

Closed for business.

Passing time.

The tourist center from the other end leading to jetty.

Would care to wait? Please have a seat.

Kitty cat in front of a blue shophouse by the main road.

A good checkers game is fun to watch for the inpromptu exchanges that takes place between regular opponents.

A bright and cheery bus cum taxi depot at it's original site. When we got off the bus, they were only one other passenger on board. Total take for that particular PPuteh-KBesut trip was less than $15.

A taxi driver waiting for a passenger, any passenger.

$10/person for a one way trip to Kota Bharu from Kuala Besut, by bus it's $6.50/person ... but you'll have to follow the bus schedule, perhaps the only reason to take a taxi.

Wheels by the blue shophouse.

Window at the side of a yellow shophouse.

Nazeri Abghani/15th Nov 2010

The Kuala Besut bus this morning

2010-11-15T08:18:00.002+08:00

It's 9am departure instead of 8am we were expecting! By the time we got to Kuala Besut it was 930 am with the hot sun shining full force. But we did roam around what's left of the old fishing town.

Mt Murud Trek - the walk from Ba' Kelalan to Pa' Rabata

2010-11-15T06:20:00.005+08:00

19th October: After three days of seemingly idle, relaxing strolls amidst the greens of Ba' Kelalan's paddyfields and sometimes purposefully high-school-ish coversations in the dark after dinner was quietly jolted by the arrival of the rest of our trekking team from Miri on Monday, a huge amount of luggage as well as a sudden realisation that we were in Ba' Kelalan to scale Mt Murud, the highest mountain in Sarawak at 2413m.

The team was made up of a motley crew of walkers and trekkers in it for the adrenaline rush of another challenge and a couple of birdwatchers intent of birding Murud. Chris Haneveld, Sara Wong, Jackie Fong, Faye Osman, Sparrow Tan, Edward Ong, Yeo Teck Seng, Ting King King and Dr Rangamal. Some have been training for this for weeks if not months on various other peaks like Lambir and Gunung Nuang before this.

Our first task was to conquer the Ba'Kelalan outer ridge and to make it in one piece to Pa' Rabata, our first jungle shelter on the same day before the trek proper to Mt Murud Church Camp at 2200m. Apparently the ridge is supposed to be the first measuring stick of whether any of us would make it to the summit.

We set off at approximately 0900 hrs 19th October after sorting out our packs and load allocation for the porters. We had with us 2 guides, Gukang and Ating, as well as 5 porters with us for the trip.

Sorting out the load before the start of our trek.

Jackie trying out the porter's load for size at our first stop before the ridge.

Our porters raring to go ... looking at the weight on their backs gave a new meaning to travelling light, they move along the trails like a ghost, silent, sure footed as if they are flying along weightless.

We all made it to the ridge which a good sign to the days of more trekking the next couple of days. Leeches encountered weren't as many nor problematic as we had predicted, perhaps because of the drier weather in the area the past few days that we were there.

View of the canopy from the ridge. The trek up to the ridge was through a community forested cherished by the Ba' Kelalan folks. There were quite a few birds heard along the trek however our paced didn't allow any prolonged stop. We were eager to make it to Pa' Rabata before nightfall.

We had our first break at 1030 hrs, and we made it to the first rest stop at a very good pace. The porters with all their allocated load caught up within 15minutes of our arrival. Considering the weight they had on their backs, they either took the secret elevator up or flew. After a short break we continued our journey uphill to the ridge.

We got to the ridge top in one piece at almost 1130hrs, the porters joined us shortly after. The cool wind sweeping across the ridge provided the well deserved respite. Having made it this high was a good sign that we'll all make it to Church Camp the next day. Surprisingly there were only a few leeches encountered along the way. But there was one pesky little guy that made to the mid thighs of yours truly and actually drew blood, this fact was only discovered upon a thorough body check at Pa' Rabata a few hours later, the slimey bastard!

The rest of the trek was mostly downhill on disused logging trails towards the valley. If going uphill was tough, going downhill on a sunny day at noon was tougher considering the constant jolt to the knees and lower back. It seemed like a never ending trail and there was very little in terms of anything interesting along the way.

One curious note was the presence of cow hoofprints all over the hills and along the overgrown logging trails. Apparently these were of cows belonging to the surrounding villages which left their charges to roam free. The cows are apparently hunted for meat as and when needed, sometimes by the owners themselves, and at other times by more opportunistic individuals.

We made it safely down the valley to Pa' Rabata about 2:30pm, by then utmost in everyone's mind was to stop moving altogether. With knees wobbling and back aching, it was a huge relief to finally be able to sit down knowing fully well that the tough part is over, or at least we thought it was "the toughest" if only for that particular day.

In almost high spirits, packs were opened, cups of tea and coffee were distributed around the shelter. In a short while one by one, took to the rocky stream next to the shelter to clean up in cool clear water.

Phew! We made it over the ridge!!!

The 5 hour trek winding uphill and downhill after the ridge did not affect our porters at all, they all smiles. Either that or we provided them with enough comedy all along the 5 hour trek that day.

Our porters taking a breather after promptly making tea and coffee for the team.

The view of the canopy from the grounds near Pa' Rabata jungle shelter.

Next up: The trek up to Lepo Bunga and Murud Church Camp, 20th Oct 2010.

Sunday back in the Kampong

2010-11-14T23:27:00.005+08:00

We flew home Friday for our end of year sojourn back in the East Coast, an opportunity to get together with family members, spruce up the house a bit (which needs a lot more sprucing since Mom's passing) and soak in ample bucolic vibes that can only found in "hometowns". Fantastic opportunity to get the kids out and about.

A sunny but overcast day in the paddyfields of Merkang on a Saturday morning, an optimistic prelude to the coming few days, picture as composed and made by Aisya. Surprisingly it hasn't been wet at all since our arrival back home Friday.

A scene (Saturday) that could only be found in the East Coast states if not predominantly in Kelantan and maybe to a lesser extend Terengganu, men in sarongs in town in broad daylight.

Two boys walked into a Marrybrown restaurant intending to have a swell lunch for two. After going over the extensive menu, they realised that the $10 they had between them would not afford them the actual treat they had in mind. Walked in a gentleman who must have heard the discussions at the counter, and having fully underrstood the boys' predicament quietly passed over a $10 note for them to splurge on lunch. With big broad smiles the boys carried back two one piece chicken meal each and a large bowl of porridge and sat happily enjoying their lunch. They had enough change to stop by after lunch for a finale of 7-eleven slurpees! Splendid turn of events for the boys!

An early morning outing into the paddyfields requires a hearty breakfast, Ali and Aisya making an order for roti telor, their staple back in Miri. Their cousin, Afif at the next stall is procuring nasi ber-lauk, rice and creamy fish curry, a Kelantanese staple. Someone forgot to bring sweet tea.

An elderly gentleman checking out his pukat left overnite at the same canal we were fishing at. He went back with a good haul of lampam jawa, we fished all morning with worms and all we got was several "almost" and no catch, not even a pesky puyu.

Afif and Ali trying their luck with a pesky little puyu that kept making splashes and only nibbled at the bait. It swum off sinking the floats several times but not even one hook-up.

Aisya and Irfan at their end of the canal. Aisya, Irfan and Afif truly dig this fisherman's will, hours of holding a rod waiting patiently for a nibble and they would go anywhere for an opportunity to land the big one. Ali on the other hand will persevere at most for half an hour ... no bite, lets go home kinda attitude, casting is more of his style of fishing. He was so proud of the fact that he's the first boy to get multiple successful hook-ups using plastics at Bukit Kluang couple of years back ... don't think he'll ever forget that trip.

The paddyfields of Kampong Merkang, a beautiful peaceful spot with plenty of birds around. Plenty of Cattle Egrets, Pond Heron, Scaly-breasted Munia, Harriers, Black-winged Kite, White-throated Kingfisher, Common Kingfisher, Oriole, Drongo, Bee-eater among others. How much land does a man need? These would do!

The scope ready for action in case of another recurrence of last June's sigthing of a most unlikely rarity!

Stunning vistas of the nearby hills from the paddyfields.

A juvvy monitor lizard on the rocks.

Harrier soaring above the paddyfields searching for prey. Other raptors commonly seen are Black-winged Kite.

Scaly-breasted Munia (Pipit pinang) were abundant flying together in groups of 30-40 birds.

Tomorrow, we are taking the bus to Kuala Besut and walk back to Dalam Rhu Beach along the coconut lined fishing villages of the coast. Lets see how we do tomorrow ... maybe we'll see a few neneks making keropok the old fashion way along our walking routes.