A few highlights from Lambir nitewalk

A curious little dragon, image by Sara Wong.

By six pm 20th March, we've gathered 10 individuals keen on exploring Lambir Hills afterdark. The plan was to enter the trails before sundown, spend some time at Latak waterfall and slowly make our way back to the main gate.

We did just that. The walk over to the falls was pleasantly interupted by stops to gawk at a couple of tarantula's nest right beside the trail. We must've have been walking this route for the umpteenth time, if not for Kamil's help we would've not notice the perfectlt shaped hole on the mudbanks of the trail, nicely lined with cobwebs. Who other would occupy it that the tarantulas? The tow nests added a couple more interest points for our nitewalk.

A short peek at the arboreal tarantula's nest we discovered not long ago was a dissappointment. The Malayan Tiger used to occupy the treeside hole was no longer there. Several prior visits by Peter and Musa also didn't spot the beautiful creature. It must have relocated.

All along the trail towards the waterfall we spotted many geckos, stick insects, large snails, crickets and a couple of frogs. We were ardently looking for signs of snakes. Peter and Musa were fortunate enough to spot a fairly large reptile under some rotting logs in Spider's Alley a few months back. Last year the spot yielded Coral Snake, a juvenile dogtooth cat snake and a juvenile Wagler's pit viper. Not so lucky this nite.

We spent roughly half an hour at Latak waterfall gawking at the nocturnal shrimps in the shallows. They seemed to be ruling the streams in the dark, every submerged leaf we lifted revealed 2-3 hiding little shrimps. A quick shine through the banks and canopy didn't reveal any eyeshine, it would've been an extra bonus. Slow-loris, giant squirrels have been sighted before on previous nitewalk trips.

On the way back, we saw many more stick insects, praying mantis, and large ground hunting spiders. Extra effort schecking the branches overhanging the stream didn't produce anything more exciting than what we've already seen.

Our luck started to change by the time we made our way back to the site of the tarantulas nests. While busily gawking at a huge hairy critter at the mouth of it's resident, Kamil pointed out to a larger slithering quarry not five feet away from the spiders. Right there in front of us, in small peaceful movements was a banded krait. From the elapidae family, banded krait belies it's deadly venomous bite with it's graceful slow movement on the forest floor.

The krait and the tarantula definitely made our nite! The reptile is probably our 6th species so far, stumbled upon during a nitewalk just like this. We hope to see more!


Banded Krait


Terestrial tarantula.

A groundhunting spider.

Another groundhunting spider.

A many legged centipeded, note his missing limps.

A weird looking beetle we haven't encountered before.

A leaffrog, one of our regulars.

A stick insect.

Another regular hanging out.

If you haven't experienced Lambir at nite perhaps you should join us on a short trek through Lambir under the moonlight one of these nites. It's an altogether different feeling from trekking it during the day. The sights and sounds of the forest comes out more lively sometimes without the sunlight.

Nazeri Abghani, Mar 2010

Dipterocarp Mast Fruiting in Lambir Hills

Trees . . . they are everywhere in Lambir Hills National Park (Lambir Park), not only are they in great number buts also in species count.

Let’s see . . . everybody knows there is a 52-hectare research plot somewhere within the Park. Well, in that small plot some scientists decided to make a census count and they found a staggering 1,173 tree species in 286 genera and 81 tree families! Talk about diversity, Lambir definitely tops the list as the richest forest in Malaysia!

Two major types of forest are found in Lambir Park, the mixed dipterocarp forest and the kerangas forest. Kerangas forest is mainly found near the north-eastern part of the Park around Bukit Lambir peaks, while the majority of forest in other parts of Lambir is covered by mixed dipterocarp forest.

For the past few months starting October 2009, something wonderful has been taking place in the mixed dipterocarp forest of Lambir Park: the dipterocarp trees have been producing and releasing enormous amounts of winged fruits onto the forest floor. This special event is called dipterocarp mast-fruiting.


A carpet of dipterocarp flowers on the trails.

During this period many species of dipterocarps come into flower almost simultaneously, followed by mast-fruiting for a period of several months. Unlike other tree families, dipterocarp mast-fruiting only occurs at irregular intervals of anything between 2 – 10 years, a phenomenon that is very unique to dipterocarp forests of South-East Asia.


The different types of winged fruits found on the forest floor of Lambir.


The only spot not covered by the winged fruits is the pool.

A few hypotheses have been proposed to explain this distinctive feature of dipterocarp forests, but the most widely accepted must be the predator-satiation theory which suggests that through synchronization of fruiting at around the same time by many dipterocarp species at irregular intervals of several years, it not only prevents the build-up of seed predator population, the heavy fruiting is also a means of defense to prevent seed predators from wiping out the whole crop of seeds, thus ensuring survival of some of the seeds to germinate and grow into seedlings.

A small group of MNS Miri Branch hikers who regularly visited the Park during weekends over the past four months saw first hand the chronological sequence of mass flowering and mast fruiting of several dipterocarp species along the trails they regularly walked.


Peter admiring the young seedlings taing their rightful places on the forest floor.

February month appears to be the height of the dipterocarp mast-fruiting, as the trails are literally covered with thousands of fallen dipterocarp winged fruits, and at some places it is so dense that walking on them makes quite treacherous as it is really slippery underfoot especially on a descend. It is also observed that many of the other plant species were busily producing bountiful fruits and seeds along side with dipterocarp trees. The forest has certainly never been seen so busy with all these reproductive activities!

Come and visit Lambir Hills National Park now and see for yourselves this special miracle before it is all over. You may not easily see it again in the next few years!

Write-up and photographs by Sara Wong.

References:
Hazebroek, H. P., and Abang Morshidi, A. K. 2006. National Parks of Sarawak. Sabah: Natural History Publications (Borneo).

Sakai, S. 2002. General Flowering in Lowland Mixed Dipterocarp Forests of South-east Asia. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 75(2): 233-247.

Nitewalk at Lambir Hills National Park 17th October

Ever since MNS Miri members went on their first nitewalk way back in 1998 with Dr Rhett Harrison (not sure whether he was already a doctor then or not), we have kept this aspect of our outing alive come rain or shine, full moon or not.

Many have gone with us trudging thru the damp forest, sometimes in drizzles characteristic of the namesake rainforest. Children as young as six and members well over sixty; parents, teachers, inquisitive youngsters have enjoyed the wonder of seeing the creepy crawlies on the main trail of Lambir, sights they don't normally see during the day on the same path.

It can't be compared to Singapore Zoo Nite Safari of course but the charm of Lambir Hill Nitewalk lies with the little critters that makes Lambir Hills their's home.

Our big animal sightings so far have only been restricted to monkeys, tarsiers, and giant squirels. We are still praying hard for an encounter with the resident clouded leopard or sunbear. Our most exciting and favorite must have been the snakes and tarantulas. A few close encounters with the crawling kind have made some members addict to the nitewalk.

It's not just the off-chance sighting that draws people to a nitewalk. The serenity of the rainforest after sunset, the ruckus or lack of it mixed with the damp darkness creates a feeling of mysterious calm about such places. It helps that you are well familiar with the place by day, seeing it at night just further adds to the affinity to the trails.

This nite we didn't see many of the usual big players on the trails other than some oversize snails, frogs, ants, numerous stick insects, and a beautiful gecko. Our resident tarantula seemed to have gone AWOL.

Our nite's tally:














Nazeri Abghani/MNS Miri/Oct 2009

Birdwatching near Bukit Song, Lambir Hills NP

The section of Lambir Hills National Park we went birdwatching 3rd October was perhaps the least visited part of the NP other then by villagers living in Pantu Buri, farmers opening new land or those travelling to the newly opened oil palm plantations further north of the NP. Though the roads are typical 4WD Sarawakian dirt road, it's just barely manageable even for a 4WD. We definitely do not recommend going in there with a family sedan.

Steve, Musa, Liz and Nazeri made up the team of four that could wake early enough to make it to the 0530 hrs meeting call at Mosjaya. All the other sane birders were undoubtedly in bed dreaming of their most favorite birds. We on the other hand fantasized about Wreathed Hornbill, Wrinkled Hornbill and other rarities in these parts all the way to Bukit Song.

The early morning departure was actually perfect, by the time Steve maneuvered the DMAX and Nazeri opened up the gates we were only a few minutes shy of 0630hrs. For Sarawak, this is as bright as 0700 hrs in KL with even less people but fresher jungle air.

Birds were fortunately already busy catching the proverbial early worms, while some were contented with just singing their hearts out for the whole forest to hear. The forest edge we were at was perfect for the sort of birdwatching we intended for the morning. Sandwiched between two prime rainforests, hidden away from traffic, we were perfectly positioned to watch the birdies.

A shama was the first to announce it's presence, followed by the Black-headed Bulbul. Later to be followed by the Plaintive Cuckoo, Black and Yellow Broadbill, Barbet sp. and Hornbill sp. Faintly audible was the soft tap-tap-tap of of the woodpecker. Hopes were quite high that we woul record the presence of either Wreathed or Wrinkled on this auspicious day. Any day where you can go out twitch this early at such a prime spot should be declared an auspicious day.

A large hornbill finally did fly past, landed right at the top of a tall tree in front of us. Bino poised, Steve and et al prayed for Wreathed Hornbill, clammy hands on the focussing ring, Leica Televid APO 77 swung to position just as fast .... to confirm the bird : Asian Black Hornbill! A few long seconds of close scrunity later, it was still ABH. It was full agreement and without a doubt NOT a Wreathed Hornbill that day. We waited ...

There were plenty of other birds to watch and tick. We noticed two flowering species of trees all around our perch, small little birdies were flitting in and out, some went for the fruit and some went for the nectar. Yellow-eared Spiderhunter; Hairy-backed Bulbul, Lesser Leafbird, Cream-vented Bulbul, and Yellow-vented Bulbul were all there taking turns foraging and feeding. Once in while the birds would stop to preen.

A group of Hill Myna made a fly past several times right above our heads.

Many flowerpeckers and sunbirds were sighted fleeting amongs the forest edges. Purple-naped Sunbird did not make an appearance today as it did 15th August at the same patch.

Throughout the morning many more birds made their own private appearances on top of those already mentioned above:
Thick-billed Pigeon
Dusky Munia
Red-bearded Bee-eater
Lesser Coucal

Red-eyed Bulbul

Red-throated Barbet

Orange-bellied Flowerpecker

Black and Yellow Broadbill (heard)

Argus Pheasant (heard)Van Hasselt's Sunbird

Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker

Dark-necked Tailorbird

Crested Serpent Eagle

Crested Goshawk

Silver-rumped Swift

Chestnut-rumped Babbler

Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot

Blue-throated Bee-eater

Plain Sunbird

White-breasted Woodswallow

Tricolored Munia


Van Hasselt's Sunbird. Photosource Lip Kee Yap, Singapore.

With the conversions and opening up of forested lands and secondary forests near Lambir, the actual protected area has become more accessible of late. All around Lambir, oil palm plantations are cropping up, while others are at the forest clearing stage. New farms are being opened up and planted. This new access points gave more people greater opportunities to walk right up to the park bounday, enter it if they the wanted to. What we hope is that those who do take the trouble to go there, actually went there with benign intentions, to enjoy nature like us, birdwatching.

We are in the midst of keeping track of birds we see in Lambir in the hope of contributing to the Lambir NP Birdlist. Partly to monitor what's in and around the national park currently as well as note those that are no longer present.

Lambir Hills National Park is one of Birdlife's International Important Bird Area (IBA) within the northern division alongside with Niah National Park, Loagan Bunut National Park, Mulu National Park and Similajau National Park.

Write-up by Nazeri Abghani/MNS Miri/Oct 09

LAMBIR HILLS NATIONAL PARK

GoogleEarth Map from 2005. The dark green patch is Lambir Hills NP boundary.

Birdwatching at Pantu Buri

Looking at the edge of boundary of the northern section of Lambir NP.

This place is just off the road to Lambir Hills NP, right after Bukit Song, at the northern edges of Lambir Hills National Park. These days there are plenty of 4WD roads connecting a few of the smaller villagers in the backwaters of Lambir as well as to the various newly opened farms, and oil palm plantations.

Steve Dexter, Musa Musbah, Marijke Jannsens and yours truly piled up in Steve's Dmax and off we went on a bumpy ride on a dirt road to Pantu Buri. We were already in beautiful setting surrounded by prime rainforest even before we reached the main dirt track to Buri. Along the road down the side of Bukit Song, we heard and saw plenty of birds: 6 Slender billed crows, 4 Red-bearded bee-eater, 1 Black and yellow broadbill, 2 Blue-throated bee eater, 4 Hill Mynas, 2 Large woodshrike and several unidentified little sunbirds ... they were fleeting too fast for us to bother.

Off we went on our way to Buri after ticking of the bee eaters. We stopped by a little pond where Musa last enjoyed close-up views of Oriental Darter. Te bird wasn't there today. Instead we were happy with 20+ Barn swallows and Pacific swallows perched on telephone lines all along the track to the kampung. We heard Pied fantails and another group of Hill nearby, the mynas later flew past.

Pantu Buri is located along the Bakong River ... there are 2 clusters of longhouses, the traditional massive woodenand zinc types. There were several more modern individual houses to located alongside. LAKU's waterpump is located at the end of the dirt track. What's more interesting is the expanse of swamp (used to be paddy fields but were left fallow after this year's massive flooding in the area). The huge expanse of open space with numerous blackened dead tree trunks seemed ideal perching place for raptors and darters. Other smaller typical small birds were also seen in the area.

Bakong River looks massive with the amount of water flowing through it. The banks were crowded with not so tall trees that looks perfect as perches for kingfishers, darters, raptors and others. Crocodiles are also residents here according to the kampung folks we spoke to, though we didn't see any today.

We saw 4 Black-thighed falconets right in front of the smaller longhouse! This could be the closest all of us had been to one ... did I say four! The family unit were seen busy handling butterflies on the telephone wire. The area in front of the longhouse was overgrown with tall grasses and flowering shrubs, which explains the presence of butterflies and maybe the falconets. Upon closer scrutiny we noticed that the birds kept flying back and forth to a bare branch nearby. This might be the falconet's nest hole. Other birds we saw here were Dusky munia and numerous Chestnut Munia.

After the excitement with the falconet we moved on to the back of Bukit Song, another ideal spot for quiet birding. Here we saw Black -headed bulbul, Hairy-backed bulbul, Cream vented bulbul, Pale bulbul, female leafbird sp., a family of 4 woodpeckers sp. One interesting sighting was that of the Purple-naped sunbird!

It wasn't such a hassle to get to this new birding location, it's a nice quite corner for birding with quite a few nice birds, perhaps we'll come here more often. The kids from the longhouse too seems excited with the birds we showed them, maybe next time we'll cart along a slide projector and laptop for a bit of show and tell for the youngins : surely with the nice birds in the neighbourhood they should pick up some birdwatching.


The smallest raptor in the world, Black-thighed falconet Microhierax fringillarius.

Ruby-cheeked Sunbird

Ruby-cheeked sunbird Chalcoparia singalensis borneana. This male was sighted at Lambir Hills being visibly stressed at it's own reflection. It kept coming back to the same perch fronting a reflective glass window of a restaurant nestled down a slope of a hill.