THE BIRDS

The Green Broadbill (Calyptomena viridis)

The Little Spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra)

The Maroon Woodpecker (Blythipicus rubiginosus)

The Olive-winged Bulbul (Pycnonotus plumosus)

The Rufous-backed Kingfisher (Ceyx rufidorsus)

It was a great experienced where i can see the birds closely and look for the main characteristics for it's identification. I think, after look for it closely i can identify it more accurately when i am doing bird's observation. Please ask permission from the author before using any of the photos above.

BIRD'S BANDING

Removing birds from the mist net is not that esay for the beginners because as for myself i am still not expert in doing it. Sometimes the birds that i try to remove tanggled very bad and need to cut some of the strings of the nets.

After get the birds from the nets we put it into the cloth bag and bring it back to the processing place that we can work out on banding the bird. Usually we can't put the birds too long in the cloth bag in case of it will be dehydrated so we process it straight away.

All the equipments for the banding is prepared and we get all the information of the birds before we band it. All of the information will be enter into the datasheet that we have. Before take the measurements and check the birds we need to band it in case of it will escaped and flew away.

I try to work out on taking the banding data from the birds after we put the band on it's leg but i am still not good at it. I am still confused on how to look at the fade line, wing wear and how to sexes this birds.

Every data that we take we enter it into the field data sheet.

CAMPING FOR BIRD'S SURVEY

This is how our bed look like at the camp. The most important things you must have for camping like this is your mosquito net and sleeping bag. Why? There is a lot of mosquitoes and after midnight it is really cold. The other extra gadgets you must have is torch lights, insect repellent and also your personal first aid kit. That is only the basic things that i can share for camping with us.

We cook our own food. So, here is the "panorama" of our kitchen at the camp. We have all the basics for cooking from stove to other cooking utensils. Don't worry you will not get starving if go camping like this because all of foods or rations is already prepared before the trip. The clean water basically we bring from Bintulu and the rest is drinking water. 

So, here is some meals that we have at the camp. Isn't it look delicious, even though it is just a baked beans...:p

Where to take a bath? No worry. For every camp, it must located near water source. So, like this camp there is one stream nearby and we take bath there.The water is cold especially if you take your shower late in the evening but is is really refreshing.

Worry about doing something very important? Here is how the camp toilet look like. It is very comfortabale and clean. 

BIRD'S SURVEY 2008

I was equipt with all the recording equipment to get ready for the dawn chorus recording. Usually we get ready at the site around 5.45am because we need to catch the first bird that make their calls. Quite interesting results that we get from all the dawn chorus that we make for the whole trip.

This is the first day of our observation and as usual i will be very excited but at this point i really have problem in identifying birds that i observed. However, do not worry as we practice everyday by refering to the field guide book, it will not that difficult anymore. Developing the skills and information about the birds that we observed.

After our dawn chorus finished, we continue to do observation on getting the foraging data of birds that we observed. With guide from Dr. Alison and Dr. Fred, we try to collect all the information that needed for the foraging data. It isreally cool to look at the birds and follow what it is doing especially on how it get its food, where it get it etc. But to study birds in the tropic forest is a challenge because of the tree is tall and the understorey is dense too.

I am not sure what we are looking at but i think we are looking at the Prevost's Squirrel on the tree down the valley. I really like that squirrel, it is really preety and i have a chance to observed it foraging on the figs fruits. How it hang upside down without care of the presence of birds around it. It just eating and eating.

I just came back after a long trip to the field started from July, 31st until Aug, 19th. It was 20 days in the field for bird's survey with researcher from US. They are bird's expert (ornithologist) and i was lucky to learn so many things related to bird's study from them. We use several methods for this trip. We do the dawn chorus (bird's call recording), foraging data observation, mist netting for bird's of interest by calling the birds using their calls and then we do the bird banding. It is really interesting and there are some area that i still not good at like identifying the species via it's call and collecting the data for the birds that we band. However, as i said earlier practice makes perfect. Continue doing it and doing it right.

BIRD'S PUBLIC TALK

Society for Natural Science
and
Grand Perfect Sdn. Bhd.
presents
A Conservation Talk

Title: “Birds of the planted forests of Sarawak”

By Dr. Alison Styring

Date: 09 August 2008

Time: 04.00 p.m. (Registration at 4.00-4:30 p.m.)

Venue: Conference Room 2, Li Hua Hotel, Bintulu

The Planted Forest Zone (PFZ) of the Forest Department Sarawak’s Planted Forests Project, Bintulu Division, extends over about 500,000 hectares. In the coming years, about 170,000 ha will be planted with the fast growing tree Acacia mangium to supply industrial wood, while several large forested areas of the PFZ will remain for conservation of flora and fauna. The GP Conservation Programmed is based on cooperative studies with local and international experts on biodiversity, conducting biological inventories with GP staff, university students and NGOs. GP Conservation plans to catalogue the species richness of the PFZ, and to develop an effective long-term biodiversity conservation programme for the landscape.

Dr. Alison Strying came from Batom Rounge, Louisiana. She currently acts as an assistant professor in Environmental studies at the Evegreen state college in Olympia, Washington. She obtained her PhD in Biological Science from Lousiana State University (LSU) in 2002 where she wrote a dissertation research about the ecological of lowland woodpeckers in the managed forest of west Malaysia. While conducting the study, she was given the opportunity to work with a great team of students studying forest recovery for their master's degree under the supervision of Dr. Mohamed Zakaria Hussin, Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia. Dr. Frederick Sheldon had served on her PhD committee at the LSU from 1998 – 2002. On 2005, they began concentrating on a collaborated research on the plantation project. Among her research interest are avian natural history, community ecology, field methodology, as well as survey design.

All are welcomed and registration will be done upon arrival. GP especially welcomes members of local NGOs such as the Sarawak Nature Society, Malaysia Nature Society and the Society For Wilderness to attend and enjoy this talk.

SIXTH LESSON: SMALL MAMMALS INVENTORY – TOUGH ONE

We prepare the live-wire cage trap and it is 150 of it to be set up in the secondary forest and the plantation. Everyone is working hard to finish set up the traps in two days because we need to have 7 trap nights for that trappings.

The traps will be set up 25m apart so at every station i will take the GPS point so it will be easy for mapping that point in the map.

This is not the small mammals that we trap using the cage traps. It is a primate, the Western Tarsier Tarsius bancanus. Actually, one of my workers caught it by hand when we check the traps. This was my first time see this animal alive in the wild and i feel very excited. When i hold it, it grab my finger tightly and it didn't bite me (i am just lucky that it doesn't bite me).

After we took photo of it, we released it back into the forest where we caught it.

This trip is my first trip of my own project. My study is to do comparison of small mammals assemblages in different types of habitat e.g plantation, conservation area (large secondary forest) and remnant forest (secondary forest that left for buffer zone). During this first trip i was struggle very hard with help from GP-CON staff, workers and actually i am working together with one student from NZ. He is doing another study where he is looking at the movements of the small mammals accross the plantation landscape. What can i say about this experienced was, it really teach me to become more serious in work out a scientific research in the field. Why i say it so? Because at some point where i get very tired and stressed, i was thinking of quit doing it. It was the craziest thing that has come into my mind during this trip. How come someone that feeling very blessed because have a chance to work on her dream job ever thinking of quiting this job? However i feel very lucky because i have so many people around me that support what i am doing and what i have been through.

The results of this trip is also very impressive andi really didn't imagine that i can make it very well. Hmm..it's not because i am the only one doing it but because our team work during the trip. I have this one boy as my worker. He is really good. He doesn't mind to help me prepare the specimen until almost 2 am in the mroning. He doesn't complaint and just be there and help me. Without his help i think i maybe get sick because of loads of works to be done.

As a conclusion, the first experienced will never forgot because it will become the trigger to move on and improving it.