Kakapo Success Story

Kakapo, the world's heaviest (and flightless) parrot is doing well in New Zealand, according to this news article from Audubon website.

The GIF below turned the Kakapo into an Internet sensation which helped contributed to greater awareness of and donation for the conservation of this rare bird species in NZ. Clever and creative use of Internet tool to help preserve this parrot from facing threat of extinction!  

This Kakapo isn't scared of any extinction.

BIRDS COME FIRST

Came across an interesting website promoting the message that Birds Come First. Contents of website are in Thai script, so it is difficult for a non-native speaker (like me) to fully appreciate information in this website. Birds Come First is an important message which I fully support. Three interesting banners were provided through this website to spread this message that Birds Come First (in Thai script). Am spreading the message below:)

Poring Hotspring Surprise

Eastern Crimson Sunbird, Pacific Swallow, Olive-winged Bulbul, White-crowned Shama showed up at Poring Hotsprings in Sabah. It was a pleasant surprise indeed, particularly since I have not had the chance of capturing these moments before through camera. Drizzly afternoon that day in Poring.

White-crowned Shama's parading its tail above. Saw this winged beauty just as I was about to enter the hotsprings area. I have Lady Luck to thank for this sighting as well:) The Shama finally gave me a quick sight of its whitish crowning glory before it disappeared into the trees.

A creative reminder that I was in Sabah Tea territory:) Van didn't stop at Ranau so had to snap this picture from inside a van in motion. Sabah Tea has a large plantation in Ranau area - worth exploring should there be an opportunity for me to visit Sabah again. Sabah Tea's website has information about teas,  Sabah Tea Resort which are worth taking a closer look.

Wild mangosteen tree just next to the parking area at Poring Hotsprings.

I alerted my Sabahan guide to this fruiting mangosteen tree and he peeled it open for us (including Japanese lady and her daughters) to smell. Wild mangosteen fruit was juicy, sticky (didn't try eating it though) and resembled cherry tomatoes! Our guide mentioned that his grandmother used wild mangosteen to cook in soups. Nuritional value was evident through his healthy size:)

Front view of Olive-winged bulbul below:-

Back view of the Olive-winged Bulbul:-

Famous landmark of Kundasang, Sabah - Green Cabbage.  It was raining by the time we left Poring Hotsprings for Kota Kinabalu. It was pouring cats and dogs by the time we reached Ranau.

Kinabalu Park and Birds at Silau-Silau Trail

Borneon (Lesser) Green Magpie showed up that morning during short walk along Silau-Silau Trail in Kinabalu Park. Looked like there were three (3) rings attached to both its legs - two on the left and one on its right leg.

A second Borneon Green Magpie with untagged legs flew in and joined this tagged Green Magpie later on. Whitish eyes of these pair of Magpies really stand out. This is an endemic bird of Borneo, found only in this part of the world which made this sighting extra special for me. I've been to Kinabalu Park only once before many years ago with the Bird Group from Malacca and Negeri Sembilan. Only had Pocket Guide to Birds of Borneo and Handbook of Kinabalu Park with me. EBird and the availability of Blogs have really changed the birdwatching (and bird listing) landscape! Also spotted along Silau-silau trail was this Borneon Treepie below and Square-tailed Drongo Cuckoo. The Ochraceous Bulbul perched on a branch for a while and flew off before I could snap a picture of it. A flock of laughingthrush species were out and about, gregarious and hardly stayed still.

The flowing stream along Silau-Silau trail added to the tranquility and beauty of flora and fauna. The pink flowering plant in the picture above reminded me of the ones that I have seen before in Fraser Hill, Peninsular Malaysia. We were at montane level in Silau-silau trail.

One of the laughingthrush that I could manage to capture with my camera, below:-

Mount Kinabalu as viewed from the town of Nabalu, our first stop before reaching Kinabalu Park.

Homes on the base of Mount Kinabalu and the signboard welcoming visitors to Nabalu town, Kota Belud, Sabah. I've never climbed to the summit of Mount Kinabalu before so I can only just imagine how the view of these homes all lighted up, would look like from the summit at dawn or dusk.