tropicalbats.com
  • Home
  • Bats
  • Places of note
    • Suriname
    • Costa Rica
    • Norway
    • The UK >
      • London
    • The United States
  • critter essays
  • Birds
    • Suriname birds
  • tropicalbats blog
  • Coins: Errors, Varieties and Photography

beetle from Sukau

7/30/2014

0 Comments

 
A beetle from both sides.
Picture
Underside of the beetle eating a leaf
Picture
Top view of the beetle
0 Comments

Pig tailed macaque

7/29/2014

0 Comments

 
There were a lot of monkeys in Sukau, and here are two pics of the pig tailed macaques.
Picture
Pig tailed macaque at the end of the road
Picture
Pig tailed macaque eating frut
0 Comments

Storms

7/28/2014

1 Comment

 
Most of the rain we had, and we had some big rain, was dumped by wandering storm cells.  However, most was either late at night or while I was in the cave, so on the last night in Sukau I finally got a chance to take a photo of a storm cell that missed us to the east. 
Picture
A big, slow-moving storm cell east of Sukau, Malaysia
1 Comment

terrestrial leeches

7/27/2014

0 Comments

 
I am now at the airport in Los Angeles and just one more flight to get home.  I have been going for 52 hours at this point without a bed to sleep in.  A little sleep on the planes and a little on the floor in the airports.  With no delays I will be home in just over 12 hours from now.

And since I have no pics from LA to post, I will cover a short topic that some don't much like when working in Borneo.  Terrestrial leeches.  These things live on the leaves in the brush along the trails and attach to you as you pass by.  They are very fast and active, and move like an inchworm.  They are also very pretty.
Picture
A tiger leech (Haemadipsa picta) on a leaf at Gomantong. One end is suctioned to the leaf while the other end is waving around for something to grab onto for a blood meal
Picture
And here is one at work on my left arm. The blood is sucked in from the small mouth on the right, and you can see the body starting to swell up on the left as they drink blood very quickly. Warren helped take this photo as it is remarkably hard to photograph one's own elbow
0 Comments

Lunch in Seoul, South Korea

7/27/2014

0 Comments

 
Long layover here in Seoul so Warren and I went into town for lunch.  It was busy, busy, busy.
Picture
Big market in the Wolmi area of Seoul
And everyone was crowding in to get some chicken.
Picture
Three deep at the chicken joint
Somewhat less of a rush for the dried fish.
Picture
The blurred bit on a stick is an automatic fly shooer! It keeps the flies away while you have more important things to do
Picture
These were the longest, craziest ice cream cones I've ever seen. And I sampled a bit of one and yes, they taste like ice cream cones. They are hollow and I believe the ice cream is pressure loaded into them with length to order
Picture
A sight that really caught my eye. I can not explain it
And finally, I don't know what a Pocari is, but I was drinking a bottle of its sweat all day.  Honestly wasn't very good.
Picture
Yes, it really does look and taste like Pocari sweat. Truth in advertising at last
0 Comments

Heading home

7/26/2014

0 Comments

 
As I am heading home, my internet is getting much faster but time is getting shorter for posting.  Once home I will put up a bunch of stuff that was too much to deal with in Sukau.

Back in Kota Kinabalu I walked around the Saturday evening seafood outdoor grill.  A huge area with all kinds of seafood ready to eat and at prices way less than the restaurants.
Picture
Cooking, selling, and consumption of seafood. This was during Ramadan, however, so the big feast doesn't start until after sundown
I am currently in Seoul, South Korea, and only have a minute for one more pic.  I don't think I ever posted this Brahminy Kite that I saw above the Kinabatangen River in Sukau.
Picture
One of a pair of Brahminy kites that were hunting along the Kinabatangen River, Sukau Malaysia
0 Comments

The old coffin cave

7/25/2014

1 Comment

 
Having slightly faster internet today I have made a few posts and of note, I updated the coffin cave posting with more photos so check it out.

And can't have a post without a photo, so how about some baby birds...


Picture
Mossy nest swiftlet chicks in the nest
1 Comment

Night life

7/25/2014

0 Comments

 
I have had a lot less time at night in the forest on this trip than my usual.  However, yesterday I had 20 minutes for a walk along the Gomantong road and saw three animals.
Picture
This is a giant red flying squirrel (Petaurista petaurista). I had the distinct pleasure of getting to see one of these soaring along high in the trees. Very cool
Picture
I found a pair of Oriental pied hornbills roosting for the night
Picture
Palm civets R US. Another sighting of these cuties, so I am guessing that they are pretty common
0 Comments

Winding down

7/25/2014

0 Comments

 
This is our last day here in Sukau and working at the Gomantong caves.  I have wrapped up my work and am taking time today around town to catch up on things and organize for the trek home.  Tonight will be my last night in a hotel for a couple of days, so it will be a slog.

Interestingly, due to a mis-communication, we got booted from the Greenview and will be spending tonight at the Barefoot Lodge.  Nice place, but no air conditioning, so I am hoping it is a cool nights as my last night in a bed for a long time.

First up, Guy and his quad copter.  He is using it to take aerial videos and it gets some great footage.  It's also just fun to watch him zoom the thing around.
Picture
Guy on the board walk to the lower cave Simud Hitam
Picture
Guy using the copter to film me taking his photo
And I should put up another bat.  This is Hipposideros diadema, an insectivorous bat that has some very cool white spots down its sides.
Picture
Hipposideros diadema from Simud Putih
And yesterday, the nest guards were on high alert as some nest harvesting has started and they have to stay sharp as there is a lot of activity.
Picture
Watching from one of the huts near the bottom of the 140-meter pit
And up at the top of the pit?
Picture
The nesters have lowered down a metal ladder into a horizontal position and there are climbers working from it to collect nests a long way above the floor
0 Comments

Photographing ceilings

7/24/2014

0 Comments

 
I spent most of the day by myself in the upper cave photographing colonies of bats and birds on the ceilings.  I will eventually put up a couple of those shots, but for tonight it is late some random shots.
Picture
I know this frog, but can't remember the name right now
Picture
A fruit bat! This is in the Genus Cynopterus but I haven't figured out the species yet. It came by for a fruit at the lodge
Picture
The dead cavers we hauled off the hill. Or not. Don and Warren sleeping at the visitor's center after a long day caving
0 Comments
<<Previous

    Author

    Keith Christenson - Wildlife Biologist

    Categories

    All
    Akershus Fortress
    Angry Baby
    Aurlandsfjord
    Bat Coins
    Bats
    Bird
    Birds
    Blast From The Past
    Borneo
    Butterfly
    Camouflage
    Caterpillar
    Caving
    Comets
    Costa Rica
    Crazy Video Links
    Crazy Video Links
    Cricket
    Cuba
    Denmark
    Dominican Republic
    Festivals
    Finse
    Fish
    Flower
    Flowers
    Folk Museum
    Freia Chocolates
    Frog
    Frogner Park
    Geese
    Goose
    Grønland
    Harvestman
    Hawaii
    Hedgehog
    Holiday Cards
    Huk
    Ice
    Insect
    Ireland
    Isopods
    Jamaica
    Kolsastoppen
    London
    Mammals
    Mexico
    Mourning Cloak
    Mushrooms
    Naeroyfjorden
    National Day
    Norway
    Ohio
    Oslo
    Oslo Opera House
    Oslo Summer Park
    Panama
    Patterns
    Pennsylvania
    People
    Pond
    Puerto Rico
    Roof Animals
    Scotland
    Sognsvann
    Spiders
    Spring
    Suriname
    United States
    United States
    Venezuela
    Virginia
    Washington Dc Area
    Washington Dc Area
    West Virginia
    Woodpecker
    World's End
    Zambia

    Author

    Keith Christenson
    Wildlife Biologist


    RSS Feed

    Archives

    September 2021
    May 2021
    February 2021
    November 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    November 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    December 2011
    January 2011
    November 2010
    October 2010
    June 2010

Proudly powered by Weebly
Photo used under Creative Commons from Evil_Prince