Earthwatch Australia Teach Live

Hi Everyone

Thursday 29th April & Friday 30th April 2010

Thought it was time to report to you from my Malaysian adventure. Hope all is going well back in Warrnambool and that you are all behaving yourself! We had a great start to the trip with a good flight that arrives on time at about 9.00am your time on Thursday. We did not sleep much on the plane but we were pretty excited about arriving in a country that neither of us had been to before.

We took the “xpress” train to Kuala Lumpur as the airport is about 30 min. away. We arrived at K.L. Central Station ( they spell it sentral ) and dropped our bags off into some lockers. We then ventured out to do some exploring around the old parts of K.L.

Ben had never been to Sth. East Asia before so it was a bit of an eye opener for him and even though I have been quite a few times; I always get a shock from the heat and humidity.

We were looking for a place to eat when we crossed a road and got bailed up by a policeman for crossing incorrectly. We seem to follow what the locals were doing but he pointed out a sign that we couldn’t read that apparently demanded a fine of 500 ringgit ( about $160 Aus.) We smiled a lot and he eventually let us off with a warning.

We found a place to have lunch and then returned to the train station to collect our bags and on to the comfort of our hotel “The Vistana” Vistana is at the end of the monorail so it was really easy to get to mostlocations – cheaply and quickly.

Saturday 1st May 2010

We made our rendezvous on time; met our fellow adventurers – Sevang from Cambodia and Jovic from the Phillipines as well as Ryan from Bannockburn and Kate from Wantirna. We traveled by minibus ( about 3 hrs.) to our field station of Kuala Lompat.

Lunch was provided and then we off for our first taste of the jungle.

I’ve never been so hot and sweaty in my life but at the same time it was beautiful and completely different to anything you could experience in Australia. We became familiar with the trail and glad that it was not too steep. We learnt how the traps were set out along a grid with coding so that we knew exactly which bats came from which locations. As the bats fly at night we did not see any at this time and would have to wait until tomorrow before we saw our first bat. After tea Dr. Tigga Kingston ( our principle investigator )presented a slide show on her laptop the range of bats we were likely to encounter, the aims and rationale of doing such work and safety procedures.

View of Petronis Towers near our hotel	Kuala Lompat field station

Sunday 2nd May 2010

Today we learnt how to recognize and sort the insects that the bats feed on. There is an insect trap near the bat traps so we can build a picture of what the bats are eating. We sorted them down to the “order” level and then dried them out in a toaster to determine their dry weight. A very smelly process.

Night time came and we were off to our first bat collection. We put on our head torches for the first time and set off. On our first night we caught 5 bats and processed ( measured and weighed ) the lactating females on the spot so they could be released and return to feeding their young. The others we bought back to the field station to process and they were to be released the next morning.

Over the next few days I will explain in a bit more detail the actual measuring and processing that is being done at Kuala Lompat.

Tuesday 4th May 2010

We have just returned from our morning trek to the traps to check for more bats and to release the bats captured the night before. We were all feeling it last night. A few leeches and stings and hot tired sweaty bodies. After the measurements and processing we were all ready for bed.

The processing involves measuring their forearm length, weight - using a simple spring balance and a bag, sex and an estimate of age by looking at the condition of their wings. You can see this data in the “field data “ link on the website. The pictures below show some of the processing going on.

This mornings walk did not find many bats at all! In total only one bat! We then had to check the insect traps and one of these were empty too!

We suspect the light didn’t work overnight. This means we will have less sorting to do when we return to the field station.

We have been put into teams to help with the trapping and processing. The teams are named after bats of course!

Team 1 cervinus Me & Zie ( seabcru fellow from Indonesia )

Team 2 trifoliatus Kate (Wantirna ) & Saveng ( seabcru Cambodia )

Team 3 intermedia Ben ( Merrivale ) & Jovic ( seabcru Philipines )

Team 4 ridleyi Ryan ( Bannockburn) & Caroline ( Earthwatch )

Our Principle Investigator Dr. Tigga Kingston deliberately mixed up the groups so that one of the teachers sponsored by earthwatch paired up with one of the Sth. East Asian Bat Conservation Research Unit ( SEABCRU ) people. We are all getting along quite well with Jovic keeping us amused with his wicked Philippino sense of humor. Their English is all quite good so there are not too many communication problems.

Hope my 7B class is behaving themselves for Mr. Emanuelle and that you fire off any questions through the forum.

Signing off from Kuala Lompat – Chris Blackburn

Wednesday 5th May 2010

Yesterday morning we went into the town of Kuala Krau. We needed to get some timber to make a frame for a cage as another student of Dr. Kingstons , Julie, arrived who was doing a study on the larger bats that fly in more open spaces. She hopes to catch some and put it in the cage to study how they fly.

The town was a 20 min drive from the field station. It was good to be able to get a cold coke and some special treats like chips and Oreo biscuits. A whole pkt. of biscuits cost about 50 cents Aus.

After lunch we sorted out last nights catch of insects with a bit of help from Ain ( pronounced “ine” ) who is one of Dr.Kingstons PhD students.

It is important in the study to know what insects are in the forest and then which ones the bats are eating. It is quite a job doing this as we have to sort them into their appropriate groups ( orders ). There is usually 2 traps to process and each one may take up to 1 to 2 hrs each to do!

The highlight of the day though was to erect the mist net at night ( see photo) to catch the larger bats that fly in more open spaces. Half our team ventured back into the forest at night to do the harp traps but I was in the team to help with the mist trap over the nearby river. We were kept pretty busy catching about 12 bats but the highlight was catching a large Cheiromeles torquatus or “Greater Naked Bat”. This was a bit uncommon so Julie was very excited.

We returned to the field station about 10.00pm and stayed up late trying to key out to the specie level the bats collected. It was interesting to learn about the different features that are used to differentiate between the species.

Anyway that’s enough for today. To 7B - make sure you try to read the highlights every lesson and ask questions on the forum. Make sure you leave your name so I know whom I’m talking to. I will reply to them as often as I can but remember I don’t have the same internet access as you do at the moment.

Mr.Blackburn getting a bat out of the mist net	Erecting the mist net over the river
The main street of Kuala Krau	Cynopterus brachyotis

Thursday 6th May 2010

Morning Jungle Notes

Yesterday was been quite a restful day compared to the others. We got up at the normal time and checked the harp traps as normal. It seems I’m due one small drama a day. It wasn’t a bee or wasp sting this time but a fall on the track. We had only got about 5 min in and I’ve gone over on my knee. It wasn’t a heavy fall but I had only just recovered from a previous fall on the same knee retrieving someone’s retriever ( golden ). I usually have a pretty good sense of balance but there you go – the pitfalls of the jungle.

Life at the Station

We only had one bat to release so it did not take long to complete the task and get back to the station. I managed to get a heap of washing done and then our task for the day was to assist with the building of Julies “bat cage”. It was extremely hot today and then all of a sudden we heard some thunder. A slight cool change came through with a slight rain ....... HEAVEN!!! It was interesting to watch the local “Orong “ people work. Two had been employed to help with the bat cage – to do the bits that need specialist skills like building the door.

I decided to go down to the bridge to take some photos as the lighting appeared good. I think this is my favorite part of the area around the field station. It’s very peaceful down there and beautiful. See photo below.

Night Jungle Notes

Out relief was short lived when we set off for the harp traps. The teams that checked the harp traps last night had to do the mist trap over the river and it was our turn to do the harp trap. It was really hot and muggy and parts of the track took us perilously close to the river. One false step and “splash!! But we collected 4 bats and returned to the station for processing. I was absolutely soaked when I returned ( from sweat – not the river ). Remember you can access the bat data in the field data link.

Bridge near field station	River view	Jungle trek at night

Friday 7th May 2010

Morning Jungle Notes ( for Thurs 6th )

We got a much better view of the track this morning and appreciated the views around the river. We released 3 bats and checked the traps but there were no new catches. We decided to follow the track around a loopback to the main track. This led us into slightly more open jungle and we got some great views of the river. A very enjoyable walk this morning.

Life at the Field Station

It was our turn to sort the insects out and Ben and I were slowly getting better at it. We are still relying on Ain a fair bit but less than before. We received a welcome change when it was all hands on deck to erect the bat cage. ( see photo ). It took about 6 of us to hold up one side as one of the local builders nailed it together. This guy was amazing – getting up a ladder that would not meet O.H. & S. standards at home and showed amazing courage to get up with both feet on the very top rung. ( kids- don’t try that at home!)

Night Jungle Notes

Early evening we were down at the river trying to erect a mist net over the water. Parts of the river had quite a strong current so we had to be careful but it was great to go for a swim ( see photo’s ). It was hard to find something to tie the pole to on the far bank of the river because the rocks were very crumbly. We eventually found a branch that did the job. After all that effort though we only managed to catch one bat Molossidae that can be caught quite easily in the forest. We were hoping to catch some fish eating bats but this did not occur. Never mind. We spent a nice evening by the river eating chocolate biscuits that Julie had bought down. There are worst things to do!