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Saturday 8th 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!

Morning Jungle Notes ( for Fri 7th )

We all went back into the jungle this morning to check the traps, take them down for the local helpers to move them and release any catches from the previous night. I was glad I was in the group that did not find any as the other group nearly stepped on a huge black ( and highly poisonous ) snake. Poor Jovic was in front and nearly had a heart attack!

Life at the Field Station

We had been looking forward to this afternoon all week. We were being treated to lunch at the nearby town of Mentakab with a chance to stock up on much needed supplies followed by a visit to the National Elephant Conservation Centre. We really enjoyed the change from field scientist back to tourist for a day. We watched the elephants being fed and cleaned and then had the opportunity to go for a short ride. Zie, Ben and myself shared the same elephant ( poor thing ). The highlight was being dunked in the river by the elephant and getting totally soaked. We were prepared to get wet but not prepared for how much fun that would be.

After the elephants we went back into K.Krau to visit the night market. There were all sorts of foods and items for sale ( see photo ). I bought a couple of things for my boys at home and then phoned my brother in Melbourne. He wasn’t home ( went to the Fri. night footy ) but spoke to my nephew Duncan instead. We couldn’t get over how clear the reception was from the middle of the Malay Peninsula to Melbourne. To say the least it was a very unexpected but pleasant surprise for Duncan to get a call from his Uncle in Malaysia.

We headed off to another place for tea and ended up having a very fun night that probably went on far too late. Lucky for us there are no traps for us to check in the morning and we can all have a sleep in.

Bat cage under construction	Ben & Chris in The Lompat River
Elephant ride at The Elephant Conservation Park	Night Market ay K.Krau

Sunday 9th May 2010

  Life at the Station

Had a slow start to the morning which we all appreciated. Got a heap of washing done. I’m going through that much clothing through the heat that I have to really do some every day. No washing machine! All done in a bucket and cold water. Around 2.30 we completed some basic chores like data entry and insect sorting.

Night Jungle Notes

Ben had left his shoes behind fro yesterday in the van so had to borrow my sneakers. We had a long trek off one of the side trails which saw us catch about 10 bats. When we returned – to my pleasure – no leeches!!

Monday 10th May 2010

Morning Jungle Notes

We returned last nights catch – mainly some Kerivoula intermedia & Rhinolophus stheno which are both quite cute small insectivorous bats.Returned to the field station really hot and sweaty but discovered that the cat had given birth to 4 kittens.

Life at the Field Station

Everyone was ringing “mum” for mother’s day. Nice to touch base at home and I realized I was starting to miss my family. I realize the great opportunity this fellowship has offered me but it will be good to get home.My group had a huge session sorting insects and then we erected the mist nets over the river.

Night Jungle Notes

A pleasant but busy night on the bridge catching 10 Molossidae including 3 of the quite large Cheiromeles torquatus. ( see picture )

These are hairless bats and not as appealing as the smaller Rhinos & Hippos. They have huge teeth and extra precaution had to be taken. They are the largest of the insectivorous bats in this area.

 

Seed Dispersing Bat from the family PteropodidaeA large Cheiomeles torquatus

Posted Tuesday 11th May 2010

Morning Jungle Notes for Monday 10th May

Had a fairly short walk this morning along one of the closer trails. We released last nights catch and managed to collect only on bat. A light mornings work compared to other mornings.

Life at the Field Station

Had the massive upload to do from the previous 3 days over the weekend. We have been here over a week now and it is starting to catch up with me. Feeling a bit dehydrated and run down. I appreciated a quiet day and mostly I slept. Tigga presented a really interesting lecture on ecolocation and how this was an important tool to differentiate between the species. We then had a go at recording ecolocation using radio gear and the Molossidae bats caught on the bridge from last night. This involved throwing them high into the air and watching them take off. The ones that flew reasonably straight at the radio gear could be recorded. It was quite a sight watching these bats get tossed in the air. Any ones that veered off at an angle were cursed as we could not record those.

Launching thebats for recording ecolocation

Night Jungle Notes

Didn’t want to risk going in the jungle tonight as I was just not feeling strong enough. Had an early night into bed with some rehydration salts and slept for about 10 hours!!

Posted Wednesday 12th May 2010 (for Tues. 11th )

Morning Jungle Notes

I was worried after last night that I would not be any better this morning but I was pleased that I felt a lot better. The isotonic salt satchel had done the trick and we had a good walk still fairly close to the field station. We released last nights catch as usual and only found one bat to process and as this was a lactating female; we processed on the spot and let her go.

Life at the Field Station

After lunch we had a special treat of being taken to the Gua Kelawar & Gua Terang Bulan Bat Caves. The place had the feel of a more “Malaysian” type recreation reserve rather than one set up for the tourists.The view that first greeted us was pretty stunning. ( see photo).

We visited the Gua Kelawar cave first and this took some finding as there is not a clear path to it. We had to enter a skull like cave entrance and after some clambering inside found ourselves in pitch black ( when our head torches were off); standing on a floor of guano, ( bat poo!) with thousands and thousands of bats whizzing around our head! It was like a scene from a Harry Potter movie! We were then asked to scratch around through the droppings to find a special type of larvae that Julie wanted for her research. You just had to be there! ( or maybe you rather not ! ) The things you do in the name of research.

The second cave – Gua Terang Bulan was much bigger and cooler and had some massive stalactites coming down from the ceiling. It was a massive cave but no bats that we could see. After some free time here we returned to Kuala Krau for some needed supplies like ice cream and cold drinks.

View of the Bat Caves	Cave mouth entrance
Checking the harp traps	Chris with a small bat

Night Jungle Notes

We were going to do the river tonight but Julie was worried the bats might be getting to used to the nets being in the same position so we all ventured out into the forest. We caught about 12 bats in total with a lot processed out in the field ( lactating females ) so they could be released quickly and the rest were bought back to the station. A late night of processing but I feel my strength returning after an ordinary day yesterday. Only 2 days to go!!

Posted Thurs. 13th for weds 12th

Morning Jungle Notes

We were all feeling a bit sore and tired this morning but last nights catch had to be released. Once on the trail you tend to get into a bit of a rhythm and off you go. I had to release a bat at on of the trap sites and was having trouble getting the little Rhino. stheno to let go of the bag it was in. Ben came up with the good idea of passing me a twig so that he would latch onto that. He did and I was able to place him comfortably in a tree.

Life at the Field Station

Julie and Ain were going to present the afternoon lecture today so they handed over the responsibility of the insect sorting to Saveng, Ben Ryan and myself. The 4 of went hard at it. Saveng is probably the best at “order” recognition and we consulted him when we were unsure. Anyway we were proud of the way we completed the task and Julie and Ain could concentrate on their presentation.

We looked forward to this as they were going to explain the work they are doing here and why we are doing the tasks that we are asked to do.

Both presentations were terrific with Ain focusing of the affect of climate change on bat habitats and population numbers while Julies work investigated some morphological aspects like wing shape and bite strength.

Night Jungle Notes

We were on River duty tonight but decided to set the mist trap up in the backyard. This sound easy compared to a jungle trek but we got more bites from ants and ticks out there than from anywhere else. We were quietly relieved when it started to rain a bit and we had to take the nets down. We spent the rest of the night picking millions of little seeds from our pants that we had collected from the backyard. Saveng had seen a large snake out there earlier so we were relieved not to trip over that!

Tomorrow is our last full day and I know we are all looking forward to getting back to the comfort of K.L.

Hip. Ridleyi caught last night	K.Lompat reverve with grid layout