A critically endangered species, Shorea sumatrana was one of the first Dipterocarps planted at Rimbun Dahan, probably in 1992. It is now flowering for the first time, and although we have had Dipterocarps flower before, they have always been more common species like Hopea odorata or Shorea roxburgii, species that cope better in our drying weather. Earlier this year, our one specimen of Shorea sumatrana was measured to have a GBH (girth at breast height) of 90cm, so it has grown well, despite not being in a more favourable wet position.
The flowers are tiny, perhaps half a centimeter, but the flush on the branches gives a pinky hue. We look forward to posting news of fruit setting, but so far no pollinators have been observed.
This species is being painted by Rimbun Dahan resident botanical artist, Lauren Black, whose subjects are rare species; rare either because they do not occur often in their natural habitat, or because of habitat loss and logging.
Shorea sumatrana or sengkawang is endemic to Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, generally on the East Coast, where it is frequently found in low-lying swampy habitats along the banks of rivers. It is now critically endangered by population fragmentation and habitat destruction.
Lauren Black (right) talking to visitors at her studio.
The brilliant green of this snake drew my attention to it as I walked through a deeply shaded area of the garden; fortunately it stayed motionless for the camera and the dogs didn’t disturb it. They are mainly tree bound but can sometimes be seen on the ground, and according to the text cited below they can be picked up with little risk of being bitten. It feeds on small birds and lizards, and has the curious habit of sticking out its tongue for a long time. About 4 to 6 young are born in a litter and they are light brown in colour. The young feed on flies and small lizards, and attain a length of about 2 m when fully grown. This species is common in Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia.
Fascinating Snakes of Southeast Asia-An Introduction by Francis Lim Leong Keng and Monty Lee Tat-Mong. 1989, Tropical Press Sdn. Bhd.
The call of the blue-winged pitta can be heard all over the garden, and occasionally we catch the flash of its brilliant wings in the Taman Sari. Jesmi the gardener discovered their nest in an abandoned woodpile in the garden, and watched the birds fly in and out and issue alarm calls from a perch in a nearby tree.
The nest is hidden in thick growth on a pile of wood cuttings.
The nest is dug into the mound, supported with sticks and lined with fibers.
This is the second year that this species has been spotted at Rimbun Dahan. Last year it was only detected towards the end of its stay, when it was often seen hunting for worms in the Taman Sari which were carried off to its unseen nest — see Nature Notes August 2007.
The blue-winged pitta is a shy ground-foraging bird. This impressionistic photograph, showing the brilliant blue of the wings, black back of head, orange breast, white throat and bright red vent, is the only photo so far this year of our visitors.
The nest is hidden in thick growth on a pile of wood cuttings.
The nest is dug into the mound, supported with sticks and lined with fibers.
This specimen of Python reticulatus, about 3m long, was caught in the hen house, along with two dead chickens, one of which had been eaten. In an attempt to escape, the python then regurgitated the chicken it had eaten. Some time later, the python was still in the henhouse, so Rimbun Dahan staff transferred it to a gunny sack and released it outside the property near a small stream.
The python, surprised in the henhouse.
The python in a gunny sack.
In its natural habitat, the python is perfectly camouflaged.
The python bolts for freedom.
This is only one of many such encounters with pythons at Rimbun Dahan. Two years ago, a large python was found trapped in the well and helped to escape; see Nature Notes August 2006. Other reptiles observed at Rimbun Dahan include the monitor lizard and other snakes including rat snakes, paradise tree snakes and cobras.
Python reticulatus
The Reticulated python is known to be the longest of all snakes, attaining a miximum length of 15 m. Its normal prey is warm blooded animals from chickens, pigs, goats and monkeys to small deer. Prey is swallowed whole, the snake’s jaws are not rigidly joined and thus can be stretched wide to acommodate bulky food. This python is normally found in forest, especially close to water, it can also be found in urban settlements. Small pythons can easily be captured and tamed, but adults are dangerous as they can deliver vicious bites, and their powerful coils may be too much for a man to handle. The female python lays from 20 to 50 eggs, rarely up to 100. The eggs adhere together in a mass, which the femail coils around and incubates for a period of betweeen 75 and 90 days. Baby pythons look similar to adults and measure about 60 cm in length.
Reference: Fascinating Snakes of Southeast Asia, by Francis Lim Leong Keng and Monty Lee Tat Mong
Over the course of seventeen years, the constant planting, pruning, sun and rain have done their work in the garden at Rimbun Dahan. What was once hot bare expanse has become cool and crowded with greenery, as the before and after images below show.
1991
2008
The view above, taken from the dining room, looks out diagonally across the reflective pond to the balai beside the swimming pool, and to the rambutan orchard beyond, all of which can be clearly seen in the 1991 image. In the more recent image, the reflective pond is planted with papyrus grass, waterlilies and lotuses, which obscure the view. The lawn beside the house has been maintained, to prevent creepy-crawlies from having too easy access to the house. A rain gauge has been installed on the lawn. Note that the cool marble floor beneath the dining table continues to be a popular haunt for the household dogs.
1991
2008
The view above is from the guest house looking across the reflective pond back towards the main house and the durian orchard beyond. A hill of a palm oil estate can been seen in the far background, as well as a neighbour’s roof. The growth of the garden has increased the privacy at Rimbun Dahan, as well as reducing noise from the nearby main road. The 1991 image shows the emptiness of the lawn in front of the main house, with only a few small saplings. In the recent image, the trees are much bigger. The row of colourful canna lilies, native to South America, that lined the reflective pool has long since been replaced, and now a large specimen of the indigenous Congea tomentosa, a climbing vine with purple flowers, has taken over the plants beside the reflective pool.
Over the last few weeks, four new bird species have been spotted in the garden at Rimbun Dahan.
The first, and the one with the closest encounter, is the Rufous Woodpecker (Celeus brachyurus), pictured below. This specimen was found dead on the driveway and covered with ants — an appropriate end for a bird that apparently excavates its nest cavities in the nests of tree ants, according to Jeyarajasingham and Pearson’s field guide to Malaysian birds. It is surprisingly difficult to correctly identify a dead bird. Although its plumage can be examined in detail, it lacks the posture, behaviour, and context so vital for identifying a bird in the wild. This particular species also has a very weak bill for a woodpecker, but its identity was at last given away by its zygodactylous feet (two toes to the front and two to the back, to allow it to grip vertically on tree bark) and its stiff stubby tail which it uses as a prop.
The Rufous Woodpecker in death. Note stiff stubby tail.
Detail of the Rufous Woodpecker’s feet, showing zygodactylous nature.
Rufous Woodpecker head, showing diagnostic red patch under the eye.
The Rufous Woodpecker is a resident at low elevations in the Indian subcontinent and southern China through South-East Asia to the Greater Sundas. It frequents forests, the forest edge, scrub, plantations and gardens, and is reportedly generally unobtrustive but very vocal.
The second new bird is Hodgson’s Hawk-Cuckoo (Cuculus fugax fugax). A single individual flew past my mother’s balcony and roosted quietly in the Congea creeper by the reflective pond. It was identified by the vertical stripes on its breast and the pale patch at the back of its head. According to J & P, this species is a resident from low elevations up to 300m, and may well be a winter migrant to the area.
The third new bird on our list is the Stripe-throated Bulbul (Pycnonotus finlaysoni), a pair of which was seen sitting in a kenanga tree on 3 Dec. It is a common resident, inhabiting principally hilly country, moving around in small parties.
The last new bird, and the most impressive, is the Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea), almost a meter tall. On walks in the garden accompanied by the dogs, my mother flushed this bird twice from the thick vegetation surrounding the upper pond, from which it went to roost in a nearby tree, extending and retracting its long neck. According to J & P, this is the only large heron occurring inland, and at low elevations it may be a resident or winter visitor. It is usually solitary, stalking its prey in shallow water.
The flush of new bird sightings at Rimbun Dahan may be caused by the seasonal arrival of winter migrants as well as several trees on site which have been fruiting vigorously. Last week the salang trees by the back driveway (Syzygium sp.) were producing copious amounts of small red fruit, snapped up by a large flock of presumably Philippine Glossy Starlings — see images below, (no larger image available). As the garden matures and more plant species are introduced, it also provides more cover and habitat for shyer species.
We are working on a list of resident and visiting birds at Rimbun Dahan to post on our website, so keep watch!
Within the last week, we have had a number of sightings of a Blue-winged Pitta, Pitta moluccensis, in the Taman Sari area next to the main house. We witnessed the pitta at midday and in the evening industriously hunting for worms which it found plentiful in the exposed earth of the vegetable beds in the Taman Sari. Quite large and beautifully coloured with iridescent blue wings, the pitta was wary, but not skittish. Several times it hopped confidently across the open paths in search of food. When alarmed, it flew up into the nutmeg trees and waited for the commotion to die down before returning to the hunt.
The pitta takes flight with a beakful of worms.
When alarmed, the pitta flew into a nutmeg tree, showing its brilliant red underbelly.
the pitta photographed without flash, accurately showing the blue colour of the wings.
Another beakful of worms.
Worms found…
…and lost
According to Allen Jeyarajasingam’s field guide, Blue-winged Pittas are winter migrants from the northern hemisphere, resident only on Langkawi and in Kedah in Peninsula Malaysia. However, members of the Malaysian Nature Society’s Bird Group hypothesise that the pitta may be increasing its breeding range further south on the Peninsula due to climate change. They also advised us that if the pitta is seen with a beak full of worms, it may be one of a breeding pair feeding its young in a nest nearby. We’ll keep a lookout!
Addendum: On 26 August, a pair of pittas was spotted in the back area of Rimbun Dahan. They were behaving excitedly, perched on high branches and uttering a single call one after the other — even with a beak full of worms — accompanied by spasmodic wing flaps. Were they trying to lure us away from their nest?
On 23 June, a Black-Crowned Night-Heron, Nycticorax nycticorax, was seen roosting over the pond at Rimbun Dahan.
According to A Field Guide to the Birds of West Malaysia and Singapore (Oxford), by Allen Jeyarajasingam and Alan Pearson, the night-heron inhabits mangroves, rice fields, inland freshwater swamps. It is largely nocturnal but also active by day. It roosts and breeds colonially in mangroves but feeds at night mostly in freshwater habitats and also on mudflats at low tide. At dusk, night herons circle their roost in noisy flocks and flies in V-formations to feeding grounds, returning at dawn. During the breeding season, these birds are very active during day, collecting nest material and indulging in a variety of aerial displays.
More than 10 butterflies were enjoying the nectar from a Hoya carnosa, which was flowering for the first time, in the Taman Sari on Tuesday. At least four species of butterfly were feeding on the plant, each butterfly staking out its own umbrel of the pink and white flowers.
The butterflies pictured are possibly Parantica aglea, also known as Ideopsis vulgaris, the Blue Glassy Tiger.
Cryptocoryne minima, an exceptionally rare water plant, was recently found in the Sungai Buloh Forest Reserve, and some of it has been moved to the water garden at Rimbun Dahan. The Curator of the Fresh Water Plant Collection at Zoo Negara, Mr Herman Bernard, retrieved the plant with volunteers from the Malaysian Nature Society, when it was announced by the press that the Selangor State Government is planning to spend up to RM 100 million on ‘development’ in the park. MNS has been trying to have the reserve protected as a Community Forest Park. Currently the area has no clear planning status, and despite the protests of the Kota Damansara community, the State seems intent on going ahead with its ‘development’ plans.
The most upsetting part of the State’s campaign must be the fact that they are playing the religious card, allocating a huge proportion of the rocky reserve for a Muslim graveyard. Has the Muslim community been consulted on this? The State says yes, but advocates for the park say they are yet to find anyone who knows about this.
In the meantime, Cryptocoryne minima has been moved to several alternative locations such as Rimba Ilmu at Universiti Malaya, and Rimbun Dahan. It likes a shady location, but can also thrive in full sun. At Rimbun Dahan it has been planted under the shade of a large Pandanus where a stream comes into a pond, above the open water where it could be damaged by Tilapia. The photographs show Raslan Hamzah planting ‘sama padi’, as he put it, in knee deep mud.
BY ANGELA HIJJAS
