Weekend Reflections

Amazing sun rays greeted us on our arrival at the forest reserve in Kuala Selangor.

The lights twinkled.

It may look like a peaceful path.
In reality, it was far from silent.
There were all kinds of creatures singing at different octaves...

A bird glided past in a natural frame above.

The sky was above and beneath.

It was a wonderful place to reflect...
...to look at the bigger picture...
...and so naturally, there are no macros here...

Are you having your weekend reflections too?

...for Weekend Reflections.

Monkey Business

Do you see a lighthouse behind the tram in the photo above?

It was built in 1907 and still continues to guide ship today.

This tram brought us to Melawati Hill in Kuala Selangor where monkeys roam freely.

Monkey business in Kuala Selangor is good.

I don't mean the export of monkeys but the monkey food business.

Long beans were cut into short pieces and sold at USD 0.33 per bundle.

Notice the wire around the box above and a tiger guarding the box?

These are probably warnings that monkeys without wallets are not allowed to help themselves.

After I took this photo from the tram, he gave me a thumbs up and smiled.

I thought he wanted me to post his photo so I did.

He had a fierce lion guarding his long beans.

Apart from long beans, bananas and peanuts are also available.

I wonder why he has no tigers nor lions guarding the food.

A silver leaf monkey munching a long bean.

A long-tailed macaque peeled a banana.

A young monkey accepting peanuts from a tourist's palm.

 

This monkey removed the peanuts shells herself and stuffed the peanuts into her already very bulging cheeks.

I was amazed to see this monkey open the bottle cap on its own.

As you can see, monkey business is popular in Kuala Selangor as many love to feed the monkeys.

I wonder who enjoys more; the one who feeds, the one who eats or the one who sells.

I think probably me, the ONE who observes.

Those who didn't have enough of the monkeys could bring stuffed monkeys home if they wish to.

Warning

Do NOT keep food in your pockets.

The monkeys may help themselves and tear your pants accidentally.

Do NOT stand directly beneath a monkey.

It may just decide to pee from above.

Wildlife in Kuala Selangor Nature Park

Though I complained about missing many of the wildlife in my Nature Park post, I did manage to capture a few poor photos of some of the wildlife in Kuala Selangor.

Above are creatures living in the mud flats and mangrove forest.

They include mud skippers, blue crab, red crab, king fisher, water monitor lizard and some dead snails.

There were otters too.

This Brackish Lake System was created for birds to roost and feed. 

It also acts as a safe nesting area for many birds.

We could see huge birds with their nests on the trees.

Unfortunately I didn't have a suitable camera and my shots of the hawks and migratory birds turned out to be merely specks of white or black in the sky.

Finally I found a hawk that stool really still and managed to snap a photo at a close distance.

This shot came out a lot better than then the woodpecker shot. 

The wood pecker hid its head behind branches each time I clicked so I had to settle with this friendly hawk.

Red ants build a nest with leaves. 

One of them decided to hitch a ride on my back after I took this shot.

I thought the spider was kind of artistic with its web weaving.

Figs and ferns were abundant. 

Why are there holes and teeth marks on the tree trunks?

The berry photos above are before and after shots.

There is one photo which I took before using the mosquito repellent.

As you can see, the mosquito repellent made a lot of difference to the quality of macros.

Can you imagine gazillions of hungry blood suckers attached to your body?

If you decide to visit Kuala Selangor's Nature Park, you know what to bring with you.

Thankfully for us, a pharmacy was just within 300 metres away from the place.

....to be continued.

Nature Park

Here are some of the panoramic views of Kuala Selangor Nature Park.

  The Park of 800 acres shelters a wide variety of habitats.

The Park plays an important role in conservation.

It is a sanctuary for many mammals and birds including migratory shore birds.

So where are all the mammals and birds?

See the bunch of red-shirt mammals in front of my trail?

They enjoyed all the beautiful wildlife at close view.
Not wanting me to miss the beauty of wildlife, they kept yelling at me to hurry up and admire what they saw.

Each time I caught up with them, all I get is a description of a huge water monitor lizard or gigantic insect that they saw.

....to be continued.

Just to add, after reading an article about Sustainable Horticulture written by Patty of Gardening Pomona, I appreciate the Nature Park even more. Patty mentioned that cities and communities should be built with animals in mind since obviously they need food, shelter and water like us.  Creating animal corridors in cities and at areas linking cities and towns will be a solution to provide space for animals whose homes have been taken over my human and where Nature Parks are too far away for these animals to migrate to.

I am thankful that we still have many Nature Parks around in Malaysia.