Glossy Swiftlets Collect Lichen

While I was having a walk in the garden of my resort in Tomohon, Sulawesi 2 weeks ago, I saw some familiar birds flying around a palm tree. It didn't cross my mind that they are collecting nesting material (lichen).  When I saw it again the next day, I decided to take out my camera & trying to capture some flight shot. After looking at the image than I realize the small swiflets indeed are Glossy swiftlets (Collocalia esculenta). They are actually collecting lichen.  Below are some of the photos that I have taken.

The swiftlet started to slow down and hover about 50cm away from the palm tree.

The swiftlet approach the palm tree without physically get contact with the palm tree!

The swiftlet pull the lichen while still hover in the air.

The swiftlet continue to hover and move away from the palm tree.

This is another series of photo coming from a different angle.

Again, the swiftlet just "touch and go". Since swift spend most of their time in flight and hardly or never settle on the ground voluntarily. That explain why they have a very short legs and they use their leg only for clinging to vertical surfaces.

I'm not sure why the swiftlet turn the head upside down. Glossy swiftlets can be found from India all the way to Australia. Hopefully I can capture some video the next time if I see them in Singapore.

Kawangkoan - the peanut city

Another city not to be missed when visiting Tomohon is the Kawangkoan - also known as the peanut city. This city is famous for its roasted peanuts. You can get a packet of roasted peanut everywhere at Kawangkoan but we go straight to the factory for fresh roasted peanut.

Worker spreading the peanuts to dry it under the sun.

 
The peanuts look good even before roasted.

The difference between the peanuts here and other country is the way the peanuts was roasted. Here, the peanuts are roasted using the black sand from the river nearby here at Sulawesi.

Roast peanut is not an easy job but somebody got to do it. Hats off to this lady.

The peanuts are sorted/graded according to their size.

The traditional horse cart or is called Bendi, Andong, or Delman locally is one of the very common mode of transportation in Tomohon.

Meeting With Maleo - an endangered bird

After 4 years of waiting, I finally get to see the wild Maleo (Macrocephalon maleo) the chicken like bird that don't incubate their egg or feed their youngs. I didn't get the chance to see Maleo when I first visited Tangkoko National Park 4 yours ago. I was told that Maleo have been locally extinct in Tangkoko & another place to see Maleo is at Tambun in Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park. Due to ongoing habitat loss, limited range, high chick mortality rates and overhunting, the Maleo is evaluated as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Endemic to Sulawesi, the only area to meet Maleo is here and no where else.

After arrive at Manado Airport and meet up with our local guide, we start our long drive to Tambun. We took almost 8 hours to reach the nearby home stay which is another 45 minutes away from the Maleo nesting site.

 We wake up at 4 am and start our journey to look for Maleo.

Our target is to watch a wild Maleo in their natural habitat and look at how and where they lay their eggs. Maleo lay their eggs in the hole they dug and cover their eggs with sand and soil. The Maleo don't incubate their eggs & they rely on solar and/or geothermal radiation to incubate their eggs. The incubation took 2 to 3 months and the chick may took up to 2 days to dig their way up to the surface.Once on the surface, they are totally independent and ready to fly.

 These area are covered with hot spring and make it a perfect nesting site for Maleo.

 After searching for about an hour, we get to see Maleo!

 This could be a new nest looking at the newly covered soil.

The staff from the Conservation Center show us how they retrieve the eggs from the nest and transfer to protected site for incubation. If let unprotected, the eggs and the newly hatched chicks are at high risks of predated by monitor lizard & wild pig.

 The Maleo egg is about 5 times bigger than chicken eggs.

We are so lucky that there are 2 newly hatched chicks in the center and ready to be released to the wild. I was given the honor to release one of the chick to the wild! The young Maleo is now on his own to defend himself from the predators hopefully he will come back to the nesting site & produce more young Maleo.

I name this young bird Mini-Samson before letting it fly to the forest. Hope to see you again some day!

This trip was made possible with the logistics support from Manado Safari Tours - Thank you for the great service!