Wallace's flying frog

Wallace's flying frog also known as Abah River flying frog is found from the Malay Peninsula (Western Indonesia). Named after biologist Alfred R.Wallace, these frogs live exclusively on trees and fly from one tree to another. When these frogs are threatened, they leap from a branch and splay their four-webbed feet. These frogs also have over sized toe pads that help them land softly and stick to trunks of trees.

These frogs are also known as parachute frogs. Though they are not the only flying frogs, they are among the largest and the black color of their foot webbing helps to distinguish them from others. These frogs are bright green with yellow sides and grow about 4 inches. Insects are their main food.  These frogs enjoy a special status in certain localities. Here are some photographs of these beautiful creatures.

Capturing the Magnificent Orangutans

Native to Indonesia and Malaysia, Orangutans are found in the rain forests of Sumatra and Borneo. While earlier they were considered to be one species, since 1996 they have been divided into two species namely - the Bornean orangutan (P. pygmaeus) and the Sumatran orangutan (P. abelii). Among the great apes, orangutans are the most solitary of the great apes. The main component of their diet is fruit. Here are some photos of these great apes captured in Borneo.

Orangutan in Borneo

Eating Peeled Banana

Mother and Child

Child Clinging on mother

Mother and Child Peeling Bananas

A great capture

A Visit to Bako National Park in Sarawak

During my recent trip to Sarawak (on the island of Borneo), I visited the famous BakoNational Park. It is the oldest national park in Sarawak. BakoNational Park has a rich history. It boasts of multiple jungle streams, waterfalls along with trekking trails. The attractions of the National Park make it one of the most popular parks in Sarawak. Given below are some pictures of the park.

Gateway to Bako National Park

Bako National Park is one of the most popular tourist destinations

The park is famous for several streams

Great view of the Bako National Park

The Temminck's Sunbird

The Temminck's sunbird is found in Borneo, Sumatra, Malaysia, and south west Thailand in tropical or tropical moist lowland forests. I was lucky to spot this guy on my recent trip to the Borneo Highlands.

The Temminck's Sunbird

The male is the brighter one -seen in these pictures — he mostly scarlet, except for a greyish belly, yellow and purple bands between the back and tail, and four purple bands on the head emanating from the beak which are very distinctive.

The female is drab olive, except for rufous fringes to the wing and tail feathers. I will post pictures of the female later.

The Temminck's Sunbird in of its poses

Very nice photographing this little beauty.

Pitcher Plants in Boko National Park, Borneo, Sarawak

There are quite a few species of pitcher plants found in Bako National Park and other parts of Sarawak. These are of the species  Nepenthes albomarginata.

An ant crawling over the edge of the lid (operculum)

It s a climbing plant with the stem reaching upto 4 metres, The pitcher itself can be upto 15 cm long and 5 mm in diameter, as you can see from the size compared to the small ant crawling on it. It depends on termites for it food and is one of the few carnivorous plants in existence. 

The white ring below the opening (peristome), which is what termites come to feed on

Contrary to what I used to think, it does not trap the insects, but rather relies on them falling into the pitcher. The termites graze on the rim and as they do some will fall into the pitcher. The rim of white trichomes just below the opening (peristome), is a distinguishing feature of this species.

Dr Somdutt Prasad catches the Spectacular Spectacled Spider Catcher

Couldn't help myself from capturing the beautiful Spectacled Spider Catcher. Here are some of the beautiful pictures of the bird. Truly enchanting.

That sweet nectar is worth working for - upside down spider catcher with wings open, getting its feed

Even birds need glasses! - what a thing for the eye surgeon to see and photograph. This description came about because this bird has a yellow ring around it's eyes which greatly resemble spectacles. So here it s

Spectacular view of the Spectacled Spider Catcher

The mesmerizing Spectacled Spider Catcher

Oh your Beauty!!!! The majestic Spectacled Spider Catcher

The Spectacled Spider Catcher in its natural habitat

One of the many poses of the Spectacled Spider Catcher

Always a delight to shoot a beautiful bird like the Specatcled Spider Catcher

The marvellous  Spectacled Spider Catcher