Selamatkan Yaki! (Save the yakis!)

Black Crested Macaques or Sulawesi Black Macaques (Macaca nigra) are only found in northeastern Sulawesi (and on a couple of adjacent islands) in Indonesia, and are critically endangered as a result of both habitat loss and hunting for bush meat.  Unfortunatley for them, they are considered a delicay in this part of Sulawesi (Minahasa) so have…

Rainbow tree

The Rainbow Eucalyptus tree is a strikingly colourful eucalypt which originated from South East Asia (the native distribution covered: New Britain, New Guinea, Ceram, Sulawesi and Mindanao) (1). It is a member of the family Myrtaceae, and it can now be found growing throughout the tropics, because as well as being beautiful, it is a very fast growing timber species…

Chiang Dao Mountain

Doi (meaning mountain) Chiang Dao is the third highest mountain in Thailand, at 2,195 metres above sea level. It is one of the most beautiful in my opinion and the limestone massif can be seen in splendid profile from the road which runs north from Chiang Mai to the town of Chiang Dao.  There are…

Identifying Odonata

During a recent trip to Sarawak, I took a few photographs of dragonflies and damselflies. How to identify them? We live in a world where simply entering a species or genus name into a search engine (usually Google in my case) delivers a bewildering array of images, some correct, some clearly incorrect. Entering terms like…

Ang Ka Nature Trail – Doi Inthanon

The Ang Ka Nature Study trail is a ca. 360 mm wooden boardwalk near the top of Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain in Thailand (2,565m), which was reportedly designed by a Canadian biologist. It is very popular with bird watchers as well as other visitors wanting to experience a walk through the moist evergreen forest…