#117: Cave Creek Canyon: The Return in Four Parts

Part I: The Beginning

First day of March. Almost a week since my return to the San Simon Valley and Chiricahua Mountains. Thursday, the 21st of February, I left Hoffman Estates, Illinois early saying goodbye to my bonus dad Joel and his miniature dachshund Buddy. It was Buddy’s first birthday, an occasion that I had celebrated the night before with Joel and my sister Lisa. The golden prince I had come to call everything from Butterscotch to Snickerdoodle received many gifts. The beginning of my trek was emotional as I enjoy Joel and Buddy and was already missing them. Joel puts Bud in doggy day care while he is at work so during my winter stay I watched Buddy all day instead. The playful and affectionate pooch and I were the masters of Netflix and chill.

After ten hours driving time, south through Illinois and across the Mississippi River at St. Louis, then west across Missouri into Oklahoma, I stopped for the night in Tulsa. I had driven 695 miles. After a restless night in a dingy motel room, I began another ten hour drive to Albuquerque, New Mexico. 663 miles. That left me only a 360 mile Saturday morning jaunt to Rusty’s RV Ranch north of Rodeo, NM where my Wheelhouse had again been stored for the winter. When I left the Interstate and headed down Highway 80 through Granite Gap and saw the Chiricahuas and the southern Peloncillos I was amazed by how beautiful and snow-covered they were.

I decided to spend the first night back in my swank pikey quarters at Rusty’s so I could de-winterize the plumbing and begin the task of unloading, unpacking and organizing everything. Sunday morning I was ready to move back into the mountains and my homestead at the US Forest Service corral where the mules and horses would greet me. I stopped at the VIC when I saw that Mike who runs the place and is Vice President of Friends of Cave Creek Canyon was parked in front. After a warm welcome and meeting two of the four new hosts who have staffed the VIC for the beginning of 2019, I walked up to inspect the corral. It was a mud bog. Recent rains and snow had left it wet and mucky. In retrospect, I wish I had waited another day for it to dry and arrived earlier when the morning freeze would have made it hard, but nevertheless I walked back down to my rig and proceeded to four-wheel it (eight, actually) into corral. Thus began a slippery and arduous process of shoe-horning 54 feet of rig into a soggy space. I never could get the Wheelhouse perfectly positioned and will likely move it a bit soon, but at some point I gave up and then spent a couple hours trying to rake the ruts I had created.

After setting up the trailer as best as I could under the circumstances, trying to level it, putting down the stabilizers onto blocks that sank deep in the muck, and connecting power. I turned my efforts to the inside. Then my last task was to connect to the water supply, which is a series of hoses that connect to a spigot at the horse watering trough. That is when another unwanted adventure began. The old hose was leaking everywhere, brittle from the cold winter and trod by half-ton mules. I replaced the first section that was spraying water everywhere, reconnected, and then discovered more leaks downstream. So I had to go down to the VIC and borrow lengths of garden hose and replace the entire length that I assume has been there for years. I’ll have to buy a nice industrial strength 100 foot hose on my next trip to civilization.

That first night I had dinner with Mike and his wife Cecil in their lovely home with the most spectacular view of the canyon. The next two days I had a bit of a head cold and mostly worked around my camp, further organizing and cleaning everything. I did make my first drive down to Douglas to get groceries and supplies. I had bought a few provisions when I passed through Deming, NM on Saturday, but I couldn’t buy much as I had little space in my truck and didn’t want to leave my traveling companion Jesse in the cold truck.

That leads me to a sad part of this tale. Unfortunately, my now 28-1/2-year-old Dusky Pionus parrot Jesse is now showing her age and decline. She had had a couple of what I thought might be seizures back in September or so, but seemed no worse for the wear afterward or by the end of my 2018 stay other than being underweight. She had been tenderly cared for here in Portal for the week at the beginning of December while I was traveling with Brent Hendrixson by my friend Carol who has great experience with parrots, and she did her best to try to put some weight on her. Jesse seemed fine during our travel back to Chicagoland. Because I was staying with Joel and he now had a dog, I set Jesse up in the basement where I stay. She became less active and didn’t seem happy down there, but I didn’t really see anything wrong health-wise and she ate and chewed her toys. When I returned from the airport after my trip to Malaysia, however, Jesse was at death’s door. I found her lying on her side at the bottom of her cage with no balance/equilibrium. It was as if she had had a stroke and I thought back to what I thought had been seizures in August or September. She was very underweight. Feeling horrible from travel and jet-lag and two days with only sporadic airport and airplane sleep, I was crushed and unsuccessfully fought back tears as I looked on my phone for a vet who might put her to rest. It is only because I was in such bad shape that I didn’t have her euthanized, and after laying with her for hours I began to try to nurse her back to at least some peaceful state while I fought with the idea of giving her final peace. A 29-year-old Pionus must be like a 18-year-old dog or a 100-year-old human. Miraculously, she improved every day. Her balance was off and she would sleep with her beak holding the cage bars to keep her upright, but she moved about and continued to eat and play. That is where she is now. I have left her in her travel cage for now so she doesn’t have the big cage to fall in. She occasionally climbs out of the cage and onto the top of the travel cage, something she couldn’t easily do with the fancy playground on top of her regular cage. I have some “recovery formula” bird foods to try with her and she is eating a great deal. As with any pet, I evaluate quality of life. If she declines and seems unhappy or in pain I will make the difficult but correct choice.

But onto happier matters … tomorrow I will host the VIC for the first time since late November when the Friends of Cave Creek Canyon through me the wonderful surprise party attended by at least two dozen people and presented me with the “Volunteer of the Year” award. While I have been gone more improvements have been made to the VIC interior and I look forward to staffing it on Saturdays and Sundays during March. The past two days I have started what will be daily hikes, both for pleasure and much-needed exercise. After a sedentary Chicago area winter, which other than my trip to Malaysia was spent watching Buddy during the day while watching television, and eating fatty Chicago delicacies and sweets for three months, I am back to dieting and hiking. I hiked two miles each day and will work my way back up to longer and steeper trails. Yesterday the daytime temperature reached the mid-60s and I actually saw some active lizards and spiders and insects. Today I will hike again, although I am really anxious to move the Wheelhouse to a better position, wash the mud that is caked on the wheels off and really get everything organized and clean before my weekend at the VIC.

I am not sure that this blog will actually be posted today, March 1. Since before my arrival the VIC internet service has been down. A local gentleman has been working to improve the system and there are issues with reconnection. Our internet also operates a Verizon Wireless booster that allows me to use cell signal. So, am effectively off-grid and have been driving to wherever I can ‘borrow’ some WiFi or acquire cell signal. But the bigger problem is that my laptop screen doesn’t work and I now have to use an external monitor. Another of today’s projects may be moving computer and monitor into my truck and going to where I can get WiFi. Thankfully, I have an AC outlet in my truck so I can plug the monitor in. I have other things to do online such as submit a revised version of an article I have written for the next issue of the Journal of the British Tarantula Society. Watch for that article, "American Mountain Endemics Revisited: Field notes on Aphonopelma catalina with an update on A. chiricahua, A. marxi & A. peloncillo", in a few months.

Finally, I was contacted by a reader of this blog who has issues with vision about making an audio or Podcast version of this blog or perhaps even my published articles. I have long thought of doing a podcast, but always felt like I would need a partner to interact with, don't like the sound of my own voice, etc. However, I personally listen to podcasts and enjoy being able to take in content while I can't be reading, such as when driving, or doing housework/cooking, etc. The idea of creating audio files intrigues me. The same reader supplied me with links to a few free services that convert text to speech so I wouldn't even have to dictate or use my own voice, but perhaps I might try a different solution. As always, I welcome comments and feedback. Feel free to comment below or email me at m.a.jacobi@icloud.com about this subject or any other. I'd really like to know more about who is reading this and what is liked and disliked. Thanks.

Part II: Saturday, March 2, 2019

Snake chasing and spider wrangling. I imagine that’s what many readers are interested in. I realize that Part I of this entry is a bit “Dear Diary”, containing emotions and such. Have no fear. Please keep returning and reading. Yesterday my truck thermometer registered 76 and it won’t be long until creepy crawlies, birds, mammals and other fauna dominate my writings.

I did mention that my second day of hiking included seeing spiders, insects and lizards, in addition to various birds and mammals. The lizards were young Striped Plateau and Yarrow’s Spiny Lizards. I didn’t see any adults; just last autumn’s hatchlings. It is incredible how these tiny baby lizards can survive the winter’s cold, and I suppose not so surprising that they are among the first reptiles out seeking the warmth of the approaching spring. It won’t be long before I see my first snake.

When I descended from the Interstate (I-10) at Road Forks, just short of the Arizona border and headed down towards Rusty’s RV Ranch one week ago today, one of the first familiar desert animals I encountered was the Greater Roadrunner. I have a great fondness for this speedy roadside bird, despite its love for eating lizards and snakes. I have seen a good number since. The next morning when I moved into Cave Creek Canyon, I visited Cave Creek Ranch to pick up packages waiting there for me and saw my first hummingbird of the season, a Rivoli’s (formerly known as Magnificent). This species and the only marginally larger Blue-throated Hummingbird are the United States largest hummers, bulky enough to be year-round residents. That evening when I had dinner with Mike & Cecil, I saw another Rivoli’s or “Mag”, and would finally see my a Blue-throat the following day. My second day here when I was driving south on Highway 80 towards the border town of Douglas, AZ to go shopping, three Pronghorn dashed out in front of me and evasive maneuvering was required. The fence on the other side of the road detained them briefly and I grabbed my camera, but they had by then moved into the distance enough to only permit a poor photograph.

Another mammal I encountered within the first two days was the Javelina or Collared Peccary. A group of about a half dozen slowly crossed Portal Road ahead of me. And, of course, our little Desert White-tailed or Coue’s Deer is common throughout the area and visit me and the mules and horses at the corral with regularity. As I sit here typing this during my first shift at the Visitor Center (VIC), Acorn Woodpeckers and both Rivoli’s and Blue-throated Hummingbirds keep visiting our feeders. Mexican Jays dash from tree to tree and hop across the lawn.

As you’ve guessed by now, this entry became a multi-part saga due to continuing lack of internet and cell service. After typing Part I yesterday, I did completely “break camp”, stowing everything inside my Wheelhouse, bringing the slide-outs back in, disconnecting power and water, lifting the stabilizers, and re-hitching to my truck. I wanted my home-on-wheels to be positioned more perfectly, in the exact footprint it had last year. Not in the haphazard slide-across-the-muck way it had been since my arrival. Then I reversed the process, spending the entire day organizing and cleaning everything again. I never made it out to the trails, and now have two days at the VIC before I will return. Maybe I’ll have internet soon …

Part III: Sunday Funday, March 3, 2019

Day 2 at the VIC. We are opening at 8 instead of 9 now, something I advocated all last season, at least during the busier times. I’m an early bird so I actually was ready to go at 7:30 and I had five visitors before 8. It’s now 8:20 and the temp is 44F. It will warm quickly as the sun gets higher. Yesterday the new fancy weather station that was installed at the VIC this winter while I was gone recorded a high temperature of 77F here at just under 5000 ft. elevation. Later in the afternoon the wind became gusty, with mostly southernly winds peaking around 22 mph.

The first hummingbird of the morning just arrived. A male Rivoli’s or “Mag” that perched on one of our mini saucer feeders. Just before him was an Acorn Woodpecker enjoying the same sugar-water nectar as the colibri, but from the larger saucer that can support the mass of a nine-inch woodpecker. In the last ten minutes the temperature climbed from 47F to 56F and more hummingbirds have visited the feeders including the first Broad-tailed I have seen this year. Another visit was from Wanda and Biggie. Wanda and her husband Dave are one of the two host couples that have staffed the VIC since the 1st of the year and will be here until the end of March. Biggie is their four-year-old, nine-pound “Chorkie” (Chihuahua x Yorkie or Yorkshire Terrier). Having him around has helped me with missing the ten pounds of terror that is Joel’s puppy Buddy. The couple staying at the Portal Bunkhouse, which is between the VIC and my camp at the corral, have two Labrador Retrievers, a golden puppy and a brown old boy. They came to meet me yesterday as well.

Part IV: March 4, 2019

I am pulled off in the desert, with a 20-inch monitor on the passenger seat, laptop on console and WiFi supplied by my iPhone's Personal Hotspot. This morning was my first drive to Willcox for a full grocery shop and I hauled my laundry with. I'm on my way back now, 45 minutes from camp. At 4 pm I am having chicken enchiladas at Dave and Wanda's camp with the other hosts Duanne and Ann and whomever else.

Finally this series comes to end. Cheers, MJ

#116 - Malaysia III - The Snapshots

The previous post showcased my wildlife photography from the trip, but I do take iPhone snapshots of just fun and leisure. Here you go …

#115 - Malaysia III Recap with Favorite Images

It’s been awhile, again. As promised, I wanted to do a little recap of my third trip to Malaysia, an adventure that was initially chronicled daily but quickly became less reliably documented. As bemoaned previously, typing the blog on my iPad and never figuring out the issue with Squarespace on iPad that prevented me from being able to add images to my text made me less motivated to blog. I’m not going to revisit the whole trip here, but instead will add some of my favorite wildlife images with some information on the animals depicted.

After visiting Malaysia in 2015 (Langkawi Island only) and 2017 (Sarawak, Borneo before Langkawi), my 2019 trip began on Penang Island. My primary photographic interest is macrophotography - taking photos of very small things like arachnids and insects at life-size (1:1) and sometimes employing a 2.5X magnifier (Raynox DCR-250) to enter the world of supermacrophotography. Although not truly macrophotography, I also broaden the scope of my primary imaging to include things as large as snakes. In other words, any images captured using my Tokina 100mm f/2.8 1:1 macro lens I lump into my world of macrophotography. This basically includes tiny jumping spiders to adult rattlesnakes.

The item I needed most to take my macrophotography to the next level was a good flash diffuser. Harsh light is the bane of photography and photographers of all types are constantly looking to have the softest most even light in their images. Portrait photographers employ huge softboxes, etc. and macrophotographers and look for something that will surround their subjects with soft light. I have a number of units appropriate for my snake photos including a knock-off of the F-stoppers Flash Disc and other softbox diffusers that mount to my Nikon SB900 speedlight, but I needed something designed for close-up photography for smaller subjects. Every macrophotographer that I admire has some sort of DIY diffuser that is constantly evolving and I looked at what was being used by my favorite photographers. I contacted a few that had built amazing diffusers and then discovered that one of them actually was marketing his design and selling it through a local camera store. As luck would have it, he was from Penang, Malaysia and the camera store was in George Town, Penang just a taxi ride from the hotel where I spent the first four nights of this trip. So my Malaysia III images would benefit from an amazing diffuser I picked up for 180RM (about $43), saving me the frustration of buying the polypropylene plastic sheets and other stuff and trying to rebuild the wheel. Alex Goh’s design includes sturdy snaps so the diffuser can be quickly assembled/disassembled and stored flat for travel. And it is exactly what I needed.

Odontomantis sp., Penang Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2,8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/4 power with Alex Goh Macro Diffuser, ISO100, f/18, 1/200s

The one-inch long little flower mantis seen above was photographed within the first hour of using my new Alex Goh Macro Diffuser. I spent the morning at Hotel Equatorial experimenting with subjects found on their little nature trail and found that I could reduce my flash output to 1/4-1/16 power for great results. Insects and leaves are both reflective and here you can see great detail without any bright flash hot spots that I would have had if I was using my old ring flash or some lesser diffuser.

The next two images were captured just after the flower mantis. All of these images were sent via Bluetooth directly from my camera body (Nikon D500) to the Nikon Snapbridge app on my iPhone and have no post-processing other than compositional cropping.

Goldback Spiny Ant (Polyrhachis sp.), Penang Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2,8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/4 power with Alex Goh Macro Diffuser, ISO100, f/18, 1/200s

Orange Sharpshooter (Leafhopper) (Bothrogonia addita), Penang Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2,8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/4 power with Alex Goh Macro Diffuser, ISO100, f/18, 1/200s

After shooting these small insects for some time I came across a much larger subject. African Giant Land Snails are invasive species in other parts of the world and they were among the landscaping of the hotel. As I didn’t need to get so close and the diffuser therefore wouldn’t surround my subject, it was the first time I unsnapped the bottom piece that hangs and circles below the lens and used just the primary diffuser area to ensure my flash didn’t bounce back too much off of the hard shiny shell of the four-inch long snail.

African Giant Land Snail (Lissachatina fulica), Penang Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2,8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/2 power with Alex Goh Macro Diffuser, ISO100, f/18, 1/200s

Hotel Equatorial Penang was a great hotel and it was a treat to have both the nature trail there where I took the above photos and great vistas overlooking the golf club with the sea in the background. The breakfast buffet was amazing and we spent a lot of time in full-on holiday mode, sipping cocktails poolside. Even when drinking and relaxing I like to have a camera nearby and thankfully I was able to capture an image of a Clouded Monitor Lizard that was foraging for earthworms in the grass beside the pool area.

Clouded Monitor (Varanus nebulosus), Hotel Equatorial Penang, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Nikon 24-120mm f/4 @ 120mm, ISO100, f/8, 1/160s

Our first group outing on Penang was to have some fabulous street food and that is when I visited HIKE Enterprise to pick up the macro diffuser. Our driver then took us on some scenic tour of George Town, the population center of Penang, but I am one, a terrible passenger, and two, not much on history or urban areas. But the next day we all (14) had a different driver with a very large van to take us to Entopia, the butterfly park at the northwest end of the island. There I was able to put my new macrophotography set-up to more use.

Malayan Oakleaf Butterfly (Kallima limborgii), Penang Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2,8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/4 power with Alex Goh Macro Diffuser, ISO100, f/18, 1/160s

Dark Blue Tiger Butterfly (Tirumala septentrionis), Penang Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2,8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/4 power with Alex Goh Macro Diffuser, ISO100, f/18, 1/160s

Paper Kite or Large Tree Nymph Butterfly (Idea leuconoe), Penang Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2,8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/4 power with Alex Goh Macro Diffuser, ISO100, f/18, 1/160s

Southeast Asian Treefrog (Polypedates leucomystax), Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

The following day the same driver took us back through George Town and on to the north for a trip to Penang Botanical Gardens followed by a trip up Penang Hill (Bukit Bendera).

At the Botanical Gardens I wandered off alone in hopes of finding snakes off the path, but instead found dragonflies and a land planarian to photograph. Land planarians are terrestrial flatworms often called “hammerhead or arrowhead worms”. They are hunters that attack their invertebrate prey using both brute force and a combination of the adhesive and digestive properties of their mucus.

From the entrance gate to the gardens we took “jeep” rides up Penang Hill. It’s about three miles of extremely steep and winding paved road and a fleet of small off-road pickup trucks ferry people to the top. There Mark Pennell and his brother-in-law Alan and I broke away from our group after an arrival beer and lunch to look for critters. The goal was to find tarantulas and we succeeded in locating the terrestrial species of Penang Hill, Coremiocnemis cunicularia, in embankment burrows.

Broadhead Planarian (Bipalium sp.), Penang Botanical Gardens, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2,8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/4 power with Alex Goh Macro Diffuser, ISO100, f/18, 1/200s

Black Stream Skimmer (Trithemis festiva), Penang Botanical Gardens, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2,8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/4 power with Alex Goh Macro Diffuser, ISO100, f/18, 1/160s

Singapore (aka Malaysian Brown) Tarantula (Coremiocnemis cunicularia), Penang Hill, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2,8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/2 power with F-Stoppers Flash Disc, ISO100, f/16, 1/60s

After four days on Penang our group of fourteen, thirteen Bristolians from England’s west country and this intrepid American, boarded a very short flight north to Langkawi Island. We were later joined there by two more Bristolians to bring our party’s size to sixteen for two weeks at the amazing Berjaya Langkawi Beach Resort. It was my third visit, but Mark had been visiting Berjaya for more than 15 years and most of his family and friends had been there perhaps eight or ten times. We get treated very well, to say the least. Mark’s sister Chris celebrated her 60th birthday during our stay and we had an amazing sunset buffet dinner on the beach where the Tiger beer never stopped flowing and the catering staff outdid themselves and a three-piece band serenaded us.

But I’m not much on pool and beach and lobby cocktails. I’m after wildlife, I’m into hiking, I am looking for photographic subjects. Fortunately, you don’t have to go far as the lush tropical forest grounds of Berjaya are teaming with nature. The three most obvious mammals are the two monkey species - the gentle Dusky Leaf Monkey aka Spectacled Langur and the much less placid Long-tailed or Crab-eating Macaque - and the unique Sunda Colugo or Flying Lemur.

Sunda Colugo (Galeopterus variegatus), Langkawi Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 @ 240mm, tripod, ISO400, f/9, 1/160s

Despite often being called a flying lemur, the Colugo (aka Cobego) is not a lemur and cannot fly. It is a very strong glider that leaps and glides from tree to tree at night to feed on tender leaves, shoots, flowers, tree sap and fruits. Walking after dark and seeing these 1-2 kg mammals glide down and bank onto a tree trunk is an amazing experience. Their wingspan is more than two feet and they can glide for over 200 feet without losing much altitude. During the day it clings to the tree bark using the camouflage of its fur to remain undetected by predators. The two species - Sunda and Philippine - belong to two different genera, and combined the two extant colugos are the only members of their family (Cynocephalidae) and even their order (Dermoptera).

It is fascinating just how many gliding animals there are in Southeast Asia. In Malaysia there are of course true flying mammals - bats including the colugo-sized flying foxes, but those that have evolved methods of gliding from tree to tree include squirrels, snakes, lizards and frogs. We were fortunate to see a Paradise Flying Snake (Chrysopelea paradisi) at Berjaya plus a number of Draco sp. “flying” lizards, as well as the Red Flying Squirrel.

When it comes to monkeys on Langkawi there are two: one which is an evil shit and the other beautiful and lovely. Macaques live in matriarchal societies and males are shunned from their groups after reaching puberty. This results in lone males living in isolation and often becoming very territorial and aggressive. Macaques will eat just about anything and scavenge through trash making an enormous mess and will confront and attack humans to grab their food or drink. I have been charged my big male macaques. I may be ten times their weight, probably more like 15, but they don’t care. With teeth bared they will charge and unfortunately one of our party got hurt when he fell a good distance while running from them. I mentioned in another blog entry that one male that had been harassing people by the pool got in a confrontation with another monkey and left it with a bloody pulp of a foot. I love all animals, but - yeah - macaques are evil shits.

Long-tailed Macaque (Macaca fascicularis), Langkawi Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Nikon 24-120mm f/4 @ 95mm, tripod, ISO400, f/7.1, 1/25s

The beautiful and lovely monkey is the Dusky Leaf Monkey (Trachypithecus obscurus), which is also known as the Spectacled Langur. Technically, it is not a true langur but rather a lutung so I prefer referring to them as leaf monkeys, which is a reference to their preferred diet. They are peaceful monkeys that are usually found higher in the trees than the macaques, but around the resort they come to ground and accept fruit and nuts handed to them by tourists. Feeding wildlife is wrong and always a bad idea. In the case of the resort monkeys, it is too likely that someone will have a leaf monkey gently take an orange slice one day and think that is the coolest experience ever and then have disastrous results when it tries to hand something to an aggressive macaque.

Dusky Leaf Monkey (Trachypithecus obscurus carbo), Langkawi Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Nikon 24-120mm f/4 @ 92mm, handheld, ISO200, f/5, 1/250s

Before the trip Mark told me of seeing a white Dusky Leaf Monkey during his June 2018 visit. We inquired about this monkey when we arrived but nobody had seen it in at least four months. Then one day while Mark, Alan and I were walking the grounds photographing the “flying” lizards or dragons (Draco sp.), one of the shuttle drivers stopped to tell us that the white “langur” had been seen near the guard gate at the resort’s entrance. We asked to jump in his shuttle and get a ride down there and were lucky to find the troop that included the female white monkey seeking midday shade and some tender leaves to snack on in a large tree near the large parking lot. I call this monkey “hypomelanistic”, meaning that it has reduced melanin or black pigment. It isn’t an albino or its feet, etc. would be pink, as would its eyes. Many people would call it leucistic, but that condition usually results in bluish eyes and this monkey definitely had normal dark eyes. Regardless of what obscure term you want to apply, it was a stunning monkey. Interestingly, it was noticeably the largest of the dozen or more in the group, and it didn’t like when other monkeys would come to close to it. It kept moving to where it could sit alone.

“Hypomelanistic” Dusky Leaf Monkey (Trachypithecus obscurus carbo), Langkawi Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 @ 300mm, handheld, ISO400, f/9, 1/60s

One of the outings I was looking most forward to on Langkawi Island was a return to the mangroves of Tanjung Rhu along the north coast of the island. Langkawi sits on the Andaman Sea (Strait of Malacca) off the northwest coast of peninsular Malaysia as close to Thailand as it is to Malaysia. When I visited two years ago we took a boat into these mangroves and were lucky enough to find a Mangrove Pitviper. This year we hoped to see one again. We were not disappointed - we observed three!

Mangrove Pitviper (Trimeresurus purpeomaculatus), Tanjung Rhu, Langkawi Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Nikon 24-120mm f/4 @ 120mm, Nikon SB900 with softbox, ISO100, f/16, 1/60s

Mangrove Pitviper (Trimeresurus purpeomaculatus), Tanjung Rhu, Langkawi Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2.8, Nikon SB900 with softbox, ISO100, f/13, 1/60s

Mangrove Pitviper (Trimeresurus purpeomaculatus), Tanjung Rhu, Langkawi Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Nikon 24-120mm f/4 @ 85mm, Nikon SB900 with softbox, ISO100, f/16, 1/60s

We also saw Common Water Monitors, White-bellied Sea Eagles, Brahminy Kites and drove out across the sea to a small island to see some roosting Flying Foxes, but besides the Mangrove Pitvipers the highlight of our boat adventure in Tanjung Rhu was Mark’s niece Emily spotting a female Hyllus diardi, one of the largest jumping spider species. It occurs in a variety of habitats but is most common in mangroves. I didn’t have my new macro diffuser with me and shooting from a rocking longboat isn’t easy, so the one-inch salticid was captured in a small jar and I photographed it back at Berjaya. Jumping Spiders are my favorite photographic subjects and these images are my trip favorites.

Heavy Jumping Spider (Hyllus diardi), Tanjung Rhu, Langkawi Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2,8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/16 power with Alex Goh Macro Diffuser, ISO100, f/18, 1/250s

Heavy Jumping Spider (Hyllus diardi), Tanjung Rhu, Langkawi Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2,8 macro with Raynox DCR-250, Nikon SB900 @ 1/8 power with Alex Goh Macro Diffuser, ISO100, f/22, 1/60s

While staying at Berjaya I also took three evening hikes up through the nearby Oriental Village, into the forest and then up to Telaga Tujuh or Seven Wells Waterfall. The first two trips were with Mark and Alan and the last was alone on my last night in Malaysia. We observed a great deal of wildlife including Oriental Pied and Great Hornbills, monkeys, various bats, Tokay Geckos, etc., but for me the most interesting were the spiders and the scorpions. In addition to the local terrestrial tarantula (Chilobrachys sp.) we saw several times of huntsman spiders (Sparassidae) including two prize species - the Lichen Huntsman (Pandercetes sp.) and one of my favorite true spiders, Heteropoda lunula. Also photographed were a couple of Tokay Geckos. These huge geckos are often seen around the resort and I’d take voucher photos for iNaturalist with my iPhone, but I don’t really like photographing lizards on buildings, even if they are foot-long grey and rust-orange beasts with giant heads. So, it was also great to find Tokay Geckos on tree trunks during our night hikes and get some natural in situ photos.

Spotted Bark Scorpion (Lychas scutilis, Buthidae), Telaga Tujuh, Langkawi Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2.8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/4 power with softbox ISO100, f/18, 1/60s

Lichen Huntsman Spider (Pandercetes sp.), Telaga Tujuh, Langkawi Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2.8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/8 power with Alex Goh Macro Diffuser, ISO100, f/16, 1/60s

Langkawi Brown Tarantula (Chilobrachys sp.), Telaga Tujuh, Langkawi Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2.8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/8 power with Alex Goh Macro Diffuser, ISO100, f/18, 1/60s

Lichen Huntsman Spider (Pandercetes sp.), Telaga Tujuh, Langkawi Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2.8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/4 power with softbox, ISO100, f/16, 1/60s

Tokay Gecko (Gekko gecko), Telaga Tujuh, Langkawi Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2.8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/2 power with Alex Goh Macro Diffuser, ISO100, f/16, 1/60s

In situ Purple-brown Huntsman Spider (Heteropoda lunula), Telaga Tujuh, Langkawi Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2.8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/8 power with softbox, ISO100, f/16, 1/60s

Purple-brown Huntsman Spider (Heteropoda lunula), Telaga Tujuh, Langkawi Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2,8 macro with Raynox DCR-250, Nikon SB900 @ 1/8 power with Alex Goh Macro Diffuser, ISO100, f/22, 1/60s

Purple-brown Huntsman Spider (Heteropoda lunula), Telaga Tujuh, Langkawi Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2,8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/8 power with Alex Goh Macro Diffuser, ISO100, f/18, 1/60s

This certainly has become a photo blog. I just want to leave you with a couple more images from Langkawi. One is from the incredible sighting of a Reticulated Python killing an Oriental Pied Hornbill. Our group was meeting for dinner and as one couple was walking from chalet to lobby Julie was snapping photos of the resort with her iPhone. Just then a hornbill landed on the ground and she aimed her phone at the huge bird while continuing to snap pictures. To her surprise/shock/horror about an eight-foot long python came out of the rocks and attacked the bird. I was still in my room so Mark texted me while Kim ran up to my chalet. By the time I arrived on the scene all the human commotion had caused the snake to release the dead hornbill and disappear back into the rocks. But before those images (captured by Mark and his niece Emily), how about a giant cockroach, cicada, tree crab and a young tarantula in its burrow mouth?

Epilamprinae roach (Pseudophoraspis sp.), Telaga Tujuh, Langkawi Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2.8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/8 power with softbox, ISO100, f/18, 1/120s

Cicada (unidentified species), Berjaya Langkawi Resort, Langkawi Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2,8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/8 power with Alex Goh Macro Diffuser, ISO100, f/18, 1/60s

Tree Crab (Sesarmidae sp.), Berjaya mangrove, Burau Bay, Langkawi Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2,8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/8 power with Alex Goh Macro Diffuser, ISO100, f/16, 1/60s

In situ Langkawi Brown Tarantula (Chilobrachys sp.), Telaga Tujuh, Langkawi Island, Malaysia • Nikon D500, Tokina 100mm f/2.8 macro, Nikon SB900 @ 1/8 power with softbox, ISO100, f/18, 1/60s

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#114 - Hong Kong - Monday, 28 January 2019

I write this on a nice iMac at Hong Kong International Airport. I am always amazed at how far behind American airports are with regards to things like free WiFi, charging stations and free computers. Here at HKIA you can’t walk 100 yards without connectivity, filtered water filling stations and other creature comforts.

In a couple hours I will complete my journey back to O’Hare Airport in Chicago. I have left 30ºC and am headed for MINUS THIRTY DEGREES CELCIUS. But it’s the time travel that always seems even odder. I will leave Hong Kong at about noon Monday and arrive in Chicago just after noon Monday. Fourteen hour time difference, fourteen and a half hour flight.

I do notice the weather change though. I actually had a chill while trying to sleep overnight at HKIA, the first time I haven’t been hot and sweaty in three week. The weather in Malaysia was perfect, albeit more humid even during the dry season than I am accustomed to. Curled up uncomfortably in the wee hours of the morning on an airport chair I actually wished I had the hoodie that is in my checked bag. When I arrive in frigid Chicago some seventeen hours from now I am going to wish I had a lot more than that hoodie, but I don’t.

I left Langkawi first thing Sunday morning. Mark & Kim came down to the lobby to see me off. They and the other thirteen Bristolians in our party wouldn’t leave for another eight hours or so. I flew Malaysia Airlines from Langkawi to Kuala Lumpur (one hour), had an eight hour layover in KL at an airport I don’t like at all, then had a four hour flight via Malaysia Airlines here to HKIA. Another twelve hours here at perhaps my second favorite airport after Dubai (or maybe it’s just that I’ve had time to get very familiar with it), I now wait for that 14.5 hour Cathay Pacific flight to Chicago.

My last night in Langkawi I hiked back up to Seven Wells and the Waterfall above Oriental Village alone. It was my third trip up there and in addition to the Heteropoda and Pandercetes sp. huntsman spiders and other creepy crawlies we had been seeing, the highlight was stopping to watch some Oriental Pied Hornbills and monkeys way up in the canopy and then seeing a pair of Great Hornbills join them. Oriental Pieds are huge birds - larger than most hawks - but they are the smallest of the three hornbill species that can be found on Langkawi. The Great Hornbill is massive - bald eagle sized. When it flaps its wings for lift to rise in the rainforest the thump and swoosh is unmistakable and impressive.

I’ll try to write a bit of a trip summary with images when I recover after my return. I said I wouldn’t make excuses as to why I didn’t keep my promise/intention to blog each and every day, but one reason definitely was not being able to figure out how to embed images when composing on my iPad. This entry is the first of the trip written on a computer with an actual keyboard so just typing was also problematic.

#113 - Langkawi, Malaysia - Thursday, 24 January 2019

Ok. I suck. I could make excuses about why my promised, alleged, intended daily blog entries during Malaysia III have failed. There are loads of plausible reasons. But, I just suck.

I truly had hoped to share daily, but I also selfishly just wanted to have a journal of each day’s activities. I’m old. Memory fails.

I certainly can’t recollect well enough to recount each day now, four days or so after my last post. There was beer and beach and pool and, of course, wildlife and photography. Tuesday night we even had an amazing private beach buffet dinner for Mark Pennell’s sister Chris’ 60th birthday.

Two evenings stand out for me though. Mark, his brother-in-law Alan (Chris’ husband) and I made two treks from Berjaya through the nearby Oriental Village to a jungle path and up to Seven Wells Waterfall. Both last night and the first trip, we met in the resort lobby at 6:30 and got back at about 11 pm, tired and sweaty and telling our group assembled in the hotel lobby bar tales of spiders, scorpions and bats. The Chilobrachys tarantulas haven’t been as easy to find as during previous visits and we have so far failed to observe Omothymus tree tarantulas, but we have found Heteropoda and Pandercetes huntsman spiders incredibly abundant, their astonishing camouflage betrayed by the eye shine caused by our flashlight beams.

I have failed to find snakes at night (an amazing snake story will follow, however), but we have seen frogs, Tokay and flat-tailed house geckos, bamboo rats, bats, etc. Our two night walks have been the highlight of the visit for me.

OK - snake story. Monday night as our group was heading from our individual chalets to meet in the lobby for dinner, one couple was taking numerous iPhone snapshots during the walk. Just clicking images of the grounds and the spectacular view of the pool, beach and Burau Bay on the Andaman Sea where we are so fortunate to be. As Julie snapped her series of photos an Oriental Pied Hornbill landed on the ground and she pointed her iPhone camera its way. These are spectacular birds. Even though it is the smallest of the three species of hornbills found on the island, hey still are larger than a small dog. What Julie could have never expected was that she would see that Hornbill killed as just then a Reticulated Python attacked and thrust its shiny coils around it quickly constricting the doomed bird. Others in our party came over and many iPhones became pointed at the coils of python wrapped around the majestic black and white bird with huge ivory bill. I actually wasn’t there as I had a very late lunch/early dinner in Oriental Village and wasn’t joining the group dinner. I was in my room when Mark texted me and I threw on clothes just as Kim knocked on my chalet. Sadly, by the time I arrived at the scene about two minutes walk from my chalet the snake had been disturbed enough to release the now dead Hornbill and crawl into a subterranean cave beneath ornamental rocks that had been cemented together. This is right next to the prayer building and 50 yards from the pool!

I have tried to see the python again to no avail. Based on the size of the bird and the photos and videos the amazed onlookers captured, I would guess that the snake was about eight feet long (retics are slender for length). It’s amazing that it lives in a resort with a almost 500 chalets and a staff of several hundred and is not seen again. But the grounds are heavily forested and landscaped and wildlife is abundant. Large monitors visit the pool so a python beneath the Muslim prayer room isn’t unusual, I suppose.

Our group are on a private sunset cruise on the Andaman Sea right now, but I declined to join them for a number of reasons. I did do it on my other two visits. I know they’re having a blast and I have enjoyed a peaceful day alone, doing what I enjoy.