Gomantong Caves, Sabah

Accessible via roads in less than 2 hours' drive, 110km from Sandakan are home to millions of swiftlets and bats. Gomantong is one cave that is definitely worth a visit but one must make sure that the visit coincides with the harvesting seasons of the birds' nest which happen to be in the months of February, April, August and December after the young swiftlets have abandoned the nests. Gomantong caves have been the place for collecting edible bird nest for centuries and before any regulations were put in place, harvesting of birds' nest in the caves was managed by families on a rotational basis and their rights was inherited and passed down for generations. These day, the permit was issued by Wildlife department based on tenders. Heavy fines are imposed for unlicensed collection and during non-harvesting seasons, guards are posted to keep poachers from entering the caves.

Rest House for workers

Cave Entrance

This cave is known as Simud Hitam ( Black Cave ). Nests collected are of poorer quality and as the name of the cave implies, black nests are collected mostly from this cave.

Some 90m up from this cave is another called Simud Putih ( White Cave ). The prized white nests are found here.

Noticed that a couple of huts located inside and outside the caves. They were guard houses to keep poachers or thieves from entering the caves.

We stayed until dusk to see the daily mass exodus of bats set out from the caves on their hunt for food. Weaving like a ribbon in the wind producing an intense hum, sound that can be heard for miles. Raptors can be seen perched on treetops or capturing their prey in mid-air. It was a sight to see and lasted about an hour.

Niah Caves, Sarawak

Accessible via road in less than 2 hours, 120km from Miri. The cave is where prehistorical human remains found dating 40,000 years ago. The cave was one of the largest producer of "black nest" in Sarawak with annual nest yields of 18,500kg in 1931 and the swiftlet populations was in the range of 1.7millions in 1935.

Arrived at Niah National Park.

Took a short boat ride to cross the river.

Took a long plankwalk to the caves main entrance.

Traders Cave is a long low cave with old trading stalls made out of Belian wood, some of them nearly 100 years old.

Main cave

Look out for the swiftlets living in the ceilings of the cave. Some parts of the cave have low ceilings, spotted some swiftlets as well as bats resting during the day here. Picture above shows the hanging sticks left for climbing and harvesting the nests in the ceilings of the cave.

Going back to the past, from cities to caves for swiftlets..

Swiftlets nest from caves had been farmed commercially in Malaysia for over more than 100 years and Niah caves of Sarawak is the first ever recorded for such activity since 1878. Some species of swiftlets are said to have moved from caves to other areas for more than 100 years, so in order for me to to gain a better understanding of how they survive in the past and present environment, I've started my journey into caves by flight, boat, car and foot. Along the trail, I was on the lookout for anything new not on our list that might throw light on the characteristic of the species.

Perimeter Fencing

With the construction work of the primary site of birds sanctuary completed, it is natural to build a fence for it to keep birds safe and sound from intruders and predators. In this respect, I opted for concrete fence post with corrugated roofing sheets in the front fence and concrete fence post with barbed wire in the back fence to reduce potential flood damage as and when it happens.

Swiftlet's Like It or Not?

Planks work is almost completed leaving only the corners to be covered with 135° corner woods. Close-up of nesting planks and tweeters installation as posted above.

Same but Different

Bottom angle view




Bottom angle tilt view

Planks have finally arrived after more than one month delay. I'm not too sure why but guess they seldom do the sizes as requested. It's not 1"x6" as normally used by many. Rather, it's 1"x8" sandwiched by 2"x4" on both sides. For some, it's more artistic than realistic design, but I have stuck this sandwich in 2 other BHs previously with some results. So, I am doing it once again with even more sandwiches in new one. Pictures posted above are taken from one of the BHs I did and do enjoy it if you haven't seen it anywhere else before.

Patience and Love

I have come to a crossroads in swiftlet farming recently and wondered whether I really should continue my blogging further. The reason being the competition has arisen nearby, a new standalone BH is also started construction and more to come. If I go on with posting my thoughts about my standalone BH, sharing the only edge gained through accumulated experience over the years, wouldn't I lose the competitive edge to others? What if birds are just passing through in this area, contrary to my expectations as a last breeding destination? What if the chosen site of my BH is so-so compared to others. But to put things in perspective, competition for birds doesn't happen only to me and I believe it is good to have competition in swiftlet farming as long as competition brings more birds to the open sky. To me, swiftlet farming is all about love and patience for birds, moneytary gain is secondary motivation. If you don't care about bird's predators and bugs and care much less about harvesting their nests at appropriate season, how can you help them create an environment conducive to roost and breed? If you're one of those people who is impatient to wait for birds after you have built new or renovated a house, how do you know birds already knew you have done the renovation without giving them time to explore and adapt? In other words, It's all about adopting and maintaining right attitude towards the birds, one of the prerequisites for success in swiftlet farming with only question is how long it takes to get there.

Wires and Lights

Inside the BH, I've installed on-off switch to turn on the light on each floor and to make sure I don't leave light switched on accidentally on each floor, I've also installed a center switch in my control room. Other items in my control room are, plug sockets with timers to turn on the lights on all side walls, the corridor and the roof entry; a light and a ventilation fan. I've also installed a plug socket to turn on light on the roof top as and when needed. It is nice to have a light on the roof in case bats and other wild animals happen to wonder around there. In addition to that, CCTV cameras fixed in the open roof to check for all eventualities; on the top floor entry and inter-floor entry holes to monitor birds inside the BH and on the corridor to check on unwanted activities outside the BH.

The Red House

Bird's house is painted red for good. In some cultures, red is purity, joy, and celebration. Red is the color of happiness and prosperity in China and often used to attract good luck. I chose the color because to imprint on birds like love at first sight, to create a sense of warmth and intimacy.

Insects in menus - Of course they are not free

We have been enjoying free flow of insects for swiftlets as source of food but I believe, it won't be for long we have to pay for continued supply of insects to our swiftlets when we have not got enough of insects in the area for our swiftlets to feed on. To keep the bird population growing, we need to supply our swiftlets with insects near our farms and insects breeding system will become a neccessity in swiftlet farming. The insects breeding system, I believe, revolves around ingredients for breeding insects, equipments used for breeding and feeding and methodology of both breeding and feeding practices. Studies should be carried out to identify the good and bad insects, determine the diets of swiftlets and their effects on the nests we harvested. We should not compromise the original nutritional value of the nests for the benefits of having more bird population.

Weaving fishing net for big catch?

One of the workers sit patiently mending his fishing net during his free time. He seems to know all it takes is patience in fishing even though I've not seen any big fish found in the river so far. I'm hopeful that his patience pays off one day in search for a big fish just like patience to succeed in swiftlet farming.

Plasterwork

After drain system is completed, workers are now busy plastering walls.

燕我嘉賓 - Takes on a new meaning

I stumbled upon this Chinese phrase hung around doorway at a Korean restaurant when I was traveling to Jeju island last year. I took a picture of it as I found it interesting and special to have a word "燕" in it. When this phrase is used in restaurant, the word "燕" has the same pronunciation as "宴" which means I am treated to like special guest at the restaurant. But when this phrase hung at entry hole of my swiftlet house, it takes on a new meaning and serves another purpose, I believe.

More on drain system

West sidewall drain construction done whereas East sidewall drain is still under construction as shown above.