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Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Burung Kumkum Papua

Ada beberapa jenis burung kumkum Papua yang dikenal umum di masyarakat. Salah satu yang terkenal adalah Kumkum Kelabu. Burung ini hidup di hutan hujan tropis Papua dari dataran rendah hingga ke kawasan pegunungan rendah. Nama ilmiahnya adalah Pinon Imperial Pigeon (Ducula pinon). Dalam bahasa Indonesia, nama lainnya adalah Pergam Pinon.

Apakah Anda mencari pakan untuk burung?Silahkan lihat info berikut:
Burung Kumkum Kelabu (Pinon Imperial Pigeon)
Burung Kumkum Kelabu
Rata-rata melodi suara burung kumkum tidak serumit burung Jagal Papua yang juga dikenal dengan sebutan Hooded Butcherbird. Masyarakat lokal menembak burung kumkum dengan panah atau menjeratnya untuk dimakan. Maraknya perdagangan senapan angin di Papua membuat aktivitas perburuan burung kumkum kelabu semakin tinggi. Hal ini tentunya mengakibatkan terjadinya penurunan populasi kumkum kelabu dan berbagai spesies burung tropis lainnya yang menjadi sasaran pemburu.
Spesies lain yang gampang dilihat masyarakat adalah burung kumkum putih atau disebut juga Pergam Laut. Bahasa Inggrisnya Pied Imperial Pigeon (Ducula bicolor). Burung ini banyak terdapat di pulau Waigeo di Raja Ampat. Terkadang burung kumkum putih sering terlihat bertengger di pohon yang sarat buah di tepi pantai.
Burung Kumkum Putih atau Pergam Laut di Pulau Waigeo Raja Ampat
Burung Kumkum Putih atau Pergam Laut
Karena sebagian besar hutan di wilayah Raja Ampat termasuk dalam kawasan konservasi maka segala jenis burung yang hidup di dalamnya dilindungi baik oleh pemerintah dan warga setempat. Wisata pengamatan burung di Papua menjadi salah satu sektor penggerak perekonomian masyarakat.
Merpati Hias - Beautiful Fruit Dove
Merpati Hias (Beautiful Fruit Dove)
Ada juga burung Kukum Knob yang dalam bahasa Inggris disebut Spice Imperial Pigeon. Burung ini hidup di pulau-pulau kecil yang bertebaran di Kepulauan Raja Ampat. Burung ini ukurannya mirip dengan kumkum kelabu tetapi memiliki tonjolan di atas pangkal paruhnya. Saya sering melihat burung kumkum spice ini saat memandu wisatawan ke Raja Ampat. Karena burung kumkum suka bertengger di dahan pohon yang tinggi maka untuk melihatnya, kita perlu menggunakan spotting scope atau teropong (binoculars).
Hutan Papua adalah kawasan yang sangat kaya dengan berbagai spesies burung tropis baik yang berbulu indah, dan bersuara merdu. Dewasa ini aktivitas wisata pengamatan burung semakin didukung oleh pemerintah sebagai salah satu cara untuk menciptakan lapangan kerja sekaligus membantu masyarakat dalam melestarikan hutannya.
Jika Anda tertarik untuk berkunjung ke Papua Barat untuk nonton burung, silahkan menghubungi saya (Charles Roring) dengan email ke: peace4wp@gmail.com atau whatsapp: +6281332245180.

Monday, February 24, 2020

Night Walk in the Rainforest

I like to conduct night walk in the rainforest when I guide tourists. Usually the activity is carried out after dinner. There are a lot of interesting things that we can see while exploring the trunk of trees or the leaves of shrub plants that grow on both sides of the paths that we walk through.
Exploring the wildlife of Susnguakti forest with Charles Roring
Russian tourists were having night walk tour in Susnguakti forest guided by Charles Roring and a local villager

Sunday, February 23, 2020

Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher

Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher in Tambrauw rainforest
Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher
The first time I saw Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher was when I guided some tourists on a birding tour in Klasow valley of Sorong regency. This Kingfisher was sitting in a small tree at its lowest branch around 2 meters above the ground. I did not pay attention to it at that time. I was watching Lesser Birds of Paradise dancing in high branches of some trees in front of me. Suddenly a villager named Daniel Kalami called me and showed me the bird. I turned and aimed my camera at the bird. 
Several weeks ago, I guided 4 American tourists on a birding tour to Tambrauw regency which was located between Sorong and Manokwari. I saw the bird again. This time it was sitting in a high branch around 5 meters above the ground. Fortunately, I brought my telephoto camera the Canon 200D with Tamron 150-600 mm G2 lens. I adjusted my position so that I could see the bird through a small window among thick green leaves of the surrounding trees. Carefully, I aimed my camera and shot the bird several times. 
Yellow-faced Myna (Mino dumontii) in rainforest of West Papua
Yellow-faced Myna

There were a lot of other birds that we saw during the rainforest birdwatching and wildlife watching tour in Tambrauw forest including:
  • Palm Cockatoo, 
  • Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, 
  • Long-tailed Buzzard, 
  • Brahminy Kite, 
  • Pinon Imperial Pigeon, 
  • Orange-bellied Fruit Dove, 
  • Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise, 
  • Lesser Birds of Paradise 
  • Large Fig Parrot, 
  • Eclectus Parrot, 
  • Red-cheeked Parrot
  • Black-capped Lory
  • Black Lory
  • Grey Crow, 
  • Marbled Frogmouth, 
  • Hooded Pitta, 
  • Azure Kingfisher, 
  • Blyth's Hornbill, 
  • Red-cheeked Parrot,
  • White-bellied Cuckooshrike,
  • Black Sunbird
  • Helmetted Friarbird and etc.
Because I brought my Kinglux 20-60×60mm spotting scope, I was able to show the beautiful birds to my American clients during the tour. It was not a professional scope but it was good enough for watching birds, wild animals or flowers in distant trees. I also played a few sounds of the above birds to attract them. We stayed in the houses of the villagers.
If you are interested in taking rainforest tour that is organized from Sorong city to Tambrauw forest please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180.

Related articles:
Kingfishers
Azure Kingfisher

Thursday, February 20, 2020

How can factories reduce fossil fuel?

Factory is an industrial site consisting of buildings where goods are processed from various kinds of raw materials into finished products. Humans use machines to make the manufactured goods. Conventional machines need fossil fuel to run. Climate change and global warming have raised awareness among factory owners about the importance of reducing their dependency on fossil fuels.

Regular Cleaning of Machines and Engines

  • Machines are often powered by internal combution engines. These engines can run efficiently if they are well maintained. The nozzle or carburator and the combustion chamber have to be cleaned regularly. Their moving parts need good lubrication.
  • Certain factories use boilers. There are combustion chambers in each boiler where fossil fuel is burned to generate heat. The heat is then transfered to pipes inside the boiler. Inside the boiler, there is fluid, usually water, that receives the heat that flows to other parts of the factory to dry certain products. If the combustion chamber and the surfaces of the pipes are not regularly cleaned, the heat transfer efficiency will be lower than the expected rate. We will need more fuel to run the boiler. There are a lot of methods that are used to clean boilers, i.e. mechanical and chemical ones. The mechanical cleaning method may involve manual cleaning and machine ones using metal brush, waterjet or dry ice blasting. When the tubes and combustion chamber of boilers have been properly cleaned from the built up dirts, salt, slag, ash, their operational efficiency will be restored again. The heat transfer efficiency will be improved. As a result, less fossil fuel will be spent when doing the same works.

Typical steam boiler for generating steam
Typical boiler for generating steam

Use of alternative fuel

Industrial boiler used fossil fuel such as coal, or diesel oil. This can be changed with the use of wood pellets. Because the burning process is different, the furnace will also be different. I suggest the use of agricultural wastes such as coconut shell. Used cooking oils from kitchens of restaurants and domestic households can be reprocessed to make alternative fuel for power generation. This has been done in Tokyo Japan.

The use of wood pellet to generate electricity
Cycle of Biomass Energy

Use Soft Starters

Some processing devices use large electric motors. They usually need higher electric current to start. Increased load and torque in electrical motor  cause sudden mechanical stress to the electric motors that shorten their service life. To overcome this problem, we can install soft starter. Unplug the electrical machines when they are not in use. When electrical machines are not being used, their electrical cords have to be unplug  from the utility source on the walls.

Use Renewable Energy

Factories often have large roofs that can be installed with solar panels. These panes will generate electricity that is needed to run some electrical machines in the factory or provide lightings for factories at night. A hybrid system that use solar panel and wind turbine can be an alternative solution for generating electrical energy that is needed by factories.
Also read:
Renewable Energy can Support our Life
We use Natural Resources Faster than What the Earth can Replenish
How to reduce dependency on fossil fuel
World Population and Over Exploitation of Natural Resources