Gibbon observations, 27/1/20
This is an example of the kinds of notes I took while listening to gibbons. We (my Batek friends and I) made camp on a ridge, about 365 m a.s.l. I rose early, but never could manage earlier than 6:30 am. The campsite location was perfect for gibbon monitoring: there were lars on both sides of the ridge, and siamangs were farther off, but still within hearing distance. Every morning I brought my camping chair out to the ridge (an old logging road, now abandoned) and waited for the gibbons with my iPhone, notebook and pen — sometimes shivering under a sleeping bag. I wanted to see if there was any communication among the gibbon groups. But mainly, as an anthropologist, I struggled to find a way to document gibbon acoustics. Recordings are all right, but don't tell us anything about the directions of calls or the sequence of calls, or their meanings/
————————————————-
7:05 am first gibbons. Raindrops starting. 26℃ (78℉)
8:15 am bəhɔl (barking deer) calls. Path we were on yesterday.
8:25 am Kəbon (lar gibbon) calls. Female. 26℃ (78℉). Rain lessened?
“yɛʔ kəjiŋ wək kəsuy” ("I heard a husband") — ʔeyKsok, in response to his wife’s queries. The gibbon was waiting for her husband, remaining in one place until he joined her.
8:50 am faint — sound of small group in the east
9:00 am same group, northeast
9:05 am mist descending, quiet this side
x group 1
sun CAMP
———————————————————————————- West
x group 2 ➔➔➔ x 10:30
⬇︎
⬇︎
x 10:50
27℃ (80.6℉)
11:00 am Siamangs just started — very distant. Lasted till 11:18 am. Another kebon (lar gibbons) group near the siamang 11:10 to 11:25?
while lar gibbons were singing. Now lar gibbons quiet and siamangs are closer. They’re moving west.
11:25 am still at it
11:55 am siamang second group northwest of here. 5 mins.
12:18 pm two groups
12:31 pm seems to have ended
12:39 pm new female call, NW group
12:48 pm Same female again
1:05 pm Female
1:28 pm One more (female?)
1:57 pm Female
1:59 pm Female again
2:10 pm Female, distant
2:18 pm Female, very distant
2:24 pm Female, about same distance as 2:18. East/north of here
Appears to be the same female calling repeatedly from 12:39 to 2:24 pm
** Lars generally stop singing between 10 and 11 am. I wonder why the female carried on for so long.
