April 2013

In April we are in a confused weather system as it is the changeover time for the two prevailing monsoon systems; the North-East and South West. The North-East monsoon is drier here as the moisture gets splattered against Eastern Malaysia.
            It is however the peak month for nesting birds. The Chestnut-headed are finished with their cycle and the Blue-throated are starting theirs. They have been busy catching food, mating, squabbling and digging. (sunrise images taken a week apart.......and one small branch has disappeared)

To my delight my favourite Kingfisher pair started feeding a nest and flew in with cargo many times. This species is relatively common but as with most birds it is difficult to get close to. My favourite couple are an exception and I spend just about as much time with them as with the Bee-eaters.

After 20-22 days of solid feeding the parents ceased their visits. There were still some chicks in the nest but at least two had fledged and were in the nearby tree trying to mug food off their parents.

There is also a population of Red-wattled Lapwings at my favourite shooting site and they have had chicks also. They lay three-four spotted eggs in the open and when the chicks hatch they are secreted in the woods. It is difficult to reason why the open nesting sites….maybe they use the heat of the sun to aid incubation. They are very aggressive defenders of their territory and when the chicks were out I gave them plenty of space (the little dot at the feet of the adult bird is a 3 hour-old chick). When the chicks are old enough to forage the adults form a guard consisting of sentries in a semi-citcle around the fluffy ones. There seems to be rival creches because there always seems to be some border disputes...whereby you buzz the neighbors.

My ex-work colleague and friend from many nature-shooting trips spent three days with us and we worked hard in the mornings getting shots. The week in which he was here was very busy but there were a number of good shots taken then. Helen arranged for an evening at a newly opened hotel that two Australians had painstakingly resurrected from derelict shophouses. They have furnished it with mainly Chinese antique furniture and it looks great.

There has also been time and money invested preparing for the two-month exhibition at the G-Hotel starting on the 1^st of May with the official opening on the 8^th. The prints have been selected, mounted and labeled.

The shot of the Kingfisher with the Sun Skink made first place in an open competition run by the Australian photographic society. The Kingfisher is the female of the pair I photograph a lot...she has  darker blue feathers and is a very beautiful bird. Another shot of the Kingfisher carrying a different skink species to the nest was selected as editors choice in the Naturescapes USA-based website. I also completed an article on the nesting of the Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters on the same site.

Helen now has two Japanese students she is teaching. She has also been asked to go on the executive of the International Women’s Association here. She has also started attending beading classes……a test for eyes and nimble fingers. Helen took some prints to Singapore to contribute to an auction raising money for Tanglin Schools contribution to their sponsored Cambodian orphanage.  The tree frogs and cheetahs are always the requested subjects. A week later the book group from Singapore flew up and stayed over the weekend.

While not out shooting or preparing for the exhibition I have been writing articles and one of the Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters was features on the Naturescapes website (they are unofficially the best Nature Photography website). Some images have also featured on other websites.

Locally we approach the National Elections on May 5^th. There are a number of parties with around 6 main ones. Each has a symbol and flags and bunting bearing these is literally plastered everywhere. When tall trees are not high enough they go to helium balloons. I had a chuckle to myself when a saw a flag planted on a piece of polystyrene flotsam along the waterfront. It is particularly pertinent in that the flag belongs to the overall ruling party which is not the ruling party of Penang state.....who have banned polystyrene food containers.

The month is not complete without mentioning the curly one. She is doing well and when not bringing all the fallen leaves inside to dissect she is smothering all-comers with kisses. When Helen took out her suitcase to go to Singapore we had a 10minute growling, muttering oaths session. It has been a while coming but we wanted more colour on view from the living room/ dining room and added a flower box......which the the plant inspector checked out.

Our gardener asked if some of the flowers had brought more butterflies around. This is something we would welcome but we have both seen an insect that you could easily put a saddle on. It also adds a bit of color.

We have been out a couple of times this week. One was with friends who are thinking of settling in Penang. He is an American oilman and is married to an Indonesian woman and she wants to be close to family. We celebrated St Georges day with a bunch of poms at the Penang Club and ended the evening with a sing song of patriotic ditties. i thought for a while I was in Butlins Holiday camp or was 85 in an old folks home. The food was also crap....which could be either Butlins or another Institution..
Cheers for now

G