January 2014

Since the last monthly blog before Christmas we have had quite a busy time with guests in the house. Over Christmas we had a very nice German family. Patrick, the son was working in Penang at Bosch and his parents and girlfriend wanted to see some of Penang. They were very nice guests and were energetic in their exploration. The parents went to KL by bus and spent a couple of nights there. The whole family left on New Years day for 5 days in Langkawi before they returned to Germany….minus Patrick. Soon after we had four Singaporeans stay for 4 nights. They were out mostly so we did not see a lot of them. For Chinese NewYear we have had the same family from KL as we had last year. We very much enjoyed their visit as we did before. Again as soon as they left we had another four guests for 4 nights.

We had a number of plants on the third level and had a tubular irrigation system on a timer to keep them watered. We have had problems with the time and the plants were not in their prime. With the additional roof on the floor it has changed a number of thing and makes it very pleasant to sit outside and appreciate the flowers and the birds. I particularly wanted to attract in the sunbirds that have been regular visitors and plants were procured that should be good attractants. The irrigation is now regular and the plants are flourishing and the sunbirds seem to appreciate the environment. We even have a couple of pitcher plants.

Earlier one of the trees at the front of the section was fruiting and attracted 20-30 Asian Glossy Starlings and a bunch of Yellow-vented Bulbuls.

Helen keeps busy with her students learning English. At least once a week she announces that she has another potential student. Currently she has 8 students and thinks that is a comfortable number. She is also busy with her IWA commitments.

Nikki has recovered from a bout of kidney stones in Okinawa and continues to work there for the duration of her summer holidays. Jack has been in Spain with Dani and after a spell in England Dani is back at her job in Spain.

The photography season has started and one species of Bee-eater has arrived for nesting duties. There seems there is not so many this year but they are in good condition before they start their underground digging. There are also several Kingfishers in the area and it appears they have been refurbishing their nest holes judging by the loose soil under the entrances. I have also been to a few other local sites but nothing too different so far.

I have completed the first draft of my Nature Photography book and await the next, and possibly most difficult phase.

I had a set-up for high speed flash work that is used for hummingbirds. I am trying to adapt it to local conditions and birds. The problem with tropical regions is that food is generally available somewhere and the threat of oncoming cold spells does not exist……so they are not deperate for human supplied food as an attractant.

When the Bee-eaters and the Kingfishers were not performing the cuckoos stepped in. There were appearances by several Greater Coucals and an unusual display by a pair of Green-billed Malkoha. Both species are large non-parasitic cuckoos but are hard to get a clean image due to their skulking in vegetation. 

My second favourite birding place at Byram has been messed up to a substantial degree. Someone spent a lot of money building a concrete path around the ponds and a green link fence is a good lens excluder. Nearby there is a mangrove estuary where it is still fun to sit and watch the sunrise and watch the kingfishers catch their food, the macaques patrol the river banks, the fishermen cast their nets, the otters slink across the muddy banks and the Crested Serpent Eagle to make his plaintive call from the treetops.

The other time-consuming event has been the World Indoor Bowls tournament that I can get via the net. There has been a couple of really fantastic performances and I like to read the tactics. In case you still think it is old man's marbles, the winner of the Women's title is 18.