August 2015

This month as roving siblings return to their roosts we have been quite busy with guests in the house. There have been various events in George Town during the month….which brings in locals from KL etc.

As of today Helen and I have chalked up 4 years in the house and in Penang.

August is the month where I chalk up another year on planet earth and I can assure you all are appreciated. Helen and I have both have chesty coughs, which can be bloody annoying especially when all dogs in a three mile radius answer back and the Muslim prayer callers complain of unfair competition.

On the home front we had two leaks in the house. One has been dried and the reason for it ascertained and preventative measures put in place. The other leak is a combination of bad design and ignorance by the gardeners who put decorative plants on top of the drainage system. That too is hopefully under control…the garden has been removed and the roof on the third floor extended. We are still getting leaking into our bedroom but this should stop in a month or two when the concrete gives up its contained water.

More interesting on the home front we have got a new sofa for the living room. We had constant problems with the old, fabric-covered one. Initially we were sent one that was white and not cream-coloured. The material also went all blotchy when washed. This was replaced by brown covered sofa. This also discoloured over a short time and was looking quite scruffy. The material was starting to break up so we decided to give it the boot. Some carrier took it away free to use how he wanted.

Herbs have been hard to grow in this environment and I am struggling at the moment. Helen brought a local-made mushroom kit and this was very productive……only rivalling Jack’s beanstalk for overnight growth. It is currently resting and will go again in 10 days.

Around the house we have been on top of planting and watering as the haze from Indonesian forest clearing strikes again. I had some mealworms for various reasons but kept a Bulbul family fed as the chicks fledged. 

I need to apologise to Bob for calling him a Squirrel. I was suspicious for some time because of his long snout and lack of whiskers. He is in fact a Common Treeshrew.

Helen is steady with her teaching duties currently. She will go up to see Nikki in Okinawa in September and then go to South Korea with Nikki and Neal. I would like to go too but have an obligation in Australia in October.

Photographically August is usually very quiet but this year there have been various occurrences. During my morning walks I can locate where the Otters have been denning by their smell. I staked out one location and had a good view of a pair of them. 

At Air Hitam Dalam I have seen and heard a pair of Blue-winged Pittas. Last year they were unafraid and often wandered around the car park with various people around. They have been much more cautious this year and only came out to feed when they were feeding chicks…..as soon as the chicks fledged they disappeared again.

It was reported that a pair of Red-throated Barbets were nesting near Maxwell Hill in Taiping…about 75km away. I made three trips down there to record the feedings. On the first trip there was no sign of any chicks although feedings were regular and poop was being removed from the nest hole. The male seemed to feed more but the female was the only one removing the poop. A week later chick(s) were apparent and looking out at the world. I ascertained there were two chicks (the normal brood size for this species) and one was 3-4 days older than the sibling. There were some locals also viewing the nest although somewhat superficially mostly. I went down again this week and the older chick was quite mature-looking and again the other chick was about 4 days behind. This time the male fed the nest regularly and there was no sign of the female. Although the male went into the nest cavity 3 times he did not carry any poop …so there is good reason to fledge soon. There is quite a lot of bush around and in the various visits there have been Pig-tailed macaques and Dusky Langurs in the vicinity.

The nest hole is circled in red below

First week (female first) then the male

 Second week...male and more mature chick

Third week (mature chick) first.

There is a bit of a lull on the rugby scene at the moment as the RWC looms in September. I did not get to see the first Bledisloe game due to weather intervention but I joined up with some Kiwis and Aussies to watch the second game. My own view of the All Blacks chances are that things must go in their favour with injuries and their mental attitude is all-important. They have not been great away from home this year. The team was announced yesterday, no real surprises but as the scribes say some holes are apparent.

The only thing really bothering me is the RWC coincides with the wettest two months here and I am worried about blank screens at crucial times

July 2015

After the highlight trip to Holland, Scotland and England culminating in Dani’s graduation, July was going to be a quiet month. We have had a few lots of guests through during the month and we have a few more lined up for August. We had good friends from Adelaide stay for 5 days. Kari and Kathy first went to Langkawi and enjoyed the Andaman Hotel and the Ernie Els designed golf course nearby. When they arrived here Helen did her masterful guiding job and I arranged several friends to take them golfing on the island and on the mainland. They enjoyed both courses but by all accounts the island course is pretty unforgiving.  As with many visitors we introduced Kathy and Kari to the pub quiz….the team had a win that night and also had a share of the bonus prize. The weather has been rather unsettled during July but somehow the weather Gods provided good weather over the 5 days. It has rained almost non-stop since.

After giving our guests a good taste of local food we ended at the Seven Terraces Hotel restaurant, which was a real delight. 

In the next pub quiz we finished 3^rd despite winning 3 from 5 rounds…consistency was lacking.

Below John picks up third prize....the first prize the week before has not been published

Nikki is avoiding typhoons at the moment in Okinawa and Dani is in the last days of her summer job. She starts in her Morrisons job in early September….not in Northampton as per original plan but further south in Sittingbourne in Kent....but this could also change. In the house we had the Chinese carved bar brought down from the 3rd floor (it took 6 men...2 carrying it and 4 following) to the dining room and now have our graduate zone.

The major plan for the month was to address some problems around the house. While we were away the hole left by the water feature removal was grassed over. The wet weather has kept this watered since then. I have bought a few cheap plants to fill in some gaps. The main plan was to have colourful plants and nectar-produces so we can see birds feeding from the lounge/dining room. 

A birdbath has also been installed. I put a feeder out with mealworms for the local Bulbul pair and Bob the little orphan squirrel. The bulbuls were particularly busy at the feeder and earlier this week placed two newly-fledged chicks in a nearby tree and took turns feeding them. Coco is fascinated with Bob.

We still had a leak into our bedroom ceiling so we extended the third floor roof around the whole of the house.  Some plants that were put in before we took over the house will also have to be removed as they are blocking parts of the drainage system.

We also had another ceiling leak on the ground floor. Investigation showed that if our bathroom door was left partly open when the aircon was on during the night…. condensation formed under the bath and dripped steadily onto the concrete below it and subsequently through the ceiling. There was a temperature difference on the topside of the bath and the space underneath. We are currently drying out under the bath….and when done that problem will be sorted.

For a number of years at Preston Road we had a bread-making machine. Because good bread is hard to come-by in Penang I decided to go again on that issue. I also thought some of those smells may make guests welcome. I bought a Breville machine and although it has some design faults it has been producing some consistent loaves without much fuss at all.

Photographically July is one of the worst months as nesting finishes and the inclement weather moves in. Earlier in the week I went to photograph birds gorging themselves on a fruiting tree at the north end of our estate. It is practically on the beach and near and old bunker system the looks across to Mount Jerai in Kedah State. 

I spent a few mornings trying to catch the male Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker that comes in occasionally for nectar. This species is smaller than a sparrow and acts like a sunbird on speed. I finally got a decent shot. 

The drama of the month was provided during my morning walk.  I start my hours walk with the hand weights around 6am and it is still mostly dark when I get home around 7am. I was walking towards home with a NZ woman I sometimes encounter and we approached the building site on the old playground. I noticed 3 folks walking towards us when one of them looked like a hidden arm shoved them violently into the fence by the sea. There followed some Chinese curses. We rushed forward to assist and I noticed the person must have dropped a large umbrella……the ‘umbrella’ was the cause of the problem it was a 5 foot plus  spitting cobra  that the woman victim had seen late and had taken drastic measures to avoid a nipped butt. She hurt herself more by trying to sieve herself between the fence rails. Her husband and son were the other two and the husband went to fetch their car. The cobra….  did not extend its hood…….turned and went back under the fence.  So now I have to strain my eyes looking for the otters and watching out for abandoned 'umbrellas'. Helen will stick to daylight walking. BTW These Cobras when in a fighting mood will spit their venom at you…..the eyes are a popular target.

I was pleased that several of my images won some awards during the month. My Kingfisher won the Australian Photographic Society image of the year.

My Coppersmith Barbets won a medal in the USA and a hummer shot won  $75 in an APS competition.

I also had three Editor's Choice images on the 'Naturescapes' nature photography site. during July.

Currently I am planning my October trip to the APS Tweed Heads convention and Helen is going to see Nikki in Okinawa and then go with her and Neal to South Korea for a break. The furry watchdog will therefore not be left alone.

Coco is a character and her evening walks seem to energize her. She has to have a game of football where she is the goalie and I have to get a ball past her to the front door. She will play for an hour, if I last that long, and she even curses when a shot gets past her.

I am however trying to teach her a cultured sport.

But sport can make you tired and seek something warm and familiar.