July 2018

July is a transition month where the photographic action is over for the season and the weather can be very unpredictable.

One of the main features of the month was the visit of Gary and Di from Masterton. We have enjoyed their hospitality on a number of occasions and Nikki stayed with then for several months while working at various places in Masterton.

Helen did her normal excellent guide routine and showed them a number of features around George Town. I am allergic to shops and crowds. I joined in when we went to the Whispering Auction on the mainland and visited Penang Hill. Gary walked with me some mornings and we were lucky to have a close view of an otter fishing on one occasion. We also had some excellent meals together.

It is pleasing to see that party political flags are repurposed for float markers

The view from Penang Hill shows the current development of the island.....it looks substantial from ground level but insignificant from above.

The visitors had three nights in Langkawi while based in Penang and enjoyed that. The weather was on its best behavior for them but has been naughty since then.

Last weekend Helen and I attended a wedding reception at the E and O Hotel for the son of one of Helen’s Book Group members. The couple live in Australia, he is a Doctor in General Practice in Toowoomba and his wife is Australian. The groom is also half Australian. It was an interesting event with plenty of courses and a dragon dance. My suit came out for the first time in about 4 years.

As mentioned the photographic scene has diminished. I did go to the other side of the island to see what was arriving on a fruiting tree……the answer was not much.

Stork-billed Kingfisher

Coppersmith Barbet

Egret catching small fish

The quiz team has been split up while various members had visitors. When we were all together we won three nights. We also won some decent money on a jackpot question and the team had a very nice dinner at Italian restaurant on the proceeds of our winnings.

Not all the news is positive. There have been some attempted muggings in the general area and one was on our promenade. I also had some minor surgery at the dentists to remove a wisdom tooth that was leaning on the adjacent double tooth. It involved a liquid diet for a few days with the best part of a month for everything to return to normal.

On the wider front Nikki has been placed in Wellington Hospital after graduation…..which was her number one choice. Dani has been frying in England and enjoying the sights of Ireland with her boyfriend.

We have organized our trip to NZ and Australia for Nikki’s graduation. We fly to the Gold Coast, spend a few days with Glen and Debbie, then cross to Auckland to see Dave and Lyn thence to Omokoroa to get the lowdown on the holiday Lynette and Doug have just enjoyed.

From Tauranga we go to Dunedin, spend two nights in Te Anau, then a night in Balclutha where we hope to see something of the Catlins before arriving in Dunedin for 3 nights where we spend time with Nikki and Alison. From Dunedin we go to Adelaide for 3 nights to catch up with friends before driving the Great Ocean Road to almost Melbourne. We go back home with AirAsia which flies now from Avalon Airport that is closer to Geelong.

There has not been a lot of activity on the house selling front. We had two looking on one day several weeks back but only a cancellation since.

My image of the month was the winner of a competition in Singapore. Taken by an NPS member. I think it optimises the nature and the island nation. The Otters have become quite common there now.

June 2018

June is one of those months that could produce anything. The weather has ranged from beautiful, blue-sky days (not many) to lots of dull and rainy days.

From a nature photography perspective, it is the end of the nesting season, so you don’t see your favourite targets up close. My main subjects are Bee-eaters and Kingfishers and the adult birds look worse-for-wear now as they have been digging in the dirt, been on many feeding missions and have been further harassed by their fledged offspring for over a month.

My kingfisher pair have finally got rid of their adult-sized chicks but are themselves looking quite ragged. They will moult in the next few months and look great at the start of the next  breeding season in December.

In the example below...the first shot is a June kingfisher while the next shot is a January Kingfisher.....not the same bird.

The Blue-throated Bee eaters are down in numbers and again look in bad condition.

I was nicely in position a few weeks back on a nice fine day when my car battery went dead. Oh what to do…..I had left the house without my wallet. I phoned a fellow photographer who lived in the general area, but he was attending a funeral. He kindly summoned another friend who lived nearby, and he turned up about 40 minutes later. My car was at the defunct motocross track which is located off a fairly busy road but the track in is rather cryptic. The little Indian man had a Perodua which is a Malaysia-built small car. He positioned his car to give me a jump start….as seen……but made a slight error in turning his motor off. When he went to start his car, his battery was dead!!!!! He phoned a number of his friends, but they were all at work.  Nearly two hours later relief arrived……two young Indians in a souped up car, with hot exhausts and lowered chassis. The ground is pitted, and they could not reach us without bottoming out. We pushed to small car over to their hot-rod and got it going then used it to start my car. Needless to say, the battery has been replaced. I purchased it three years ago and the garage said they are normally only good for 18 months.

At least the Keystone cops had the attention of the local Pacific Swallows.

Other photographic excursions have been a bit messy. On a trip to Byram, which is on the mainland coast, a sudden storm came through and finished the morning’s activities. I was photographing Long-tailed Macaques gathering Horseshoe crabs.

At Air Hitam Dalam……the fisherman on the nearby river seemed more interesting than grooming monkeys or sleeping squirrels.

I have now come across several locals riding around with monkeys are pillion riders.

On the greater photographic front, I have topped the Photographic Society of America’s rating as top nature photographer based on salon results in their surveillance system.

With the pub quiz we have done pretty well with two first and two seconds. We have also had a share in two of the jackpot questions.

June saw the various international rugby series. The games seemed dominated by fuzzy rules, bad refereeing and unhappy coaches. David and I have discussed a number of incidents and conclude there is a crop of ordinary referees and inflexible and questionable administrators.

Helen continues with her teaching and hill hiking and is getting involved in the upcoming George Town arts festival.

In the kitchen the Kombucha trials continue.......with Cola and Coffee, joining Raspberry, Pineapple, Lemon and Ginger and Lychee flavours.

 The bread-making is part regularly carried out.