March 2014

February had not fully passed when the dry weather manifested itself by fires on the multi-layered Penang Hills. Firemen were dispatched and they got some of them under control but some were inaccessible on foot and an aerial assault was called for. Bombardier 514 planes had been purchased previously for such an emergency an one was put on the case. On Wednesday evening (26th Feb)  the scenario looked rather bleak. Some of the fires had been extinguished by Thursday and on Friday late morning one persisted and the Bombardier was back on the case. the plane is amphibious and lands on water…..it scoops up the sea water while taxi-ing and then takes off to strategically drop it's load over the fire. Fire retardants may be added. After about 6 bombing runs the reluctant fire showed no more smoke ….so hopefully it was extinguished.

The fires were extinguished and we finally had about 20 hours of rain in the middle of March however the weather went back to hot and dry and we have had no significant rain since.

The month was gripped by the mystery of Malaysian Airlines flight MH670. It was a complex and fearful scenario we would not like to see any loved ones involved with. The plane seemingly passed pretty close to Penang on its redirected route that landed in the Southern Indian Ocean. The Malaysian authorities have come under a lot of fire for their handling of the sorry scenario but worse still is the series mis-reported and sensation-seeking articles in many on-line and printed newspapers. The distant reaches of the Indian Ocean are possibly the worse place to locate pieces of the jigsaw and come to some conclusion as to what exactly happened.

Our drought was broken on Saturday 15th when it rained steadily for almost 24 hours. Since then we seemed to have gone back to the clear, hot weather.

I have photographed at several local locations in the last month and have had three sets of guests at various times; a young American couple I met at Fraser's Hill, and two separate  shooting companions from Singapore.  The Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters are still feeding nests and sometimes there is a few inter-species disputes.

I was privileged to see three Chestnut-headed Bee-eater chicks fledge from a nest I had followed since the parents dug the cavity.

The Mum came in and fed chick number 1 with a dragonfly and then invited the offspring to follow her. 30 seconds later the chick flew off. Minutes later the parent was back and twice fed the next chick in line. It too was invited to follow Mum and did. This chick appeared to be less mature that the first one. It should be noted that the eggs are laid one or two days apart so there will be an age difference with the chicks. It also depends on whose mouth the incoming insects go into. A few minute later chick number 3 appeared and looked around at the big wide world. Mum did not appear with food despite being summoned. This chick was perhaps the most mature and had the nous to go back onsite and put on the flying gear before re-emerging….waddling out of the entrance and then taking off. I have a nice, in-focus-bum as a record of that event.

The Blue-throated Bee-eaters seems to have arrived from the North numbering around 100 birds. They are currently busy digging holes and romancing their partners.

The Red-wattled Lapwings are also nesting and are very aggressive protecting their very exposed eggs in shallow depressions

I have been to Byram on several occasions and although compromised by man's expensive folly there is still some activity there, especially in the early morning where 5 different species of Kingfishers can be seen foraging for food.

There are always raptors around and one Crested Serpent Eagle I stayed with for over an hour to get a flight shot was finally moved by a crow that just wanted to hassle it.

Elsewhere at Byram Long-tailed Macaques forage in the estuarine mud for crabs. This is their natural habitat and they were one known as Crab-eating Macaques. There seems to be a lot of Pied Stilts around this year. They are elegant but skittish birds.

Helen has lost a few students that have returned to their homeland but quickly gained a few more. She even has a Mexican lady wanting to learn business English.

The B and B business has quietened away from Chinese New Year and other festivals. We have just said farewell to three folks from Singapore. There is certainly more interest in our estate from Singaporeans as prices continue to soar there. I have more ex-colleagues looking around next month for that reason.

February 2014

January and February are traditionally the dry months as the North-east monsoon loses its moisture on the other side of Peninsular Malaysia. This year has been particularly dry and it starts impacting on a number of things and the garden especially needs constant watering.

Helen continues to be heavily involved in IWA matters and organised a Chinese New Year dinner at Batu Ferringhi. She is steadily involved with her Japanese students learning English.

Nikki is now back at medical school….busting skulls…. while daughter-in-law Debbie has been accepted to study nursing at University in Brisbane. Dani braves the European winter in Spain while continuing her 'out' year from Cambridge.

We have been busy with the B and B over the Chinese New Year period but it is now quieter.

We had another afternoon at the races and were both successful in a minor way. I used applied maths and science and Helen has a turf accountant friend who signals her tips.

This should be getting into the busiest time photographically but the Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters seemed to have been affected in their nesting by the dry weather. There is always some peripheral activity and I captured a pair of Green-billed Malkohas displaying. On another day Mrs Junglefowl had her brood making use of the dry weather by having a dust bath.

I explored a flat area up near the Thai border (the round Limestone hills below are in Thailand) near a town called Chuping. This was the heart of the sugar industry but seems to have lost out to a resurgence in rubber and young rubber trees are being planted all over the area. Young rubber trees even surround the retiring sugar refinery. We saw a number of raptors hunting over the fields but they are extremely difficult to photograph. My best shot was of a female Olive-backed Sunbird who was obsessed with her own image in he car mirror.

Back closer to home I have explored a few new areas on the mainland and have a pair of Brahminy Kites in my sites as they start their nesting process. They were brilliantly placed in the rising sun but looking the other way cavorting Long-tailed Macaques played in the treetops in the various pastel shades of the rising sun. On another visit a skein of Herons flew in V-formation across the orange-hued sky. There is smoke haze from an erupting Indonesian volcano in the state and it tends to tint the early morning skies.

Nearby to this location is a patch of mangrove regeneration where a pair of Copper-throated Sunbirds were relatively prominent while a pair of Dollar-birds danced to each other before engaging in bird sex. The male Copper-throated is iridescence plus while Mrs Copper-throat looks like all local female sunbirds. The area hosts a number of woodpeckers and 3-4 can often be seen on one tree (Common Goldenbacks shown)

On another day Jeevi and I went deep into Kedah to Sungei Sedim where a tree with a handy vantage point was reported to be fruiting.

The images below are (a) Gold-whiskered barbet, (b) Crimson-breasted Flowerpecker, (c) Black-headed Bulbul.

I went on my usual pilgrimage  to Fraser's Hill also this month. Last year at the same time it was the best I had seen it…bird-wise. This year was the opposite, possibly due to the prolonged dry spell we have been having. There were the usual suspects only…the bird-wave fraternity; the Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush, the Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush, Magpie-Robins, a lone Mugimaki Flycatcher and my favourites….the hyperactive Silver-eared Mesias.

Around the house and section new flowers bloom, sunbirds (and Bulbuls) look for nectar and Coco is still asking why it is not the year of the dog.

We have installed some comfortable chairs (courtesy of Ikea) on the third floor 'turf' where we can have an evening drink while the birds chirp around us.

The artist who has been doing street paintings around Penang has just added a small one at Straits Quay. It is called 'Girl with balloons' and the balloons are black trash bags……this in itself is possibly a statement.