June 2019

June has now left the building and it was a mixed month. The weather was still unsettled and messed around with my finale with the bee-eaters.

There was however one huge highlight. On the 16th Helen and I celebrated 30 years of marriage. During these years my wife has been the centre of everything. Raising two great girls, cooking fabulous meals and efficiently running a household. In recent years we have seen Nikki graduate as a medical doctor and Dani graduating from Cambridge university. Both highlights in their lives but also in ours. 

While we celebrate milestones in a partnership another liaison closes as my 'bird studio' is being repurposed by people who never realised the natural gem that was there. Below is a summary composite of my 200 plus trips to Penanti...where I have seen, wild boar, game poachers, sleeping policemen, rubbish dumpers, palm oil robbers ....and birds

I made a couple more trips to the ex-motocross track. I was amazed at the resourcefulness of the remaining bee-eaters. There does not seem to be many around, but I counted 10 active nests in a small area. They hunt elsewhere and sweep over the surrounding trees with their cargo and head straight towards their nest hole. When they leave they are away smartly back over the trees.

A bee-eater against the rising sun is a poignant reminder of the experience I have had with the kingfishers and bee-eaters. I am eternally grateful. I can only say I will always support Bee-eaters united.

On my other location there is a small population of Langurs....about 6-8. There are two species; Dusky Langurs and Silvered Langurs. I don’t know how they arrived at this mangrove forest remnant, but they are interbreeding and there are hybrid offspring. 

The following images are all Dusky Langurs

This is a Selangor Silvered Langur

Below is a hybrid. It has the 'spectacles but no white moustaches and longer fur.

Mutual grooming...the hybrid and dad

You can always tell what trees the Langurs are in by the ‘hanging fruit’

I have also seen a Blue-winged Pitta pair and a Mangrove Blue Flycatcher in the same location

On sunny mornings there are always Yellow-bellied Prinias calling for companionship.

On the computer I am working on an Ebook detailing the Blue-throated Bee-eaters. I will also put the species details that are included in this book and other books on my blog page as this is run by Google and will reach a bigger audience. The collective images of the three species would be the most comprehensive ever published....I think.

At home Helen continues with her teaching and supporting local arts and drinking in the history.

Nikki is working long hours as an intern in Lower Hutt hospital. Dani is now into triathlons as well as launching her website as a personal trainer.

Locally they are building a bridge across to the nascent island.

On the house sale front we have had a good stream of viewers, or perhaps a steady trickle. We had another interested Chinese man and had a visit from his Fengshui master...who probably played the same role for Ghengis Khan. The compass and the electronic divining machine however ruled against a sale. Next time we get an offer I will tell them I have to consult my Committee of Leprechauns (sorry Rob  if you believe).

At times there is more natural history around the house that out in the field.

The butterfly below is appropriately called a Red Helen

We have seen this bird (below)  around the house before. It is a Coucal, a member of the Cuckoo fraternity. It is a devious hunter and goes after chicks in nests.  He was looking to rob a bulbul nest next door.

Coco continues to enjoy her morning frolic on the beach. She has a friend who sits near the beach playing his guitar.....he says he is exiled from his house and the crabs and stray dogs are more appreciative.

On the pub quiz front in June I see we have covered the bases with a 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th,

May 2019

Glen, Helen and Nikki chalked up another year this month which has seen a lot of water fall from the sky in Northern Malaysia. It is the peak of the nesting season and there should be plenty of action but the weather and fate as determined otherwise (more later).

Helen continues her teaching with a fair turnover but mostly replacements arriving regularly.

Dani and Rob have been on holiday in Crete while Nikki was given a huge box of chocolates by a grateful patient for her kind attention.

We have had some reasonable action on the house in April and the first part of May but nothing in the last two weeks. We were told 3 weeks ago that one punter had accepted the asking price and was going for a bank loan. Two weeks ago we had a couple who seemed rally interested. The husband said ‘give me two weeks’ which is up today....but no word.

The weather has been uncharacteristically wet and this has limited photography. Coco benefits by getting more beach walks....she is always so excited when she knows where she is going. I like getting there as the sun comes up.

My main bee-eater location was compromised progressively from its heyday as a motocross track. The Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters did not return this year and my kingfisher mate has gone to the big tree in the sky.  

The good old days

The nesting grounds were compromised last year when the front half was cleared of vegetation and ploughed. I could access the rear section, which was the main nesting field.

The front section in 2012

  Now

The front part flattened to the road in 2019

The Blue-throated Bee-eaters came in in the first weeks of March and have provided action ever since. They are there still there but in less numbers than before....perhaps around 30. Currently, many are feeding nests...which are often cryptically concealed in the vegetation. The Chestnuts use muddy banks and the Blue-throated can do the same but also drill straight into the flat ground

Notice the bird on the right is deploying 'slats' the appendages on the front of the wing.
These were only recent additions to aeroplane wings to increase flight performance.

Last Monday a lot of locals arrived on the scene bearing plans. My enquiry revealed the back part will be cleared in a few months and the whole area used for vegetable plots. This field has been so good to me....half my competition images derive from this place.

At Air Hitam the owls are still around but no sign of a nest. It was quiet there this week with lizards and macaques ending up on the card.

During the down-time as a consequence of the inclement weather. I have set-up a new website. There are two major reasons for this; This one is easily readable on iPhones, it is well supported and connected to Google searches.

Elsewhere I saw the Comedy Wildlife finalists for this year. I did not enter as I could not match farting penguins.

The quiz has gone well when we have had our full team with 3 wins and a third when our numbers were down.