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.

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.