Strange and Wonderful

This strange and wonderful 'bird' by Sergey Tyukanov caught my eye while I was looking for something else. 

I love it when that happens: you get lost and find something lovely.

Birds, blurry birds

The bird-paparazzi-ing never stops. Here are some (horribly blurry photos) snapped in Malaysia.

White-Throated Kingfisher.

Might be a Grey Heron.

A Little Heron?

A Grey Heron in flight.

I spy with a Black-Naped Oriole.

Spotted Dove.

 Possibly a Grey Heron.

A Pacific Reef Egret?

My favourite, Rock Pigeons.

I think this is a Purple Heron.

Two Zebra Doves running away.

Birds I've met recently

The Brahminy Kite hang out for a good half hour just flying around and sitting on a tree branch. While my camera isn't good you can see the distinctive white head it has. Close up it looks like this. 

Its beautiful to watch him circle and follow the breeze. The Swifts sometimes fly at him to shoo him away (probably from eating their chicks) but it doesn't seem to bother him.

We met another Emerald Dove. This one was very relaxed and continued wandering about looking for food even though we were just metres away.

I took lots of photographs but they are all blurry as I was too excited to see the dove! He is very very handsome and colourful.

The same day we saw the Emerald Dove we also saw this group of 5 Laughing Thrush also looking for food amongst the leaf litter. This fellow was curious about me too!

The Laughing Thrush 'chatter' to each other while they forage, I guess to keep track of their family members.

Some walks and some things which are lovely...

The Mr. and I went to Pulau Ubin, an island just off the shore of Singapore.  We didn't see a lot of wildlife because it was around noon when we went and all the birds and animals were having their midday nap. This beautiful Kingfisher and his mate were calling to each other though and considering little Crabs and Mud Skippers for lunch.

Two large-ish Mudskippers enjoying the mud (fishy shapes below the piece of metal!).

In the centre of this picture is a bluish blur. This blur is a beautiful blue/green metallic pigeon, probably an Emerald Pigeon. An extraordinary sight. Unfortunately I was not fast enough with the camera! You just need to know if was quite possibly the most lovely pigeon I've ever seen.

This little Zebra Dove was wandering around with 3 friends at the carpark at my work. I only got one picture before he got scared and flew off. Zebra Doves are really small, I imagine you could comfortably fit one in your hand...not that they would appreciate that!

Quite a perfect mushroom/toadstool specimen seen on another walk. 

The dangers of walking in the tropics!

The weather this past week or two has been nice and cool and rainy. In this weather, the hills behind take on mist as if they are distant mountains.

And then we get this! Perfect blue skies are rare for Singapore, but one morning I woke up to this sight. Even the airplane trail looks lovely!

Having plants inside the kitchen seems to be attracting ladybugs. This is the first of two spotted last week. They are so tiny and beautifully spotted. Its very reassuring that such beautiful bugs would like to hang out at my kitchen. It must be an alright place to be!

Some birdies

This is the Asian Glossy Starling. Not a view you normally get unless you happen to spot one on a tree branch above you or like this one, on a lightning conductor above you. This one is a juvenile as evidenced by his pale underside and nice speckley pattern on his throat. Hanging onto the lightening conductor looked tricky and he didn't stay for long.

Every evening on the block next to mine the birds gather to say goodnight. I like to see how many can fit on the aerials. Latecomers have to go on the next block as the early birds get the good seats!

This Brahminy Kite likes to hang around near my place circling around and around. He is quite magnificent to watch though I always worry for all the other birds around!

A Kingfisher came to say Hi.

A strange song was heard the other morning. It was a kingfisher! He was sitting on the roof of the next block singing loudly for quite a long time. I could hear another kingfisher a bit further away replying to him.

The high-pitched 'tri-li-li-li-li' or trilling sound you hear is the Kingfisher. The other 'screp screp' noises are made by Common Mynahs (I think!).

Birds I've met recently

I've found out why I keep hearing birds chirping at all hours of the day and night. One of my neighbours in the next block keeps some cute little finches or such. Here they are out for some sunshine and fresh air.  

 I keep trying to get a good clear closeup picture of these Intermediate Egrets but I only ever see them when I'm travelling to work or coming home from work in the car. They are strange and graceful birds in their own way with long long legs and necks. They are all white but get dirty brown heads from poking their heads into the mud to get breakfast. They look quite funny in flight as their legs and wings and necks all look too long for them!

 This is Miss Pigeon. She is a young pigeon who lives near a cafe I like to go to (she still has her brown baby eyes). She has the most amazing collection of feather colours I've ever seen on a pigeon.

 A pigeon tree aka lots of pigeons on a lamp post. The pigeons like to hang out on the lamp posts in the morning, surveying traffic and grooming themselves. Every so often a squadron of them flies off to do a circuit of the neighbourhood. I like to think of the pigeons watching over us and making sure we are safe.

A woodpecker standing on a tree trunk. This one was mostly black and white coloured and had a little crest on his head. He was very busy and didn't stop to let me take a good photo. Looks kinda like a Heart Spotted Woodpecker though I'm not sure if these can be found in Singapore.

In other bird news, there are pigeons nesting somewhere near my apartment. I hear them cooing in the morning and evening. Such a sweet lovely sound!

Birds Still Make Me Happy

This photo is my computer desktop at the moment. I love the colours of the feather so much - the depth of softness in the fluffy ends and the way the tones shade from grey to orange. Looking at it and thinking of what amazing bird dropped it gives me joy (I have carefully stashed the feather in the back of my diary and carry it around with me to enjoy). Its amazing that something so small and insignificant can be so beautiful and bring so much joy. Its a little reassurance that things are all not so bad as they often seem. 

I'm still sick. I've been sick now constantly since September. I've lost 8.5kg and now sport a BMI to rival a catwalk model and shoulders like a coat-hanger. My hair is falling out and none of the medicines are working. But there is still beauty, there is still love and there is still hope in my corner of the world.

Little things, insignificant things in the scheme of the big bad wide world, matter.

Go search for a feather. Tell someone you love them. Watch the clouds go by and look for funny shapes. Make something (I've been knitting lots of baby vests recently - all my friends keep having babies - proof  if any that there is goodness and hope left in the world). I'll post some pictures of my latest baby vest knitting soon. I've been having fun playing with colours. Perhaps I should make a vest based on the colours of the feather...

Travels around New South Wales

 The Mr and I were in Sydney for a few hours. The beautiful old arcades were still decorated from Christmas. It was quite magical.

In another arcade: we went to hunt out some coffee and do some window shopping. I accidently brought a dress from MARCS. They sometimes have cute things.

 The Mr and I took the train up into the mountains to a town called Leura. One of the first things we saw to welcome us was living Christmas Tree topped with a White Cockatoo! 

 One of our Christmas presents was to stay here for a night. The guest house was a beautiful old timber house with wide verandahs and a garden. The interiors were furnished in the style of the house. 

 The view out the window of our room onto the garden.

 Some amazing foliage. It was summer too, so the trees are always this colour.

 Another Cockatoo. They were perched on the power lines opposite the restaurant we were having dinner at. I was wondering why they were all congregating there until I saw this:

 They were all queuing up to drink out of the fountain outside the restaurant! 

After our brief holiday of one day, we arrived in our destination: Portland. A small town of approx 2000 people in the middle of  nowhere. This is where my sister lives. A complete contrast to where I live: 5 million people crowded into a small 700square km island which is bustling and busy 24/7.

Birds & Bees

Wherever I am I like to do a little Bird-Paparazzi-ing. Here are some pictures from my trip to Australia of some birds I met.

My parents continue to be friends with a flock of Magpies. They only come in to visit my parents if they have babies to feed. The bushland area near my house has shrunk by several acres in the last few years and they have trouble getting enough food when they have chicks to feed. So they come by and sing hoping for my parents to feed them.

They are such strange, intense looking birds even while balancing on one leg like this one, they can stare you down.

This is a Plover. Another strange looking bird. This year is the first time since my parents moved here 30 years ago that they have appeared in our garden. Once again, the natural wetlands and grasslands they used to live and nest in have been dramatically reduced by housing development. So they have been pushed out into new areas. My parents let them be. Plovers are not so friendly though when they have chicks nearby - they get a little aggressive.

They seem to like eating insects and wandering lonely around the garden.

A bee was busy in the garlic flowers. Apparently there will be a shortage of honey this year due to bee populations shrinking. Another sign of problems. (Though I don't think I'd like garlic-flavoured honey!).

Three beautiful little doves perched on the wires. I think these are spotted doves, similar to what we get in Singapore. It was very windy when I took the photo so all the doves were standing up trying to balance! 

Despite all the bad news, I did hear frogs in my parents garden which is a sign that at least in that little patch the garden is healthy and a good place to be (perhaps that's why the birds and bees like it so much too!). 

My parents have never used pesticides and grow everything organically. It does make a difference. Just look at these delicious berries:

I had these for breakfast almost every morning while I was home. The sunshine, fresh air, rainwater (my parents harvest their own water off the roof of the house) and organic fertilisers make such a big difference to the taste. Its hard to describe how good these are to those used to supermarket produce. Its like comparing a Suzuki Alto (which coincidentally my parents own and lovingly call the 'grocery trolley' because its called a 'GT') and a Maserati.