A Naturalist's Diary : 5

I have been chasing after the sunbirds. The previous occasion was far, far away. On this occasion, however, I have a new gem to pursue, the Crimson Sunbird (Aethopyga siparaja). The sub-species here is seheriae. And thus I have stood for many hours watching them flit and feed either on the honeysuckle near the reception or on the red hibiscus near the dining hall. I soon notice that the male Purple Sunbird (Nectarina asiatica) is very aggressive when it comes to seeing off other males from his patch. I had not noticed this in my earlier tryst with their cousin, N. zeylonica in Coorg. What started as an interesting observation soon developed into a sense of frustration as I was particularly keen on capturing the ruby-like siparaja. But every time siparaja would appear to claim his share of nectar, along would come the smaller asiatica in high dudgeon and drive off siparaja in a flurry of furious purple and red wing beats. They wind, weave, and feint furiously across the gardens, narrowly missing the watchman's head, two mortal enemies, each of whom seems determined to wreak havoc on the other.

Asiatica is no different with others of his ilk and sees off other male Purple Sunbirds with equal vigour.

It has been one of those days without electricity and I have spent my time with Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall set in Henry Tudor's England where, according to the blurb-writers, "man is wolf to man." Apparently the blurb-writers do not read the daily newspapers.

A Naturalist's Diary : 4

Another sultry day here, but there was sufficient clarity to attempt some photography this morning. And so I went onto the roof of the recreation area to try to capture the Asian Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi) and the Eurasian Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus). Both were tantalizingly close but no decent shots were had. The Orioles stayed well-hidden or shrouded behind foliage and teased me with their wee-ows. I wee-ow-ed a fair bit myself, to no avail. In the evening, I had clear views of the orioles, but high up in a dry teak tree. The flycatchers, we get the white morph here, were around in abundance, and sadly when one first sees them one wonders if it is a bit of garbage, plastic or paper, that's been caught in the bush; such is the prevalence of garbage in the area.

Temple Tiger Truths

You've all probably heard of the temple in Thailand which is filled with tigers. One always suspected that there was something fishy and after I joined my new job I heard even more. And then yesterday I chanced upon this website.

http://www.tigertempletruths.org/

See the Care for the Wild PDF as well:

http://www.careforthewild.com/files/TigerTemplereport08_final_v11.pdf

A Naturalist's Diary : 3

The day dawned overcast and cloudy. It did blunt the ferocity of the sun, but the day was sultry. Walked around in the late evening. Chestnut-tailed starlings (Sturnus malabaricus) are roosting near the conference hall and their arrival begins at the teak near the reception, until they finally descend, in a clamourous squabble on a mango tree near the conference hall.

Eurasian Golden Orioles (Oriolus oriolus) also much in evidence with their mellifluous calls. Two Greater Coucals (Centropus sinensis) were booming outside my quarters. Plum-headed parakeets (Psittacula cyanocephala) screeching about; in all a bird-filled evening to counter a deeply birdless morning.