Friday 30 October 2009

Spotted Doves

Whoo! My exams are over!( for this year ) I
haven't been able to go out to shoot but for a post,
I present my very own gallery of spotted
doves. I have lots of pics coz they are really
common, But anyway, here it is....................
spotted dove looking around at SBG

another one at SBG, just had a meal

should I fly off?
ick! Leaf litter

Ok, that's enough. Hope you enjoyed it!

Saturday 24 October 2009

2nd name: Banded Yeoman

Hi everyone! Listen up here! I
have joined the Butterfly Circle, and my user
is Banded Yeoman.

Thursday 22 October 2009

BTNR again

PSLE marking... Yes. That's why I went to BTNR.
This time, I was in luck. Okay, when we just got
there, 2 magpie crows were flying around. I didn't
manage to get a photo of them. Moving along, I spotted
a bird that I had never seen before. The lesser racket-
tailed drongo. It was looking for insects to eat.

Walking walking, and walking. After the drongo, there
wasn't anything interesting. Except this weird looking
insect that looks like part of the plant.

Then all of a sudden...... "A shoe buckle!" my sister
shouts. I went to take a look. On the ground, there was
a shoelace. Just then, it started to move. It was a snake.

I really don't Know what type it is, but it is very
small. Like the length of my foot.

My foot is around 20cm, so that's a small snake.
Then, a common posy fluttered around me. It
was hard to shoot as it kept moving and didn't allow
a close approach.

Hope I get better shots of it next time!

Please comment.

Wednesday 21 October 2009

Wildlife outside my house1

Outside my house, There's lots of wildlife. Yes, mainly
birds. Probably the most common bird in Singapore,
the Javan Myna is always visiting the Mac Arthur's palm
at my place. However, the palms aren't very close and my
camera can't zoom so well, so for me, getting a good photo
of the mynas isn't easy.How I usually do it is to put the lens
right in front of my binoculars. Then I look for the bird and
try my best to keep still as I shoot. I don't have a tripod.
This doesn't always work though. Sometimes the bird flies
away when I'm adjusting, or I just can't find the bird.

Around the Mac Arthur's, there are many others.
Plantain Squirrels, Asian glossy starlings, Black naped
orioles, common goldenbacks and banded woodpeckers.
Black naped orioles, Are rather large and conspicuous.
Their distinctive call is also very loud.
Asian koels used to be frequent.

Monday 19 October 2009

Bird Paintings

Here's some of my recent bird paintings:


A Pair Of Black Naped Orioles

Little King-king bird of paradise

At First Light-black sicklebill

Magnificent Love-magnificent bird of paradise

Count Raggi's-raggiana bird of paradise

Marvelous Hummer-marvelous spatuletail

Golden Bower-golden bowerbird & its bower

So! Enjoy! Please comment on the paintings
in the Cbox or the comment button.

Some sort of thing......

In my room, yesterday, I noticed lots and
lots of ants... They were surrounding some sort
of grasshopper. It was dead and the ants were feeding on it.
After the ants abandoned it, attending to something else,
My mother picked it up and placed it on a tissue.
I have no idea what it is, so please tell me in my Cbox
or write a comment on this post. Thanks!

Wednesday 7 October 2009

The Birds of Paradise 2

Some more birds of paradise! The images are found from the web.Well, this time,
were learning about other types. The paradise
crows, manucodes, paradigallas, astrapias and last but not least,
the parotias. Birds of paradise's closest relatives are
surprisingly the crows! The paradise crow is a medium
sized bird of paradise, that looks a lot like its ancestors.


Another crow like bird of paradise is the manucode.
Manucodes are large glossy birds. In their display,
they fan their wings out and call loudly. Below
is the curl crested manucode, the largest manucode.

Manucodes, unlike other birds of paradise, are
monogamous. That means the male can only have
one mate, and he heps out in building the nest and
rearing the young. Paradigallas, are some more strange
birds of paradise. Below is the long tailed paradigalla.

Now the astrapias. They are some of my favourite
birds of paradise. Even though they are black like
manucodes and paradigallas, they are much more
attractive. With the long tails
and glossy throats, there's no doubt
they are so beautiful. The male ribbon tailed astrapia
has longest tail feathers( to its body size ).

The Princess Stephanie's astrapia is just as attractive.

Lastly, the parotias. Many people would have seen
them on sites like YouTube. They have six long wires
sprouting from their heads that are tipped each with
a bob. Their specialized flank plumes are raised during
the display. Below is the Lawe's parotia.( perching
and displaying )




Well, that seems to be the end of this post.


P.s. photo 1:flickr.com
photo 2:nationalgeographic.com
photo 3:birdfromeden.blogspot.com
photo 4:flickr.com
photo 5:nationalgeographic.com
photo 6&7:thebirdsofparadise.org

Tuesday 6 October 2009

The Birds of Paradise

It's me again. I'll be writing about the birds of
paradise. There are 43 species of them. Many people know them in general
as " Birds of Paradise ", but few go deeply into the subject.
I will be posting a series of birds of paradise articles,
and today's is of the plumed birds of paradise. ( the
basic ) Warning: The photos are all found from the web,
only the lesser bird of paradise I took. Okay let's start.
When people say "birds of paradise", they are usually
referring to the LESSER BID OF PARADISE. (below)

This is an example of a plumed B.O.P. In their display,
around four or five males gather in a tall tree, and
spread their plumes all over, calling, jumping around
and flapping their wings. Many people, also think that
their plumes, come out from the tail. Instead, they sprout from
just above their wing! The RAGGIANA BIRD OF PARADISE,
is another well known species. (below)

Unlike the first 2, the GOLDIE'S BIRD OF PARADISE
isn't very well known. Even though it is near-threatened
with global extinction, it is no less beautiful.

I'm not going to write about every species, but only a
few. Many vote for the BLUE BIRD OF PARADISE as the
most beautiful of the family. Looking at the males display,
it is easy to tell why.

All plumed birds of paradise live in the forest canopy
of New Guinea and Indonesia.