When man acts irresponsibly, to say the least

It was so exciting when I saw the Brahminy Kite swoop down to fish something from the pond just metres away from me!  Furthermore the minute it fished it out a Black Crow sped in, tried to knock it off the Kite, and I guess the Kite thought it had secured its catch when it flew to the sanctuary of this tree.

And then it was so heartrending when I zoomed in and saw what the Kite has caught!  A piece of plastic bag with something which I still could not make out.
 

Fortunately the Kite decided to release it when it found that it couldn't get to whatever was in there.

Hmmm, was there some regret that it had to let go?  Perhaps because it had mouths waiting to be fed!

Another flowerpecker

I have been hoping to spot this one since I was told that it had been seen.  The Yellow-vented Flowerpecker is an unexpected find as it is normally confined to forest or forest edge (and this brings the total number of species sighted todate in the taman to 90).  And when I spotted it, unfortunately it kept very much to the upper canopy.  Nevertheless it's gratifying to know that it's still around, and here's hoping to get better shots when I next sight it.
Unfortunately the orangey-yellow vent is hardly visible here, and so too its yellowish-olive upper-part due to this belly only image, but the bold blackish streaks on its underpart are unmistakable.

Lure of the sunbird

Who would not fall in love with this beautiful female Olive-backed Sunbird?

And we know why we love shades of olive!

Sleeping Woodpecker

It's always comforting to know that someone, especially a parent, is close by, as demonstrated by this adorable Banded Woodpecker.  This young one was calling and responding to another, presumably a parent, and after a short period of exchange, it was caught promptly going to sleep on a branch.

Prior to its shut-eye, the sun briefly enabled a glimpse of its beautiful eye.

A 'winter' Barbet

It looked like it's 'winter' now in the taman, after my 'autumn' encounter!
It's pretty crazy how the taman can play on the imagination if one allows it to, and this was how the Coppersmith Barbet could trick one with its fluff in the falling evening light.  In actual fact, the little bird was simply calling out loud, its vocal chord almost bursting through its throat!
The casuarina trees provided the perfect setting for a 'dull winter evening' to the bird's puffed out feathers as if it was cold, however, the puff-up was merely the result of its tiny body having to exert utmost and unabated effort at calling.

Admiring the Iora

I've always maintained that the taman is one of the best places to get close shots of birds, and am happy to be proven right again with this female Common Iora.  The images taken truly enabled one to so admire its plumage.  Whichever way one looks at this female songbird, it stands out, despite being small at between 12-14.5cm, with its overall olive green plumage and more yellowish breast.
Nevertheless it's quite a challenge to photograph the Iora as it's a hyper-active feeder and tends to keep to upper canopy level.

The Barbet and the tree

The taman has a unique tree in the albino raintree which I have written about in my post of 20 Nov 2017.  Recently, this tree couldn't have been more perfect background for the Coppersmith Barbet that was calling non-stop and which I managed to track down finally.  The gorgeous colours of both simply set off one another's beauty.

A migrant revisits

It has been so terribly unexciting in the taman (my apologies to the regulars that still make their presence felt) that I was just dying to come across any winged one that could just make my day!  Then this male Purple-backed Starling flew into sight, ah, one of a pair stragglers I thought since it was with another that just came and went! At last, a beauty that's even more outstanding, that my latest gear has managed to capture!

Entertained by Waterhens

It's always a joy to come across the White-breasted Waterhen, and when I found two out to forage I was rather thrilled, especially when these two were unaware of my presence, took their time to forage and preen.  These water birds are usually so shy that they will take off immediately if they sense any human presence.  Thus, I couldn't get enough of them when I found them going about blissfully.

I couldn't be more entertained by these two....

An almost picture perfect moment for me.

Going about their own business when tired of the other's company.

It's also rare to see this bird preening in the open, which it did obviously thinking that there's no immediate danger around.

And then it's the other's turn, being slouchy or simply tired!

Birds too display curiosity like us, as this one reminded me when it approached the other, enquiringly.

Looked like nothing of interest there, so better leave.

And then they were together again.

I guessed preening could take place any time and any where!

And finally these two parted company again, and upon closer examination they looked like an adult/parent and a sub-adult.