Arresting encounter with the Oriole

When this Black-naped Oriole alighted and saw me, I thought it would flee but I guessed the ripe palm fruits were too irresistible and so off it headed for the picking and managed a couple before it took off as quickly as it came down.

It went for one.

Then it went for another, and another, and gave me the thrill of capturing its images doing so.  Everything was truly done in remarkably quick succession.

This bunch of palm fruits was just next to the other tree but was totally ignored.  Strange!

Common Oriole yet not so

It's a common bird but what's more brilliant than the yellow of the Black-naped Oriole, whether it's an adult or a sub-adult.  In fact, it's not easy to get an ideal shot as this bird is not easy to approach.
Whichever way you look at it, its yellow is truly striking.

A sub-adult Oriole.

Juvy Flowerpecker

It's difficult enough to photograph the hyperactive adult Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker so when I got the juvenile, a male too, it was truly a lucky break.  This is also a positive sign as it means that there will be continuous presence of this bird in the taman.

The adult was not too far away although I could only manage a belly view against backlighting.

Shrike under watch

This was what happened when I peeked at the Brown Shrike which initially was unaware that it was being watched.

I guess it wasn't sure that it was being watched which was why it continued to preen.

Then it got wiser but still continued with its act, or perhaps it thought the sanctum of the undergrowth was safe enough.  This is one bird that will flee instantly when someone approaches so for it to stay put when spotted is unusual.

Iora from down under

Sometimes when one looks at a bird from down under, it can be pretty puzzling, and in this case, the bright afternoon light didn't help either.  In fact when I spotted this Common Iora, I just shot continuously because I simply couldn't make out where its head or tail was, what position it was assuming.  On examining the images later, it took me a while to put the bird in perspective, sometimes puzzling, mainly engaging.

Unnatural for Flycatcher

The Asian Brown Flycatcher feeds mainly on flying insects and as usual will keep to the upper canopy of the tree.  So it's not a surprise to see it perch up high.

 

However, this time it made an unexpected move to a lower fruiting tree, looked curiously at the unripe fruits as if for the first time.  Nevertheless it afforded an opportunity for pretty images.

Interested yet not interested

The banana plant and its fruit certainly provided an arresting background to this Plantain Squirrel that was more interested in the flower than the fruit, and rightly so, creating truly charming images.