A white symbolism

I would normally ignore the rock pigeons but when it’s a pristine white one, it did stop me in my tracks.    This White Pigeon strangely kept to itself away from a few other rock pigeons.

It is said that a white pigeon symbolises peace and love so let’s hope that its presence in the taman denotes blessing, with so much uncertainty still hanging over the proposed development that will affect the taman.

A home to the lineated barbets

Happy to still have you around though after all these years you still fight shy of human approach.  Lucky to have the Lineated Barbets continue to choose the taman as home despite having lost before chicks to predators.

Sunbirds out

 I had the Sunbirds to entertain me for a good part of the morning.  First it was a territorial dispute as two male Brown-throated Sunbirds faced off.

This one hardly attempted a move.

The winner claimed its space and preened to its heart’s content until the approaching sound of the leaf blower spooked it off.

Further away as I walked on this pair of juvenile female Brown-throated Sunbirds were enjoying time out.

A silhouette is still sighting!

Another normal day up the bukit and the Olive-winged Bulbul to break the monotony.

And it was exciting to come across the Everett’s White-eye again although only managed a silhouette of the bird; the last time I saw it was about a year ago.

As I was passing by

 

Thanks for the pose!

Fragile encounter

It is what it is.  Butterflies are just as lovely and it's just as refreshing to watch them as to watch the avian ones, and I had this Blue Glassy Tiger to brighten my morning.

Thanks to the Woodpecker

It was delightful that the Banded Woodpecker appeared suddenly to brighten up a dismal outing, and amused with its playful stance as it encircled the branch, but it was in and out in a jiffy.

A noon walk

It was  just after noon, not the best of time to walk through the taman, and was proven right because avian sighting was stark, but calls were everywhere from the lineated barbets to the asian glossy starlings and the blue-throated kingfishers.

A distant shot saw the adult Black-winged Flycatcher-shrike, following its successful parenting, foraging alone.

The resident Banded Woodpecker flew silently in by the river where I was hoping for one other longed for appearance.

Walking on a local Blue-throated Bee-eater too made a brief appearance.

And the walk ended with this sub-adult Oriental Magpie Robin hopping up but quickly took off as I tried to approach.

Whodunit

The Pied Fantails looked like done with their nest when their young fledged but in less than a month, these birds were seen rebuilding their little neat home again, and I was looking forward to catching sight of a new chick or chicks earlier than I did the last time.

The original nest.

And one parent seen rebuilding the nest some time later.

And then horrors!  When I checked again a couple of weeks later, this was all that was left - the little cup nest completely pinched off!
Who done it?

Tracking the Flycatcher-shrike chicks

Chicks have voracious appetite when they are growing, and these Black-winged Flycatcher-shrikes are no difference.
They were like these when I first sighted them.

And about five days later, they had more than doubled in size.

A parent was seen to spring clean the nest as usual.

Food now includes fruit, not whole though.

This papa had a strange habit of walking over its chicks, to the right, then to the left.

Mama finally returned with a catch.  
I was hopping to capture both parents in action at the nest but repeat observations had it that one parent would actually fly off just as the other arrived, so there was no opportunity for intimate family portrait!

The normal crying for food occurred although so far it looked like one seemed to have more than its fair share.

A flustered looking mama perhaps dispensing harsh reproach?!

An opportunity to compare and appreciate parent and chick back feathers.

Papa returned with the standard insect prey.

And he did it again, walking all over his chicks.

Perhaps it's his way to cosy up to his young.

And in the process ruffled some feathers!

It was rather fascinating how these palm leaves had grown just over a few days and provided excellent backdrop to these photo opps.