As I was passing by

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It was in the river and I happened to walk by, way off up on the ground, but the minute it spotted me, it instantly submerged to swim away.

How has it come to this that we are able to inspire so much fear in a fellow creature of the universe?!

My 'spark bird'

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It could have been ignored, so commonplace, so unremarkable you say?  Have I understated the uniqueness, the beauty of the Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier)?  No, one could deem the bird rather uninspiring because of its less than intense colours but it has a special place in my collection because it's one of my 'spark birds' although one would normally cite a rare or exotic sighting to be a spark bird.  However I would put it that it's not just one bird that ignited my interest in birding but a series of sightings over time that did it, and in the case of this bulbul it was also the repeated nestings in the home compound that contributed to this avian fixation.

A 'spark bird' is defined as a species that triggers a lifelong obsession with birding, according to Twitchers' vocabulary (which) is the set of jargon words used by twitchers (committed birdwatchers who travel long distances to see a new species to add a species to their "life list", year list or other list (source: Wikipedia).

A white-eye hope

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The Hume's White-eyes (Zosterops auriventer) (known as Everett's White-eye once upon a time) can safely be counted as one of the resident birds of the bukit as they are regularly seen either singly or in a small number and normally in a bird wave.  These birds normally too would keep to the upper canopy, moving continuously and then vanish before you can catch your second breath.   With increasing sighting, it is hoped there is a healthy population here.

I seek comfort in your presence.

As I was waiting

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A common bird, but like comfort food, you are a panacea in one moment of aridness, one moment of dullness, bearer of the colour of illumination, clarity, imagination and courage.

Oriole, I may not do you justice.

 

As I was passing by

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Looks like I have intruded, down the path less taken.  There is quietness here but there is no isolation or solitude, you may think there is because you didn't catch anyone seeking or watching.  We will meet again.

Drongo in training

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 It's common to come across a pair of Greater Racket-tailed Drogos (Dicrurus paradiseues) in the taman, very likely the same pair that has been around for more than a couple of years already, and mainly keeping to the same area in the taman.

However lately this pair has been around in another part of the taman, and imagine my delight when I chanced upon what appeared to be a parent and sub-adult.  This would be the first time I've across a young drongo, and it looked like the bird could be a rather young juvenile as it was following the parent around, or was it the parent that was teaching it to fly about.

When the parent flew off, the juvenile followed closely after, and interestingly how it soon slowly edged closer to the parent.

I soon learnt that there must be some training going on as the parent again flew to another part to be followed by the juvenile. 

It has been reported that the male and female parent drongo will continue to look over the juveniles even after they have left the nest.  In fact, even that the young will help to raise subsequent broods (Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, 2005).

I supposed as with any juvenile, its curiosity got the better of it as it tugged vainly at a twig. 

The young has lighter coloured bill and no tail streamers yet.

The parent flying off and anticipating the juvenile to follow suit.

Meanwhile, it looked like the other parent has joined them but this one merely sat passively watching them.  

Male and female greater racket-tailed drongo look alike so it's hard to say if this one is papa or mama. 

Another close-by  stopover for both parent and juvenile before I left the family alone.  They already had me trying to move hastily but discreetly about the whole morning keeping up with their movements.  However I wouldn't be afraid of losing track of their presence as the juvenile was calling out ceaselessly.

Intriguing flora

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Many could have just walked past these gorgeous hanging flowers because the tree was partially down the slope and the flora bunches were in the shade.

A quick check with a botanist friend gave me a lead that this is a Barringtonia species, and I couldn't be happier when I came across this write-up in the FRIM website:

"Barringtonia macrostachya or locally known as putat is an understorey tree of primary and secondary forest found along rivers and on hills or inundated forest and swampy areas. The species is widespread, from China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, Malay Peninsula, Sumatera, Borneo, Philippines, Sulawesi to the Moluccas. Putat has known medicinal values. 

The paste made from the putat roots has been traditionally used to treat sore eyes and ring worm. The bark or pounded fruit are used as fish poison. The leaves of putat are used to treat stomach-ache. A member of the family Lecythidaceae Barringtonia macrostachya tree ... The conservation status of this species is Least Concern."

Came across the tree with varying stages of flowering, fruiting, decay and drying.

The putat flower buds and what's left after the the flowers have dropped off.

Powderpuff flowers from the buds.

 

The bare inflorescence when all have dropped off.

Wonder if this is an indication of failed flowering, with dried-up buds on the slimmer inflorescence looking like that of a peppercorn branch.

Meanwhile,  close-by was another Barringtonia species, the Barringtonia acutangula aka Indian putat, Itchy bush, Itchy tree, of which there will be stunning scarlet red flowers when the buds bloom.

It is also called Stream Barringtonia which is most appropriate as this one was growing by a running stream.