Me and a Common Iora

I whistled, I jumped and I even waved my hand, but it never bothered to show me its full portrait. Birds are always as funny as us; sometimes they were too cautious and disappeared on the spot, but they treated me as though I was transparent at another time.

I was at the most twelve feet away from this Common Iora, and looking at my size it certainly believed this distance was very safe. No, no, I am wrong; it had never looked at me, it glimpsed at me.

I simply lost my ego in front of this small bird. Thinking of you my friends, I was still negotiating for a full portrait. My ego was then kept aside. But this would not help; as time was ticking away, I was still what I was: a silly dumbhead.

I whistled and waved good-bye while I was making my move, but I never looked back. It might not tease me because it was so cool. In the end we have to content ourselves with these few pictures.

Later part of the story:
Yen told in his blog that spider silks were used by this Common Iora in order to reinforce the structure of their nest.

Blue-throated Bee-eater

I had another lifer of the day when the corner of my eye triggered again. My normal eyes then took over and followed through until it stopped by a branch.

I could see it clearly, but due to incorrect background lighting so you cannot. It has a bright blue throat, chestnut head and upper back, black eye stripe and bluish tail feathers. It is confirmed as a blue-throated bee-eater.

Two formed a happy and lovely couple. But two could never increase my chances of getting decent pictures since the setting was still not right. I tried to move around but this would not help.

Only when the bird perched on a proper place then you are now able to see it clearly. We need support to achieve our objective. Tell me then how to achieve a consensus with those birds in the wild.

Any idea from you?

Weaver Ant's Nest

I heard chirping here, tweeting there, and twittering there though I was not an expert to differentiate or identify them. Though was not an expert, the corner of my eye is usually more powerful and useful than my normal eyes.

I have sensed something up above a tree, but was it a bird among the green?

(I bet Icy must have known the answer. She used to go through the pictures before going into the writing.)

This is a closer view. It must be some sort of nest belonged to weaver ants. These ants had travelled so high for their new found kingdom; luckily their office was not on the ground floor, or they must have difficulty to press any buttons in an elevator.

Oh no, it was a bird. But who was it?

It turned its head to tell me it was a pigeon. What an interesting encounter!

I was as happy as a millionaire by now to have discovered and captured my lifer, this one-foot length pigeon.

Green pigeon is a common species in rainforest and similar dense wet woodlands, but it is totally not common to me who used to jog-and-go all the times.

And I beg your pardon for the wrong title.

Escape from the Spells

I strongly believe that I have to leave Cerok Tokun temporary, at least for a safe period. I am a coward, and not a saviour or Superman. You can go ahead to look down on me, but I do not intend to be kissed awake under the black spells of Gergamel.

I thus spent my whole Saturday morning wandering around at a swamp area.

I saw young mangroves rooting themselves and beginning the next stage of their life in the watery mudland. There were signs of new life.

And there were signs of active life in this mangrove swamp. The tiny holes in the second picture are homes for crabs. Other than mudskippers, billions of worms and invertebrates are also the common inhabitants over here. These organisms in turn feed various bird species that make their home in the foliage.

I saw no evil forces except the rule of the Nature.

And this Kingfisher is a common species over here. It always flies low in order to be visible, and more importantly, to make all the teasing to me noticeable. It is alright somehow or other.

This is always fine to me, as what Edith Wharton had said, "There are two ways to spread happiness; either be the light who shines it or be the mirror who reflects it." Anyway, I am one of the mirrors.

I shall show you my lifers in the next post. Stay tuned.

Flying Mudskipper

I have shown you mudskippers some time ago, and I would like to show you something which is very interesting yet new to me right now.

As their name implies, other than walking on mudflats, mudskippers are able to skip by using their strong pair of pectoral fins. I heard of this a long long time ago, this was the first time I witnessed this exciting stunt today.

I was actually hunting for birds along Perai River this afternoon, but then this mudskipper simply diverted my attention.

It continued to skip one after another, either aiming to entertain me or to have a good exercise.

Let see together.

It applied force on the pectoral fins, and got set to catapult it self,

and,

up, upppppppp, and it flew like a bird.

Isn't it funny and interesting? I bet you have never seen this before. What do you say?

The Critters: Fiddler Crabs

Since then, I was found still squatting, and waiting for the little crabs before any bites by mosquitoes.

The following pictures though appear in sequence, those crabs actually came out from the holes at the same time. They moved partially out from the holes, checked the surrounding and the unprepared me, and retreated immediately when I started to response.

The game continued until both sides got tired, but they actually were semi-paralysed by the flashes.

This black one was found behind a rock. A little cautious while coming out, but became a immediate star who was stormed by flashes. Anyhow, it lasted not long.

A new target was waving its claw to me. The male crab has an over sized large claw that is used in clashes over a female.

"Ugh, I do not has any interest in your girl friend. I have mine."

The stare discomforted me. I moved my camera to the nearby handsome.

These fiddler crabs communicated to me by a sequence of waves and gestures, in an unfriendly manner. They are not afraid of any fighting. If they have lost legs or claws, a new one will grow when they molt. If the large fiddle claw is lost, one will be developed on the opposite side after the next molt.

Anyway I was not here to start a fight. They were only tiny crabs, the largest being slightly over two inches across.

I only wanted to take a few nice shots to share with my friends. Somehow I have accomplished my mission. I then called it a day, it was getting dark now.

Bye-bye my friends, see you all in my next trip.

About my jogging trail

I did not talk much about my jogging trail though I have posted a few stories before.

I did not talked much, not because either me or she is shy. The sky is always dim when I am there. The monkeys, birds, crabs, lizards and some others have either returned home or well hidden by the dim light. I have nothing much to talk about.

The above picture on a river beside my jogging trail has appeared once in my blog, that is why it is downgraded into a dwarf. My story today began along the shore line, a swamp area, because I reached here very early today. And this very early had ended up seeing me taking pictures instead of dripping with sweat.

I wanted to show you some beautiful little crabs, this was my intention. When I got nearer, they disappeared into their hiding holes as fast as the squirrels. Then, there are no crabs today, except for that blue dragonfly. It never flied away even my camera was only two inches away. Poor little thing, my early series of flashlights should have made it losing its brain.

(This may be the trick: bombard the crabs with flashlight!! This must help).

Then came the lone mudskipper that seemed to lose its way. It was heading towards a hiding hole of a crab, at where my camera was pointed, waiting for the emergence of that little critter. Mudskippers are completely amphibious fish. They are able to spend days moving about out of water.

Since then, I was found still squatting like a statue besides the swamp, waiting for the little beautiful crabs before the sun set, before the guerrilla attacks by mosquitoes.

I could not deviate from my initial plan. That dragonfly or mudskipper had not successfully distracted me. There is an aim, there will be some pain, then come the gain.

I shall come back.