Insect Bite

This 'pelesit'- bush-crickets strayed into my house again two days ago.
I catched it and try to release it out side, but it bite me at my right little finger.


This is what my finger look like, one hour later. No pain but itchy.
The oedema subside after Tab. Prednisolone 10 mg stat.







This is what happened to the insect after my son decided to use it as a target practice of his toy pistol.
The colour is different from the pic here

Insects - Dragonfly and wasp

Yellow dragonfly - Macrodiplax cora















Polistes sagittarius
Common name(s): Banded paper wasp/Banded Polistes



pic not sharp, as my previous wasp.

Ripe Rambutan Fruits

Now it all ripe, and ready for harvest.
Actually I have only three rambutan tree, two yellow ("gading") and one red ("anak sekolah") variety.
The rambutan at my backyard flowers in march (here the pic).

Here the picture in Jun.

The fruit matures 15-18 weeks after flowering.











A basket of Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum)

Portrait of Pied Fantail

This is my first Full Frame shot of 'mad bird'.
It foraged under the rambutan tree. I hide behind the car about four meter away, to have this portrait.




Pied Fantail
(Rhipidura javanica)
Murai Gila (Malay)

Portrait of Munia

Scaly-breasted Munia (Lonchura punctulata)
Pipit Pinang


an adult









Juvenile















juvenile

Portrait of Bulbul

Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier)
Merbah Kapur

Update - Common Iora Nest

This picture was taken at noon yesterday.
I saw only one juvenile Iora in the nest. The other had fledged.

When I got back from work at 6.oopm, the nest is empty.

Good luck in your new life birds!

Portrait of Sparrow

Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus)














Perched at the Rambutan tree.
Noted the Mistletoe grew at the rambutan's branch.

Update - Common Iora Nestling

Ok, very fresh from CF card.
I managed to shot this nestling / feeding Ioras with green grasshopper in its beak feeding the chick.

Common Iora - Nestling

I was very surprised when my son (Firdaus) told me that he found the nestling Common Iora, just outside my car park.
The nest is at the "jambu" (Guava, Psidium sp) tree, about 10 feet height, at the branch where my neighbor park her car underneath it.
The place is so busy, with children running around and playing street soccer.
I failed to see the nest because it is well hidden and camouflage under the jambu leaves. The chicks colour is also same with leaves - yellow-green.


Firdaus heard a soft repetitive sound. He took a bin and have been observing it for two evening .

The nest is small, loose, cup-shaped. It is made out of grass and other fibres felted together and thickly coated externally with cobwebs.






Aegithina tiphia

Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis)

Since the papaya trees was destroyed (by this bird) in march '08, I rarely see this oriole perches near my backyard.

This two days I saw a pair feeding the ripe banana.
Here one of it willingly posed for me!.

Rufous Woodpecker (Celeus brachyurus)

My LIFER today. Got it at 7: 50 am, perched at 'petai tree' (Parkia speciosa) at my backyard.

Rufous Woodpecker (Celeus brachyurus)
Local name: Belatok Biji Nangka
Size : 25 cm

This is my 3rd Woodpecker after the:-
(1) Common Flameback - (Dinopium javanense), and
(2) Banded Woodpecker (Picus miniaceus)

There are 25 species of Woodpeckers according to PERHILITAN (Department of Wild Life, Malaysia).

Yellow-vented Bulbul Courtship Dance and Sing

Courtship involves wing and song displays. They raise and lower the crown crest as they sing.

YELLOW-VENTED BULBULS' CHICK

Just fledgling chick

White-throated Kingfisher - feeding

This White-throated KingFisher perched very far and its body was hidden by a branch.

I saw it feed on something, black coloured. Not sure of what.

Flying Barbet

Gold-whiskered Barbet (Megalaima chrysopogon)

Yellow-vented Bulbul - Breakfast!

Yellow-vented Bulbul with its breakfast

Bulbul

Yellow-vented Bulbul at Yellow Banana Leaf

Flying Falconet (Microhierax fringillarius)

Black-thighed Falconet (Microhierax fringillarius)



The bird keep changing position from branch to another, probably aware of my son and me observing.
Flying with its prey at the claws.

Falconet prey on ?Flowerpecker

On my earlier posting, I mention that the prey was probably Eurasian Tree Sparrow.
I think it a Flowerpecker - Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker (Dicaeum cruentatum).
I posted the picture at PhotoMalaysia forum and the reply from jytou here.
Is was not sparrow, "look at the feet, they are slim black feetmaybe a juvenile munia, sunbird or flowerpecker, that has such slim legs."
This is the heavy cropped / closeup of the prey. We can see the red colour at the head, or maybe a bleeding/brain haemorrhage!




The earlier picture before the Falconet catch the Flowerpecker.
It perched just above the Falconet.

Black-thighed Falconet with prey

I was having my lunch at 1.40PM when I noticed this small raptor (Microhierax fringillarius) perched highup. Than when I was about leave for work at 2.03PM the bird returned with prey. The prey was probably Tree sparrow (Passer Montanus). The feeding lasted for 15 minutes (up to 2.18PM). Unlike Gold-Whiskered Barbet feeding that I saw in May, this sparrow as already dead and the falcon just concentrated in eating the prey, (not banging it into the perch). From the breast colour it is unusually white with only small patch of orange. Look like Pied Falconet (Microhierax melanoleucos), but the pied is not found here in Malaysia ( It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Hong Kong, India, Laos, and Vietnam) I have seen the black-thighed before, their front/breast feathers are orange in colour. Could this a female or juvenile sp? NOT a White-fronted Falconet (Microhierax latifrons) which are endemic in Borneo (Sabah and Sarawak), with white colour at front half of the head, not with this bird which only a small patch of white at the head.

"Rasulullah SAW melarang daripada memakan setiap binatang buas yang bertaring dan setiap jenis burung yang mempunyai kuku untuk mencengkam"

Burung yang mempunyai kuku pencakar, paruh tajam,

makan menyambar (burung pemangsa) seperti burung helang, burung hantu dan

seumpamanya.