Odd owls and other fowls

Right now there seems to be a steady rise in owl related merchandise that have made their way into retail shops , hypermarts , flea market stalls , they're everywhere !

Bags , earrings , necklaces , bookcovers , chopsticks , figurines , puff stools ...the variety is still growing .

If you do not spot them at a particular place , it could mean that yet another eagle eyed customer managed to grab it first . These items come in batches from wholesale agents ,who most times compell their buyers to take different designs . Thus in a clutch of 4 boxes , only one comes with owl prints .

Given the current economic situation , so long as they are not overpriced and there is no glut to turn us off for good , people are still snapping them up eagerly .

Here's what I found so far . Not just owl , but other fowls too , as I have always been fond of them from way back .

Owl plate . 

Great , now I need a matching mug to go with it .

Tractor Stalkers

Look carefully at the picture.

Notice the long line of birds trailing the freshly tilled land left by the tractor

Brilliant don't you think?

Instead of going to all the trouble of foraging the land with their own beaks,they decided to stalk him. 

I was told that this is a rare sight, something we'd never have the opportunity to see on Penang island.

Can't remember exactly where I was, but in case you are curious this was shot on a small tarred road along one of the many bund tributaries after Permatang Sintok.

Bird watching in Tanjung Bungah

You don't have to go very far. Just whip out your binoculars if you heard a bird calling in this neighbourhood.


I did that and was rewarded with this picture below . Amazing eh ? Don't even need to go to the zoo.

Clueless as to what species it is but there were two of them in the tree.
They couldn't care less if I were using a flash and closing in on them as the female was obviously in the heat with the male in hot pursuit .

Notice the red eyes and long fanned tail. This is one very loud and vocal bird.

Birds nest on my balcony

The incessant chirping made me look harder.

Oh gosh.

A mummy bird had made her nest between 2 outdoor airconditioning compressors .

For the next two weeks or so, we relied on fan power. If we had switched it on, the babies would have perished from the sheer heat alone.

Other people would probably have destroyed the nest for fear of mite infestation . But we didn't do anything.

Twigs, grass, all in one huge big ball ! You would have thought there was a baby eagle in there.

Then one day, a crow attacked and 2 of the cutest, tiniest little birds fell out.

I shooed the rascal away but held back from touching them . Always refrain from handling baby birds no matter how heartless it seems . Never ever interfere or they might not survive.

Today, one finally flew off. I managed to snap this just before the second offspring took flight.

See, there's a whole lot of waste and grass with seeds,all courtesy of the hardworking parents.

The clearest picture of the lot. Don't know what bird it is, but the underside is a greenish yellow and it's got white markings on its beak.

One strong gutsy little birdey.

Don't know if they'll ever return but I think their mom panicked when she found them both MIA. 

She's quite a songstress but this time she kind of sounded urgent as she called out to them.

After all the fun being nature's host, it's time to wash up.

Crowing At The Fridge

I was at a local carwash the other day waiting for my turn when I saw this. The carwash is located next to a makeshift restaurant which had already closed for the day.

A crow was staring at the fridge, looking at all the goodies inside and I guess, he was trying to figure out how to get to them.

Notice that it is heavily padlocked. Makes me wonder if it has succeeded before .

They used to be scavengers picking at rubbish but nowadays, they seem to have developed a preference for just discarded fast foods .

Have personally seen them picnicking on Mc Donalds french fries ( yep french fries) .They seem to be able to recognise the brand and logo.

On another occasion, I observed a tag team punching open a styrofoam lunch box from the top to get to the pasar malam food inside.

We may despise them but they're so resourceful and smart. Maybe it's just a matter of time before we have to lock our fridges up too .