Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Going from here to visionsanasini2012.blogspot.com




You are invited to proceed to the sequel of this blog at visionsanasini2012 as i ran out of space on visionsanasini.....

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Its another tree fruiting this time

 Asian Glossy Starling 


My opposite block neighbor's  tree is  fruiting attracting birds...  black color birds flocking to this tree.
You can touch the branches from this floor.

Black- naped Oriole ( addeded Sat Oct 20 '12)   usually seen in pairs . Another common bird .


Sunday, October 07, 2012

Parakeets(Psittacula longicauda ) return

It was a pleasant surprise to be able to watch the return of the parakeets this Sunday morning.  For some unknown reason i woke up earlier than usual.  The sky was still dark when the noisy mynah(?)  prepared for the flying off.  I was looking forward to the parakeet instead. Then out of no where  they came settling on the usual corridor end trees.  The above image illustrates the body length and tail ratio of Psittacula longicauda - the long tailed parakeet.
A flock of them came settling temporary on the tree. Light was improving but these guys arent staying for long.  In the above shoot I noticed a face-to face parakeet pair and you can see the colorful  view of the chest to belly fur.

I read somewhere that parakeets partnered for life. Interesting to watch them grooming  themselves while one  did a head-down- tail up vertical stance.


All waiting for the call to take off in waves. I notice a lonely one staying behind a bit and 'murmured' some strange noise...
In this shot the quick flying parakeets took off the looking like a blurry banana flying through the sky. It was a worthwhile Sunday endeavor.  Plenty of hands on needed on my new camera/lens pair. I closed the front gate, looked at the wall clock - it was only 7 am.

Monday, October 01, 2012

SBG brief visit

Notice a cluster of flowers on this plant. Nikon P7000.
Didn't really notice the big ant  until i inspected the image real close.

 I looked up and noticed a rather solidly build structure...
strapped  on the spotted bark of the petaling tree.

 Figs on the giant kapok's trunk

 Even in 11:15am mid noon  sun outside, this area is noticeably cooler.

 Kapok man-height buttress roots  versus mengkulang's  smaller but much folded trunk trees

Sunday, September 02, 2012

Birds visiting trees near common corridor

          BIRDS   I was new in  Yishun  and starting to know the  'neighborhood'.  Dwarf banana trees that bore bunches of bananas, neighbours chilli plant, numerous cats in void deck, same group of people sharing the same lift.... and then the birds caught my attention too.   It was fruiting season for two trees seen at the end of the common collidor. Birds were attracted to the red berries. Parekeet is one of them.  I heard them for weeks without realising they are paraleet.  On the fruiting tees,   I pick out yet another deeper green color branches - parasitic plants - mistletoe and they are fruiting at the same time as the parent trees.even with similar pinkish forms as the berry. I reckon both needed the birds for propagting their offsprints.

        Few mornings  flocks of pretty parakeet - green back and long tailed birds taking off with leaders making lough noises.  On the nearby mahagony trees another grouping of black bird took off. In the evening the latter returned to the same tree for resting. The parakeets arrived or flew by late in the evening.  On this particular night another swarms of swallow like  white belly descended upon the frutting trees and occupying the ledges of the building.  I recorded the swam descending on this tree as well as forming a bee-lines on the ledges. With failing light i resorted  to my old Sony Hi 8 cam corder recording in in Infra mode.   I couldn't see clearly the small form bird  but the white belly was evident and they flew with swallow's grace. The group disappeared the next morning day and never return. Parked cars below the blocks wre peltered with their dropping.

Parakeet on tree branches P7000

Green back, split tail parakeet - a parrot-like bird. You should see them in flight ( early morning or returning late at night)  - a very pretty sight.  On the tree near the corridor I noticed a group will start gathering  on the same tree, and as if on que, they will all suddenly decided to fly off en-mass with leader quaking away.

  I took a few shots using my P7000 Nikon p&s pushing its maximum zoom resulting in grainy images.. I  aslo tried the video recording and  managed to bag a few 'red-face' male among the group. The males make the loud distinct noise leading the flock perhaps. In one of the recording, a paraket was eating something silky white. Perhaps munching from the mistletoe.

 My appearance in the corridor opposite end of my unit might have triggered other....  A photographer was seen taking pics of the birds!!! 

Male 'red-face'.. P7000

Another juvenile male looking straight at you P7000

           After 7 am on this Sunday morning. All the exciting groups of birds had departed searching for food elsewhere.   As the sun climbed higher, it dawn on me why not trying out the old sigma lens  and trained on birds. Here are a few shoots

 Common Koel - female. Sigma 75-300mm /20D


 4pm pick up my gear and got this fellow

 No wonder ...spiky hair style came from this


[Sep 8 '12]  A group of 4 was chasing each other. One decided to hide in the nearby tree. The common yellow color bird. This tree bears no fruits. 

 [ Sep 8 '12] This pair was seen on together, one tailing the other . Note the greenish iridescent feathers.
 
Where to find the parakeet again?   Large flocks of the returning birds were seen  at the Yishun Av 5 near the Mcdonald [ Sep 12 '12]

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Melacca aug 9 - 11 '12


malay apple from the corner of someones garden


 Fruits  of  Malacca trees.

 Pickles made from Malacca fruits - popular among the Indian communities.

Traveler's Planet - we put up for two night here. 


Water wheel by the Melacca River in




Tourist Information

St Francis Xavier. Notice the missing right hand palm.

St Paul's church. Notice the white light house built by the British. 

St Paul's Church Inside view

 the narrow lane leading to good food...




  Store famous for ... see news clipping

 Colorful trishaw
 Perigi Raja or Hang Li Poh Well.  This is my 2nd visit to this well. the last time was in 1974!!

 Shooting from above.

The temple next to the well.  We drank the water ... so we will be back?
 We also walked up the hill of Bukit China in mid noon sun. There are nothing interesting there.

Colorful shop


Welcoming chill out with centoh

or the centoh with durian ...

and top up with chicken and rice ball

 Chicken rice and rice ball - famous dish from this region

People start queing before 4pm.. just wanted to eat the satey celup- dipping skew into a central pot of satay sause.



 River cruise 45 minutes on Malacca River..
Wall murays ..





eye on malacca

 Surprising we saw monorail! You can check google on the background of the challenges this service had been  facing.

A close up look of the multi lane contacts the rail is using ... what a strange design.

Our cruise flat bottom boat easily over take the monorail.

Breadcrumb from my GPS...



with map on one hand.. keep walking....