Fauna : Bird watch

16 July 2011

Do you see it?

While my neighbour's tree is flushed with blooming flowers, all I got for show is this.

Am I green with envy? Yes.

Am I frustrated? Yes.

That is part and parcel of gardening. No hard and fast rule. No holy grail. Each garden is different. The soil. The water tablet. The micro ambient. The pests. The green hands. The TLC. The plants' genes. It's all try and error. Of course soaking up available information helps you to understand a particular plant's need and care. But no two gardens are the same.

It is day 4 since the nest appeared. The mama bird conveniently used the ground cover below the tree for her nest. There's eggs inside but I didn't climb up a ladder to check. The mama bird is always nearby even when foraging for food.

The picture was taken 4 metres away with 11x zoom. The mama bird had flew the nest at the sight of the camera. She is very camera shy. I mean VERY camera shy. I tried again twice to take a picture of mama bird sitting in the nest with no success.
The second time was from 8 metres away. The moment I zoom in, she flew the nest.
The third time from 12 metres away with maximum optical+digital zoom. I maxed the zoom first, then only I point the lens at her. Flap, flap, flap. Gone with the wind. Any further distance I will have to get myself a DSLR with tele-lense.
The darn thing is she is perfectly fine with me going as near as 3 metres doing my own things quietly. No fuss. As long I don't point the camera at her.

I will pretend she is not there and check the progress in 1~2 weeks time. That also mean I can't do any gardening within the tree's 3 metres radius as so not to disturb the mama bird.

Let's just hope Sam does not goes "I twat I thaw a tweety bird!"










23 July 2011

On a nice sunny late-noon, the sky darken within minutes and it was pouring with a mini gale wind that splash the raindrops in all directions. It lasted for a good half hour and then... it was over. The rain stopped. The wind stopped. The sun stoled a peek in an otherwise grey sky. And there it was. "Chirp" "chirp" "chirp". Two baby birds. The parents were busy hunting for bugs to feed the two babies. Occasionally they took a detour to my cili padi plant and gulp down one or two cili padis whole.

It was a tad easier trying to frame the birdies in action. Just a tad. I still had to stay eight metres away with zoom maxed to 21X. With low sunlight, hard to get clear shots with my shaky hands.

31 July 2011

The baby birds took their first flight.

This is control tower. No predators in sight, just the annoying guy with the cheap camera. Baby bird 1, you are clear to take off.

Roger that, control tower. SatNav... checked. Wings... checked. Fuel... checked. Annoying guy with the cheap camera... checked. All systems... checked. Baby bird 1 are GO.

The Mohawk.

The chilli mugger.

 Here putty putty! Come see me do the happy feet.

Putty cat locked away in a small cage by the annoying guy with the cheap camera.

 >..<   Angry birds   >..<

THE END

07 August 2011

The birds are called yellow-breasted bulbuls.



Epulae : Kakuray Cafe

Kakuray Cafe

Location: Same block as BDC H&L Supermarket.

Jalan-jalan cari makan. Decided to try Karukay Cafe out...
Kakuray Cafe has been around for 6 months, and is owned by a local chap which had a nine years stint in Singapore before coming back to work at Hai Pa Wang (near SRJK Chung Hua 3) for a short while.

Salted fish fried rice with "mani-chai" (RM3.50)

 - the mani-chai gave it a bit of a crunchy bite



Fried fish slices in ginger broth (RM5.00/ with rice RM6.00)

 - the rice is filled to the plate's brim

Portion: Dog size (Dog = I'm stuffed; Cat = Just nice; Kitty = I'm still hungry)

Ambient:

Typical kopitiam seating/environment. A bit warm due to the low ceiling. A/C might be in order but that would crank up the electric bill and thus the food bill.

Verdict:

Heavy seasoning can overwhelm a dish. A tomyam soup which is too sour or a black soy sauce chicken dish which is too salty for example.

Both the dishes I tried are light on seasoning but still sufficient enough to bring out the taste. I kinda like the "ginge-ry" broth. Coupled with dog size portions and reasonable pricing, will I go back to try out the other dishes? Yes!

Flora : Periwinkle

Periwinkle / Vinca

There are many variants of periwinkle. I would broadly classify them into the "woody type" and "hanging type". The woody type is normally planted in the ground or pot as a small flowering shrub. The hanging type as the name suggested is planted in hanging pots, giving a showy display of drooping flowers.

Both are ever flowering evergreen that can be planted in full sun or partial shade, and is not particularly choosy of soil medium. You will often find vinca from fallen seeds growing happily in the smallest nooks and crevices giving the chance. But vinca is a thirsty plant. The leaves will curl at the first sign of thirst and turn yellow and fall off if not watered pronto. However, it cannot withstand water logging and will die back under such condition. The hanging type is less tolerant to water logging.

There are two most common pests afflicting periwinkle plants. Spider mites and mealy bugs. If not contained at first signs, the whole plant will die back. It is very difficult to see the spider mites but you will know of their presence when tips and green/soft branches die back for no apparent reason. A spray of white oil does wonders.

A monthly organic compost feeding will keep it flowering happily. Nip the tips of the branches to get a more bushy plant. Prune the stems back when they get too leggy to encourage new shoots.

Propagation is done by seeds or cuttings. Use mature woods if propagating from cuttings. The soft green stems will not strike roots. Since vinca cross pollinates readily, cuttings is the only way to ensure that you propagate the desired variants. I started with five variants which I collected over time and now I have nine variants. I let the periwinkles cross pollinate freely in a semi controlled landspace.

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Now... if I can get hold of the violet/blue variant for a perfect '10' !

Flora : 7-Sien-Chen

Chit-Sien-Chen (loosely translated as "Seven fairies needle")
(Scientific name ?unknown?)

A cactus like plant with showy red flower and 1" long needles along the stems. A single prick to your finger will cause your hand and arm to go numb with pain within the hour, and swollen within a day. It take about a week at least for the swelling to subsides.

It is a fast growing plant up to six feets tall which can get messy with twining stems. Should be planted in pot to control it's propagation reach, away from pets and children. Easily rooted from cuttings. Handling and pruning is tricky due to the long thorn. No gardening gloves is going to protect your hands from the 1" thorns. Handle gingerly by the leaves :)

Excellent to be planted along fences to deter intruders, be it the four-legged or two-legged type, especially when fully matured to six feets height and intertwined firmly onto the fence. Only the fool hardy intruders will attempt breach.

Flora : Oyster plant

Oyster plant / Boatlily / Moses-in-a-boat / Tradescantia spathacea

Left: medicinal Oyster plant                                                  Right: ornamental Oyster plant

The medicinal Oyster plant is beneficial for sore throat, coughing and body cooling. Slow boil for few hours. A lazy way is to boil it in a croak pot/ slow cooker on high setting once back from work in the evening and turn the power off before going for bed. A luke warm oyster plant tea will be waiting for you first thing in the morning.

Boil with yellow rock sugar, add other herbs like jasmine, pandan leaves, chrysanthemum, etc if so desired. I have no idea if the herbal mixture will turn poisonous but so far so good... phew!

However, the latex/sap of the Oyster plant IS poisonous, so avoid skin contact during pruning/harvesting/handling. Is ok to handle after thoroughly boiled. Don't ask me why. Unripe tomato is poisonous. Ripe tomato is yummy. It just is.

And don't mix up the medicinal Oyster plant with the ornamental Oyster plant. Looks alike at first glance. The pictures are taken at the same time with the same camera and light exposure.

Oyster plant is not too particular with soil medium but loves a good dose of organic compost every forthnight or so. Forgiving if you forgot to water them for a couple of hot sunny days. Propagates by seed or side shoots. Have a pretty deep root system. Root system will envelope the entire pot given time. A shallow 6~8" pot will do. I have one planted in a 4" pot and doing well :)

Ground planting can be invasive due to propagation by seed nature and also the far reaching rooting system.

Thrives both under shade and full sun.

Fauna : the Three Wise Kings

See  no evil.
Hear no evil.
Say  no evil.

Things may not be what they seem. Or it is just as simple as it seems. See with thou common sense and informed judgement. And thou shall see what needs to be. Char-ku-piao with your heart, and char-coal shall be gain.

Learn to be silence, for pure bliss is attained when thou mind are still; Even if thou are placed in a room full of clucking hens. Char-ku-piao with a distracted mind, and char-sio-too shall be served.

Thee can speak a thousand words without whispering a sigh from thee mouth. Thee mind speak only when thee say none. Thee mind think only when thee say none. Be still and speak for a moment thee know this true. Char-ku-piao clucking like a hen, and a-clucking thou shall be.