A Pair of Bulbuls on Balcony

This pair of Yellow Vented Bulbuls (Pycnonotus goiavier) was first spotted perched on a branch the Rangoon creeper.

 

They took turns to perch on the branch at a spot just above a clump of Alpinia purpurata (Red ginger torch) providing me with a nice photo finish :)

Sensing my presence, they then flew up to the glass balcony above.





This climbing variegated Bougainvillea Mrs Eva scales up two floors and spread out out on the glass balcony. 

It blooms continuously and at certain times of the year, it loses all its leaves and only displays its showy magenta flowers.

Thunbergia Grandiflora - A Sky Blue Curtain

I have this vine of Thunbergia Grandiflora and Tristellateia australasiae (Maiden's jealousy) planted on the right side of the house. Both were trained to clamber up the wall and cascade down the front of the car porch.

The Tristellateia australasiae vine is slower growing and just managed to reached the top of the porch. Its canary yellow flowers can be seen peeking out on the right side.

 This photo was shot in the late afternoon, so a number of blooms have wilted under the searing heat of the sun.


Over time this curtain gradually grew thick and lush.






The sky-blue flowers are the favourites of Carpenter bees.





A carpenter bee buzzes in without much ceremony.

  Thunbergia blooms on vine intertwined merrily with a tecoma stans shrub.

The flaming red spikes of Alpinia purpurata (Red ginger torch) added a dollop of dramatic pigments to an otherwise pastel curtain of sky-blue flowers.

Ants at a gathering on the underside of the leaf.

Come dusk, it was chow-down time for this scavenger snail.



A vessel of freshly-plucked flowers make for a welcoming eye candy.

Night Boarders

We see our garden by day and picture in our mind how it looks but what happens after dark is entirely different. When the critters think that we are not watching, a different scenario sets in. 

Bougainvilla Elizabeth Angus. I have this Bougy E. Angus just outside my doorstep. One night, I ventured into the garden and had a pleasant surprise.

This fledgling settled on this bougy as its night time retreat.
It kept returning every night around 8.00pm for about a fortnight. 

It always chose the same leaf to perch on which is at eye level. With its head tucked into its chest, it was sweet slumber, oblivious to human activities.

A blue skimmer dragonfly (Orthetrum Caledonicum) retired for the night on the unfurled leaf of the epiprenum.

A very tiny Damselfly decided that this pair of frayed blue jeans left to dry in the kitchen was safe sanctuary.

A male Common Mormon (Papilio polytes) appeared blue instead of deep brown when shot at night.

This Mandevilla vine was deemed suitable for night time refuge. It hung precariously on the tip of the leaf.

Mandevilla sanderi 'Red Riding Hood'

 A mottled skipper tinged with orange on the forehead and underside settled on a hibiscus leaf for the night.

Another moth of unknown ID settled on this ...

... Galphimia gracilis or commonly called as 'Rain of Gold' (updated on 9.1.14)

This young bamboo stake provides a high point for this purplish-red dragonfly.

An unidentified critter on Philodendron 'Ceylon Gold'.  

 
A snake coiled up languorously for the night, on the broad leaf of the Alpinia purpurata (Red ginger torch).

A pair of bats make this canopy of Quisqualis indica (Rangoon creeper) their night abode too.

 
This hairy moth took refuge indoors, on the back of my front door. So, good-nite to all and sleep tight.

Petraeovitex wolfei - Nong Nooch Vine

This vine is easy to grow and propagate. The vines are fine, but has robust growth.  Its growth habit is similar to that of Clerodendrum thomsonae (Bleeding Heart vine). The leaves are tri-foliate, light green in colour and darken over time.

This amazing vine is a stunner when in bloom.

I brought it back home from the nursery as a one-foot high rooted cutting. It grew fast and after several months, it reached my first floor balcony and sprouted these pendulous strings of golden blooms.

It is fighting with Quisqualis indica (Rangoon creeper) for balcony space.

 
A solitary golden strand hangs down between the finger-like foliage of the Norfolk Island Pine.

This Zebra Dove (Geopelia striata) fledging flew against my glass door and dropped down semi-conscious. I placed it  in a cardboard box with bird seeds and water. The next day, I set it out on the top tier of a contianer-planted Norfolk Island Pine to dry as it had spilled water over itself.

It basked in the warmth of the morning sun and allow me to photograph it from all angles.



It finally took off leaving three feathers behind as a momento of its brief stint of domesticity with us.

Some strands dipped into the thick clump of Alpinia purpurata (Red ginger torch)

The real flowers are the white ones but they do not last long. The golden bracts are the ones which last and give it the character that draws much admiration.

A calyx landed on the lawn.