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.

Olive-backed Sunbirds on Quisqualis indica

Birds are common visitors to my garden. One such visitor is the Olive-backed Sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis). Sighting these birds gave me an opportunity to have a fruitful session with my new tele-lens.

The Olive-backed Sunbird has a yellow belly and dark metallic blue throat on the underside of the neck and spreading to upper chest area. The upper part of its head and body is a dull, dirty yellow colour which we describe as olive.

This sunbird did a through inspection of this cluster of flowers ...


before thumbing his beak away. It then sat prettily on this bunch of flowers and sang, making for a rather good composition.

"Sweet bird!  thy bow'r is ever green,
Thy sky is ever clear;
thou has't no sorrow in thy song,
No winter in thy year."
~  John Logan 


I've always enjoyed looking at the Quisqualis indica when it is in full bloom. The fragrance that wafted down made for a heady olfactory experience.

On another day, I saw this sunbird peering down from the midst of this inflorescence.

It perched in a haughthy manner, knowing that it was safe and sound, high up way above human reach.

 
"Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, 
still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings" ~ Victor Hugo

It's Christmas!

This year I decided to use my two-year-old Norfolk Island Pine as a live Christmas tree. I bought this 8 inch tall plant from Ikea, had it planted in a container and now it has about 8 tiers. It is not very tall but I thought that it should suffice for this year.

 Well, next year it will be different as I planned to be more diligent in applying nutrients and molly coddle it for the next 12 months.

 

This plain, chocolatey moth flew and rested on a leaf next the colourful tinsels.

It scrambled around for a while and then laid motionless, which to all appearances has become part of the tree ornaments.

Santa visited this bird nest of three baby birds.

 

Tasha was also enomoured of the ornamented tree.

Tasha getting into the festive mood by

 

donning a diamante tiara.

 

This huge wooden dog door stopper present a merry welcome to guests.
 

This Dracaena draco houseplant was tarted up for the occasion.

Santa teddies on a rope of acrylic garlic.

Dried home-grown bamboo stems are used as props for these ornaments, some of which are decades old.

Some concrete garden animals at the base of bamboo props.

Ornaments on pussy willows from last year's Spring Festival.


The tall one at Berjaya Time Square.


Wishing you a joyous Christmas!

 

Yellow Vented Bulbul on Quisqualis indica

Yellow Vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier), called Merbah Kapur in Malay are common birds in my garden. When there is a handful of them around, the garden is full of their chatter and bird calls. Its face is white with kohl-lined black eyes. The feathers on the underside of the tails (coverts) are yellow while it is light brown on the rest of the underbelly and chest.

This Yellow Vented Bulbul was spotted on a branch of Quisqualis indica.

 The playground for the birds

 It first did a check of its surroundings, before it hopped further down the branch to check out the flowers.

不鸣则已，一鸣惊人
"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song."  - Chinese proverb


 
Perhaps it finally became aware of my snooping lens and so turned around to show me its butt before ...

 
flying off to a nearby tree.



It fluffed up its feathers ...



and started preening.



When that was done, it got ready to take off again ...




to land on another branch.

PS: I've just acquired a telephoto lens (Nikkor 55-300mm) at a reasonable price. The above photos are the outcome of this session. My hands are a bit shaky with this longer lens, so I probably should consider getting a monopod to assist me in achieving sharper images. On the whole I'm quite happy with the outcome, considering what I have to pay for it.