With the force of lightning, the lushness of last Easters’ bamboo grove gave way to skeletal sticks and stems, kept barely alive by sporadic offerings of green shoots and leafy grass. Yet, here too are signs of the omnipresence of life and family. Against the bare morning sky, the bird-pairs of this Easter has given…
Nature
Nature, Places, Posts
Heliconia Quads
Nature, Places, Posts
Spring in the Garden
Even in tropical Singapore, spring is in the air as the garden bursts into colour and light. The light is especially beautiful in the mid-morning, while the occasional thunderstorm brings wet reprieve and a glossy sheen onto the Heliconias. (Lumix GX85 & Panasonic 14-140mm lens)
Nature, Places, Posts
Three Generations of the Yellow-vented Bulbuls?
These are the pictures of a young bulbul chirping on our Peacock tree (right) with the mother looking anxiously on (left) . Can we trace them back to their lineage from a year ago? The Yellow-vented Bulbuls (Pycnonotus goiavier) has revisited our home, after we spotted the species laying their eggs almost year ago. This…
Nature, Places, Posts
The Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier) Returns
The Yellow-vented Bulbuls (Pycnonotus goiavier) has revisited our home, after we spotted the species laying their eggs almost year ago. This is probably an offspring, fluffier, more rounded, with hints of a muddy yellow now re-nesting in our neighbourhood. (Lumix GX85; F5.6 1/160 iso 400; Olympus Zuiko 40-150 mm, 2017)
Nature, Places, Posts
The Pair of Indian Ringneck Parakeets for New Year
Caught our pair of Indian ringneck parakeets as they revisited and this time, it was possible to photograph the pair of birds individually, one greener, with a brightly painted beak, and the other, more subtle hued, with a faintly faded red beak, busily feeding, and calling out to each other, they launch themselves heavily with…
Nature, Places, Posts
Return of the Epiphytic Orchids
The epiphytic pink phalaenopsis orchids make another guest appearance this New Year in the north garden. Catching them before they open, one is reminded of a storm trooper – the protective helmet, the hostile snarl, and a eye for danger, but certainly dressed in beautiful regal purple with the deep yellow stamen within. (Lumix DMC-GX85, Olympus…
Nature, Places, Posts
The Little Forktail (Enicurus scouleri)
Nature, Places, Posts
The Taroko Gorge Arrival
The two-hour express train journey from Taipei Main Station via the Mountain Line as it emerges and hugs the north-eastern coast into Hualien City is followed by an hour long bus-ride into Tianxiang village deep within the Taroko Gorge National Park. Here the slide-show reveals the kaleidoscope of the mellowing and deepening colors of the…
Nature, Places, Posts
The Jiufen Snack Excursion
Jiufen is a small disused gold mining town in northern Taiwan, approximately 90 minutes east of Taipei by train and bus.