From paddyfields to concrete jungle.....

What shall I write....I have not penned my thoughts since January!!

Most exciting time I had was finding the roosting site for harriers in the paddyfields not too far from my home.

Whenever opportunities arise, I would take my 4-wheels to watch the harriers coming in from all directions and congregating in one plot to roost for the night.

There would be plently of squabbles amongst the harriers, probably trying to fight for the most "comfortable" or "prime" roosting spot...there was no such thing as "early bird bookings".Would stay to watch until 8pm, when darkness crept in and all harriers' activities died down. Time to head for home - luckily, mosquitoes were not plenty there. Photography was tough as most actions happened at dusk in low light. Actions peaked at around 5 mins before all activity died...when hundreds of them would circle low over the roosting spot. Some experienced birders have attempted to count them and reported numbers over 250! I got dizzy with them circling and wouldnt be able to count :-(

apologizing for the little dark dots - this was shot with a 24-70mm
(in late February where numbers have dropped significantly)

By late February, the numbers had dropped pretty significantly, but it was still a delight to be able to spot the Pied harrier amongst the more common Eastern Marsh harrier.

I hope I can find their roosting spot again next year when these harriers make their winter visits again.

That's my life up to early March....

In March, I accepted a job offer, packed my bag and headed for KL city....(well, more than just bags...it was a whole lorry-load of my stuff brought home from Singapore!) Thanks to my family (more particulary, my eldest and youngest sisters, who between themselves, got most of my furniture and other stuff down from the lorry, onward to the lift lobby and then up to my rented apartment, without the use of trolleys or moving-equipments! How did we manage it? It was a miracle! I am not kidding about the miracle - my stuff were large and heavy - and include a piano, a full-sized long office table, book shelf, cabinets and the heaviest of all, boxes loaded with books. I hope I am not due to shift again any time soon....or else they would kill me........ :-)

I missed my paddyfields. There were always some surprises for me in each of my trip.

But I am now nearer to Fraser's Hill, and so, I could do day-trips to Fraser's on Saturdays.

Long-tailed sibia

Hope to find other good birding spots within KL that I can spend my Saturdays.

I made a business trip to Labuan in May - my first trip.

Financial centre - Labuan

I didnt spot many birds (of course it being a business trip, I wouldnt be able to go out searching for birds). Anyway, some that I have seen around the hotel grounds and during bus excursions - swallows, woodswallows, some egrets in the mud shores and an unidentified 'pied' 'kingfisher-sized' bird that flew too fast for me to id - maybe a pied triller. Most exciting time was watching the display of lights from the setting sun at the UN beach.

Fingers crossed for more keeper shots of birds. And two more fingers crossed that I wont take another 5 months before penning in here again :-) .........