A loving pair of Blue-throated Bee-eater

 The first time I noticed the bee-eater, it was alone.  I managed to capture a few shots of it solo.  Then it started to make some loud calls and into the frame appeared its mate.  It was a romantic moment as they greeted and flirted for a brief but very loud and joyous moment.  Snap, snap, snap goes my camera....
Their appearance made my morning.

Forming the heart sign...

A beautiful pair

A solo Blue-throated Bee-eater waiting for the mate

Bee-eater with blue throat and tail

Blue-tailed or Blue-throated Bee-eater (Merops veridis)

 Sometimes called 'Berek-Berek Tadah Hujan' by the Malays, a pair of this Blue-tailed bee-eater came by to say hello this morning.  They perched on the branches of a dead tree from which they made regular return flights after scooping some bees from the surrounding neighbourhood.  Sometime ago they did come in a big flock chasing after a big swarm of bees. 

Location : Zone C
25 March'14

Pick of the park - 'Bunga Raya' (Malay) / Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

Leaves will do

Views of the park today   Being an ecopreneur one needs to love leaves.  Working with nature especially in the field of agro-forestry one has to have green fingers and love of outdoors.  There's so much diversity to be absorbed and one needs to have lasting passion and patience to see how nature gradually manifests its beauty in its leaves - dead or alive......and of course with a little help from our hands.  Here's some views of the greenery at the park today...

Photoshoot session with the Large-Tailed Nightjar

Under a little shade of oil palm leaves - Large-Tailed Nightjar (Caprimulgus macrurus)
Location : Zone G

She's a perfect camouflage. Looking tired after a busy night she laid her body on just bare ground. Silently I approached her and moved gradually from left to right. Do I look good in my dreamy eyes?...

Here are the results of the photoshoot session this morning....

Small flock of punai birds

 An early morning stroll saw a small flock of Punai birds perching on the Cempedak tree at one of the tallest hills at the park, the Cempedak Hill.  The flock consisted of two female and three male birds.

Starting to 'snow' at the park

 The Eugenia oleina trees are starting to flower.  The flowering seems to be very intense this year due to the prolonged drought season . All over the park the oleina trees seem to have been covered with snow.  Usually when the flowers are produced, many bees and butterflies will frequent them.  Here's a look at some of the 'snowing' trees....

Oleina buds bursting into flowers

 The prolonged drought have started to stimulate more buds of the Eugenia oleina tree to burst into flowers. There are about a hundred of these trees planted all over the park. I am looking forward to have more photoshoot session with the butterflies this season due to heavy flowering of the oleina trees.  Besides butterflies, the flowers attract other kinds of wildlife especially birds and bees.

Early birds

Time is only we have at hand. So between 7 - 8 in the morning, I would normally walk the park when the air is cool and light is soft. Uphill, downhill, cross stream, wade swamp and hide behind cover of trees, leaves or bushes. It's a daily passion that would cover about 2-3 km of footprints. Here's some of our feathered friends I met checking out early at the park.....a black hornbill, a common snipe, nightjar, a little green pigeon and the pied fantail.

Park views

Zone C, looking north

 It has been a prolonged drought for about two months already.  Today I had a walkabout at the park to capture the beautiul flushes of the Eugenia oleina trees.  The pink to red to orange flushes are pleasing to the eyes and provide much needed colour to the overall landscape of the park.  These oleina trees are basically introduced ornamental trees.  However, they attract many birds, butterflies, bees and other insects during the flowering till fruiting season.  Part of the beauty of the park is also the display of various leaves sizes and shapes that add much to the texture of the greenery.  Here's more park views for March at different zones of the park.

Zone D, looking east

Zone G, looking south

Zone F, looking south

Zone E, looking west

Zone F, looking east

Zone E, looking west

Zone D, looking east

Zone C, looking east