Chai's Blog II

The red "sweat" of hippos

2010-05-26T06:39:00.000+08:00

Nope, hippos don't sweat - not in the strictest sense, as the red "sweat" of a hippo is not secreted by sweat glands. Anyway, the "sweat" of a hippo was speculated to help control the animal's body temperature, just like the sweat we produce.

After seeing the hippos in Paya Indah Wetlands, I googled for interesting information about hippos and stumbled on an interesting article about hippo "sweat". According to the three Japanese scientists who wrote the report, the red "sweat" of hippos is secreted from "unknown subdermal glands". Whatever those are, they are not sweat glands.

When first secreted, the red "sweat" is viscous and colorless. After a couple of minutes, the secretion turns red, and eventually brown after a few hours. The Japanese research team isolated the pigments responsible for the color change in the "sweat" and named them "hipposudoric acid" (the red pigment) and "norhipposudoric acid" (the orange pigment).

What's amazing about the hippo's red "sweat" is that it is a natural sunscreen and antiseptic - thanks to the red and orange pigments! The pigments can absorb harmful ultraviolet rays (290-400 nm) which reach the ground. Also, the pigments inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The antibacterial role of the "sweat" probably explains why hippos manage to have scratches and wounds in their skin cured readily, rarely infected, despite spending so much time in the mud (apparently an unsanitary environment).

Journal reference:
Kimiko Hashimoto, Yoko Saikawa, and Masaya Nakata (2007) Studies on the red sweat of the Hippopotamus amphibius. Pure Appl Chem, Vol. 79, No. 4, pp. 507–517.

Paya Indah Wetlands (2) - The animals

2010-05-24T07:34:00.004+08:00

Shots of other inhabitants of the Paya Indah Wetlands:

1. Estuarine crocodile (Crocodylus porosus)

Apparently there are three (?) crocodiles living in the crocodile enclosure. I didn't arrive on the day of feeding ,which I was told was on the weekend. But I still got to see the beasts twice. Each time when I approached the fence of the enclosure, a crocodile quickly came up to the shore, and watched me - probably thinking I would bring food, or I simply looked like food. Not sure though whether the two crocodiles I saw were the same one.

2. Hippos (Hippopotamus amphibius)

I also missed the feeding time of these three hippos. They apparently spend most of their time in the mud pool and emerge only for feeding. By the way, it smelled at their enclosure.

3. Tortoise

I spotted this tortoise near where I parked my car. It got defensive and retracted its head and limbs into its shell as it saw me approach.

4. Pelicans (Pelecanus onocrotalus)

These pelicans were moving up and down near the small pond to keep a distance from me - they were always moving in a group.

5. Painted stork (Mycteria leucocephala)

The painted stork was in the same bird enclosure as the pelicans. It just stood by itself all the time, on the other side of the pond, keeping a distance from the pelicans.

6. Geese

7. Geese and ducks in a pond

Paya Indah Wetlands (1) - Sacred lotus

2010-05-21T14:20:00.005+08:00

I visited the Paya Indah Wetlands yesterday morning. It wasn't what I planned initially. My original plan was to visit the wetlands garden in Putrajaya. Unfortunately, I couldn't find my way around. The signs weren't helpful. And I ended up visiting the Paya Indah Wetlands instead.

The park, covering about 3100 hectares, is situated near the township of Dengkil, about 50km from Kuala Lumpur. The park has about 213 species of birds, hence a good birdwatching spot. The officer at the reception told me that the park used to be run by a private company until the Department of Wildlife and National Parks took over. She told me that besides the pelicans, crocodiles, hippopotamus, porcupines, etc, the blooming sacred lotus plants in the lakes are one big attraction to photographers.

The sign says "Teratai Lake", meaning "Sacred Lotus Lake".

On the sign are a Malay paragraph and its English translation:
"While growing from mud, it is unstained - Zhou Dunyi."
"Lotus has the remarkable ability to regulate the temperature of its flowers just as we warm blooded humans do. Maybe to heat up its dear friends the coldblooded insect pollinators."

Well, the sacred lotus is such an unusual plant in that it can regulate the temperature of its flowers. During blooming, the average temperature of the receptacle has been demonstrated to stay between 30 and 36 degree Celsius (a difference of six degrees) even when the ambient temperature has risen from 10 to 45 degree Celsius (a difference of 35 degrees)! And this amazing thermoregulatory ability is attributable to the function of a protein called alternative oxidase in the sacred lotus flowers, which is also a protein which I studied in my PhD research.

The yellow, conical or funnel-shaped thingy on the right is the receptacle, where the thermoregulating process takes place.

I checked out a few lakes in the park and it seems that they all have some sacred lotus plants growing in them.

By the way, there were lots of dragonflies near the lakes. I haven't seen so many dragonflies for a long time.

Canning River Regional Park - Yellow-billed spoonbill

2009-10-13T06:36:00.002+08:00

I visited the Canning River Regional Park last Saturday. For birdwatching, I wasn't as impressed with the park as I was with the Herdsman Lake. At Canning River, waterbirds didn't seem to hang around much. I have seen some ducks, a few cormorants (little black and great cormorants), an Australian white ibis, a purple swamphen, a few dusky moorhens, a few spotted doves, and rock doves.

The highlight has to be watching three yellow-billed spoonbills flying around high above in the sky. It was pointless to snap it considering the limited zooming power of my camera. I watched them through my binoculars and can only tell you they looked so beautiful when they were flying.

It is possible that I arrive at the park at midday, hence most of the birds have vanished from sight. At Herdsman Lake, birds seem to hang around the whole day, and so it really doesn't matter if you visit Herdsman Lake at midday.

Anyway, I also came across a very cooperative yellow-billed spoonbill that kept perching on a dead tree a short distance away - for almost 10 minutes I think. And so I could snap away at my heart's content!

Two indications that the bird is in the middle of a breeding season - outer wing plumes that were tipped black and long hackles on the upper breast.

Scratching its armpit!? Apparently birds don't need to have a pointed bill to preen their feathers.

That bill looks just like the wooden spoon in my kitchen.

The few yellow-billed spoonbills that I have bumped into before were quite camera-shy but this one was happy to pose in front of my camera. Photographing this spoonbill was the other highlight of my trip to the Canning River Regional Park.

Swan Estuary Marine Park - Birdwatching (2)

2009-10-11T08:28:00.013+08:00

Finally, after hearing so much about the hundreds of waders that can be seen at Alfred Cove at low tide, I made my way there on Friday. Alfred Cove is part of the Swan Estuary Marine Park.

There are many signs around, providing visitors with information about the cove and particularly its birdlife.

(CLICK to enlarge the image)

(CLICK to enlarge the images)

"Whose estuary it is?" - Certainly a reminder that visitors should respect and care for the birdlife at the cove.

I like this one - you can turn the wheel and find out what kind of bird activity can be expected at the cove at different time of the year.

Looking towards the city center of Perth from Alfred Cove at low tide.

At low tide, hundreds of waterbirds were wading in the river. There were many (>100) of Australian white ibises, and even more silver gulls.

Pelicans resting on a sandbar

Other birds I saw including pied oystercatchers (top), pacific black ducks (left) and crested terns (right). There were also black swans and many little black cormorants, little pied cormorants and great cormorants. I also saw a white-faced heron near shore.

I watched most of these birds though my binoculars. They were too far away to photograph. Getting near them was also a challenge as I kept sinking in the sand/mud with every step I took. So I decided not to risk falling and getting my camera wet.

The wooded area near the shore of Alfred Cove is also a good spot to look for birds. And safer for my non-waterproof camera too. I managed to photograph the following:

1. Rainbow lorikeet
2. Australian ringneck
3. Red wattlebird
4. Australian magpie
5. Australian raven
6. Laughing kookaburra
7. Galah

8 & 9. Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)- the first (or maybe second time?) I saw one.

The osprey is a medium-sized (50-65 cm) bird of prey. With that size, it's actually smaller than a pied cormorant and a great cormorant. It is also known as sea hawk, feeding mainly on fish. It has a beak with a strong hook and powerful legs. This osprey nest is on the top of a very tall post that has been erected for the bird to breed.

Other birds species that I came across included willie wagtails, magpie-larks, laughing doves, and spotted doves.

Swan Estuary Marine Park - Birdwatching (1)

2009-10-09T23:54:00.007+08:00

The Swan Estuary Marine Park encompasses Alfred Cove, Pelican Point and Milyu, together forming an area of more than 300 hectares. The mudflats, seagrass beds and intertidal vegetation in these areas provide a variety of habitats for numerous animals, especially migratory wading birds.

Of the three areas, Pelican Point is the nearest to the Crawley campus of the University of Western Australia and to where I live too. So naturally, I have visited Pelican Point a number of times.

Next to the sign of the Pelican Point Conservation Area, there are two palm trees. The larger one, with lots of dead leaves on the stem, seem to be a hang-out (or maybe nesting place?) for rainbow lorikeets. I have seen several rainbow lorikeets calling from the top of the tree on all my visits to Pelican Point.

Signs were erected at Pelican Point to inform visitors how they can avoid disturbing the birds.

When I visited the spot in late September/early October, I saw pelicans, cormorants, black swan, silver gulls (these are everywhere anyway) among other bird species.

Little pied cormorant (Phalacrocorax melanoleucos)(red arrow); Pied cormorant (Phalacrocorax varius)(blue arrow)
*Pied cormorant have yellow facial marking and black thighs (see here), two characteristics that distinguish them from little pied cormorants. Little pied cormorants are smaller (60 cm) and have shorter bills compared with pied cormorants (75 cm).

Little black cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris)(black arrow); Great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)(white arrow)
*Little black cormorants have no yellow facial markings and are smaller (60 cm) than pied cormorants (85 cm).

Crested terns (Sterna bergii) - adult (top); juvenile (bottom)

Caspian terns (Sterna caspia) - adult (top); juvenile (bottom)

Australian white ibises (Threskiornis molucca)

Yellow-billed spoonbill (Platalea flavipes) - I have seen this beautiful bird only once, when I went for a walk late in the afternoon.

Pied oystercatchers (Haematopus longirostris)

Black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus)

Australian shelduck (Tadorna tadornoides)
I have also seen pacific black ducks and musk ducks there.

Red-capped plovers (Charadrius ruficapillus) - male (left); female (right).
Thanks to Denis Wilson and Bushanwater, members of the Birds in Backyards Forum who identified this bird for me.

References:
http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/
Guide to the Wildlife of the Perth Region

Silver gulls - frozen-action shots

2009-10-07T22:41:00.004+08:00

One feature of my semi-SLR camera is that I can alter the shutter speed. I have always wanted to take those frozen-action shots that I see in books and on websites. So I have been out trying to use the high shutter speed to snap silver gulls. They still fly too fast for my camera's highest shutter speed (1/1000). But I managed to get some good shots of them taking off from the water.

Personally I am quite happy with them, knowing there is still room for improvement.
What do you think?

Herdsman Lake - My birdwatching haunt (II)

2009-10-06T06:42:00.003+08:00

Herdsman Lake is a very good spot to see ducks. Besides musk ducks which I wrote about in an earlier post, there are also Hardheads, Pink-eared Ducks, Blue-billed Ducks, Grey Teals, Black Ducks, Australasian Shovelers, Australian Wood Ducks, and Freckled Ducks. Below are the ones that I have managed to photographed so far:

1. Australasian shovelers (Anas rhynchotis) - a filter feeder, who uses special grooves along the edges of the bill to filter insects, crustaceans and various aquatic plants. The more colorful one is the male.

2. Australian shelducks (Tadorna tadornoides) - the one with a white eye ring is a female.

3. Australian wood ducks (Chenonetta jubata) - the one with a paler head and with two white lines, above and below the eye, is the female.

4. Pacific black duck (Anas superciliosa)

5. Blue-billed duck (Oxyura australis) - the one with a blue bill is the male; the female has a brown bill.

6. A hybrid duck
I couldn't find any information on this duck but fellow blogger Denis Wilson believed that it is a crossbreed - "... is a crossbred domestic duck - possibly part Mallard and part something else - not the usual cross with the local wild Black Duck."

Photos taken: 19/9/09-3/10/09

References:
Birds in Backyards
Guide to the Wildlife of the Perth Region

Herdsman Lake - My birdwatching haunt (I)

2009-10-05T06:46:00.004+08:00

Within just a month or so since I (seriously) started to watch birds, Herdsman Lake has become my birdwatching haunt. The lake simply has a lot to offer.

I have already written about the Nankeen night heron, Eurasian coots and young, Rainbow lorikeet, Great crested grebe (1, 2), Black-winged stilt, Musk duck, Yellow-billed spoonbill, Australian white ibis, Laughing dove, and Grey butcherbird in my earlier posts.

Other waterbirds that I have photographed at the lake include:

1. White-faced heron (Egretta novaehollandiae)

Photos taken: 20/09/09

2. Great egret (Ardea alba)

Photo taken: 3/10/09

3. Purple swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio)

Photos taken: 20/09/09

4. Little pied cormorant (Phalacrocorax melanoleucos)

Photos taken: 19/09/09

Herdsman Lake - Grey butcherbird (Cracticus torquatus)

2009-10-04T06:55:00.002+08:00

I saw this amazing bird in a wooded area near the shore of Herdsman Lake.
Stevehapp, a member of the Birds in Backyards forum identified the bird for me.

It wasn't moving around too much and just changed trees a few times, allowing me to snap it as many times as I wanted. The bird has a strong bill with a hook at the end of the upper bill.

For a bird that doesn't look very special, it surely has an unusual habit of dealing with its prey. It kills insects, small birds, reptiles and mammals for food. And when the prey is too large to swallow in a go or for later consumption, the bird will hang the prey on thorns or in the fork of a branch like butchers hang meat. Nasty.

Photos taken: 20/10/2009

Reference:
OzAnimals.com - Grey Butcher Bird
Birds in Backyards - Grey butcherbird
Guide to the wildlife of the Perth region (Simon Nevill Publications)

Herdsman Lake - Laughing dove (Streptopelia senegalensis)

2009-10-03T06:57:00.002+08:00

Laughing doves at Herdsman Lake
Photos taken: 19 & 20/9/09

This bird is one of my favourites because it feeds on the ground and hence more accessible and easier to stalk compared with birds that perch on high branches.

In the last two photos, the bird was calling. It was interesting to see its throat expand and contract when it was calling. But it certainly didn't sound like laughing to my ear.

Nankeen night heron (Nycticorax caledonicus)

2009-10-02T06:15:00.001+08:00

Since most of my birdwatching walks are in the morning, I don't expect to find any nocturnal birds in my way. So I was pretty lucky to see this bird - Nankeen night heron - at Herdsman Lake. The bird feeds at night.

The photos were taken on 19/9/09. The bird is about 1-1.5 feet in height. It was standing quietly at the water's edge, probably a little dazed or confused in bright daylight (?) Anyway it was cooperative enough to let me take a few good shots of it. I have never seen another Nankeen night heron at Herdsman Lake since.

Reference:
Birds in Backyards - Nankeen night heron

Herdsman Lake

2009-10-01T07:25:00.001+08:00

Herdsman Lake is located about 6 km from Perth. It is a haven for waterbirds and a delightful spot for birdwatchers. And I should add - a good spot for photographers too. The lake looks really gorgeous in photographs.

Reference:
WA Gould League Inc - Herdsman Lake Wildlife Centre

Little corellas (Cacatua sanguinea)

2009-09-28T00:55:00.002+08:00

I saw a flock of little corellas as I walked past the Cottesloe golf club last Saturday morning. Such lovely birds!

Birds in my neighborhood

2009-09-24T23:13:00.003+08:00

I went cycling around my neighborhood yesterday taking my camera with me and took a few nice shots.

The shot I like very much is that of two galahs (Cacatua roseicapilla) grazing on the ground, surrounded by yellow and white little flowers. Galahs forage on the ground for seeds.

Male and female galahs look very similar. The female has red eyes, while the male has dark brown eyes. Galahs mate for life. A galah will only find a new partner when the other one dies.

I also saw quite a number of red wattlebirds (Anthochaera carnunculata). This bird is common on the UWA campus and also in my neighborhood. It is a honeyeater but it also eats insects.

The bird gets its name from the two fleshy red wattles (two small red flaps of skin) under its ears.

References:
1. Birds in Backyards - Galah
2. Birds in Backyards - Red wattlebird

The nestlings of the Eurasian coot

2009-09-21T06:34:00.001+08:00

Amazing! The nestlings of Eurasian coots (Fulica atra) look so different from their parents. The young have orange-red heads!

Don't they just look like they have dipped their heads into watercolors!

Rainbow lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus)

2009-09-20T06:07:00.002+08:00

The rainbow lorikeet is an introduced bird species in Perth. These brilliantly-colored birds were released from aviaries at The University of Western Australia in the 60's and have been increasing in number since. Apart from the Perth region, this species doesn't seem to be very common in other parts of Western Australia.

Rainbow lorikeets eat nectar, pollen, fruits, seeds and insects. These are the photos of a pair of rainbow lorikeets who were having lunch when I spotted them.

They seemed to be quite comfortable having a meal hanging upside down!

Reference:
Birds in Backyards - Rainbow lorikeet
Guide to the wildlife of the Perth region (Simon Nevill Publications)

Great crested grebes - Courting dance

2009-09-19T19:00:00.003+08:00

Wow! This is definitely the highlight of my walk at Herdsman Lake this morning. I saw a pair of great crested grebes (Podiceps cristatus) in their courting dance! If you still remember my earlier post, these birds just look like two balloons or toys when they are resting and floating passively on the water.

But it's a different story when they are trying to court each other. I was so excited about the sighting that I quickly put these pictures up on the Birds in Backyards forum, which I have become a member of recently. Still very excited and thankful that I was there in the right place at the right time, I thought I might as well reproduce that post here.

Anyway, this is about how it happened:

1. First, these birds came close and kept turning their heads from side to side. Basically I will describe it as "when you look right, I will look left" and vice versa.

2. Suddenly, they just looked like they decided to go the opposite ways! And shortly after they just dived down and disappeared from view.

3. And when I thought the show was over, they surfaced and swam very rapidly towards each other.

4. And the next moment, just when I thought they might run into each other or knock each other unconsicous, they rose from the surface and stood chest to chest for something like 10-15 seconds. It was then that I noticed their beaks were full of grass/weeds.

Looking at the photos, the birds probably have been rotating a bit. I was too stunned to even move, so the photos were taken from the same direction. By the way, after the courting dance, they just returned to their normal way and swam away.

I thought Ok, now they would go and have a little fun. But shortly after, they parted way. What were they thinking!?

Black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus)

2009-09-19T06:38:00.004+08:00

It would be nice to wake up in the morning and see these pretty birds with long pink legs out of the window.

To feed, these birds wade in shallow water and pick up aquatic insects, etc. for food. They don't swim while feeding.

And if I could add from my own observations at Herdsman Lake, these birds seem to enjoy standing still in the sun. Perhaps they were meditating, standing on one leg!

But they are quite shy and always fly away before I can get close enough for a good shot!

Reference:
Birds in Backyards - Black-winged stilt

Musk duck (Biziura lobata)

2009-09-18T00:35:00.001+08:00

A male musk duck at Herdsman Lake.
Musk ducks are only found in Australia!

The male has a large lobe of skin under its bill.
The female has a smaller lobe of skin which is not easily seen from a distance.

The strange-looking fanned tail of the musk duck. In Australia, only musk ducks and blue-billed ducks have such fanned tails (Oxyura asutralis).

Musk ducks are clumsy on land, don't seem to fly much, and prefer to dive when disturbed. They are good divers and find most of their food underwater, mainly animals, including insects, fish and frogs.

The male musk duck fans its spiny-looking tail feathers and inflates the lobe of skin beneath its bill, among other things, during a coutship display. The act apparently will help him win a beauty!

References:

Musk duck (http://bird.net.au/bird/index.php?title=Musk_Duck)
Birds in Backyards - Musk duck

Yellow-billed spoonbill (Platalea flavipes)

2009-09-15T06:02:00.003+08:00

A large, beautiful waterbird that I spotted a few times at Herdsman Lake. It is possible to be within a few meters from it without making it nervous and start walking away.

Doesn't it look like the bird character in Sesame Street? Except for the long spoon-like bill.

The yellow-billed spoonbill feeds by wading slowly in shallow water and sweeping its bill from side to side to catch aquatic insects.

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The bill of the bird has vibration detectors inside the spoon, which helps it detect its prey even in murky water, day or night.

References:
Birds in Backyards - Yellow-billed spoonbill
OzAnimals.com - Yellow-billed spoonbill
Guide to the wildlife of the Perth region (Simon Nevill Publications)

Great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus)

2009-09-14T07:08:00.001+08:00

I saw a few pairs of great crested grebes at Herdsman Lake last weekend. They first caught my eye when I saw a pair resting great crested grebes drifting slowly on the water. They just looked like two inflated toy animals that way!

And then when they became alert and extended their long necks - Wow! Such elegant birds!

The Australian white ibis (Threskiornis molucca)

2009-09-13T08:43:00.005+08:00

An Australian white ibis (Threskiornis molucca) that I saw at Herdsman Lake yesterday.

A white ibis is an overall white bird with naked black head and neck. Yes, that means bald and black skin. It has pink stripes on the back of its head and bare red skin under its wings, both of which become more distinctive during the breeding season (September - November).

I might be wrong but the Australian white ibis is not a pest in the city of Perth (yet) - at least not in the ways I read about on other web pages. For example:

1. "Rubbish tips are dotted with ibis using their long, curved bills to rip open plastic bags. They prowl parks in search of unattended picnics. Small children are subjected to their stand-over tactics."
(see White Ibis on A Snail's Eye View)

2. "...the birds have been known to run up to the little kids and snatch their sandwiches out of their hands. The birds turn over bins and spread rubbish, hang around cafes, and dominate some of the best nesting spots that might have been used by other species."
"... cause a nuisance for captive animals at wildlife parks. At feeding time the ibis run in and grab the food meant for other animals."
(see The Australian White Ibis - conservation takes a twist on Mark David's website)

3. Birds in Backyards call them birds behaving badly. The website says that white ibises can pose a threat to airplanes (e.g. causing damage to engines) and that the birds can produce enough droppings to make a city area unusable or an environment (e.g. in botanical gardens) unsuitable for growth of particular plants. I can only imagine the smell.

"Small children are subjected to their stand-over tactics. " and "...run up to the little kids and snatch their sandwiches out of their hands" - that is shocking!

According to "Guide to the wildlife of the Perth region", increasing numbers of white ibises pose a problem as they are displacing nesting cormorant colonies. So, I guess the Perth region is affected by expanding population of white ibises too. But still the situation seems under control in the Perth CBD.

Thankfully, we still don't have to share the city of Perth with Australian white ibises. Mass migration of white ibises into the Perth city centre is still unheard of. So, the city centre is not the best place to go to see the Australian white ibis : ) Herdsman Lake is a good place to go. I saw a colony, maybe 30 or 40 of them.

Shallow freshwater wetlands - natural habitat of Australian white ibises, where they feed on aquatic invertebrates such as crayfish. They also dig food from the soft soils in their habitats.

They are quite shy and flee when you get closer - an indication that it will still be a long time before they are ready to take over the city of Perth : )

References:
Birds Behaving Badly - Australian White Ibis
Birds in Backyards - Australian White Ibis
Birds being a nuisance
The Australian White Ibis - conservation takes a twist
White Ibis on A Snail's Eye View
Prevention and control of damage by animals in WA - Australian white ibis
Guide to the wildlife of the Perth region (Simon Nevill Publications)

Birds at Burswood Park

2009-09-12T08:05:00.005+08:00

Burswood Park is about 3 km from the Perth city centre. I have been there a few times when I went for my bike rides. The park's website says that more than 40 types of birdlife can be found there. I guess the lakes there must be a big attraction for the birds. And what's more, the park is located on the Swan River.

The black swan (Cynus atratus)! Well, Perth is their city.
A black swan always reminds me of a contortionist : )
Interestingly, I also found one which had been banded. That got me thinking - how many black swans in the city carry metal bands around their legs? I saw a banded black swan at Lake Monger too (see this post).

A young silver gull (Larus novaehollandiae)
Adult silver gulls have red beaks and legs.
The juveniles have black beaks and brown legs.

Eurasian coot (Fulica atra)

Little egret (Egretta garzetta) - the two ribbon-like head plumes indicate that it is now breeding season for the bird.

A female Australasian darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae)

For birdwatching, Burswood Park is definitely worth another visit. After all, I have seen a few other birds species during this visit, which I couldn't photograph because they were too far away for my little camera to get some good shots. I saw a yellow-billed spoonbill (Platalea flavipes) and I saw it fighting for food with the little egret. I also saw some blue-billed ducks (Oxyura australis), purple swamphens (Porphyrio porphyrio bellus) and dusky morrhens ( Gallinula tenebrosa).

References:
Birds in Backyards - Silver Gull
Wikipedia - Silver gull
Burswood Park website
Birds in Backyards - Little Egret
Guide to the wildlife of the Perth region

Australian ringnecks

2009-09-10T22:34:00.004+08:00

Australian ringnecks (Barnardius zonarius) are very common in Perth, according to "Guide to the wildlife of the Perth region". I have seen them a number of times on the UWA campus, mostly when I haven't got a camera in hand. And today I saw four of them in the UWA boatshed carpark.

These brilliantly colored birds, only found in Australia, are recognized by a yellow ring around the hindneck.

There are four subspecies of Australian ringnecks. In Perth, there are two subspecies: the Port Lincoln parrot (Barbardius zonarius zonarius) and the Twenty Eight parrot (Barbardius zonarius semitorquatus).

The Twenty Eight parrot has a prominent red band on the forehead and all green underparts (see image on Wikipedia ), which distinguish it from the Port Lincoln parrot. The Port Lincoln parrot lack the red frontal band and is green and yellow underneath. So probably these birds in the photos are the Port Lincoln parrot ( Barbardius zonarius zonarius). These two birds can apparently be distinguished based on their calls, the Twenty Eight parrots' calls sound like "TWENTY EIGHT" while the Port Lincoln parrots' sound like "TWENTY". Amazing! I must listen carefully next time.

I found this one in a tree near my Faculty building (17/5/09).

References:
Birds in Backyards - Australian ringneck
Wikipedia - Australian ringneck
Guide to the wildlife of the Perth region (Simon Nevill Publications)

Birds (IV) - Lake Monger

2009-09-09T22:42:00.004+08:00

Upon knowing that Lake Monger is a good spot to watch birds, I returned a week after my first visit. A really nice surprise was seeing a shy Australia White Ibis (Threskiornis molucca). This bird is common around Perth according to "Guide to the wildlife of the Perth region". But they must be hiding from me wherever I go!

Australia White Ibis

I was quite happy that finally I managed to get some decent shots of the Eurasian coot (Fulica atra).

Black swans (Cygnus atratus) are really interesting to photograph. They are also large enough to photograph from a distance despite the limited zoom power of my camera.

I also found a banded black swan.
My guess is the swan is taking part in someone's experiments.

Birds (III) - Lake Monger

2009-09-08T06:15:00.004+08:00

Lake Monger Reserve is located about 5 km north of Perth. I first visited the lake this May and was quite impressed with the number of birds I found there.

There were lots of black swans (Cynus atratus) there. Many black swans nest at the lake. Even black swans that nest at the nearby Herdmans Lake rear their cynets on the lawn areas of Lake Monger Reserve (described here).

Besides black swans, there were lots of other waterbirds too. It was estimated that at least 33 waterbird species could be found here (described here).

It was apparently a mixed group here, including the pacific black duck (Anas superciliosa), Australasian shoveler (Anas rhynchotis) and Eurasian coot (Fulica atra).

Eurasian coot (Fulica atra) - it has partial webbing on its long, strong toes. The size of those toes is just amazing.

View of Perth across Lake Monger

Lake Monger at dusk

Birds (II)

2009-09-07T00:08:00.001+08:00

Photos of some little corellas (Cacatua sanguinea) that I took at South Beach, Fremantle, on 9 August.

Birds (I)

2009-09-05T23:37:00.001+08:00

It was sunny but still chilly and windy today. Really not feeling motivated to work, I hopped on my bike and rode to the South Perth foreshore to see some birds. I wasn't disappointed.

A male Australian shelduck (Tadorna tadornoides)

A female Australian shelduck with her chicks

Daddy, mommy and the kiddos - a pretty sight

A pair of black swans (Cygnus atratus) and their cygnets

1. LEFT: Australian wood ducks (Chenonetta jubata)
(the female has two white stripes above and below the eye)

2. RIGHT: Pied oystercatchers (Haematopus longirostris)

1. LEFT: Galah (Cacatua roseicapilla)

2. RIGHT: Long-billed corella (Cacatua tenuirostris)

Birds of Swan Estuary Marine Park

2009-05-13T07:10:00.002+08:00

I took these photos last year (22.11.08) during an evening stroll by the river. The Swan Estuary Marine Park is just a few minutes' walk from home.

Birds seem to like this part of the Swan River. Black swans and pelicans are nothing new. And if you are lucky, you might even spot a dolphin here.

Pelicans

2009-05-11T00:26:00.005+08:00

Now that winter is near and the sea is getting rough and the water cold, I am beginning to spend less and less time underwater. In fact, I haven't snorkeled for the last couple of weeks.

Since I have been taking photos during my bike rides around Perth, I thought I might just as well write about what I see on this blog - also my effort to revive this blog : )

I will first start with some old photos. These were taken last year (30.11.08) at a small lake on South Perth's foreshore - beautiful pelicans!

Cloudy skies

2008-11-19T19:31:00.007+08:00

Over the past few weeks, I have somehow developed a liking for photos with a cloudy sky background. I now find clear blue skies in photos kind of boring. So in this post, I will show you some photos with at least some clouds in the skies.

Castillo de Bellver - a 700-year-old castle in Mallorca, Spain

A building in the city center of Palma, Mallorca

La Seu Cathedral in Palma, Mallorca

The Almudaina Palace which is standing right next to La Seu Cathedral

Cloudy evening skies over the Swan River

A beautiful cloudy afternoon where I live - you can see the Swan River in the photo

Swan River on a November afternoon

2008-11-18T20:24:00.005+08:00

I went riding along the Swan River this afternoon and saw some kite surfers and windsurfers on the river, having a good time. I love the colours of those kites.

The Chapel of Bones, Evora, Portugal

2008-11-12T11:42:00.009+08:00

Reader alert:
(1) This post contains images that may be upsetting to some readers!
(2) This post has nothing to do with animals, plants or nature, except perhaps human nature.

The Chapel of Bones was the most unforgettable place I have ever visited during my stay in Portugal.

Message at the entrance - "We bones that are here, we are waiting for yours."

More info can be found in Wikipedia.

"The interior...solemn, gloomy, and tragic atmosphere..." - I couldn't agree more. Definitely not a place I want to visit at night.

Gardens in the Changi International Airport

2008-11-11T04:06:00.012+08:00

Despite my little experience in flying, I have seen airports in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Zurich, Lisbon, Mallorca, and Perth, Western Australia. Of all these airports, the one I like best is the Singapore Changi International Airport.

The first reason is definitely because I could get free access to the Internet!

Secondly, the airport is not boring at all. Entertainment and other facilities aside, I have really enjoyed visiting the gardens that they have in their airport.

When I walked around in the airport, I could see that they really made the airport pretty. I found these two spots where they put up some floral decorations for Deepavali.

In the airport, orchids were everywhere. If you don't know, the national flower of Singapore is an orchid called Vanda Miss Joaquim.

There is a rooftop sunflower garden. It was raining that afternoon, so I decided to only admire the sunflowers from a distance.

There is also a rooftop cactus garden.

There must be 30 or even more cactus species in the garden.

The orchid garden is the one I liked best. All those colors were so pleasing to the eye.

There is also a fern garden in the airport.

And a small pond with some Japanese koi in it.

They also have a few other gardens, e.g. the butterfly garden, which I didn't visit because I was running out of time.

Peacocks of Jardim Publico, Evora

2008-10-30T05:34:00.005+08:00

I was in Evora, Portugal, two days ago and visited a garden called Jardim Publico. I took some photos in the garden and was quite glad to see some peacocks there.

The statue of Vasco Da Gama, a Portugese explorer

If I am not mistaken, this is the Galeria das Damas. There was a physics exhibition in there when I visited the garden.

Remnants of the Palacio da Dom Manuel

There also live about 20 peacocks. Some of them have really stunning plumage.

More black swans

2008-10-12T18:48:00.003+08:00

My bike riding with friends on Saturday turned out to be a rare meet-the-black-swans experience.

Shortly after we left the black swan with cygnets, we saw more adult black swans on the river - ten of them! It's no doubt the first time I have seen such a large group of them.

By the way, I think it would be nice to show you the guys whom I went riding with.

From the left: Sharif (Bangladeshi), William (Indonesian Chinese), Me (Malaysian Chinese), Hung Chi (Taiwanese). (In the background stands the Burswood Entertainment Complex.) Everyone had a good ride, although our backsides probably didn't like it that much.

For the sake of record, we rode for about 3 hours (not continuously though) and possibly 20 km or more based on the Whereis.com map.

The route we took: Matilda Bay, near UWA (start point) - the Swan Bells - Point Fraser - crossed the Causeway - Heirisson Island - back to Point Fraser - continued along the river - the WACA Oval - Peace Grove, East Perth - Graham Farmer Freeway - Belmont Park Golf Course - Burswood - Mends Street jetty - continued along the South Perth esplanade - crossed Kwinana Freeway - Mounts Bay Road - UWA.

Black swan and cygnets

2008-10-12T06:42:00.002+08:00

The black swan (Cygnus atratus) is a native of Australia. It is also the bird after which the Swan River was named by Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh in 1697. The man explored the river and found large flocks of black swans living in the estuary of the river. But today, they are uncommon on the river.

I saw this black swan with six cygnets when I was cycling along the river with three friends in South Perth on Saturday morning.

As I approached them the swan started to flap its wings, possibly a gesture of aggressiveness. It didn't like me getting too close I guess.

But shortly after, it just went on with its life and ignored me. So I began to take a few nice shots of the family.

The scientific name "atratus" translates into "dressed in black". The tips of the wings are white, as you can also see in the second photo (above).

It has such a long neck that when extended makes it look like a cartoon character.

The cygnets are still covered in light grey down, so they maybe around one month's old or younger. A cygnet will start to have black feathers after about one month of age.

Heirisson Island in the Swan River (III)

2008-10-11T18:07:00.007+08:00

Today, I visited the Heirisson Island for the third time in a month.

I was lucky (or rather my three friends and I were lucky) as we found four kangaroos all in the same spot. In each of my previous visits, I only saw three kangaroos. And as before the roos were really friendly and not camera-shy at all.

It is a nice experience to get so close to (within inches from) the roos. You probably won't get to do that even in the zoo. While you could can do the same in some parks, you would probably have to pay for an entrance fee.

I could even get a macro shot of their fur. That tells you how close you can get to the roos.

The only thing about the roos here is that you have to find them. Unlike kangaroos in a pen, the roos on the island won't stay in one same location waiting for the tourists. About one-third of the island is their home, so they can go anywhere they like. But of course, after three visits, I think I have already got an idea where would be the best spots to look for them.

Thoughts (4) - when not to start a PhD

2008-10-11T08:37:00.008+08:00

Don't start a PhD if you think it will make you more confident as it is very likely to do the opposite.
And you might end up deciding not going on in the same career path anymore.

Don't start a PhD if you think you need a PhD before you can contribute to the welfare of mankind.
Or if you think life will be meaningless to the point of warranting a suicide if you quit your PhD one day.
Don't start a PhD if you think you need a PhD to have a happy and meaningful life.

Don't start a PhD if you have a hypersensitive personality or suffer from depression.
Your PhD might very well be a gateway into the dark side of you.

Peacock with open tail - que bonito!

2008-10-07T10:21:00.005+08:00

If you have read my earlier posts (1, 2), you would know about the peacock family that lives on the UWA campus.

How lucky was I that I saw one of them with open tail last Sunday. He was so beautiful!

Heirisson Island in the Swan River (II)

2008-10-06T21:36:00.009+08:00

I returned to the island the next day with a friend.

This time, we were greeted by a really friendly kangaroo, who actually led us to two other kangaroos on the island. Unbelievable!

Out "tour guide"

The other two kangaroos having a rest in the shade

Our tour guide stayed around while we were taking photos with the other two kangaroos. And when we came back to it, it was happy to pose for us too. It was as if it had been trained to meet visitors.

Naturally I took the chance to take some close-up photos of it.

And again, I took a few snaps of the lakes before we left.

Heirisson Island in the Swan River

2008-10-04T18:30:00.007+08:00

I cycled to Heirisson Island this morning. The island in the Swan River is small but there you will see some western grey kangaroos (who were "introduced" there) (see Wikipedia). And I saw a group of pelicans too.

The first line says Visitors are advised that feeding and handling the kangaroos are prohibited.

These ones say "no fishing" and "no dogs".
And "don't give the kangaroo your burger"!

The island is connected to other parts of Perth City via a causeway. So I suppose there is really a need to keep the kangaroos in captivity, lest they make their way to the causeway and get hit by cars.

Isn't that nice to have kangaroos living right in the middle of our city!

When you see the sign saying "don't touch the animals", you will bet that someone will do it.

I found a few (?) lakes on the island. They look so pretty - at least in the photos.

And the lakes don't look boring because of these beautiful creatures. I love to see pelicans just like I like to see stingrays when snorkeling. They are both big enough to spot from a distance and to take shots of.

Heirisson Island is so near to where I live. It's about 30 minutes by bike I think. And when you get there, you can choose to explore the island on foot because of its small size.

River Vasse and wetlands of Busselton, Western Australia

2008-08-28T23:01:00.009+08:00

Last October, after living more that a year in Perth, I have finally gathered enough confidence and motivation to explore Western Australia on my own. Unlike some of my friends I have no problems at all traveling on my own. Its advantage is that I can plan everything to suit myself and change my plan as I wish . The drawback is of course, I will end up with very few photos of myself. Anyway, I think you have to be confident enough about your safety to travel alone. You must be able to enjoy your own company too. The latter is not easy to many.

So I went to Busselton last October. To me, the biggest attraction of Busselton is the beach. But during my stay there, I found that the Vasse River that flows through the center of Busselton and the wetland of Busselton are great places to visit if you like taking photos.

This wooden plank near the river tells the story about the French sailor after whom the river was named.

The water in the river was quite still. I never like still waters although I must say that their mirror effect looks good on a photo.

And a sign by the river says danger! The sign says don't drink and don't swim. So, you can imagine the conditions of the river.

These nearby waters were connected to the river I think. A good spot for birdwatching. Too bad I didn't have any binoculars with me.

From the river, I went on to see the wetland. Again, a good spot for birdwatching and taking photos. Although the water was probably housing some snakes or worms (both of which freak me out), doesn't the place look gorgeous on photos!

Thoughts (3) - Knowledge for personal satisfaction

2008-08-24T20:48:00.012+08:00

I enjoy photography and blogging. I can spend the whole afternoon just reading up to write a post. I am even happy to sit on public transport for hours to get to places to take photos. To some people in my everyday life, I am STRANGE!

The first questions I get when some people hear about my hobbies (or possibly obsessions by now) include "Can you make money from it?" or "Its great someone used your photos; did they pay you?" Duh, I would expect responses like "Wow! You must feel a great sense of achievement!"

You see the people I see every day can be generally divided into the realistic camp and the romantic camp. I am a member of the latter, maybe a leader of it soon. I seriously believe that it's perfectly fine to do something not for money, but for learning more about nature or even about myself. And uploading photos to a conservation website (for free, that is) is fine. Learning something that is not useful at work is fine too. It doesn't have to be about money and material gains all the time. OK, you might think that I am the son of a billionaire and life is always easy for me. I can tell you the answer is No - although it would be nice if I were one. I am just one curious being - probably not smart enough to become a great scientists but certainly wise enough by now to know that life is not just about money and work. There is more to life! It is difficult to convince people I know that this is the case but I hope that they will find their way to realizing this one day.

Anyway, doesn't anyone care about personal satisfaction and acquiring knowledge for the sake of knowledge anymore?

Spring in the John Forrest National Park

2008-08-23T18:05:00.006+08:00

I have been scratching my head about what to write next. When I browsed through my image collection again, I realized that I have some nice photos which I took in the John Forrest National Park last October. So I thought, Well, I have already put up posts about spring in UWA, Kings Park bushland and the Araluen Botanic Garden, why not another one. So I put up this one.

The John Forrest National Park is the oldest national park in Western Australia, and the second oldest in Australia (Wikipedia). It is accessible by bus from Perth, but you would still want to have a car or at least a motorcycle in order to explore the park. I walked. And so I only managed to see part of it. But because I enjoy taking photos, it still wasn't a waste of time.

I noticed that wherever you turn, you would always see some grass trees.

Perth's tallest (?) buildings on the horizon

I don't quite know the names of all these plants. But taking photos of them was enjoyable. And I marveled at their beauty and diversity. That should be enough. One thing I have learnt after blogging for some time is that the whole process should be fun and I am not going to stress myself out trying to find the name of every single thing I photograph. When blogging starts to feel like working, I think it's time to quit.

Thoughts (2) - PhD

2008-08-01T14:46:00.014+08:00

Starting my PhD is like opening up a window to my inner self. Situations at work often occur in such a way that they will stir up the hidden bits deep in me that I didn't know to have existed. They repeatedly make me see more and more of myself - what I value, what I despise, what disturbs me, what I really want, what I really need, etc.

I think my most important experience during my PhD is when I think about life, in general and also my own life. This is something that I don't learn from textbooks, as opposed to techniques or methods of doing things.

People say that military training will change a person's character; doesn't a PhD training do so too?

One thing that comes to mind now is about publishing papers. I know people who talk about publishing in high impact journals the way others talk about buying branded goods, or building a house in an elite neighborhood. I know people who seem to think their careers in science will be unfulfilled if they couldn't publish in those big names like "Nature".

Like them, I always thought about publishing a paper in a high impact journal as a great achievement. It should be EVERY bloody scientist's goal - so I thought. But, one day, it just dawned on me that while a paper in a high impact journal is likely to have a high impact on a person's career, it may or may not have an equal impact on the lives of the ordinary people in the streets.

I suddenly saw that we should first aim for research that actually improve people's life - be it a big or a small way. If it then gets published in a high impact journal, it would be a bonus. But if it doesn't, we researchers should still be proud of ourselves because whether reviewers like our paper are not, we know that the farmers in the field or the pedestrians in the streets have already benefited from our effort. We have served the people. That's something to be proud of.

Is that asking for too much from the scientists?

I know romanticism is my disease. And my PhD might have exacerbated it. But I really believe that the world needs people who reach out to people or volunteer to do things simply because it is meaningful, not because it pays well.

A UWA spring

2008-07-30T00:43:00.008+08:00

Having done a post on the Araluen spring, and the Kings Park's spring, I'm now doing one on a UWA spring.

This is a sample of what was awaiting flower lovers and macro photography junkies on one spring morning on campus.

These photos were taken on 17 September 2006.

Andrew Peacock has died

2008-07-25T19:15:00.003+08:00

Earlier on, I had a post about the peacocks that live on campus.

It came as a surprise today as I read the May edition of UWA News (page 13) that actually, one of the peacocks - Andrew the peacock - was already gone before I put the post up. He was put down after suffering a bad leg injury from a dog attack.

Thoughts (1)

2008-07-25T14:08:00.004+08:00

I am beginning to to believe more and more strongly that only people who are capable of a functional life outside their PhD should enroll into one.

An Araluenian spring

2008-07-22T20:17:00.005+08:00

Forget it, you won't find araluenian in the dictionary. What I meant by the title is spring in the Araluen Botanic Park. I visited the park two springs ago with friends. That was the first time I saw so many tulips in my life. Someone there told us they had thousand of tulips in the park!

Well, if you are in Perth this winter, I would suggest you go for an Araluenian spring in addition to visiting the Kings Park Wildflower Fest.

Spring is already here - on my blog!

2008-07-22T00:51:00.005+08:00

Well, it is now winter in Perth, WA. And it's bloody cold! Every day, when I sit at my desk, I can feel the right side of my body getting colder than the other. (Don't worry, I'm not dying; somebody told me it's my blood circulation.) And I just don't feel like getting up in the morning anymore. Not like when it was summer.

So, to give myself a virtual break from the cold, I have decided to put up some photos I took in spring 2006 in the Kings Park Bushland. My first spring in Perth!

The bushland is pretty dull during winter. You just see green. But come spring, wild flowers just appear everywhere.

Gosh, this one looks so Chinesey, like those that we would use to decorate our homes during the Chinese New Year.

This one looks like an orchid.

This one is simple but pretty.

After reading the above comments, you know that I am not a flower person. But I do know that this one is a kangaroo paw. I haven already seen many of them flowering and preparing to bloom when I visited the bushland last Sunday.

Birds that go to university

2008-07-20T17:15:00.007+08:00

Everyone, including birds, has a right to receive university education!

These are two members of the muster (?) of peacocks that do more than going to uni - they live on campus! They are members of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences : ) And mind you, they are not just some peacocks! These guys have names.

The mudlark was probably doing a PhD, he looked unhappy and deep in thought.
The kookaburra and the unknown probably just came to the uni to hang out with their mates. They didn't look worried.

These parrots (?) loved Sunday schools! I have seen them twice only on Sundays. They looked like some conscientious and independent students who could work on their own without needing much guidance. They must be thinking hard trying to solve some difficult mathematics at the moment.

These ducks simply couldn't wait for their graduation ceremony anymore. They keep waiting outside the Winthrop Hall (where the ceremony will be) day after day.

Bored of waiting, some started to play "let's see who looks more like a glob than a duck"!

More on the UWA Taxonomy Garden

2008-07-18T09:00:00.001+08:00

My favorite

I photographed these because they looked nice, not because I know their names or that I would be bothered to find out : )
Still I think I have got a very solid reason to take the photos.
These were taken in early March 2006.

First post!

2008-07-17T22:56:00.001+08:00

No, I am not addicted to blogging. And no, I am not thinking of making a living out of blogging. This is my second photo blog, and it will be different from the first one. This one will document what I see or do when I am out of water. Or rather, when I can't hit the water :(

This photo was taken early March 2006 at the UWA School of Plant Biology taxonomy garden. That was about week two or three upon my arrival in Perth. During the weekends, having no one to hang out with and still being intimidated by the foreign environment, I spent quite some time exploring the campus and taking photos.

And it's been two years now. How time flies.