Thursday 29 August 2013

A Miscellaneous Post

How big is a blue whale?
Bigger than a pen? Bigger than a (normal-sized) book? Bigger than your computer screen?
Pro tip: the answer is yes. But you already knew that.
In fact, here's a great link that shows you just how big a blue whale really is.
That's really it. I just wanted to share that site.
And this one.
And this one too.
And these.
In fact, here's another one.
Be careful of this one. It bites.

Monday 26 August 2013

Life in a Roundabout

I was feeling quite disgruntled. The Blobfish had abandoned our expedition to the distant lands of Sixth Avenue's foresty-thingamajig, home to maybe a couple Common Birdwings (squee!) and perhaps pangolins (double squee!!!) because- and I kid not- she was sweaty. Honestly! The Blobfish, ready to risk her life (or at least a limb or two (ok, fine, maybe just a couple bruises)), was driven to stay at home because she was SWEATY. I mean, it was only as hot as the typical Singaporean day... maybe a couple degrees above that.... but that was when butterflies came out, wasn't it?.... and it was better than rain....
So I stormed out of the house as only a true butterfly can and marched to the roundabout. I was only meaning to make a point of my displeasure, check for kingfishers on the other side of the fence, dragonflies in the roundabout, and then come marching back and say ha-ha! to the Blobfish's face. First stop, the roundabout. Basically, once you entered my condo, there's a roundabout with roads leading off to the various apartments. The roundabout itself is a circle (no, doh!) ringed with the eternal pink flowers and some green stuff. But one day, exploring with N, I found an overgrown entrance into the hidden inner circle that had been lost to the ravages of time until now... The inner circle was dark, mysterious, and filled with assassins. You had to perform secret rituals to enter.
It was a circle. With a path around it. And birds-of-paradise flowers in the middle. But, you are almost guaranteed to see a dragonfly there every time you visit and thus it is a pre-fixed stop on all of my expeditions. But this time, as I stormed my way through the bushes there were no dragonflies seductively settling on a plant and flittering away as soon as I got within clicking distance. Instead, there was just the rhythmic sound of a bird tweeting. I sighed irritably... and then a spark of movement caught my eye. I looked up, and there, tweeting away, was a bird I would later identify as a Dark-Necked Tailorbird but for now just recognized as a bird I'd seen before, but never in Astrid Meadows. My heart started to beat faster, I deftly switched the camera on and lifted it to my eyes. Yup, that was it. Suddenly, looking around, the trees were full of them, the more flashy males and the dull females, all chirping the same repetitive song that in my eyes now seemed like that of the angels. The Blobfish was forgotten. School was forgotten. All that was left in the world was the tailorbirds (maybe I should have asked them to stitch me a coat while I was at it!) drifting along on a cotton-candy cloud. I watched them with delight as they hopped from one branch to the next.
Dark-Necked Tailorbird tweeting its beloved heart out...

Suddenly, I noticed a yellow-vented bulbul flutter off too, and I smiled at it in its commonness. Oh, little bulbul. You are surrounded by the company of the Great Tailorbirds. Do you not realize the honor that is being done to you? Then a  pigeon came over and I frowned at it darkly. Oh, terrible pigeon. Go away! A mynah joined the party and I didn't give it a second glance. Then an olive-backed sunbird came down and I decided that maybe it deserved a photo as the tailorbirds for the moment were all hidden but still very much audible. My cup was runneth-ing over with a lot of happiness so the whole world was to be loved. Except mynahs. And pigeons. And then the waiter came and filled my cup over with a whole 'nother jug of that drink, happiness. I was getting quite drunk with it by now. Because there, pecking away at a tree, was a woodpecker. I squinted at it. Was it a Common Flameback? No, it was just black and white... Oh my God, it was a new one! I had only ever seen it before in India, and had seen it the other day in my field guide.
It was a Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker, btw. A PYGMY WOODPECKER!!!! The world just gets stranger and stranger.

I got my camera out and watched it eagerly. It was only after a little while that I realized that maybe the Blobfish would want to see these birds. Yeah, she didn't want to get too SWEATY... but... I didn't have time to finish the thought because I was already sprinting out of the roundabout to my house.

The Glasswing Butterfly
P.S. Comment if you have a place I should find Life in... next!



Wednesday 21 August 2013

BioBlitz

So, here's how it goes.  The Glasswing Butterfly and I have started organizing a Bioblitz in Singapore.  For those of you who don't know what a BioBlitz is, Google it.  Just kidding! A bioBlitz is a set place and time for people to gather and go looking for animals.  We have our place so far, but not the time- we'll post the time when everything is all planned out.  But first, we want to find out how many of you would like to come.  So I have created this survey that I'd really like you readers to fill out.  This document is only for people who are living in Singapore. No, not Zimbabwe, not the White House, just good old fashioned Singapore.  Here's the form:


Blobfish out.

Saturday 17 August 2013

Dumbo Octopus

Now you're probably thinking, 'Dumbo Octopus? This thing's an idiot!' So first of all, the reason they call this octopus 'Dumbo', is because he swims with his ears! Isn't he cute. Disgusting. But the thing I like about this creature is that it swallows its food whole. The 20 cm Dumbo Octopus eats worms, crustaceans, and bivalves of the sea.  It lives about 7000 meters under the surface of the ocean. Pretty deep.

Tuesday 13 August 2013

The Wildlife of the Taj Mahal: An Avesophile

When the Taj Mahal is described, usually they use words like 'a teardrop on the face of time' or 'a monument of extreme beauty' or 'a memorial to everlasting love' and rot like that. One descriptor usually not used, but that I will now add to the list, is 'a venue for screeching parakeets'.
That's right, the Taj Mahal is parakeet heaven, along with Shah Jahan's paradise, along with quite a few other birds, including red-vented bulbuls, probably red-cheeked bulbuls, eternal mynas, rats-on-wings (crows in this case), infestations of pigeons, and quite a few egrets flying past as well as Black Kites. You can guess that I was reprimanded for paying more attention to wildlife than one of the most famous monuments in the world. Which isn't really the case, but that's an argument for another day. For the moment, let's just say that I was admiring the contrast of a man-made wonder and the brilliant green of a nature-made wonder. I love history, and I love natural history. What combination could be better?
We also visited Agra Fort (a long history of over.... well, over quite a lot of years graces this place, mostly involving some king, emperor, or person coming and saying oh! someone's built something here! let's destroy it and build something bigger and better!) in whose dark rooms filled with beautiful but barely visible paintings and wonderfully carved alcoves that had become the home of bats. We never saw them. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that I'm making that up, more to do with the pungent smell that preceded a room containing them and hovered about your nostrils after you left, coughing. I spotted two parakeets that had probably made this beautiful place their nesting ground, too. Ah well.
Then we went to Fatehpur Sikri, a city that Akbar had built for himself, lived in for ten years, and then promptly abandoned to the ravages of time. These rulers! The ravages of time had left it very well preserved, actually, and along with marveling at the beautifully carved pillar at the center of the Diwan-i-Khas (3D model following) I also marveled at the beauty of my first Plain Tiger (no, NOT like the orange-and-black striped one. This one's a butterfly.) And at the slovenliness of pigs. (Luckily, not inside the complex) And at the delicateness of the Astrologer's Seat. And the remarkable grazing habits of goats. (Again, not inside the complex... pheuf!) And at the.... well, you get the idea. History, natural history. History, natural history. I've often thought the two to be unable to reside together, and perhaps that is the case with more prolonged interaction. Tree roots, while providing wonderful resting places for birds, can also be the most wonderful destroyers of buildings. I was reading somewhere where, upon opening a door in a temple, they found bat's poop piled up to the height of seven feet! Yet, when the the two coincide, I find it wonderfully beautiful and remarkable. What do you think?

Friday 9 August 2013

The Wildlife of Stanford University

I've been kind of busy this summer and forgot to write posts for the blog. Apologies to the Emu and the Glasswing Butterfly, I left most of the work to you guys. I'm sorry for depriving you all of my trials and tribulations this summer, and my oh-so amazing stories but I've been doing otherwise. Now I don't want to drone on and on about my vacation but I do want to share a little something about my visit to the Stanford campus. I stayed there for quite a while and I was utterly amazed by the wildlife. Now it was nothing compared to what the Glasswing Butterfly was able to see this year but I still loved it. I saw at least three hummingbirds a week, one mouse a day, and thirty robins a weekend. After living in Singapore when the bird you see most often is a mynah  (as many people like to say "rats with wings"), Stanford's birds were like heaven.
I also saw butterflies. Lots and lots of butterflies. I was never able to identify any but I know the one thing I always thought was "I wish I had a camera." There was one butterfly I did have a camera for though. When I can I'll post the photo.

The Blobfish

Sunday 4 August 2013

TOP SECRET!! DO NOT READ!!!

Ooooh.... secret.
It's not.
But the subject is.
That is, secretive.
I'm losing track of myself.
Are you?
Because snow leopards don't lose track of themselves, you know.
Oops. There I go again. Giving away secrets. Well, here's another one, considering that I'm on a roll already. Snow leopards are SUPER endangered (Emu, can you do a top 10 on them?). First of all, they live in the snow-laden Himalayas, hiding amongst rocky crags to the point that it's near impossible to find them. Unfortunately, it's not near impossible for them to find the tasty yaks the Himalayas are also laden with. That usually isn't a problem, except the yaks have owners, and the owners name them cute names like Biffles and Shaggy and when Biffles and Shaggy are eaten and with them their money they can get angry. Very angry. (OK, the name thing is a lie.) So they grab their gun or sword on Nunchuk and they go and kill the snow leopard, which is sad. That's a problem. And then there are the people who believe that eating snow leopards cures cancer and wearing them is very pretty and that visitors LOVE seeing dead animals on their walls. Supply has to meet demand, so poachers pick up a gun and go off and go bang, bang, bang. Bang.
Bang.
And then there are stray dogs, spreading infectious diseases.... and mining.... and... do you really want to get any more depressed?
But here's a ray of hope: one of the aforesaid owners of Biffles and Shaggy decided that leopards are friends, not food, and set up some camera traps over a dead Biffles or Shaggy that had been killed by a leopard. And look at what he captured.....
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/06/17/rare-footage-of-snow-leopards-caught-by-mountain-yak-herder/