Oldest pigeon on the blog

As many of you correctly answered, that structure pictured in my previous post was a pigeon house. During our kampong days, our family used to have one - briefly. I am not sure if my brother Chun Chew (Zen) remembers about it since he did not make any comments. Anyway, it was to the right side of our house looking towards the main road. Ours was slightly different from the one in the photo. It was taller; maybe 7 or 8 feet off the ground, and it had more ‘apartments’.

I don't remember what prompted my dad to rear pigeons. But quite a few of our neighbours did. Maybe it was for the eggs or maybe he wanted to cook them.

Have you tasted roasted pigeons before? When I visited Hong Kong some years back, our hosts brought us to a restaurant which served this dish. Tasted just like chicken. Funny not many people eat it in Singapore.

Actually just a few years back, there used to be some stray pigeons living in our present house. They made their home in the empty space between the false ceiling and the roof. At night we could hear them moving about and cooing softly. I was a bit worried about the droppings and the shed feathers and so when we renovated our house in 2000, we asked the contractor to seal off the access. But once my children caught one and managed to train it to fly from person to person. They named it Pigeonol.

Nowadays, it Singapore, it is quite common to see mynahs and pigeons around HDB blocks especially near the coffee shops.

OK. Here’s a quiz to round off this post. See the photo above. I took this photo of the pigeon in 1985 at a very well-known place - not Singapore. Hint: It was very much in the news earlier this month. Where is this place?

Just received in my Inbox:

Brian writes. (About my photo of the pigeon house in Cambodia) “It reminded me of the bird feeder we were shown in Old Ahmedebad in India where people built these structures to ensure that birds still visited their areas after all the trees had disappeared through intensive building.”

Thanks for sharing this photo Brian.

Return of the Sun Birds

Last year I blogged about how a pair of sun birds built a nest in our balcony and raised two chicks (here, here and here). Well they are back again; or rather, I should say, they were back again.

This time around they built their nest in a very awkward location which was only inches away from our 2nd floor study room window. The only way to photograph them, was to go right up to the window; but the short distance would frighten them away. Alternatively, I had to photograph them with a zoom lens from my garden.

Anyway, I managed to take some photos of the couple building their nest; and I would like to share them with you here.

1) These are shots of the nest taken from my garden. As you can see, the nest is very near the window, but at an awkward angle. Photo no. 1 shows the as yet incomplete nest.


2) These shots were taken at close range. I managed to hide behind the curtain without their noticing. However the sound of the camera shutter did frighten them away initially.

At first, I wasn’t sure if they were still in the process of building the nest or had already laid the eggs. With the opening of the nest facing outwards, there was no way to peek in and check. But from this series of photos you can see them bringing in the material to build the nest. Do you see the leaf in the bird’s beak?

The female actually poked her head into the nest and (presumably) arranged the materials. Then she did something really interesting. She climbed into the nest and sat inside with her head sticking out of the opening and wriggled briefly. I think she was testing the nest which will be her home for the next few days.


With these shots, I suspect I might have achieved something very few amateur photographers had done. I have photographed these lovely creatures from a distance of less than two feet away.

And then tragedy struck

One morning, our maid who was cleaning our study room decided that the nest was dirtying the place and so she removed it and chucked it away. When I told her what I had been trying to do, she tried to hang it back but the birds never returned. Now I am experiencing the empty nest syndrome all over again :(

A visitor to our garden

Ours is not exactly the Garden of Eden. In fact there isn’t even any fruit tree left. This beautiful guava tree that I used to see outside my window died recently.

Sigh .. and these beauties shan’t be visiting anymore.


Nevertheless, the serpent came a visiting.

My children caught this little fellow recently. In my time, we certainly would have killed it. But thankfully kids nowadays are more enlightened; plus they have the internet to inform them that it is a harmless House Wolf Snake. According to this blog,

“This snake is common (relative to other species) in buildings, probably because their food, geckos, are also abundant in this type of habitat. However, this species is still rarely encountered by people because of their secretive nature. Fortunately to us, it is neither venomous nor dangerous.”

My children kept it in a bottle for a couple of days and then released it in a nearby field. I still do not feel comfortable. They should have brought it to MacRitchie or somewhere far away from houses.

I guess the snake was attracted by the many geckos (chit chat in Malay, yim sare in Cantonese) in our house. Lately, we even spotted a mouse. We set up a mouse trap but caught this noisy mynah instead. Later we did manage to catch a mouse, but again my kids were too humane to kill it. In our kampong days, we would drown it by immersing the cage in a pail of water. My children released it instead – where, I didn’t want to know; as long as it is not my neighbour’s house.

Peeping Tom

This guy is really daring.

Came right to the window.

And in broad daylight some more.

And this is not the first time he is doing this.

Good thing; this time we were waiting for him with our camera and caught him in the very act.

I bet he didn’t know he was on candid camera.

I wonder what is there to see in my children’s study room. Maybe he is just checking to see if there is some privacy in this place.

He must have heard from his cousin that this is a good place to set up a home and raise kids.

Anyway, I am not complaining. In fact I hope he comes more often and set up home here. And when he does, I promise you better photos this time because at least one photo-fanatic friend of mine wants to get in on the action. This friend actually spent two hours photographing my son’s carnivorous plants. It’s called macro-photography so I learned. And the results were fantastic. Must show you one day.


By the way, it’s called a Crimson Sunbird.

One Advantage of Working from Home

Recently, I gave up my rented office to work from home. My son was quite glad because he wanted to interview me for his Business Studies project which looks at the advantages and disadvantages of working from the home.

But I didn’t count on one other advantage; which was to have regular pretty visitors.

This is my work station. It is inside our master bedroom. Good thing people our age do not need much sleep. Otherwise, the bed could be a real distraction. Can you see the guava tree just outside my window? It’s what attracted the pretty visitors.

First there was this Yellow-vented bulbul.



Then came this beautiful green colour bird.





When I told my son (our resident expert on plants and animals) that we had a parrot eating our guavas, the smart alec told me it was not a parrot but probably a Lorikeet. Parrots are much bigger it seems. But thanks to the power of the internet, I was able to tell him he was wrong. I consulted the real expert, Mr YC Wee of Bird Ecology Study Group and he told me it was a Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot. Darn .. now I have to rename my photo files.

“It is tiny in size, often hangs upside down to get at the fruits, has a blue spot on the crown in the male only”, wrote YC in an email. “They are relatively rare. Lucky you to have them in your guava tree.”

Yes lucky me. And it even brought along a companion a few days later. Walter my marketing guru friend from Yesterday.sg would call this ‘referral business’.



I noticed something interesting about the way it eats the guava. It takes a ‘bite’, bends down its head and ‘chews’ for a few second and then spits out what I think are the seeds. I thought birds always swallow the seeds and then excrete them; and thus help to propagate the plant?

Anyway, I better let the experts comment on this. I have sent several photos to YC. Hope he can tell us more about this beautiful bird.

Empty Nest Syndrome

My children are all still schooling and already I am experiencing (literally) the empty nest syndrome. This morning my twins flew away without warning; but not without fanfare and drama though.

My wife was pottering around in the balcony, just next to the nest when one of the chicks suddenly flew out of its nest towards our neighbour’s bedroom. She panicked and ran downstairs to tell me. Like all anxious parents, we were wondering, would it be able to fly properly, or would it be stuck in our neighbour’s house. Meantime, the biological parents were making a racket in the garden. And then we spotted a young sunbird chirping among our pitcher plants. We knew it was one of the babies: but which one? I quickly ran upstairs to get my camera and even went quite close to take this shot (below), but still it remained there; fidgeting and chirping. And then it flew off.



We were in a fix. Was that no. 1 or no. 2? If it was no. 2, then no. 1 would still be in our neighbour’s bedroom. I rushed up to my balcony to check the nest, and was relieved to see a single chick in the nest. I moved closer to take a photo, but before I could take my second shot, it flew off. And thus bringing to an end our close encounter with the sunbirds which began here. In the meantime, the parents continued to chirp excitedly in our garden.

Chuck was right. We should have given the babies names. But then with only their heads sticking out, we could not tell the twins apart. Justcate was also right. Letting go would not be easy.

One question remains. What do we do with the empty nest?

My Twins at 2 (weeks)

My my .. see how much they have grown. Can you spot the difference from 1 week ago. The feathers, the colours and the fully developed beaks.



They need lots of proteins.



Don’t rush now. There’s plenty where that came from.



Chew your food properly you hear!



Darn … and now to clean up mess. Good thing I know a bit of 5S and in Singapore we have this thing call baby bonus.

It's Twins!!!

Last Friday, 27 July 2007, I wrote:

Got back tonight and was told by my kids that 2 babies have hatched and their chirps are still rather weak. Will try to confirm for myself tomorrow. Stay tuned for more photos.

Today is Friday, 03 August, and the twins have reached ‘full-week’ and have grown some feathers.



They have developed a ferocious appetite and mummy and daddy are kept busy all day.







I noticed an interesting behaviour. After they have found some food, they would not fly directly to the nest. Maybe, they spotted me lurking behind the curtains with my camera. So what they do (see photos below) is to first fly to a nearby branch and check out the situation for about 10 to 20 seconds. When they are sure that the coast is clear, then they will fly to the nest to feed the babies. I think the one in the top photo is the female and the one with the dark chest is the male.





I also noticed that after feeding the chicks, it will stick its neck right inside the nest and remove some white colour stuff. Could this be the chicks’ droppings?

Any Day Now

I was mistaken when I told you earlier that the sunbirds flew away after building their nest. Actually the female has been coming back regularly and sits contentedly in the nest. She must have laid some eggs.

But the opening to the nest is very small and I cannot see any eggs. I was much tempted to shine a torchlight into it and take a peep, but was afraid it might frighten her away for good.

This has been going on for several days. So, any day now, we can expect the babies to come into the world. Let’s hope that this time, everything will be fine.



Below are some pictures that I have taken. As you can see, the nest looks quite delicate and I am quite worried that the wind may blow it down one of these days.

The nest was built at the bottom of a pot of air plant (Bromeliade) which is hanging from a lamp fixture in a narrow balcony just outside one of our bedrooms (left side of nest). As you can see, it is practically within arm's reach.

Meanwhile, in our backyard, it is guava season, and I managed to catch a couple of yellow-vented bulbuls doing ‘naughty’ things.





Do you see his partner on the right? (above photo)







This chap looks like he too wants in on the action.

Our Hot Property

Lately, thanks to the property boom in Singapore, I have been receiving many calls from property agents saying they had clients who were keen to buy our house.

But the property agents were not the only ones showing an interest in our house. A few weeks ago, a couple came calling without even making an appointment. In fact, they went right ahead to set up home in our balcony. Unfortunately, I was too slow with my camera and could not capture any evidence of their trespass.

After a few days, before their home was not even completed, the pair of yellow-vented bulbuls mysteriously stopped their project and never came back, leaving a mess of leaves, twigs, moss and other stuff on my balcony floor. I don’t know what caused them to abandon their project. I don’t think it was lack of resources. Maybe they didn’t like my hardworking maid disrupting their project every morning when she cleaned the balcony. Or they were upset with my intrusion into their privacy when I mounted my camera on a tripod just a few feet from their nuptial bed. In any case, my family was quite disappointed at this rejection.

Fortunately, my house is located in the prime district and before long, another couple came looking for a home. And they built their nest on the very same air plant that the yellow-vented bulbuls did. (By the way, hope some of you plant experts out there can tell me the name of this air plant). This time, I was better prepared. I had recently purchased a Canon zoom lens, and so I was able to spy on the pair of sunbirds (maybe it's only 1 bird, a female - I am not sure) from a bit further away.

Now I have plenty of evidence of their illegal building activity to present to you. But as I said before, good camera, great subjects, but …….



You can see from this first photo that the nest is just outside my son’s bedroom window. You can see also that construction work has only just begun.

And here is the final product.

But sadly, it appears that our property not so hot after all; because after the nest was completed, the sunbirds also left without moving in to their new home. I have not seen them since Sunday – two days ago.

Never mind. There will be a next time. By then, hopefully, my photographic skills would have improved. To encourage them, perhaps I should move this air plant to a more secluded spot.

By the way, any tips on how to improve my photos would be most welcome.


Earlier 'bird nests' stories:

One
Two
Three