Stick Insect

At the moment, I seem to see long-legged Stick Insects in the bushes everywhere. 

Actually the Stick Insect is so well disguised that most of the time it can easily be mistaken for a small tree branch.  

I am always fascinated by its slim body, long legs and especially the tiny head.

However, no matter how well camouflaged they are, some Stick Insects still can not hide from the eyes of  Red Whiskered Bulbul birds.

War in the garden: birds vs snake

A few weeks ago, I heard the Red-whiskered Bulbuls making a lot of stressful noise in the garden. They would often stand on the big pomelo tree and looked as though they were “shouting” at something underneath.

When I went to investigate, I found that they were actually “screaming” in the direction of a small tree. 

Initially I thought it had something to do with the old nest that a pair of Red-whiskered Bulbuls abandoned last year (the dark shadow in upper center).

When I got closer to the tree, I noticed a pair of bright eyes staring at me. Actually, a big green snake was resting in the tree!

In fact, the snake was sunbathing in the tree but the birds were not happy about the snake being  in their territory. It seemed that they were trying to scare the snake away from the garden.

In the following days, over a dozen Red-whiskered Bulbuls came to the garden regularly and kept “screaming” at the snake. Some brave ones even got really close to the snake (just above the black knot).

Others were either sitting on the big pomelo tree above 

or keeping their distance from the snake.

The loud stressful noise must have alarmed other birds nearby. Soon, several types of birds came to the garden to investigate, including Common Tailor-birds, 

Oriental Mygpie Robins.

Initially, the snake did not take any notice and continued his sunbathing everyday for about a week.

But the birds seemed so determined that their “shouting” frequency was increased to 3-4 times a day. After tolerating the noisy birds for over a week, the snake was finally fed up and left. It hasn’t returned since.

The Red-whiskered Bulbuls are now back to their happy go lucky nature and the stressful “shouting” noise has been replaced by happy singing sounds.

 I wish I could tell them how much I admire their courage and determination for winning the war against a potentially lethal enemy more than 10 times bigger than themselves.

My neighbours: A pair of Red-whiskered Bulbuls---a success story

Last year, the pair of Red-whiskered Bulbuls living in my garden lost their chicks. But it is a different story this year! 

Back in May, I saw the pair build a nest in a big pine tree. I was very excited  but the nest was very well hidden and it was difficult to photograph. So I decided to leave them alone. Then one day in June, I accidentally saw 4 chicks sitting in a small tree! 

After last year’s tragedy, the parents were really careful and as soon as they realized that I  had spotted the chicks, they moved them further inside the tree. 

The chicks were growing very fast. A week later, they were able to fly around the garden.

Since these birds love cooked rice, I often left some rice on the balcony and managed to get some close-up photos of the chicks. 

Unlike the adults, the juvenile Red-whiskered Bulbuls have a greyish-black crown but do not have the red whisker mark below the eyes.  Soon, the brothers and sisters were regulars on my balcony for rice. 

In the last few weeks, the ripening papayas have been the main source of their diet. 

 

I often heard them singing on the papaya trees and sometimes, it looked that the youngsters were arguing with the parents.

Last week, I noticed that the “red whiskers” were beginning to appear under the eyes of the young birds. 

Hopefully, the happy family will live in my garden for sometime.

Happy birds---Red-whiskered Bulbuls enjoying papayas

The papayas in my garden are ripening again. Once they are ripe, the papayas are soft enough for the birds to peck through. Since the  papayas are very sweet, they are the favourite food of the local birds such as Magpies and Red-whiskered Bulbuls. 

 

Recently, my papaya trees have been attracting dozens of Red-whiskered Bulbuls. They have been having a very good time in the garden lately and it is a joy to watch. 

Eating papayas is not an easy job for the birds because the fruit grows on the tree trunk. So there is not much that the birds can stand on.  Occasionally, they can find a dead leaf stem close enough to a papaya.

Most of the time, the dead leaf stem is either too far away or there is nothing to hang on to. That is when the fun begins. However, no matter how difficult the situation is, these clever birds can always find a way to get the papayas. 

The most fascinating moment is when they try to eat papayas in the air.

Being over 30g in weight and 20cm long, it is almost an impossible thing to do. But it does not stop them from trying. I guess the papayas must be too delicious for them to give up.