Time flies when you are having fun. I was thinking about this the whole time I was diving, teaching, stalking, climbing, toasting, roasting & poaching myself in the heat of the sun. When I started this blog, I wanted to inspire you to start one too. That’s probably the only way I can get to know you & keep you updated, with my constant travelling & all. And I was going to share with you a piece of my life in serving the people I’ve been put here to serve.

Crocs On Rocks

Stalking the Grey Heron

Heron in snooze position, I managed to stalk this bird to about 4 metres close. Taken full frame!

Along the way, I made people laugh, I made people cry. I cried with them too. I made mistakes that I wished I had never. Learning what makes you sad, can make you a better person because you will begin to cherish every moment that brings you joy. Joy is when I see my students’ happy face when they see fish. Joy is when they laugh uncontrollably at me for a delayed reaction of seeing a lizard fall down in front of me together with the lamp shade it was sitting on. Joy is when you sing ABCD… after a dive to 33 metres with 30 metres plus visibility in the shower area with others who become narcotic later, singing their own versions of ABCD. Joy is anticipating when Jimbo will meet Jimbette & finally getting a Jimbiby. Joy is when you do decompression stops at 10 metres of water & everyone is trying to have their pictures taken in mid water. Joy is when you rise early to catch the birds knowing that the birds will spot you a mile away & not come near to any pink or fluffy thing you wear. Joy is when you know your fellow birders are everywhere on the field with their camouflage equipment & wear, identifying every bird while you sit at your station with a camouflage umbrella & a handheld fan, fanning yourself silly & trying to focus on the swamp-hen & keeping an eye on the buffaloes which are keeping an eye on you. God has a great sense of humour because I was just laughing & laughing at the behaviour of these amazing creatures He had created in Ladang Hutan Chikus, Bidor, Perak. Rising at 4:45am is hardly an activity to rave about but somehow, the thought of being there just kept me awake throughout the journey.

While in Tenggol over the Raya celebrations, I certified my last batch of students for the year before officially closing for the season. The migratory birds had arrived & birds were everywhere. Eagles were swooping down on the bay to catch a tasty fusillier while egrets & a majestic grey heron were flying low across the bay or just standing about. Pek Ling & I climbed rocks & cliff to try to catch a glimpse of these birds catching fish in the evening. We were bitten silly by sandflies but the very fact that they are here once a year kept us from returning to our comforts. Conversation atop rocks overlooking the bay & the black egret fishing is somehow more meaningful than at sea level. We planned to don on camouflage when we serve at the coffee station set up for the pro-birders just for the sake of being there. Watching birds has never been so fun before. I contemplated getting a digiscope system for now & suddenly, every birder wants a scope for the long range viewing too. Great, now I wouldn’t have to blink my eyes from squinting. The weird thing is, from fish to birds, I feel as passionate about meeting ‘life’ as I had first begun watching animal’s behaviour. It’s just gone a little extreme now with additional gadgets but I am so excited with the prospect of meeting winged-chicks!!!

I can just about squeeze everything that I’ve done in the past week & a half here before I leave for work in Thailand. Before that, I leave you with some of my bird shots that I managed to crop out…..hope you enjoy them as much as I have taking them!

Last Friday night, I followed the birders to Fraser’s Hill & watched the masters at work. Sleeping at 1am & rising at 6am, I was so amazed at their dedication to be the first worms to bait the early birds. Here, I failed miserably to take pictures, resigned to the pavement & coffee station & watched. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t unhappy not being able to take pictures, I was just plotting how I can be a successful WANNABE!

Firstly, I have to learn the names of the birds so that I can rattle off as well as Chien when I see birds coming, or knows what on earth he’s talking about when he sees them coming first!!!! They’re everywhere!

Secondly, I have to wear camouflage. (Done. I’ve gotten my spaghetti straps & hipster pants as Jason had suggested. Even got a sleeveless hooded camou jacket to go with it.) A support team has to be inconspicuous & stealth….just like the masters.

Thirdly, I must get over the shock & horror of Phil being able to eat anything under the sun or the fact that he would suggest eating them or catapulting them off trees or shooting a bow at anything with hoofs. Mention a hornbill & he’ll tell you they are not tasty! And to hear Chien add, “Did you suck out the horn of its head too?!?!?” Ohmigosh, a conservationist’s nightmare……Phil can be described aptly by two words, ABSOLUTELY ABO. (Short for aborigines/aboriginal). He’s great to be around though, he kept me awake with all these edible suggestions when I was on the verge of collapsing into slumber on my monopod.

Lastly, one must have the ability to laugh at oneself when you do everything for the first time. Here’s an example of the differences:

The Pro (Chien)

The Abo (Phil)

Wannabe! (pummkin)

Cannot Be…

The birds are everywhere, sometimes you hear them but you don’t see them. When you see them, you can’t find them in your viewfinder. When you finally see through your viewfinder, the bird is so small, you squint & pray that your focus will lock on. Then they flee…….this is so frustrating……

You remember names but don’t remember the sequence. Get corrected by Chien many times. You retreat to the coffee station & tell yourself to take a tea break. Then you hear a shriek, somewhat like bird with a sore throat. All you can manage to shout out is “Tok tok tok! That’s a tok tok tok!” When the surrounding’s cold, your brain freezes momentarily out of excitement, you say whatever that comes to mind. Woodpecker is non-existent in my vocabulary then. Just tok tok tok. A result of seeing too many PM threads of this name. An Indo Chinese Cuckoo Shrike becomes an Indian Chinese Cuckoo Bird to me. Soon, I was just pointing up in the sky shouting, “Big Bird! Big Bird!”

Here are some of my attempts but of course, no where near the pros. I stress that I’ll stay as a Wannabe & stick to shooting micro underwater stuff, something which I’m good at.

Tok Tok Tok…..don’t know what kind. Ask Chien.

Forgetful Bird…….think it’s called Amnesia.

Some kind of thrush…….no, it’s not a disease.

Racket Tailed Drongo…….this one I know coz it makes a lot of noise outside my apartment every morning.

Phil being powered up by Tenaga!

The Real McCoys

Phil will be joining Philip this weekend & Philip is coming again in December, hopefully Chien can make it. I’m going to set up the coffee station proper, be like a Yau Chin Tai-Tai, sit down & wait for the birds to come before I lift my finger to shoot.

When I grow up, I want to take pictures like Chien & Philip…….

Then my second attempt was at the Bird Park with 5 other photographers with WMD, weapons of mass destruction, when this peacock got friendly & made contact. I had my manual lens on……I think he thinks I’m a peahen……God is a great designer of beautiful feathers, don’t you think?