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Hehehe! time for a commercial break:



The above item is made by a friend and he would like to commercialise it. Wholesale enquiries are welcomed. Contact me: dance4rain@yahoo.com and I shall put you in touch. I have bought one for myself.

It is a popular equipment for bird trappers and comes in several designs depending on locality. It is used to carry the Spotted Dove on trapping excursions. The woven rattan allows free passage of air and a peek of the outside world for the bird. A sturdy design and make often doubles as a stool for the trapper to sit on while waiting for the wild bird to come.

The above design has an upper compartment for trapping peripherals like pundi (a small cloth bag), racik (lasso like device) and anything the trapper could think of. I do not know the names of half of the things they use ;)

My Shamas at home

A bird I kept from a juvenile. Purportedly from Grik, an area well known for good Shamas. He has since been re-homed.



Apollo 6: Kept from a juvenile and was sold off once and given away once. For some reasons, he was returned to me. Looks like I have to spare a license to keep him till the after world beckons him ;)



Zeus: Shown in his bathing cage. Acquired him when he is around 4 years plus old (so the story goes). He has his origins from the forest of Rompin. A fun fella to have around.



A black feet Shama that comes from the area of Baling, a place near to Grik if my geographical memory does not fail me ;) Many things have been mentioned about the "black feet" feature of such Shamas. I suppose nobody can conclusively determine the truth or myth of it. In my opinion, that is the fun part of it all.... a little pinch of myth, a sprinkle of legend and a large dose of exaggeration, wow! that will certainly make my day ;)

White-rumped Shama (Zeus)

Well, I have seen a Shama singing while being held in hand (belongs to Irwan from Brunei). I had a pleasant experience holding one singing Shama in hand when I wanted to cut Zeus's nails. He must be in good form, but I think he still can develop further after a dismal showing in the last Bt. Pahat competition.

Unfortunately, when Zeus was singing, the only video recorder I have is my hand phone. And while I unlock my hand phone's keypad and start the camera, Zeus stopped singing. Well, there would be future opportunities:

Black Feet Shama

I have heard a lot about the black feet shama. I wouldn't do myself justice if I did not have the pleasure of keeping at least a specimen in my collection. Some says that they are more aggressive, some says that they are more hardworking singers, some says that its all nonsense. Well, keeping one does not make me the expert. So what if that one is more aggressive, so what if it starts singing in record time (from wild caught), it can only have statistical significance if I can document more specimens.

I know of one that was just sold off by its owner because the owner thinks that its just a so and so bird only. The buyer too subsequently sold him off. Hmmm.... Perhaps its time we have a set standard of what constitutes a "black feet" shama ;)

This is my "black feet" shama:


Close up of the feet (front view):


Close up of the feet (back view):

Chiku, a Red-whiskered bulbul

I woke up one morning (10/06/09) and heard a Red-whiskered bulbul singing in my garden. It is a normal usual sound but what was unusual was that the bulbul is flying freely around. I checked all the cages and found Chiku's cage empty.
This is him singing away:



I placed his cage on the fence and hope that he would just hop in. He has escaped 3 times with his previous owner, through a large gap at the top of his cage. I thought my cage was secured and only found out a bar was broken at the top only much later.
However, he has difficulty finding the entrance to his cage and I was getting impatient. Finally caught him with a trap made by a friend (featured earlier in my blog). Just hope he doesn't get angry with me ;)



Quite funny seeing him fight with his own image reflected on my car. Wound down the car window after that but he didn't enter the car. There were many more funny behaviours which were not captured on film as I was busy tying my best to lure him back to his cage. It is still not safe out there yet. Caught another cat in my house trying to get to my breeding pair of doves. Released him in Melaka Raya today. I am becoming like an animal controller :)

Songbirds Competition - 7th June 2009 in Batu Pahat

Zeus towards end of round 1:




Zeus in round 4: