Chiku & Experiment With Cages

Decided to try out a small Shama cage for Jambul. Chiku became the candidate due to his somersaulting in a tall cage. So, he is predisposed to somersaulting and it would be good to see his acceptance of more space in such a set-up. Chiku is OK in a Thai design cage.






A fusion of Shama and Jambul cage......
So far at day 3, all is well & good ;-)


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Molting Shama

Apollo in an advance state of molt. Hope he has a good molt this season ;-)


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Stock Reduction

The above are easily sold, if I want to. But decided that they are better off in a kampung life. Gave away to a fiend in Endau. Hope they are happy there as I can't maintain them as free roaming chickens at home anymore. Maybe another day when I really have the space. Meanwhile, less birds (or chicken) to care for is a good thing :-D

Minus another singing Magpie, ah! things will be much quieter at home...... less one crowing chicken and a Magpie on steroid, my neighbours will hate me less hahahaha!

Finding Nemo Pt. 1/3

My son has been bugging me to get a "Nemo Fish" for him for some now. Persistent little fella, him. So bought a bag of salt today and will try to turn my 4ft fresh water aquarium into a marine tank. Did try a 1ft aquarium once but the fish died. Maybe it's difficult to control the water parameter.

Given a choice, I would have went for a planted aquarium instead. Oh, well I have the birds to worry about, better leave the aquatic plants alone.









Have a bunch of tetras that need to be rehomed. Will put them up for adoption in the forum soon. Meanwhile have to get them out before I pour the salt in. One thing about switching from fresh water to salt water or vice versa is that it would get rid of existing problem - fresh water algae or salt water algae. I had unpleasant encounter before - both with black algae and red algae.







Finding Nemo (Clown Fish) prove to be a bit trickier now - difficult find in my local fish shop. And the price has gone up - purportedly because they are captive bred.

Now, that is definitely good for our environment ;-)
Will stay away from buying live coral for the same reason.

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Jebak Design Pt.2

Another craftman, another design. Simple but effective ;-)






Often people assume I am a collector of sorts. Personally, I do not categorise myself as a collector. A collector often clings to his possession with passion and delight. However, the number of trap cages that I have acquired over the years, I have only manage to retain but a few. Often it is loaned, sold or given away.

Am I a trader? If I am I better not give up my day job hahaha!

I just love to have and to hold some of the items. But I do get tired of them quite easily. I do trap birds for the fun of it. But to-date, never have I kept any that I have trapped myself. Sort of a personal kind of thing. I prefer to keep birds that I buy or given by friends.

The traps? Just curious to learn how they work :-D

Jebak Design Pt.1

A bird trap under construction. Sometimes a unique piece is made fusing few designs together. The following is a fusion of 2 different design with a healthy dose of creativity on the part of the craftman.

It's interesting to visit such a person from time to time & to blog while on the move ;-)













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Hwamei Pt.3

Progression in keeping Hwamei - able to sun them once in a while without them committing suicide by bashing their head on the cage :D
Usually I cover them back 3/4 after sunning. Leaving a gap at the front side where the door is......
Still wild, but manageable. I will keep them this way until they peak in form, hopefully after their 1st molt in captivity.

Odin - my new Shama

This is Odin, a young Shama who currently has a tail length of 8.6". Keeping my fingers crossed that it would reach at least 9.5" when matured. Stubborn fella in learning how to eat dry food. Left him with a friend to take care during the C.N.Y. Holidays as he need more attention during this period. Fierce little bugger this Shama ;)



Took him home today.

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Breeding season

It appears as if spring is here. The sunbirds are frantically searching for nesting materials. The thread on my Chinese New Year lanterns appear to be choice materials. So, that is what actually happened to my previous years' decorations....



Background voice of my son getting agitated at the bird destroying the lanterns replaced with some music :D

Then there is this wild Magpie which is now in "form" harassing some of my birds whenever possible.



Adding to the video collections, this is a video taken on 22nd Feb '10, a feeble attempt to video the territorial aggression of the Greater Racket-tailed Drongo. Maybe next time I would get better footage as on that day, I have other project in mind ;)



The above are all signs of the breeding season for the year ;)


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Cat Damage

Shucks! Came back from Perak to find my Pied Bushchat gone. Main suspect would be the friendly neighbourhood cat. Black in colour & stubborn as hell. This calls for project "Caterminator". Will check with my mom tomorrow what actually happened. But I am betting my bottom dollar it's that black alley cat.






A broken bar, bottom loosely placed back. And this Pied Bushchat is one hell of a tame bird. May he escape in time.... sigh!


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Things seemingly unrelated

Chinese New Year this year coincides with Valentine's Day. It appears off to a good romantic start hehe! But don't quote me ;)

Wishing all a Happy and Prosperous Year ahead. May we be blessed with good health, joy, happiness, untold riches and birds of our dream ;)

A little thought that seemingly unrelated to bird keeping but in a lot of way, it is. Blogging.

There are a few close friends that lost interest in blogging, so naturally I have to do a self evaluation of why I do it. Stemming from the combination of the word "web" & "log" (hope I am right as I did not google it up), so it must be some kind of log. So basically I am doing it for myself as an online log of things that interest me. As a diary or journal of some sort for future use. If someone finds it interesting & follows it, then I most honoured. If not then it is still perfectly alright.

In my opinion blogging must serve a personal purpose to sustain the interest. I have even started a private blog where I speak to my children as if I am going to die tomorrow. Well, life is definitely uncertain. I can only be certain that I will die one day. But when is the million dollar question ;) Even if I live to be an old man, I suppose it would make for fun & good reading by then hehe!

Well, my point of all this mumbling is about having a purpose to do things. Which also incidently why I have basic ground rules before I started keeping birds. There is a plan for all - in the event I can no longer take care of them, in an event of concern like the avian flu epidermic and all the eventualities that cross my mind. Even if when & should my kids develop an allergy to things avian.

Just a thought to share :)







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Molting Shama

The below is a primary tail feather of a Shama in Malacca some years back. Probably the longest tailed Shama on record in this state. I heard that it became blind in one eye and was subsequently sold for RM1k. I would have offered much more for it......



The following are the primary tail feathers of Apollo X. He is currently molting before his time. Building on his genes, I wish to breed long tailed Shamas with dispositions similar to Grik birds. Wishing myself good luck in the endeavour ;)