Room Service?

Haven't gone birding in so long that my ID skills were getting rusty. Everyone, including myself have been so busy. And when I was free, I relished the opportunity to catch an extra 2 hours sleep rather than go looking for avian friends. As if to remind me what I had been missing, I was treated to "special previews" and "home delivery" today.

As I was leaving the office I caught a glimpse of a tiger shrike (upper photo) leaving the front fencing. And in the afternoon, saw 3 pink-necked pigeons (lower pix) fly over to the telephone lines just outside my bedroom window. It doesn't come much closer than that to room service when it comes to wildlife watching!

It's always a treat to look up and see beautiful and rare species up close and personal. There is often drama - a cat catching a bird feeding in a bottlebrush tree, Sea-eagles swooping to catch water-snakes from the river surface, a family of otters following your boat. You don't have to touch a tree-frog to appreciate its beauty. People sometimes fail to come close enough to learn to appreciate nature, which is a pity as we live in a virtual paradise here in Malaysia.

The migratory season is here, there would be wagtails and bee-eaters and flycatchers aplenty up in the hill stations. Perhaps I could find some time to go up Fraser's soon... I do miss the place. Hey Lorett, any chance we can make a run up the hill in October?

Photo credits:
Tiger Shrike (juvenile) - CWM (sorry, not sure who)
Pink-necked pigeon - Mr Lim Kim Chye