The Power - Suede

GOOD MORNING ONE AND ALL AND WELCOME TO A NEW MONTH! HERE'S HOPING NOVEMBER IS LESS SOGGY AND BLOWY THAN THE ONE NOW IN OUR WAKE!

Through endless Asia,
through the fields of Cathay.
Or enslaved in a pebble-dash grave,
with a kid on the way.

It is not unusual for us to get ahead of our-self on occasion, dependant on time and tide, but we very nearly overlooked Thursday night and Friday morning. A balmy airflow from the south west contributed nicely to a near perfect night, producing a maximum temperature of +17°C, as cloud cover was also total, but then there is always one element that takes the ‘gilt from the gingerbread’! This time it was the afore mentioned wind, which on occasion blasted to 50 knots, but the proof of the pudding would come at daybreak when monitoring the Moth Traps, there were but c3 Insects!

Saturday, with not much improvement, seemed perfect timeing to visit another Continent which raised another dilemma, so many images in the archive across such a vast area, time for a little pruning!   The 2 month long solo trek of 2012 across much of 

SOUTH EAST ASIA
included The Philippines, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia was also of gargantuan proportions which was eventually pared down even further to just 2 Nature Reserves. 

If you're far over Africa,
on the wings of the youth.
Or if you're tied to some satellite town,
and there's nothing you can do.

 

SUEDE  

Bernard Butlar - Lead Guitar, Brett Anderson - Vocals, Mat Osman (brother of TV quiz host and comedien Richard) - Base Guitar and Simon Gilbet - Drums

If you haven't been there before a fine starting point would be the album Dog Man Star.
Just give me, give me, give me the power,
and I'll make them bleed.
Give me, give me, give me the power,
although, I'm just the common breed
During a previous trip it was a case of having to leave Malaysia's

 Fraser Hill 

out of the equation as time was running short, but this was the opportunity to redress the balance.

A purpose built camp for serving British Army Officers of the time,

it remains in the same pristine condition as when built in Victorian times and not long before the  First Bird

CHESTNUT-CAPPED LAUGHINGTHRUSH
Always on a wing and a preyer, no booking had been made but again fate was on my side

and booked for an initial 4 nights with options either way, at the only and rather swish

Birds came slowly at this rather busy junction but at the gateway to the
Golf Club

SILVER-EARED MESIA
and

SPECKLED PICULET
(the very best 'Spoonerism' in the whole of the avian world which quickly becomes)
PICKLED SPECULET!

Another fortuitous meeting was with the
Chancellor of the Kuala Lumpur University (name forgotten withthe passage of time) but who very much put me in the picture reference 'bird hot spots' and other and also pointed out

LESSER YELLOWNAPE

GOLDEN-WHISKERED BARBET

Day 2 and I was risen before the Sun had set, and taking the Profs advice walked to higher altitude where there seemed to be a frenzy of human activity - had they spotted something RARE?

While being very much "each to thier own" the focus (excuse the pun) seemed to be exclusively on photographing the birds and then asking others, via the camara screen, as to identity.

Time to Go!
My wanderings lead me to this

 garage like building

just buzzing with birds

 

flying in and out of a nesting colony of 

GLOSSY SWIFTLETs

and there's me with one 'in the hand'!

As good fortune would have it this was not to be a lone experience as down the track came what turn out to be 3 Dutch Birder's.

Ben Heerlink, Marc Bulte and Dick Roggeveen
who had heard the same kerfuffle. Like minded we were soon getting on like a house on fire as they invited me to join them stateing 8 eyes are better than 6 - game on!

LARGE NILTAVA

MONITOR LIZARD

You might live in a screen kiss,
it's a glamorous dream.
Or belong to a world that's gone,
it's the English disease

What might have been a 'parting shot' became quiet the opposite as my new found friends talked of ventering on to the National Rainforest Reserve of Taman Negara

and inviting me along with them for the 4 days stay, how do you spell

YES PLEASE and WATCH THIS SPACE?

So give me, give me, give me the power,
and I'll make them bleed.
Give me, give me, give me the power
and I'll make them believe