There is a
new bird that flew in my yard this week. It usually drops in within an hour
after i've watered my plants in the morning.
I figured
that it comes in to take its morning rub-down. It's a small bird
approximately 3cm wide and 6cm in length and fits snugly as it sits on the pandan leaves.
It selects a leaf and shakes off all the water unto its feathers ……
…and proceeds to part 2 of the morning ritual ??????
Make
Yourself At Home… Little Bird
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| Junior with Mummy.... Oriental / Honey Crested Buzzard Torquatus race. |
A baby bird-kidnapping incident has brought the community of bird watchers and Simee residents together.
Their close co-operation had enabled them to locate the
baby Oriental / Honey Crested Buzzard expediently and enabling the young chick to
be returned to its nest 3 hours after it was abducted.
The incident occurred on Sunday 14 March at the cross
roads of the abandoned Silver Star Cinema in Simee Ipoh.
On a tree in front of the cinema perched approximately
30 meter atop on the upper branches a pair of Oriental / Crested Honey Buzzards
Torquatos morph had built a nest to have their little Junior.
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| Daddy and Mummy. Oriental / Honey Crested Buzzard Torquatus race. Mummy is a Tweedale morph whose fur and feathers make her an exceptional beauty. |
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| Setting up nest ..an early photos taken in January. Above photos by Gilbert Chin |
Nesting location in Simee .. on the upper branches in front of an abandoned cinema
Junior Bird-napped
On that Sunday at approximately 2.20pm 4 men showed up
with gondola crane. When asked what was going on by Sam Chu a photographer the reply was they wanted to
photograph the bird.
The gondola went up with one of the abductors and came
down with the bird in a basket. The whole incident lasted no more than ten
minutes and the abductors gone.
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| Up went the gondola crane .... |
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| .. and came down with baby Junior in a basket |
When the crane first arrived a nearby resident named Angela Ng was observing out of curiosity. When the abductor entered the gondola Angela called to Jek Yap a regular birder photographer. Jek in turn called to Yvonne Blake also a birder/ photographer who was updating the OHB nesting on her FB page Perak Natural Heritage.
Just then another photographer, Sam Chu together with his
wife Veron, showed up. It was Sam who inquired what was going on while Veron
had been busy shooting a video of the abduction.
With the abductors gone Jek took the witnesses Angela
and Veron to the police station to make a report. Meanwhile another witness who
was familiar with the crane operator approached them to return baby-bird.
The abductors
agreed but only upon withdrawal of the police. A heated negotiation between the
birders and the abductors ensured. Ultimately the birders relented in order
that Junior be returned but set conditions such as (1) only if junior is
alive and well (2) the crane to be at their disposal to take baby up to nest and (3)
if parents reject it to bring junior down.
The entire drama lasted three hours from abduction till its returning to the nest. But the drama was far from over.
Would Mummy and Daddy accept Junior back. Oriental Honey Buzzards diet is honey and meat. The abductors said they had fed Junior fish so it was skeptical whether the parents would unite with Junior.
Every evening Mummy Buzzard returned home to nest with Junior but on the night after the abduction it was left all alone.
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| The day after .. Mummy with a 'honeycomb for Junior .. |
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| ...while Daddy watched from a nearby tree. Pic: Irwan Fahmy Darwis |
However the birders fear was unfounded as Mummy was seen entering the nest at approximately 930am the next morning with a chunky honeycomb for Junior while Daddy watched from a nearby tree.
Several hours later it was Daddy’s turn to drop by with ‘meat’ all for Junior. From then onwards life had returned to normal.
Setting Up Nest
“The pair of Buzzards set up nest towards the end of December 2020”
said Gilbert Chin one of the group of birders who had noted their presence in
December. According to residents this was
not the first year that these birds had nested here.
He had alerted other enthusiasts and they could be seen with their long-lense cameras especially at weekends.
 |
| Photographers aplenty everyday |
The location of the nest at traffic light cross road and the attendance of photographers further publicized the presence of birds.
The birds had also brought luck when its number won first prize and subsequently a consolation prize further endearing it to the community.
Junior only arrived two months later on the 25
February.
The end of February saw the presence of Yvonne Blake. a birding enthusiast who administers
the Fb page Perak Natural Heritage, about everything natural to Perak, birds,
otters even butterflies.
She was told by her friends there were people
‘shooting up a tree’ when on their way to Simee market.
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| Enthusiastic birders Yvonne Blake, Sam Chu and Veron and Jek Yap |
What she saw the next day was a subject close to her heart, two Oriental / Honey-cested Buzzards nesting and awaiting the arrival of their newborn.
“From the look they are both Oriental/Crested Honey
Buzzard Torquatus race. However the mother is rare. It is an Oriental /Crested
Honey Buzzard torquatus race Tweedale morph- resident which is exceptional.
She is black and white and the coloring of her fur and
feathers makes her beauty exceptional like the Blyte hawk–eagle something that
a lot of old time birders have never seen a morph like that”
Yvonne’s goal is to document the birds and the growth
of Junior until it fledges (when a baby gets its wing and takes flight)
This was posted on her page ” Raptors are hard enough to see close up let alone nesting. The Oriental Honey Buzzard Torquatus race is Malaysia's resident and the female Tweedle morph is a rare find. ..We shall be observing them until the babies fly... once in a lifetime chance BUT we are all praying they will come back to nest in the same place next year and following years to come. Hoping MBI does not cut down this tree in the future”
Since February 23 when her first post of the buzzards she has continued till today making daily posts until Junior fledges.
Simee residents dismayed
Residents of Simee could not understand why the crane
operators would want to bird-nap Junior. S.Sundram who lives just two blocks from the nest was
dismayed when he saw the commotion on the evening but was glad when the bird
was returned later.
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| Assemblyman Jenny Choy asked authorities to investigate the persons involved. Pic:Sin Chew |
By the time this report is out Junior will have grown feathers
and his wings would be stronger and getting ready to fledge.
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| February 24 .. Nesting |
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| February 24 |
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| March 21.. getting ready ?? |
March 21 
March 21
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| March 21 |
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| Retiree Yeoh at 'work' from 6.30am to 9.30am for the last ten years |
IPOH: While scores of residents are jogging, walking
or participating in various forms of exercises in the morning on a small
recreational park in Ipoh, retired lorry driver Yeoh Say Bah pressed himself
into providing community service by cleaning the park.
He can be seen in the park at Taman One Pertama from
6.30am to 9.30am everyday for the last ten years.
With a cangkul
and a rack, he would be trimming the grass or just generally cleaning up the
jogging track and children’s playing ground.
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| Yeoh Say Bah, 81, ..'I will continue..' |
It is indeed rare to come across a person, who had
imposed upon himself a community service and had been carrying it out with full
determination for a long time.
It all began in 2010, when he was frustrated by the
failure of the Ipoh City Council to maintain the recreational park. There was then overgrown grass and clogged
drains.
So he decided to do something. Ever since he has been
single-handedly keeping the park clean.
“At first, some residents would tease me by saying that I was being paid by the city council or that I was an eccentric. Whatever they said did not bother me,” he said.
“I just carry on with the task, which I had voluntarily
committed. After all it is also a form of exercise for me,” added Yeoh, who is
already hunched and bowed legged.
Obviously he is contended with the task of keeping the
park clean, but the actions of some youths who often gathered in the park and
threw bottles and cans around are making his job difficult.
He has to clear the litter and pieces of broken
bottles before those joggers and children who frequent the park could get hurt.
“Look at the drains around the park too. They are
clogged up with dried leaves and dirt but the city council is yet to clear
them. In the past I even got into the deep drains to clear them, but now I can
no longer do so,” he said.
The effort of this unsung hero is being greatly
appreciated by the residents in the taman and those in the surrounding housing
estates. They would often stop and talk to him. Some had even offered to raise
funds to help him purchase weed-killers and other items to carry out his task.
“I don’t need donations,” he stressed. “All I asked is
for them to bring in their used plastic containers and bottles, which I can
sell to raise some money to buy what I need for the task. They could deliver
them to my house or bring them to the park.”
Although he has become somewhat like a celebrity among
the residents, but not so with the city council, which had so far not shown any
appreciation to him for doing a job that the council should be doing.
And that is not all, a man claiming to be an employee
of the city council recently threatened to issue a fine to him for carrying out
a controlled open burning of dried leaves at the park.
I hope when the council celebrates “City Day” in May,
some recognition can be accorded to Yeoh for his community service. A show of
appreciation from the city council will inspire others to play a part towards
achieving the “Cleanest City” status for Ipoh by 2023.
Ends
Published on: Sunday, March 07, 2021, By: Bernama
Residents of Ipoh Garden East saw red yesterday when their taps ran dry.
A fuming resident,
Ms Lim said she came home in the evening and there was no water. She was infuriated because this was the second time in a fortnight
this has happened.
“On the 23rd
of February when it happened it lasted almost a whole day”.
A call to
LAP (Lembage Air Perak) Operations Centre confirmed there was a broken pipe at Ipoh Garden East
area on 9 March. Water was disrupted between the times of 4pm till 8pm when the
pipe was repaired and flow restored.
The
spokesman also confirmed the disruption on February 23. He added that the pipes
in Ipoh Garden East were using AC pipes and were old and residents could
experience disruptions in future.
He suggested
that a minimum of 20 residents should make a request that the pipes in the area be
changed.
KC
Everything
else was status quo
JAG
A different morning
was evident everywhere when I rode out this morning.
The corner
coffee shop which had been closed for many months was open at 7.15am though
with different stall owners.
The school bus parked around the corner for equally many months had its engine running and its operator wiping down his bus .
Why ?? …. All
because today March 5th 2021 is when Malaysian authorities will ease
restrictions in most localities….due to lower COVID-19 activity.
…..”officials
will allow inter-district travel nationwide, markets, shopping centers, retail
stores, and food establishments can open daily. ..social gatherings, meetings,
workshops, and seminars can occur with up to half the venue capacity”.
No doubt it
will improve the economy a bit BUT will we see a spike of Covid-19 thereafter?
Let’s keep
our fingers crossed and remain vigilant and hope that doesn’t happen so that we
can continue towards ‘the new normalcy’.
KC
