Wonderful News

Adrian has got himself a job back in Darwin, so will be there when we return! Wonderful news and we hope the move goes smoothly. There are a lot of lonely kilometres to traverse in between. Meanwhile, we look forward to Luke and Tahlia arriving here for a bit more than a week, from Fri April 1st. Hope they are not just setting up a big April Fool's Day scam!

Did I mention already that Eric and I are on the Great Race Committee again this year? It will be held on May 23rd so it is time to begin creating the different legs and all the questions to be solved. On Thursday June and I met to begin our first attempt and while I was waiting for her I got into a discussion about touring Southern India with these fine looking gentlemen below. Don't they look fantastic! They are from the Punjab region and want to take us to the Golden Temple when we get there. And then on the way home I sat opposite this small family travelling on the MRT in typical Singaporean style. All on mobile phones.

On the afternoon of Good Friday, a public holiday here, Eric was feeling unwell with another dodgy tummy complaint, so only Heather and I went birding at Punggol Barat grassland along Seletar North Link. We took the train to Punggol then the light rail to Nibong before walking about 3 kms to the grasslands. 

Among the pigeons and pipits we saw a pair of attractive but unfamiliar-looking birds with contrasting black and white plumage and bright red bills. By far the most distinguishing feature though was the prominently long tails. I managed to get a few pictures as they weren't shy. Other birders in the area who joined us explained that they were male Pin-tailed Whydahs in breeding plumage, thus the long tail. We were able to watch the courtship dances as they flitted about, trying to impress the females. This bird, an escapee, is highly sought after as a cage bird, especially the male with his long narrow tail feathers. They are native to Africa. During courtship, the male sings nearly all day within the designated display area, chasing other males away. His display includes flying from shrub to shrub, flopping his tail feathers, or hovering in flight to attract the perched female. Such displays may last for as long as five minutes, even when other species like weavers, doves or pipits are present. The female has streaked brown upperparts, plain buff underparts, a buff and black face pattern, and a much duller bill. This one appears to be playing hard to get.

Eric was still not well on Saturday and had to have the day off, then on Sunday after work we joined other MAE revelers at La Nonna's  for an Italian pizza in Holland Village. It was good to catch up with others who had travelled home to Australia or been in Japan, Laos and Borneo recently. 
Monday saw the regular walkers return to the beautiful Bishan/Ang Mo Kio Park and on through Lower Peirce Reserve. My brother Colin called while we were walking and we had a long catch-up. Later in the day I also got to speak with Judy and then Mum. 3 in 1, a great result. All are well and had good news to share at Easter.

Returning to Ang Mo Kio Park, we found many gentlemen out with their birds, mostly Peaceful Doves, in the sunshine at the bird singing corner. Bird-singing corners are the only places legal for locals to display their birds for all to see, and while this unique activity is slowly dwindling, there still remains a healthy number of mainly male hobbyists in this locality. Chatting with a few of them they explained the birds need the sunshine and I had no need to be concerned that they were getting hot in the blazing midday sun.