Crossing The Line

I crossed the Equator for the first time during my recent voyage from Tawau, Sabah in Malaysian Borneo to Makassar, South Sulawesi in Indonesia by ship.In the old days of sailing ships people "crossing the line" for the first time observed some strange traditions!

"The ceremony of Crossing the Line is an initiation rite in the Royal navy, U S Navy and other navies which commemorates a sailor's first crossing of the Equator. Originally the tradition was created as a test for seasoned sailors to ensure their new shipmates were capable of handling long rough times at sea. Sailors who have already crossed the equator are nicknamed (Trusty) Shellbacks, often referred to as Sons of Neptune; those who have not are nicknamed (Slimy) Pollywogs." (Wikipedia)

However on the Indonesian ferry K M Tidar I invited myself to the bridge as it nears the Port of Pantoloan and the Chief Mate kindly showed me the GPS Navigator as the latitude reading turned 0 deg. 0' 000" as it cruised south on the Strait of Makassar. Wow, I've crossed the magical Equator into the Southern Hemisphere!

Moth Orchid of Mindanao

I have had this beautiful Phalaenopsis for more than ten years in my garden in Malaysia without knowing what species it was until today when I posted my query on a internet gardening forum - http://www.greenculturesg.com/. It turns out to be Phalaenopsis stuartiana that originated from the jungles of Mindanao!

I was given a big branch full of baby plants (or keikis) of this orchid around 1998 and I tied it to a tree and let the plants spread. Even though I fully neglected it being a rather lazy gardener, it rewarded me with spikes of beautiful white blooms every once in a while, sometimes up to a hundred flowers. As the tree on which I first grew it toppled, I transfered the plants and keikis to other trees and gave some away. The photos in this post are of a recently transfered plant growing on my star-apple tree that has just flowered for the first time.

Phal. stuartiana has medium sized flowers and beautifully marbled and barred leaves, the flowers look very much like the more well-known Moon or Moth Orchid - Phal. amabilis - which has bigger flowers and plain green leaves and which is more difficult to grow. It grows quite readily when attached to living tree trunks in the shade and soon forms many plantlets; in favourable conditions it produces many flower spikes on which the open flowers look like dancing white moths.

Maya Pula

I was delighted when I received my February copy of the National Geographic and found 2 favourite subjects featured - the Philippine Eagle and the haiku master Basho. The former prompted me to write this post, but not on the Bird King (Haring Ibon, Haribon) itself but his humbler predecessor, the former-reigning national bird of the Philippines no less, the Maya Pula! I have still not seen my first Philippine Eagle yet, and so don't have my own photo of it- and still remains high on my must-see list. The Black-headed Munia aka Chestnut Munia is called Maya Pula (Red Maya) to distinguish it from the Eurasian Tree Sparrow which is also called Maya in the Philippines, just as it is commonly called Pipit Merah in Malaysia where all sparrows are called Pipit. Scientifically it's Lonchura malacca, though lately many ornithologists classify it as a different species Lonchura atricapilla.

Up close it is a handsome bird though small, it's not so surprising that Filipinos in the past chose it as a national bird, maybe also because these birds also demand and extract a tax from the harvest of the rice farmers who are still rather powerless to keep them off their fields!

My second photo shows a "small" flock in a rice field in Sabah, but huge flocks are quite common and spectacular to watch in flight.

Dancing Girl

This was one of my first attempts at making an ani-gif file way back in 1999. I just took a series of shots of Say dancing and used an ani-gif program to put it all together. I've since lost that software and had not been able to find a better and as easy to use program.
Imagine how this young lady would look today!

Strange Parrot

Another parrot post!

On a quiet July evening last year I was attracted by strange parrot-like calls just outside my house in Pagadian. I quickly grabbed my camera and ran out followed by the rest of the surprised family! Outside on the power line we saw a parrot that I've never seen before and quickly took some shots! Being the newbie birder in these parts I thought I had bagged an endemic Mindanao species and quickly emailed off a photo to the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines WBCP president for confirmation!

However he replied that it was definitely an escaped pet African Lovebird....?!!!? Aw, maoba??

Blue-naped Parrot

This lovely green parrot would have qualified as one of the 60-odd species of ENDEMIC birds of the Philippines (i.e. species found nowhere else in the world) were it not for a small colony that live and breed among the casuarina trees on Tanjung Aru Beach in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (Borneo)! So now it is relegated to a mere NEAR-ENDEMIC! Many believe that this group of birds in Kota Kinabalu are actually descended from pet birds brought over from the Philippines as they are very popular pets there.

The photo on top was in fact that of a pet caged bird taken in Zamboanga City by Ken using a Nikon Coolpix digital camera when he was only 5 years old (in May 2005)! He had stuck the lens in between the cage wires and snapped this perfectly sharp shot. When I received the photo by email I just digitally removed the background and signs of the cage and add a frame. I also thought it's a photo of one of the small hanging parrots, (called Colasisi in the Philippines) which are also popular cage birds, until a well-known Filipino bird photographer pointed out to me that it's a Blue-naped Parrot! (How embarrassing!)

I have since gone to Tanjung Aru Beach and successfully taken some shots of this once-endemic beauty of the P. I. They seem to be doing well there, with quite a large number of them to be seen busily and very noisily, squawking loudly, flying from tree to tree and building nests in crevices on the trees oblivious to the bathers and picnickers below.

Photo of one of the Tanjung Aru birds >

As we prepare to send off 2007 and welcome in the new year a familiar song will be heard once again around the world after the month or two of incessant Christmasy songs and jingles.

Auld Lang Syne is surely one of the most well known songs in the world, not only in English-speaking countries but in many non-English-speaking countries like Japan, Thailand and Taiwan as well. Almost everybody knows the tune and has sung it (or part of it) at one time or another, but how many know the words beyond the first stanza and the chorus? Like many other frequently sung songs, the melody is better remembered than the words, which are often sung incorrectly, and seldom in full.

Well here are the complete lyrics:

Auld Lang Syne

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o’ lang syne?

Chorus:

For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne!

We twa hae rin about the braes,
And pu’d the gowans fine,
But we’ve wander’d monie a weary fit
Sin’ auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl’t i’ the burn
Frae mornin’ sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin’ auld lang syne.

And here’s a hand, my trusty fiere,
And gie’s a hand o’ thine,
We’ll tak a right guid-willie waught
For auld lang syne!

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I’ll be mine!
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne!

What do those strange words mean? Well, it's in Scots and the song's title literally means "Old Long Since", that is "Long Long Ago", "Days Gone By" or if you like, simply "The Good Old Days"!

The song, or at least part of it was written and published by Robert Burns the Scottish poet in the late 1700's though an older version had existed long before him. Singing the song on Hogmanay or New Year's Day very quickly became a Scots custom, which soon spread to other parts of the British Isles. As Scots and other Britons emigrated around the world, they took the song with them.

One translation in plain English goes like this:

Times Long Gone

Should old acquaintances be forgotten,
And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintances be forgotten,
And days of long ago !

Chorus:

For old long ago, my dear
For old long ago,
We will take a cup of kindness yet
For old long ago.

We two have run about the hillsides
And pulled the daisies fine,
But we have wandered many a weary foot
For old long ago.

We two have paddled (waded) in the stream
From morning until dinner time,
But seas between us broad have roared
Since old long ago.

And here’s a hand, my trusty friend,
And give us a hand of yours,
And we will take a goodwill draught (of ale)
For old long ago!

And surely you will pay for your pint,
And surely I will pay for mine!
And we will take a cup of kindness yet
For old long ago!