To describe my lifelong fascination with flight and with creatures that fly I like to echo the words of John James Audubon who in 1839 wrote of himself as "...one who never can cease to admire and to study with zeal and the most heartfelt reverence, the wonderful productions of an Almighty Creator."
Today, while waiting for an appointment in Singapore, I was able to do a little birding in an enclosed courtyard with one tree growing in it. In that tree was a very active male Olive-backed Sunbird finding something to eat in the blossoms. Whatever else happens in a day, when a bird like that shows up, it's a good day.
Unfortunately, I can't place a photo of a Palm Swift here (they were too swift for me), but I was watching them from my hotel window today here in Jakarta, and then from below the palm trees in this photo. They were constantly flying near the trees, and even between the fronds, but I never actually saw them land. I think they were of the same species (Asian Palm Swift) that I saw in Malaysia last year. There is precious little habitat suitable for birds in this very crowded city, so I was pleased to find about six different species in the hotel garden.
Well, I'm in Hong Kong again, and so far have not seen many birds except a Black Kite scavenging tidbits from the surface of the water in the harbor. The best views once again are on the murals in the lobby of the Kowloon Shangri La Hotel. This flock of stylized egrets probably represent Chinese Egrets, and I hope to see some through the bus window as I travel around in various Asian cities during the next two weeks. That will be about my only chance for any birding on this trip.
