Have You Seen a Purple Chicken?

Standing by the edge of a huge freshwater body full of freshwater plants, I felt like I was waiting for the Loch Ness Monster to appear.

The water was a little too shallow for a sizable monster though, and this was certainly no lake in Scotland. The anticipation, however, was just as strong.

This was the second time I was here trying spotting this elusive purple bird. Will I finally see it?

And just then, I heard LK saying, "It's there, I can see its head."

I quickly got the binoculars from her, and indeed, on and off, a purple-coloured head was sticking out among the water plants. It was really far away though, and my camera can't really get a good shot of it.

Perhaps if I do some Photoshop effects, I could possibly really pass it off as the Loch Ness Monster? I have indeed been to Loch Ness a few years ago anyway. Wahahahahaha...



So officially, I have seen the purple swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio)!

A miserable shot I got, but still, I was satisfied. I could not even see it on my camera's LCD screen as it was so far and tiny! It was a miracle that I actually managed to get a photo of it when its head popped above the thick layer of water bananas by pure estimation.

Now, when was the last time you see something for the first time?

:P

Blue-winged Pitta at Bishan

I was busy going through the draft of one of our latest publications on Wednesday night, when I received this comment on my blog on the Mangrove Pitta:

Hello, I am from singapore, but apparently I think a mangrove pitta flew into my house in Bishan! It looks almost exactly liek the one in your pictures; i found ur page from googling mangrove pitta. I dont know what to do with it ! its now in a basket with a blanket. It makes a LOUD sound , goes, KAAAK KAAAK, but it has a brilliant blue colour. i thought it was a kingfisher. Should I just let it out onto the road area???!?!?!?!?! i stay along a terrace road , and actually, I hope u do read this on time, so you could offer some advice.. it doesnt seem to be able to fly that steadily yet. WHAT DO I DO WITH IT??

Mangrove pitta in Bishan??!!??!! He later also posted a note on my chat box. Hmm... Could it be a blue-winged pitta instead? I quickly responded to him.

Hi! Thanks for leaving a note here! It could be a blue wing pitta which looks very similar except for a more distinct black band on its head, but can't say for sure unless you can send me a good photo. The mangrove pitta is usually found in the mangroves, but the blue wing pitta is a migrant and can be found in other wooded areas. If it is healthy, you can just release it in the wooded areas.

Anyway, we eventually exchanged emails and that guy (I shall refer to him as two dollars, or $2 for short from now on) emailed me a photo of the bird. Sure looked like a blue-winged pitta to me.



According to "An Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Singapore", the blue-winged pitta (Pitta moluccensis) is an uncommon winter visitor and passage migrant. It breeds in Southern China, Vietnam, Mynanmar, Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia. In Singapore, dead or injured birds have been picked up from suburban areas throughout mainland and Jurong Island. It can be spotted in Singapore from October to April.

Managed to chat with $2 (make a guess why I call him $2?) on MSN later, and found out that the blue-winged pitta flew into his house and actually knocked into the windows a few times.

$2 (yah, I didn't want to use his real name for privacy reasons, but why $2?) was thinking of sending it to Jurong Bird Bird. But I was thinking, if the bird appeared healthy, then it might be better to just set it free, but perhaps not at his house but in a park in case it crashed into something again.

The thing is, it was rather late, and $2 (no, he didn't sell the pitta for $2... he's a rather nice person actually, or at least from first impression... haha) was worried that the pitta might get eaten by cats or what ever. So I suggested that he could release it the next morning.

Frankly speaking, I was getting rather excited by this actually - I also wanted to see the blue-winged pitta!!! So I asked him if i can meet him early Thursday morning when he's going to release the bird, and he agreed!

He also asked what we should do if the pitta can't fly tomorrow and ended up hopping around. I told him I can bring it to NUS to nurse it back to health, unless he wanted to do it himself. If the bird didn't survive (touch wood), I can get my colleague (who else but LK) to stuff it with cotton wool and immortalise it. Wahahahahaaa...

We do have a few blue-winged pitta specimens in the museum. I guess many of them were not so lucky when they crashed into glass windows - they ended up with cracked skulls and died...

I later also found out from $2 (no, I didn't have to pay him $2 to see the pitta) that he's studying in NUS! What a coincidence!

Anyway, the next morning, I quickly made my way to Bishan before I went to work. And in a nearby park, I saw $2 (no, I didn't spent $2 on transport to get to Bishan) and his mum. He was holding a big basket with the pitta inside.



The bird was getting very restless then, and I only managed to get one miserable shot. As it was like movinig around a lot, so the photo was a little out-of-focus.

Anyway, $2 (last chance to guess why...) removed the blanket covering the basket, and off it went! Disappeared in a flash among the trees...

Well, what a way to start a morning! Thanks to $2 for contacting me about the blue-wing pitta, allowing me to use your pitta photo, let me see the pitta, and also didn't mind that I called you $2. Haha...

When it's raining on the shores...

What to do when you were out on the shores with no shelter and it started raining cats and dogs?

Solution 1: Put on your poncho, find a place to sit and stay away from trees. To pass time, you may complain about everything under the sun (or rather, in the rain).



Solution 2: Find a cave and squeeze in as many people as you can. Clearly, the cave below was not fully utilised. It should be possible to squeeze in one or two more people.



Solution 3: Be kiasu. Find a cave, and wear your poncho as well!



Notes:

1. To ensure that you will have a comfortable experience hiding from the rain, you are advised to scan for caves the moment you reach the shore.

2. Small caves may not effectively shelter you from the rain, so when it starts raining , dash for the biggest cave, unless it's obvious that you can't reach the cave before the others.

3. If the cave is big enough, pretend to be a gentleman and let someone else enter the cave first. It will be very stuffy in the cave, especially when it's raining. The best position is some where in the middle, when the person at the back will be hot and stuffy, while the one in front can block the rain and wind for you.

If you have other brilliant ideas on what to do when it rains, feel free to add in the comments!

Operation Thunder Crab

It was still dark when we received the dawn mission.

Two of our own forces, Leather Jacket and Thunder Lord, were taken by the mysterious Bubuman. Nobody knew the Bubuman's true identity. We only knew that he was a master of traps. The bubu traps he designed looks flimsy, but once you get in, it is almost impossible to escape without external help.

The rescue mission was assigned to AL (Weapon: Iron Poker), and me, the Tide Chaser (Weapon: Metallic Chops). The Urban Forest (Weapon: Flash Box) also decided to join us for some on-the-job training.

With help from one of the best transporter in the region, the Bumboater, we managed to sneak onto the Frog Island safe and sound.



The Bubuman was not on the island. One day, we might eventually have a confrontation, but today was not the day.

We found the trap easily. A cage made from iron, it looked simple, but was in fact a highly sophisticated trap.



It seemed that we had arrived too late. We had lost Leather Jacket.



However, we had no time for mourning. We saw that while Thunder Lord looked somewhat traumatised, he was still alive. Urban Forest and I quickly tried to deactivate the trap.



We managed to do it and the door of the trap opened. But alas! Thunder Lord was so traumatised that he had lost his mind, and refused to come out! AL and I decided to use our secret weapons to save him - his Iron Poker, and my Metallic Chops.



We poked and we pushed. But Thunder Lord, who had lost his mind, attacked us using his weapon - the Thunder Claws! There were rumours that once his Thunder Claws grab hold of something, they would only let go on hearing a clap of thunder. But of course, we knew that was bullshit. My Metallic Chops had fought several friendly matches with the Thunder Claws.

However, the Thunder Claws were still very powerful, and AL's Iron Poker was destroyed in the process of saving Thunder Lord. Eventually, we managed to get him out of the trap, but Thunder Lord still wanted to attack us.



At this moment, Urban Forest felt that it's time to use his secret weapon, the Flash Box, which can emit a lightning flash to dazzle his opponents. But today was certainly not his day! His Flash Box took a splash, and lost its flash!

We finally decided to just get away from Thunder Lord and leave him alone for a while. He should regain his mind eventually.

As we got away, three old friends joined us.



Toady (Weapon: Big Jaws)



Carpet Anybody (Weapon: Sticky Blanket)



Purple Painter (Weapon: Ink Screen)

Was there a new mission for the team?

Stay tuned, to the Adventures of the Tide Chaser.

Note:
- For a more scientifically and politically correct verion, check out the Urban Forest blog.
- Thanks Ria for photos 1,4, 5 & 6 :)