Penang Bird Park Seberang Jaya

Today, I visited the Penang Bird Park located in Seberang Jaya, Penang. The weather was quite hot but thankfully there were shades around this bird park. Surprisingly, this bird park have many bird varieties such as the eagle, owl, flamingo, pheasant, duck, parrot, secretary bird, hornbill, emu, ostrich and many more.

This owl looks aggressive. The eyes are as big as a 20 cent coin.

Here is another one. Looks a bit more friendly than the previous one.

One of the duck species which live together with the flamingos. Very chubby....

Along the way, I spotted a few brightly coloured birds. They are the pheasant. Male pheasant has more vibrant colours and longer tails. It was not easy to take this male pheasant shot as it was recklessly moving around probably looking for a mate at the adjacent cage. Too bad, the adjacent cage female pheasant has a partner now.

No idea what bird is this but it does look cute while resting on the tree roots.

Hornbills mostly found in Afrika as well as in Asia. It gets its name due to the shape of its bills which looks like a horn.



Just beside the hornbill cage house to another beautiful bird species which is the peacock. They belong to the family of pheasant. The female peacock or peahen is dull in colour contrasty to the male species which are vibrant in colour. It was just the right time for me to take this shot when the male peacock expanding its tails in the process of courting the peahen.

This beautiful bird of prey which I think is a sea eagle likes to make a crying sound. When one made this sound, the rest will echo accordingly.

I found this owl very interesting. While sleeping, the face looks as if that it is smiling. It is one of the largest owls that I saw in this bird park.

Initially, this grumpy stork did not bother when I was photographing him but after a few shots, it charges towards my direction. Fortunately, there is a steel partition to prevent the bird from getting too near to visitors.



While looking at other birds, suddenly I heard someone calling 'Hello' and later I found that it is from this blue-yellow macaw that is making the sound. Macaw is a large parrot that has bright colored body and usually is tought to speak and perform in the bird show.





My favourite of the day is the cute little owl as above. Surprisingly, this owl likes to be pat on its head and back. By doing so, it will move its body left and right, as if it is dancing around. But beware, not all owls behave like that and only a few that have been tamed pose such friendly behaviour.

Sungai Batu Penang

Sg Batu is another quiet place located not far from Gertak Sanggul Penang. This place mostly visited by the locals with fishing and picnicking are the main activities. There is a man made lake just beside the seaside and the surroundings are shaded by full grown pine trees.

The lack of tourist made this place a gem for those who just want to escape from the hectic working life and enjoy the tranquil surroundings.





There are many sea shells along the beach. I took some shots of the sea shells and did some post processing to highlight only one object with colours while the rest in black and white.



Sg Batu offers a great sunset view in the evening. I like to take silhouette images of fishing boats as they reflect a resting and calm atmosphere while waiting to serve their master in the next morning.

Teluk Tempoyak Penang Fishing Village

Teluk Tempoyak is a small fishing village located south east of Penang island. It is an adopted village by a multinational company known as Agilent. The support had improved the quality of life of the communities in this village.

Panoramic view of Teluk Tempoyak fishing village.

The main attraction of this village is their seafood. It is a good experience to enjoy the open sea breeze along with the infamous ikan bakar or grilled fish and many other freshly caught seafood such as king prawns, squids, cockles and crabs as dinner.

Many locals spend their time fishing around this wooden jetty located just beside the Teluk Tempoyak restaurant.



The time was just right to take the silhouette picture of one of the fishing enthusiast at the edge of the jetty. The cooling atmosphere coupled with the laidback activity portray such a simplicitic life and yet one can still enjoy with what is currently available and affordable.

Taiping Lake Garden

Taiping Lake Garden is the first public garden established in 1880 during the British ruling in Malaysia. It was originally an abandoned tin mining site and located within the town center near the Maxwell Hill and Taiping Zoo.




The garden was beautifully developed by Charles Compton Reade. Until today, this garden is still my favourite in Malaysia as it offers great views and provides a peaceful environment for relaxation.






The unique features of Taiping Lake Garden are the majestic rain trees (scientific name ‘Samanea Saman’) that the branches sprawl from the opposite side of the road to the nearest pond. Hmm...Looks like the branches hunger for water supply.



While taking photos, I spotted this guy cleaning the lake gardens. I am happy to see the Taiping lake Garden is very well maintained and clean.





Taiping lake garden is a popular spot for wedding photography. The rain trees provide a very pleasant and great view for portrait shots.



The morning weather around the lake garden is cool and refreshing. It is a good time to catch the mirror image of the Taiping Lake Garden.



Taiping Lake garden Clock Tower



Along the way, you can see a few nice bridges. The above two bridges (one of them is zig-zag) are located near the Lotus pond. There are many fishes such as the Lampam Jawa (Silver barb) or Tilapia(a cichlid species) can be seen from these bridges. Fishing is strictly prohibited but you can bring along fish food and enjoy feeding the fishes.

From magnificent scenic view with the Maxwell Hill as backdrop, there are many activities can be done here such as jogging, boating, picnics, cycling etc. There is a children playground that brings to contention for the young ones. The above picture is the stone children slide that I used to play. Unlike those colorful plastic type of slider, this children slide is big and can with hold many children.

Hmmm....A Stegosaurus Dinosour encounter.

The breathtaking panoramic view of Taiping Lake Garden as above. By the way, there are a few Taiping hotels newly built and one of them is the Flemington Hotel Taiping with is located just next to the lake garden.

Pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/photo.dannylim/Malaysia#

Cicada

Last week, I happened to go back to my hometown to visit my grand aunt in Taiping. As usual, we had our dinner but this time I heard a very familiar sound nearby. I am very sure it was a Cicada.

This picture taken in a very simple setup using a camera and torch light with a few seconds of exposure.

Usually, this type of Cicada can be seen in Taiping when it is close to Chinese New Year. Most of its life cycle is in underground. Only the last part of its life, the Cicada will tranform into adulthood(known as 'Imago'), emerge from the underground and fly out to mate before it dies.



It may looks scary but in fact, it is quite defenseless against predator such as birds and are benign to human. All it could do is to make a very loud noise(the males only..) when being caught. The numbers have been hugely decline compared to what I saw during my childhood. I could see only a handful of them while strolling around the Lake garden. Some source said that the change in the vegetation i.e parennial plants replaced by short-lived plants may likely to affect the cicada population.



All the above pictures are adult Cicadas with average size of about 1.5 to 2 inches long. At this very last stage, they do not eat but only take in fluid to keep hydrated considering they only live for about a few week.