Red Collared Dove

Columbiformes - Columbidae -  Streptopelia tranquebarica (Tekukur Merah)

Medium-sized dove of open spaces with trees and bushes. Male is red with a bluish-gray head and female is brown overall. Both sexes have a dark collar. Female may be confused with other collared-doves, but is smaller with a shorter tail. Often forages in pairs, but may congregate in large flocks, particularly in agricultural fields where seeds have been spilled. Song is a hoarse and muffled-sounding series of three or four hoots.

(eBird)

A leap, a joy, need not be much, that's abundance when a search yields.

Eastern Red-rumped Swallow

 Passeriformes - Hirundidae -Ceropis duarica (Layang-layang Api Utara)

Brightly-colored swallow with a deeply forked tail, pale orangish rump, black squared-off undertail coverts, and an incomplete orange collar. The underparts are always streaked, though there is geographical variation, with streaks ranging from fine and sparse to thick and heavy. Juveniles average paler and lack extensive orangish tones; may resemble house-martins but note deeply forked tail. Builds mud nests on mountains, cliffs, and on human structures. Forages over open areas. Frequently gives a short, sparrow-like “twi’wit.” Usually separated from European Red-rumped Swallow by range, but in case of any overlap, should be separated by evenly cinnamon rump (vs. bicolored), dark lores, dark stripe on nape, and bolder streaking on underparts.

(eBird)

One for so many, meaningless for many but meaningful for one - desire of the named.

Olive-winged Bulbul

Passeriformes - Pychonotidae -  Pycnonotus plumosus (Merbah Belukar)

Large plain bulbul of lowland forests, edges, and mangroves. Dull brown with gray-streaked ear coverts, red eyes, and olive-green panels on the wings. Other similar large brown bulbuls such as Red-eyed and Cream-vented can also have olive tones in the wings, but less prominently. Song is a simple series of bubbly warbling interspersed with sharper notes.

(eBird)

Of what beauty, is in the ordinary, the routine, the pulse of life.

Lesser Cuckooshrike

  Passeriformes - Campephagidae - Lalage fimbriata (Selancang-Kelabu Melayu)

Medium-sized gray bird (small for a cuckooshrike) with considerable geographic variation. Male averages darkest on the wings, throat, and breast, contrasting more heavily with the rest of the plumage than in the fairly uniform-looking male Indochinese Cuckooshrike. Female is pale gray with fine barring on the underparts. Undertail is black with white-tipped feathers concentrated at the end of the tail; does not appear as evenly graduated as in the larger Black-winged Cuckooshrike, and is less extensively white-tailed than Indochinese Cuckooshrike. Forages in the upper levels of forests and forest edge in lowland and hilly areas, often as part of mixed-species flocks. Song begins with a few clear tinkling notes, then transitions into a loud, insistent “jeh, jeh, jeh, jeh”.

(eBird)

A life always lived in vigilance, a survival, a lifestyle, a burdened wisdom.

Brahminy Kite

 Accipitriformes - Accipitridae - Haliastur indus (Helang Merah)

A medium-sized raptor with a rounded tail unlike other kites. Adults are unmistakable with a white head and breast contrasting with otherwise brick brown plumage. Juveniles are a darker brownish-black with a paler head and prominent white patches under the wings. Usually associated with both inland and coastal wetlands in tropical Asia, but it is largely restricted to coastal wetlands in Australia where it is alternately known as “Red-backed Sea Eagle.” Call is a distinctive nasal, drawn out, “Kyeeerrh.”

(eBird)

A lesson in respite when one feels alienated, overwhelmed in a crowd.

Pied Harrier

Accipitriformes - Accipitridae - Circus melanoleucos ( Helang-Sawah Hitam-Putih)

A spectacular harrier patterned in black and silvery white. The male is distinctive with black head, striking yellow cere and eyes, and black shoulders, breast, and wingtips, contrasting with its silvery-white underparts and forewing. The female is gray-and-brown above and lighter below, with a small white rump. Females superficially resemble female Pallid and Montagu’s Harriers, but have a paler underwing with narrow dark barring and sparse streaking on underwing coverts. The species hunts by quartering suitable habitat on buoyant wings. It eats mostly small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and insects.

Patience is always a game when it comes to closer encounter with the avian kind, if one's game! 

Eastern Marsh Harrier

 Accipitriformes - Accipitridae - Circus spilonotus (Helang-sawah Biasa)

A common patroller above reedbeds, flying with wings raised in a shallow V-shape. Adult males are predominantly pale gray with a dark-speckled head, blackish back with pale-edged feathers, and black wingtips. Adult females are brown and streaky and lack the bold white rump patch of the similar female Hen Harrier. Juveniles are brown with paler heads and breasts. Extremely similar to Western Marsh-Harrier, but range overlap is minimal.

(eBird)

possibly immature male

Time when one plus one doesn't equal two, and a challenge lives rent free in the mind, and foolishly refuses to bow to counsel.