Archive for the Animals category.
Ok so you have been hanging around one of the hotels Miami has and you have finally caught up on some well deserved rest. Now it’s time to get out and take some adventures. There are many things to do from your hotel in Miami so what are you going to choose? Let’s see there is of course the beach and ocean and you could go for a deep sea fishing trip but now that you have to pay for extra bags on the airlines what will you do with the big fish you caught? There are plenty of zoos with all sorts of animals and birds to see. How about something that is really true to a Florida adventure. How about a trip through the Everglades National Park.
It is such a large park you could never see the whole thing. It has about 1.5 million acres of sub-tropical jungles, swamps and saw-grass prairies. It is truly one of the most unusual Parks in America. It is a refuge for some endangered species like the American Crocodile. You will find the rare Florida Panther and the Manatees in certain areas of the land. It is still a really primitive park and has many researchers coming to keep track of what is living there. However, there are many areas where the common visitor can camp, canoe and take nice walks.
This park is a remembrance of what Florida used to be, mostly an Everglade condition. From the Gulf of Mexico to Lake Okeechobee this state of the America was mostly a swamp land five thousand years ago. The Native Americans found this area hospitable around the 16th and 17th centuries. The first Europeans landed in St Augustine and then moved around the state from there. The Native Tribes scattered around and ended up in the more swampy areas. Now the state is a booming with adventure and fun for everyone.
Of the many interesting aspects of the island of Mauritius, it has the distinction of having been the only known habitat of the dodo bird. This is an amazing, yet little known fact. And while the dodo bird has become extinct, the other elements, including its beautiful scenery, great beaches and fabulous views remain and are incredibly popular with the many tourists who visit it every year. Tourists who stay in a Mauritius luxury hotel will probably not think of the dodo bird unless they come across some sort of monument or tribute to the once unique species.
The dodo bird stood about a meter tall, which made it one of the largest birds that existed. It was related to both the dove and pigeons, though when looking at it, it would be difficult to imagine this connection. It’s diet consisted primarily of fruit and made its nest on the ground. The Dutch are credited with first discovering this bird and made the original drawings and provided descriptions of this odd creature. The called it the walghvogel, which translates as wallow bird, though it implies loathsome. This is due to the early descriptions of it having a horrible taste and the original journals describe the meat of the bird as tough.
Many popular sayings are inspired from the dodo bird, and it lives on in popular culture and many symbolic aspects. When something goes the way of the dodo, or follows in the dodos steps, it means that it has passed its prime and has been laid to waste. Literally it refers to something as becoming extinct, though it is often applied to relationships, companies who fail, and social trends that are hot for short time and are quickly forgotten. Another variation, though a bit more crude and to the point is when something is called dead as a dodo.
The songbirds have started to gather and it’s Sunday morning in Singapore. So, before all the other tourist finish there breakfast a the Best Singapore Hotels, I head on out to the Wah Heng coffee shop at the corner of Tiong Bahru and Seng Poh Roads. Wah Heng has caged song birds crowed in from ceiling to floor brought in by the locals. It truly a site to behold.
The birds, China thrushes, red whiskered bulbuls, merboks, white rumped shamas and mata putehs arrive in intricately carved, richly lacquered teak cages with porcelain inlays and ivory fittings. The owners proudly unveil the cages and move them from hanger to hanger with what appears to be strategic, just like an intense chess games was being played. The owners trying to position their birds near those that will encourage them to sing at their best. Songbirds, in nature, will try to out-sing, out perform each other in an attempt to attract the female of its species.
I managed to get a prime seat due to my missing out on breakfast at the hotel. I was so delighted as the birds began to warble. I got to chat up some of the owners and ask how they care and feed for their birds. They were eager to give me details on what the birds eat and one owner told me that she believes the food will influence how the birds will sing. She said a carefully controlled diet for her songbird will include live insects, fruits, baby cereal and a hard boiled egg every now and then. I noticed there were vendors just outside selling cages and feeds; doing a very brisk business I might add.
The regular Sunday crowd, which climaxes between 8am and 10am was an informal kind of competition. The owners will say different, but it seems to me to serve as a practice session for when and if they choose to enter into a more serious songbird competition. Like the National songbird competition can have a cash prize of $10,000 dollars! I’m just glad to listen to the beautiful songs, have a nice cup of coffee and watch the owners persuade their songbirds to sing the prettiest.
I found game-viewing in India to be quite different that what I experienced in Africa. It’s much harder to view a tiger than it is the sprawled belly-up lions in the shade of an acacia tree. The tiger is very solitary animal and inorder to find one, we had to scour all the dusty tracks for any telltale footprints or it’s pugmarks. I found I had to become the thing I was hunting. I listened to the jungle sounds, an alarm cry of a monkey here, a cry from a deer there and the rustling of a peafowl feathers. I used my vision with the intensity of a searchlight, scanning among the trees, probing around every rocky ledge and peering into crevices where a tiger might hide. Hoping that I might be fortunate enough to spot one on my very first day. No such luck.
I headed back to my Hotel in Udaipur to cool down and get much needed refreshments. The next morning I tried again. I crossed a meadow where Chital were grazing. This is the tiger’s favorite prey. I passed a conclave of langur monkeys and pack of Seoni wolves, which apparently are even more rare to spot than the tiger. I was amused to see Dhole wild red dogs playing amongst themselves in the forest as if I wasn’t there. I watched them play king-of-the-castle for almost an hour and them bid them farewell as I was off in search of my elusive tiger.
The sun was hot only after three hours into the morning, so I made a stop underneath a Tamarind for a bush breakfast. After a nice refreshing lite breakfast, I went back deeper into the jungle and came upon 5 padded howdah elephants with riders who told me to get on board because there’s a tiger about. As Soon as I am perched side-saddle on the elephant’s broad back, we were off. Suddenly, there was the tiger! Reclining on a throne of leaves. Majestic in all of his orange glory. Even in repose, the sight of him made me gasp. He was huge and his round-eye stare was penetrating. His forepaws were bigger than my head. My legs dangled only a few yards away from his cavernous yawning jaws. He rose to his feet and strode easily through the trees as he growled full-on. An earth-shattering sound announcing his territory. Impressive and scary. I’m so glad I didn’t come upon him on foot! But, all the same, I glad I found my prey and managed to shoot several photos.
Before I arrived in Thailand, I did a little research about the bird population. I found Thailand has over 900 documented species and that of those one-third are migrant. It can’t be a simple as that I thought, so after I got situated in one of the Hotels in Thailand, I went investigating.
Some species are for sure migrants, others are definitely residential and the rest of the birds are breeding visitors. One of the migrants, the Barn Swallow, was just recently found to be a resident also. So, I was correct, it’s not that simple to document the amount of bird species in Thailand. So, basically, what I’m conveying is that Thailand is a ‘must’ for any serious birdwatcher. I found, through my own due diligence, that there are well over 100 protected areas in Thailand and that these areas are in the National Parks, wildlife sanctuaries and in no-hunting areas. They even have organized breeding programmes for the most endangered. I found that most of these areas are easily reached by car. I was disappointed to find some closed to the public, meaning me, I really would’ve like to observe and note what species were there. I can only assume it was closed to the public because those were the breeding program areas.
I found my most favorite National Park was the Khao Yai. The park is teeming with bird-life. But, not only bird-life, the park has over 200 elephants and approximately 20 tigers. They even have a stuffed man-eating tiger in the gift shop. The tiger was shot and killed because it ate 2 park rangers. Well, duly noted, and a warning to all visitors. Needless to say, I was in bird heaven. I observed several species of the Hornbills, Barbets and flocks of Fairy Bluebirds. A spectacular bird park indeed and one I recommend you visit first in Thailand.