“The adult male who visits our garden very frequently has become increasingly friendlier. Besides bathing in our bird bath (no pictures yet) he also like to frequent the same watering hole to drink (above). Many birds use our bird bath for dual purposes. Our resident Pied Fantail has been struggling with this woodpecker’s visits to its favourite location in our garden.
“Since our friendship has grown we can now watch the Banded Yellownape (Picus miniaceus malaccensis) drink while seated 2 meters away, as long as we do not make sudden moves. Watching this remarkable woodpecker up close has been a joy to both my wife and myself. We hope soon we can allow visitors to enjoy in the visits.
“The weather has been extremely hot and dry recently and he comes to dink a number of times. This morning at 7am he stopped by while I was seated very close and proceeded to take 11 sips slowly, often stopping to observe me (possibly a \’human watcher’).
“I have not taken the camera out to disturb this activity but my wife managed to get some covert handheld images from inside the house. Note the black ants in its plumage, possibly thirsty after feeding (above).”
Datin Dr Swee-Im Lim & Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Canning Garden Home, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
(Urban Garden, hot sunny afternoon)
4th June 2012
