“On 26th January, three of my 40 years old Alexandra Palms (Archontophoenix alexandrae) (above) were similarly chopped down following the collapse of one of my Ceram Palms (Rhopaloblaste ceramics) and the removal of the other. The reason was safety. These old palms were in danger of collapsing, a danger to property as well as life and limbs.
“The video below shows two of the three palms being felled by workers after building a scaffolding between them.
“The removal of these palms saw less bird visiting my garden… and brought back memories of the different species that were seen through the years that visited for the fruits.
“As far back as January 2006, I observed Asian Glossy Starlings (Aplonis panayensis) swallowing the ripe fruits to subsequently regurgitate the seeds. But not so the Yellow-vented Bulbuls (Pycnonotus goiavier) whose gape is narrower.
“In February 2008 a small flock of Long-tailed Parakeet (Psittacula longicauda) came for the female flowers, obviously for the nectar they exude to attract insects for pollination.
“And just last year, a pair of Pied Imperial-pigeons (Ducula bicolor), an Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopacea), a Blue-crowned Hanging-parrot (Loriculus galgulus) and Javan Mynas (Acridotheres javanicus) were seen taking the fruits of this palm.
“The palms are now gone but memories of the birds that visited remain, not to mention records of their visits can still be retrieved from the BESG website.”
YC Wee
Singapore
26th February 2016
One Response
YC: Pray tell how much it cost you to remove a palm?