Winter Migratory Birds

How those, bird fanatics will all chase after these, species of, migratory birds, because their not indigenous to this country, translated…

As the autumn turned into winter, the northeast winds grew stronger, the trees started changing the colors of their leaves to yellow and brown, to welcome the traveled far migratory birds.

the sketch by the writer, courtesy of UDN.com

The migratory birds in the far north feels the changes in the wind first, they’d sailed with the wind currents, cross the seas, to find a comparative, warmer place to stay.  The wood sandpipers are among these, with the colorful back feather patterns, quite fitting in camouflaging themselves in the grasses of the wetlands, they would also appear at the mouths of the rivers, or the water rice paddies too.

At this time, why not, slow down our paces, and get to know these, friends who’d, come over, from, afar.

And, I would imaging, that the bird watching fanatics would surely, go out with their cannon-size giant cameras, their, binoculars, to catch these, species that migrated to the country, because, they’d only come but, once every year, in the winters, and, if they missed them this year they may have to wait until the next year, and, we don’t know if these birds are still going to come next year or not…

here’s the bird in a photograph, found online…

The Tawny Fish Owl

An exciting, “catch” we have here, showing how well the natural habitats were, kept, otherwise, this bird could not have been, sighted where it was, sighted, translated…

The tawny fish owl is the KING of ALL owls in Taiwan, because it’s the largest in size of all twelve species of owls found here locally.  The tawny fish owls live next to the creeks by the forests, they loved catching the fish in the creeks, or other tiny creatures that live close by to the creeks, and that was why they’re called “fish owl”.  It seemed, that all the owl species here in Taiwan, kept their separate habitats guarded, some on the plains, some deep in the mountains, and the biggest, tawny fish owls, had found homes next to the rivers and the creeks.

sketch of one by the writer, courtesy of UDN.com

Being able to discover the existence of the tawny fish owls by the side of the rivers and creeks, showed, how the habitat is supportive of their wellbeing.  I’d once been blessed, to discover that tawny fish owl, flying as the nights came in, and all of my companions couldn’t hold back their ecstasy for discovering the birds, they were, most quiet, fearing that they might, disturb the entire, flock.

And so, this showed, how the habitats needed to be, kept well, for these living organisms that are either, endangered, or going extinct to thrive, and, that would be, based on, our, hard work, and we must, protect the habitats for these, wildlife, because we need to, keep this world, with the species of wildlife varied, not just for our generations’ sake’s, but for the sakes of, the next generations to come.

Those Bad Kids Who’d Managed to Escape Out of the Daycare Programs

Oh no, those three “kids” had, ESCAPED!!!  Let’s go and chase after him then, shall we???  With a photo attached, translated…

“Wow, can’t believe it, we actually, escaped!”

“That mean nanny who’d, yelled at us nonstop, must be, the WORST nanny in ALL of, Antarctica!”

“Hey, keep your voices down, the ‘meanest nanny’ hears EVERYTHING!”

here are, the three, “escapees” out of the Antarctica daycare program, photo courtesy of UDN.com

“Wow, this tiny cove is so slippery, feel so soft, it’s, so fun!  Wow, I’d almost, slipped and fallen down!  It’s, such a fun time!”

“I plan to be truant against tomorrow, how about you guys?”

“I think, we should, slip back into the daycare before the nanny figured out the three of us aren’t, accounted for!  Pretend that we’re, good kids, and, let’s come back here to play again tomorrow!”

This is once again, humans’ interpretations, of the encounters of three baby penguins that wandered away from the group, on their own, on their, discovery journeys…

The Realm of the Gigantic Whales

In love with nature, with these, magnificent, majestic, creatures of the world!  Translated…

When I first wanted to understand, “how to film the whales and dolphins underwater”, I’d gone to Tonga, and, it’d been, seven years since, and, it’d become, a destination of my travels by the year, like a ritual, like how the fish would, return to their places of birth.

Although, I’m only a freshman in experience, any of the more experienced photographers, in that realm, are all, considered, novices, but, seeing how the daughter of the bed-and-breakfast grow from a three-year-old playful child, to a shy adolescent now, it’s, shocking enough.  Perhaps, one day, she’ll, be married………

And so, year after year, the humpback whale had, swim to this longitude, and it’s become a species of whales I’m, quite familiar with.  The humpback will hunt in the higher longitude locations in the summers, and in the winters, they’d, migrated to locations of the lower longitudes to stay, to breed, to give birth to new calves, and so, the kinds of whales we’d encountered here, are usually mothers and calves.

No matter how fresh the calves were, the newborn that’s “only” four meters long, and weighed a ton, are all just, curious creatures that’s, swum for only just a few weeks in the oceans, and, in order for us, to get up close and personal with him, the key lies in the mothers’ attitudes.

photo that the writer took, of the humpback whale mother and child, from UDN.com…

Having many encounters with wildlife, I’d known, that every single animal has its own personality, just like every dog, every cat is different.  And, if we encounter the more careful mothers, or the pups which are smaller in size, normally, the mothers would swim away, when we’d approached, and, I’d, normally, let go.  And, if they’re, less alert, and would even, swim over to check out the people in the water, then, what happened afterwards, would be, a lot of fun.

But, with the passing of time, compared to how at the very start, I’d, started clicking the shutters the moment I dove into the oceans, now, I’d, hung on to my camera, watched the light reflect the oceans, and, fill up the moments I got, to spend with these, magnificent creatures.  And, normally, shortly after I left, it’s like, I was, overcome, with this addiction, wanted to, soak up inside the ocean, to enjoy this encounters I’d had, with these, creatures of the oceans………year, after year, after year.

And so, this, became more than a job to you, you actually, enjoyed interacting, watching these giant beauties of the oceans, and, by encountering them, you’d, learned, to respect everything living in this world.