Mousehound

Pink necked green pidgeons again...plus...the tribe of smaller

birds that are always with them. The males are shiney black

with blood red skin around their eyes while the females are a

brownish black with off white & dark brown stripes on their

chest. Any idea what the small birds are? Back in the US as

a kid we called em starlings...a pestulance to farmers &

gardeners.

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Your description sounds like Philippine Starling - common only in the southern peninsular area of Thailand.

Did the 2 nights at Nam Tok Sam Lan and was a bit disappointed in not getting anything new but probably shouldn't be.

Got some good photos of male and female common flameback, grey headed canary flycatcher and black naped oriol and a male white rumped sharme that insisted on having its photo taken, it would flu off then come back and sit in front of me, got within a meter at one stage.

Saw 4 different drongo, ashy, black, greater racket tail and hair crested and have a photo of a flycatcher which is probably a brown but I haven't really had a good look yet. Lots of calls up in the canopy including a flock of laughing thrush who thought my efforts at spotting them were a great joke.

Local, walked down the river this morning, its dropped well down now and here are big sand and mud flats. There was a big flock of small pratincole, 100 + with the odd bigger darker bird among them, they looked to be a migrating flock that was resting as they were not feeding and were separate from other small pratincole which were feeding, they would be the resident birds.

When I put the PIX on the computer the dark ones are oriental pratincole the first I have seen here and a new one for me.

Also a good number of white wagtail feeding, a couple of little ringed plover and a pipit which I dont see many of.

Which river and where? I really like these pratincole. Are they a migratory sp in Thailand?

Some pics from a recent trip to Australia.

Some nice shots:

Black-shouldered Kite, Australasian Hobby (little Falcon), Whiskered Tern, Pink-eared Duck, Little pied Cormorant with Pelican.

Some of the greatest images of all time have been street photography. I have absolutely no problem with it, and in fact prefer someone doing a good job than all these happy snappy Facebook stuff. The world would be a poorer place if you can't take a picture of a public place. A good photographer would never be "in someone's face".

Camping is quite well organised and near the Park HQ and the Hill-tribe village. Can be pretty crowded there - either in the open grassed areas or amongst pine trees. nThe nearby village has good eating and there is a formal, but very nice small park which was great for photography. last time I was up there I chickened out and stayed at a guesthouse. At the first entrance going up the hill you take the left fork which takes you to the river - go over the bridge and the best riverside restaurants and guesthouses are along there. Or there is Mr Daeng's half way up the mountain and opposite the Park HQ.

Oriental Magpie-Robin A common bird that often cocks its tail as this one is. This is most likely a younger bird as they have a brownish colour to the normally white under parts - or a female in just very yellow lighting.

Sorry that this isn't a better image, I should have stuck with the original rather than zoom in.

I would appreciate if someone can put a name to it.

I have lost 23k since New Year. Cut back on carbs and any sugar. If I have carbs it is as low GI as possible. I now avoid rice, pasta and breads. if I have any of these - and I do average a small amount each day I only have low GI forms. No booze at all. If I have milk it is Almond milk or low fat milk - for tea. Not a lot of fruit but apples and a few nuts as well as an occasional banana (not that good but avoid tropical fruits usually and no watermelon or grapes). I eat a lot of curried vegetables - cabbage and cauliflower - not carrots or peas/corn. lean meat or fish are good. Boiled eggs are also good. Seems to be working - I do not exercise at all yet, but as the weight comes off I will start to do a bit. I do feel I have more energy but get sugar cravings so buy sugar free lollies if needed. I have the odd breakout meal - say once a fortnight. It is not easy but the rewards help. Just a note to say that the weight did not come off evenly. I would lose a bit then seem to change shape a bit but not lose weight. Then I would lose a bit again. So do not get disheartened if weight loss is not huge and every week. Small losses but steady is the best as you are most likely to keep the weight off. if you exercise a lot as well you might find you are converting fat to muscle - which is actually heavier than fat. Good luck.

Nice shot of a St Andrew's Cross spider. I am very interested in the camera set up. Without being critical try lowering the exposure and crank up the contrast a notch. You might find a more dramatic effect this way - just a suggestion. Have you tried this camera with any lenses other than Olympus?

Here is the rest of the spider:

PA140192 by pattayadays.com, on Flickr

A few thoughts:

You may be better off reading reviews on the InterWeb. Unless you have prints of the same picture and on the same paper then it is not that easy to compare. Also the quality of inks you use is important. Most Inkjet printers are pretty good. Many are made by Canon but re-badged, same as Laser printers. Running costs far outstrip the cost of the printer if you do a lot of work. Long, two weeks and above, periods of printer inactivity can cause the print heads to dry out. I run four or five InkJet printers and a the same number of laser printers. The larger oldish Canon i610 plotter can be expensive to maintain. The smaller machines used to be run on tanks but I found it cheaper to buy bulk inks from businesses getting rid of stock as they moved into new models. Bought 70 cartridges for $30 US for an Epson recently. If I get a batch of cheap inks I will buy a printer to match rather than the other way around. We do most of the donkey work on lasers and the quality stuff on InkJets. Most of our work is photographic or engineering drawings, and some reports.

If your quoting me your misquoting, or misinterpreting, me. Of course every Place that serves Thai food here isn't good but the best is the best in the world!

If one of your most memorable meals was a burger in CM then you must either haven't had the chance to dine out much anywhere or have Alzheimer's

I have mad cow disease! Got it from a so called burger in the USA.

Just because food is prepared in the country of origin does not mean it is going to be good. I have had better fish n chips in Thailand than UK and better pizza in NY than Italy. It depends on how good the cook is and the quality of the ingredients. It may be more appropriate to consider that the very best cooks in the country of origin will most likely serve the best local typical dish, as they have access to the freshest and authentic ingredients and have the experience in preparation.

My most memorable meals include some fairly ordinary places and some meals were enhanced by the setting and service:

Breakfast - Fruit Platter: St Francis Sq San Francisco, and Eggs Benedict at The Peninsular Hotel Kowloon.

Lunch: anywhere along Napoleon St, Milan. Beggars Chicken and Crispy fried Duck - Several restaurants in Kowloon

Afternoon tea: Cheesecake at the Pen, Kowloon.

Dinner: Pub grub around Shaftesbury Lane, London: The Nest Chiang Dao: Burgers at a well known spot in Chiang Mai.

Supper: Burger and Chips - Midnights, Margaret River West Australia (now sadly closed down): Donner Kebab on the waterfront of Limassol, Cyprus.

I have never had great Thai food or Cantonese food outside of Thailand or HK (China). On the other hand I have had some pretty ordinary stuff served up in both countries.

The lotus eaters.

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And presumably the parent moth.

lotus moth.JPG

A flock of plaintive cuckoo's were having a great feast on these caterpillars which had almost stripped the lotus leaves of a small swamp.

Oops, forgot, now supposed to put down what they were taken with.

Cannon SX50HS, I find it best to stand back 2 or 3m and zoom in on anything small rather than trying to use macro. If I try to get close things just up and leave.

Contrast enhanced a bit with PhotoScape.

Not very likely that this is a moth. The clubbed antenna would indicate a butterfly and the raised forewings at rest show it as a Dart sp. Most of the Darts are uncommon to rare. It is hard to identify but it would help if I knew what region you were in when you took the shot. Good work by the way - not easy to get these clearly.

Getting up close and personal with a dragonfly.

Great work with a kit lens!

Just as a request - it would be nice if posters could add some info about pics. Especially where taken - at least the general area. Also if the animal is known. What gear used can be of interest also.

Surely all TV members would be at church at this time on a Sunday!

What type of football? Soccer, Australian Rules or Gridiron?

I might change my name to "Melton Mowbray" - I think it has a certain ring to it. My son's nickname is Manchego, after the cheese, so we would go well together. Our Staffy is called Branston Pickle - or Pickle for short.

I really need to get stuck into one of those Sausage King pies. Thanks for the info.

I too am having bits removed. Seems the Grim Reaper is employing "Salami tactics" to try and get me. At least it is a way to loose some weight!

I thought there was no cure for as virus?

I like the taste of food containing MSG but in recent years if there is a lot added to food I find my tongue and lining in my mouth swells and I get quite severe asthma. So "mai chue rot nah khrap" for me.

The pin Hotel is basic but clean and well positioned. Good for the markets - which I prefer to the CM markets. About 600 - 700 BHT I think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEobedEdxsI

I can hardly believe that in Australia milk is so cheap. 1$A a litre. The Ausies are moving into export big time.

It was on the news yesterday. All the dairy cows went on strike and aren't producing anymore milk.

I heard there may be a revolutionary cow coup.