There's life at the front door

 The yellow bamboo clump at the front garden has grown tall and dense.  Among its stems and leaves a pair of nesting Chestnut Munia is seen busy flying in and out of their sanctuary.  I was able  to get a closer look of the birds this morning.  It is no wonder why people call it the Chestnut Munia.  The hood is black but the body is a rich chestnut brown colour.  The bill is bluish grey and stands in stark contrast to its black face.  Their presence at the front garden makes nature a step closer to the front door.

Chestnut Munia (Pipit Rawa- Malay)
Lonchura atricapilla

Colourful flowers amidst the greenery

At the center is seen the white flower of the Plumeria obtusa, amidst other flowering shrubs and fruiting tree species.
Location : Side garden, middle section

Red Hibiscus or 'Bunga Raya' - Malaysia's national flower
Location : Back garden

Plumeria obtusa

White flowers of the Common Spider Lily - Hymennocallis speciosa

Pastel light orange colour of the Ixora coccinea

Purple petallike bracts of the Congea velutina

The Malaysian garden defined

View of Kuching Kambatik garden looking north-east
25 March'15

Long purple
sprays of
Congea velutina

 The side garden is attaining the image of the Kambatik garden now.  The cascading network of long violet or purple sprays of the Congea velutina is a crowning glory to the Malaysian garden.  This plant has been trained to climb the tall 'Lumok' tree with its leaves providing broad shapes in the garden landscape canvas.  The flowers are actually small but it is the four petal-like bracts of the Congea velutina that provides the colour.  The garden too is a grove of various palms and columns of trees with attractive colours when in flower.  Striking foliage colours provide permanent colours to the garden in many hues from  pale yellow  to red .  The thick greenery around the house is home to a growing list of many nesting birds and fruiting trees.  It provides an inviting passageway to visiting birds, butterflies and many other representatives of the insect world by day.  This is the garden character that is definitive of the Malaysian garden which I have researched over a decade and defined as the Kambatik garden.  It is a garden sanctuary of wildlife, a micro world of the original forest once gone, a place in the sun where shade creates a micro-climate conducive to many passive and active recreation under the tropical sun and a source of edible fruits and medicinal herbs within an arm's length.  What more could Malaysians ask?
For those interested to know the full list of plants suitable for the Kambatik garden can check the plants lists which I have shared online in the following blogs shown below:-
( Note: The page views indicated below are as at 26 March'15.)
All the plants (4th Ed.)  -  10,608 page views
All the Plants (3rd Ed.)  -  203,442 page views
All the Plants (2nd Ed.) -   30,913 page views
All the plants (1st Ed.)   -  54,258 page views

Groove of palm trees makes the garden tropical and exotic.
View of side garden, looking north.

Wings of interest

Autumn  leaf butterfly

Common garden birds (Part 2)

Spotted-necked Dove or "Tekukur"  in Malay

 The trees at the Kuching garden are now nicely maturing.  Their column of green volume provides shade to the garden and home to many of the garden birds too.  The bamboo clumps are home to the Spotted -necked Dove and the Chestnut Munia.  The Eugenia oleina trees are home to the Olive-backed Sunbird.  Other birds are mainly day trippers. They include the Yellow-vented Bulbul, Brown-throated Sunbird, Oriental Magpie Robin, Yellow-bellied Flowerpecker, Asian glossy Starling. Plaintive Cuckoo, Eurasian Tree Sparrow and Zebra Dove.

Yellow-vented Bulbul

Chestnut Munia

Common garden birds

Asian or Philippines Glossy Starling.  These are adult birds. Resting on the branch of a Tabebuia rosea tree.

 The last two days was interesting.  I saw many common garden birds visiting the garden.  Chiefly among them were the noisy Philippines Glossy Starlings that gathered at the Tabebuia rosea trees and the Eugenia oleina trees.  They were kept busy by the fruiting Eugenia oleina trees.  The crowd of starlings were joined by many other species.  Others in the line-up were the Brown-throated Sunbird and Yellow-bellied Flowerpecker.

A female yellow-bellied Flowerpecker with a ripe Eugenia oleina fruit

A juvenile Philippines Glossy Starling

View of Kambatik garden, Kuching.
17 March'15

Kuching garden in 2015

Red Cat's tails in the garden.  Garden is maturing.

Brown-throated Sunbird

Dragonfly

Back in Kuching for the year 2015.  The garden looks matured. More stories and pictures to come...