The beautiful flower..Mums

Chrysanthemums, often called 'mums', are a genus (Chrysanthemum) of about 30 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to Asia and northeastern Europe.

When Chrysanthemum flowers are boiled to make a sweet drink in some parts of Asia. The resulting beverage is known simply as "chrysanthemum tea" (菊花茶 in Chinese).

The 2009 countdown is just starting and wish you all are having a happy new year.

Yellow Rose

Another different color of rose..Yellow Rose taken in the Cameron Highlands.

How to grow good roses ?

To grow good roses it is necessary to cultivate, to prune
and to spray. If you have a well-cultivated bed you need not
worry about watering. But if you start to water in hot
weather, you must keep it up, soaking the roots thoroughly
about once a week.

Spraying every 10 days guards against the diseases and
insects that attack roses. Nicotine sulphate wipes out the
green lice; arsenate of lead is used against chewing
insects; or sulphur and arsenate of lead may be used in a
dust, as may DDT dust.

The bees visit the flower collecting pollen and nectar

The flower and bees...This is a full bloom and pink flower about 15cm wide, and distinctive yellow stamens.The color and scent are often the driving forces in attracting insects and bees to the garden in search of pollen and nectar.

The flowers need the bees so that they can bring their pollens for cross pollination. The bees visit the flowers to collect pollen and nectar for food for themselves and their young.

Visitors who visited the garden in Cameron Highlands used to touch and disturb on the nature of the bloom beauty even the owner has issued the warning.

Rose flower in Cameron Highlands

I discovered that there are many types of rose flowers when I visited the Rose Valley,Cameron Highlands a few weeks ago. The roses come in many colors and the ones thatI saw were in various shades of red, pink, yellow, orange and white.

The weather is cool at the end of the year in November and December. Many families would spend the year-end school holidays with their children in Cameron Highlands. Visitors were seen here admiring the flowers which are in many varieties. The flowers are bigger than those grown in the city. There are signs warning visitors not to touch the flowers but I saw some children plucking the flowers.

The entrance fee is RM4.oo.

Different color of Olive-back sunbird?

These are two photos of front and back of this colorful little bird I took and I believe it is the Olive-backed Sunbird. It looks the same compare the shots which I posted earlier but the color has a bit different.It must belong to the same species of Sunbird

The Olive-backed Sunbirds are small songbirds, at most 12cm long. The underparts of both male and female are bright yellow, the backs are a dull brown color. The forehead, throat and upper breast of the adult male is a dark, metallic blue-black. But the underparts of this bird which I captured in Cameron Highlands is white in color.

The photo was taken at the Cactus Point when I was looking at the flowers and cactus plants.This colorful little bird came and sucking nectar from the flower plants. I took out my Canon 70-200mm F2.8 zoom lens and immediately took some shots.

A colorful flower of Canna lily

Canna or Canna lily are one of the most popular garden plants. The photo was taken on the roadside of Tanah Rata, Cameron Highland.

Some species and many cultivars are widely grown in the garden in temperate and sub-tropical regions. Sometimes, they are also grown as potted plants. A large number of ornamental cultivars have been developed. They can be used in herbaceous borders, tropical plantings, and as a patio or decking plant.

Tigers can swim.

Among the big cats (generally refer to the tiger, lion, leopard, and jaguar ) only the tiger and jaguar are strong swimmers. Tigers are often found bathing in ponds, lakes and rivers.

I like the reflection in the water around the tiger and the picture was taken in Zoo Negara
Click on image to view bigger version

Tiger attack! should the animal be blamed and put to sleep

I took this photo at Zoo Negara in the afternoon. The weather was hot and the tiger wanted to go into the pond to cool his body.

On thursday, a cleaner was killed by three white tigers at Singapore Zoo and it developed into a hot arquement. The tragic incident has received many people different views as reported in the Straits Times Singapore. Some suggested that any animal that kill a man, that animal should be put to sleep.

But some defended the three white tigers and the Zoo as this was not totally of their faults. It has stated NO ONE to be allowed in the enclosure until the animals are in their dens. Not even the keepers who, of all people, would know the tigers’ individual characters/temperaments.

The incident started with the cleaner as he jumped over to the enclosure to provoke the wild animals. But I really feel sorry for this tragic incident that the cleaner was killed such a way.

The Zoo has done all they can to ensure that the tigers don’t get out of their enclosure and start attacking people. If someone chooses to go out of their way to get into the enclosure however… what can the zoo do?

Hibiscus Flower?

I am not sure when and where I took this image. I found it in my archive and I guess it is a hibiscus flower.

Can anyone to confirm this is a hibiscus flower ? Click the image to view larger version

The colorful little bird return pt2

These are Olive Backed Sunbirds.The top is male and bottom is female.

These colorful little birds are actually the Olive-backed Sunbird.The sunbirds are a group of very small birds which feed largely on nectar, although they will also take insects, especially when feeding young. Their flight is fast and direct on their short wings. Most species can take nectar by hovering, but usually perch to feed most of the time.

The Olive-backed Sunbird is common across southern China to the Philippines and Malaysia down to northeast Australia. They are small songbirds, at most 12cm long. The underparts of both male and female are bright yellow, the backs are a dull brown color. The forehead, throat and upper breast of the adult male is a dark, metallic blue-black.

The colorful little bird return pt1

These are two more pictures which I captured when this colorful little bird resting in my porch. I do a heavy vertical crop. She is singing and stretching her beautiful wings

I think this is a better cropping compare to the horizontal.

The colorful little bird returns

The colorful little bird returns...When I hear the familiar chirping, I know the little bird returns. This time she is resting in my porch. I don't know what she is thinking it may be the afternoon sun make the weather hot and couldn't find any food. She looks tired and needs a shelter. ( click on image to view larger version.)

I quickly took out my camera, Canon 30D and 70-200mm telephoto zoom lens. This time I capture it closer but against the sunlight.

Related article:The colorful little bird come to my bonsai plant

New deal to rescue Borneo orangutans

Orangutan taken in Zoo Negara by Homebiz Photography

AP reported from KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28. Conservationists said today they were planning a big push to protect Borneo's orangutans, pygmy elephants and other endangered wildlife by purchasing land from oil palm producers to create a forest sanctuary.

The deal is meant to help stave off the demise of orangutans, whose numbers have dwindled amid illegal logging and the rapid spread of oil palm plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia, the only two countries where orangutans are found in the wild.

The Malaysian-based LEAP Conservancy group is in talks to buy 90 hectares of tropical jungle land in Sabah from oil palm operators, said Cynthia Ong, LEAP's executive director.

The territory is needed to link two sections of a wildlife reserve that is home to an estimated 600 orangutans, 150 Borneo pygmy elephants and a vast array of other animals including proboscis monkeys, hornbills and river otters.

Read More

The beauty of Dogs

Photos by Chris Y...These are the pictures taken on a dog
competition recently.There are many doggies, big and small.
The dog owners dressed and carried their dogs around like
their pampered children.

Taking at the lobby of a shopping complex with a Canon 30D
with a 17-55mm zoom lens. The close up was taken with a
100mm F2.8 Macro lens

I like the close up shot. Click on the images to view larger version

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

How to train your dogs

Story by: Andrei Smith

One of the reasons for doing an obedience dog training is to establish a foundation between you and your dog. Many dog owners believe that dog training is only for those who wish to compete in obedience trials, but they are wrong.

Dog training requires only a simple persistence to be successful and can be useful to help fulfill some of your dog's basic and social interaction needs. Here are some dog training tips to guide you along the way.

1. Firm and Friendly

When you give commands such as come, you want to use a happy and friendly voice. While on the other hand, you'll want a lower firmer voice for sit, down, and stay commands.

2. Praise & Reward

Always praise your dog or offer him when he learned new commands.

3. Be Patient

Patience is the key when you are training your dog. Focus on a single command a session and end it on a positive note. Dog's are incredibly smart and will pick up all your commands. After each session, spend some time playing. He will associate the time with you as positive and anticipate his training again. Read More

The white and pink flamingos at Zoo Negara

You can find these The white and pink flamingos if you go to visit Zoo Negara.

Well, I don't know how these birds are having two colors but I believe there must relate to the food they eat. Anyway this may give us a good photo shooting of their vibrant and bright colors

Feeding animals at Zoo Negara ( 1 )

The deer is having their meal every morning from the zoo workers.
Grass and leaves for most of the ruminants (such as cattle and deer)

Feeding animals at Zoo Negara

Animals eating inside the fenced compound at Zoo Negara.

Zoo Negara planting a lot of fruit tress and also some vegatebles of
its own. They plant some of the trees in the enclosures so that
the herbivores can have direct access to the food. This will reduce
work and time spent harvesting and cutting up the food for
the animals.

They don't have to screen the food unlike those sourced from
outside to see if it is safe for the animals.

The talking little pet -The common Mynah

The Common Mynah feeds on insects and fruits and discarded waste from human habitation. It forages on the ground among grass for insects, and especially for grasshoppers from which it gets the generic name Acridotheres, “grasshopper hunter”. It walks on the ground with occasional hops.

Many people like to keep this common mynah as a pet as it can be trained to talk like humans.

Pairs of mynahs stay together year after year. In the breeding season they are strongly territorial. The nest is a cup of dry grass, twigs and leaves, usually in a hole in a tree, cliff, or building. They are very aggressive birds and will compete for nesting boxes which farmers put out to encourage starlings.

The painted stork got the fish

Got the fish and fly away....This is another shot of painted stork
that I took when I visited the Zoo Negara.

There are many free flying lake birds in the Zoo. They
know the Zoo keeper will deliver food to them
in the morning.

Some of these birds are not staying there and they will
fly away to the jungle nearby after their meal.

My pet corner

This is my cat katie. She is the pet of everyone in the family.
She has all the freedom at home. She can walk everywhere
except my computer room.

She like home cook food if my wife has the time.
Otherwise we just bought her the cat food in the super
market.

But one thing I have to make sure to my family members
not to give her our food. She must learn to know that
her food is different from us. This to develop her not
eating our food on the table.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
How to take Great Photos of your pets

Kelly Paal is a Freelance Nature and Landscape Photographer, exhibiting nationally and internationally.
This is an article how to take great photos of your pets like cat, dog or bird.

We all love our animals. They do such funny, adorable, and cute things. But somehow when that camera comes out they run and hide or they just seem to always be pointed away from the camera when you push the button. Well here are some tips to help you have a better chance at getting great photos of your pet.

1. Don't wake your pet out of deep sleep and attempt to coerce him into performing for the camera. It won't happen. Try to take photos of your pet during their routine playtime.

2. If there is enough daylight to take photos then turn the flash off. My cat has learned to close his eyes just before the flash goes off. He learned that little trick quick too! Many times a camera flash is just too bright for them, that's why they point away from you when they know that you're taking photos. Read More

Feeding Time at the Zoo

These painted storks are fighting for their meals
when the zoo keeper throw the fish to them.

When they got their food, these painted storks will fly away
leaving the others to have their shares to get them.

It was a fast moment of these flying lake birds to get
their catches. And I got this picture using a Canon 1D
mark lll and a 70-200 mm zoom.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

This is an article on Secrets For Creating Tack Sharp Shots by Pat Lye and she would like to share with you the tips how to take a sharp and focus picture.

There are lots of ingredients to making a spectacular photograph, but the most important is for the picture to be in sharp focus. Even the slightest blur takes away from the picture, no matter how good the subject, lighting and color.

Photographers have somewhat varying opinions on what constitutes a tack sharp picture, but generally, a tack sharp photograph has good, clean lines. The picture has clear definition, instead of a soft blending of lines, or even downright blurry.

There are several things you can do to increase your chances of getting that coveted tack sharp picture.

Hand-Held Digital Photography Tips

If you’re hand-holding your camera, brace your arms against your sides to help steady the camera. If your camera has anti-shake technology such as Vibration Reduction (VR) or Image Stabilization (IS) lens that can be switched on and off, this is the time to have it turned on. continue reading

The white pelican shows its beauty

Just happily showing its beauty to the others after the meal. This white pelican will look for his own group and resting and playing in the lake at the Zoo Negara.

The colorful little bird come to my bonsai plant

I have been observing this colorful little bird for quite some time. It has been coming to my garden every morning. The visits have been consistent, perhaps it likes the many insects that are found in my garden. The abundance of hibiscus flowers with the rich nectar could also be attracting it.

This colorful little bird comes to my bonsai plant in my garden. Finally I captured it. A number of shots taken and this is one of them I like.
Click the photo to enlargement.
Read More

Hibiscus or Bunga Raya- National flower of Malaysia

This is the red hibiscus flower or bunga raya (Malay) is the national flower of Malaysia.

There are many varieties of the hibiscus over here, but the five-petaled Hibiscus rosa sinensis was chosen above the others, as the most symbolically relevant. The five petals of the bunga raya symbolise the Rukunegara while the color red represents courage.

Painted Stork or Banded Stork?

Can you spot the difference of these birds. The red head and orange beak is painted storks which are at the background. The front is banded stork. They almost look alike and they like to eat fish.
Click on photo to view enlargement

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Wildlife Photography with Character- Four Tips

Wildlife photography is not just for professional photographers. Almost anyone with a camera is occasionally inspired to record a special wildlife experience in a photograph. For an inexperienced photographer, it is easy to be disappointed with the quality of your results. You see the great photography that can be found in galleries, on calendars and postcards, and wonder why you are not getting the same results.

These days, unfortunately, our first tendency is to blame the camera, assuming that the professionals have much better cameras than yours. Even worse, many people even assume the images are not genuine photos at all; they must have been enhanced or even manufactured on a computer.

The truth is, you don't need an expensive camera or to be an expert with software to produce good wildlife photos. Don't forget, great wildlife photography existed long before digital cameras arrived on the scene. In fact, you don't even need special techniques to take better wildlife photos. There are some simple things you can do that can help you take better wildlife photos no matter what sort of camera you have, or how expert you are in photography.Continue Reading

White Pelicans Resting After Food

There are many lake birds as many as 300 at Zoo Negara. There are painted storks, Milky storks, Ibises, Egrets, Swans, Pelican and many others.Many of these free roaming birds resting after food. I also can see there are some bird’s nests on the trees and I am wondering whether these birds are there to lay their eggs?

click on the photo to view enlargement

MAHA Exhibition 2008

These photo were taken at the MAHA Exhibition 2008 at Serdang. There were quite a number of animals in the farm at the exhibition and some of these were inported from foreign countries.

These goats were inside the fenced-up compound and the top photo shows two of the goats fighting when I photograph them. I am not sure what they were fighting about, it may be it over the food or they wanted to show off their power over each other.

The White Orchid Flower

This is the wild orchid flower and it's white in color which I took in The Kuala Lumpur Orchid Garden at Lake Garden. I had taken quite a number of shots but I just simply like this one. I like the colorful background to make the white orchid flower standing out.

The composition is the most important even if you have the right tips and technique of shooting flower pictures. Take the time to try low angles, high angles, or moving to the right or left. A wide lens aperture (a lower-numbered f-stop) will enhance this effect by softening the background.

Click on the flower to view enlargement. Photo taken on Canon 30D and 100mm F2.8 micro lense.

The Flying Painted Storks

When I walked into the Zoo Negara and it was around 9.40am in the morning. I saw these Flying Painted Storks were flying around. It may just challenging each others of their flying skill or looking where they find any foods for their breakfirst.

These flying painted storks are intelligent and they know they can get some free meals here at this hour from the Zoo keepers.

Many of these flying painted storks are not residents here. some of them from nearby areas and will come back here every morning for their food.

Click the photo to view enlargement. Photo taken on Canon 1D Mark lll and Canon 70-200mm zoom lense

Hello My Deer

The deer was eating but alert of the surrounding when I took this photograph at the Zoo Negara. I used Canon 1D Mark lll and 70-200mm zoom lense. Click the photo to view enlargement.

The Orangutan

This picture was taken when I was in the Ape Center at Zoo Negara sometime ago. There were three orangutans resting on the trees.

I noticed that this orangutan is old and has a large, bulky body, a thick neck, very long, strong arms, short, bowed legs, and no tail. The orangutans are mostly covered with long reddish-brown hair.

Pictures taken on Canon 1D Mark lll and a Canon 70-200mm F2.8

Hello! These are Chimpanzees

These are the two Chimpanzees,one male and female at the Zoo Negara. To the right is a male chimpanzee it is slightly bigger in size than the female.A fully grown adult male chimpanzee can weigh from 35-70 kilograms (75-155 lb) and stand 0.9-1.2 metres (3-4 ft) tall, while females usually weigh 26-50 kg (57-110 lb) and stand 0.66-1 m (2-3½ ft) tall.

They are inteligent and they know how to use tools to hunt foods. I observe this couple who are in courtship, the female follows the male chimpanzee wherever he goes.

There is another male chimpanzee around but he stays far away from the couple.I think these animals must have an agreement not to disturb when the female chipanzee has been "hooked".

This pictures taken on Canon 1D Mark lll and a Canon 70-200mm