Peek-A-Boo.. I see you.. And I scare you..!!

Hi Everyone..

I know it is not nice to stay quiet for too long, but, juggling time can be almost impossible sometimes. So, I apologise..

As unexpected as it is.. I can't believe that the reason I am writing in this blog again, after almost a year without any posts is a mantis...

What??

Yes.. A MANTIS..

I've come across them many times since a was very young, but never realised how interesting they are until today..

This morning we had visitors at home. My husband's high school friend with his family. When they were leaving, around late morning, there was a mantis on the orchid leaf in the front yard. Since I have never have a photo session with mantis, I thought it would be nice to do it while the weather was nice.

The mantis was not running away. It was slowly moving from one leaf to another, and it was cooperative when I held a twig in front of it to move it to a different bush. I really had a great time shooting it.

While taking pictures, I started to realise that the mantis seem to be aware of my presence at all times. Every time I moved my camera, The mantis moved its head towards me (or my camera) . I had its face in almost every shot. I think it was amazing. It didn't seem to be scared by me, unlike some other animals that usually try to run away from me when I take their pictures.

I See You..

I Still See You.. 

After a while, I noticed something else, the mantis did a little head shake from side to side, every time I happened to be facing it face to face. And, it started to stand face to face with me more directly. Not looking at me sideways anymore..

Ready.. Get Set.. JUMP!

After this last shot, where I caught it standing at the top of a tall leaf, suddenly, the mantis crouched, and.. JUMPED TOWARDS ME!

I jumped and screamed, as the mantis landed on my head. Gladly I was wearing a headscarf, so that its legs didn't get tangled in my hair. In panic, I shook my head and waved my hand on my head to get rid of the mantis.. But the mantis was nowhere to be seen..

I went inside to change my clothes, but it was not on my clothes either.. So, I decided to make sure that the mantis was alright. Not hurt or anything when I flicked it with my hand..

It took me a few seconds to finally see it, on top of Sinta and Joe's car.. It was calmly walking, as if enjoying the smooth feeling of the car, compared to the rough surface of leaves..

Me and My Shadow..

Look at me, I'm dancing..

I thought the mantis looked great on the car, and I started to take pictures again. But this time, as soon as the mantis started moving its head towards me, acknowledging my presence, I decided to stop the photo session. I didn't want to experience the jump for the second time..

It was really a great photo session with the mantis..

Thank you for reading and see you again soon..

Peek-A-Boo.. I See You..

See You Later.. 

NOTE:

Later in the afternoon, I told my husband about the mantis shaking its head. He said that it was the mantis' way of scaring a stranger.. Well, I learn my lesson now..

Mission: Elephant (Kyra's Day Out)

Kyra loves elephant.. everytime we take her to the zoo, she is always 'glued' to the elephant area. We can walk around and see other animals, but she will always ask us to take her back to the elephants!

While her brothers are  having a play and study weekend at a friend's house, we decided to take Kyra on a day trip to the zoo. She was jumping up and down, when her father told her that she was going to visit the elephants..

Kyra woke up late this morning, so she had late breakfast. We left the house about 11 a.m. and we reached to zoo at about 11.30. The weather was warm, but thanks to the trees, it was nice inside the zoo. From the entrance, we went straight to the elephant area.

The first one we saw was the male (my personal guess was that he was the alpha). He was the biggest one we saw in the zoo and he had an area all to himself. He didn't mind the crowd, but he didn't really look for attention either. I tried to take shots of him and Kyra, when suddenly, he leaned to the wall that separated his compound from the next door compound. Not sure what he was doing, we were guessing he was looking for his family..

We moved on to the next elephant compound. There we saw two female elephants, one looked older than the other. These two certainly were looking (and enjoying) the attention from the visitors. We were not supposed to feed the animals, but some people tried to give peanuts to the elephants. One person even threw a mango.

I was worried the elephant would go excited and misplace his foot, which could result in the elephant falling from the high area of the compund. It turned out that the people coming with the guy who was giving peanuts, were thinking the same thing. They asked him to stop feeding the animals, and he did. I think the guy was happy enough because the elephant's trunk touched his palm when taking the peanuts he offered.

At that time, Kyra started walking away from the elephant compound. She wanted to have a ride on an elephant! She has been waiting for this chance for some time now. So, we started walking to the elephant ride area.

Before we reached the elephant ride, we went past the elephant nursery. I read about the baby elephant's birth on the internet, and I was so happy to see the baby with my own eyes! The baby elephant was so cute. It was walking fast around the nursery, while its mother was watching.

The baby elephant was thirsty and went to drink from the pond. The pond was surrounded by stones, probably for the safety of the baby elephant. The baby was safe from drowning, but it took a lot of his efforts to move his short legs around the stones. The baby was not about to give up though. It drank until it had enough, then it slowly walked back, over the stones..

Yep! The baby elephant and Kyra are as persistent as one another.. Children never cease to amaze me!

From the nursery, we went straight to the elephant ride area, which was only across the walkway. I bought the tickets for my husband and Kyra, and found a good spot to take pictures.

Kyra waited in line patiently (which amazes me, since the line up was quite long).

Once she reached the top of the stage thing, where she would hop on the elephant, I could see that she was eyeing all the elephants that were coming and going, trying to find an opportunity to touch the big animal. My husband kept asking her to stay away from the edge of the stage, worried that she might slip and fall. She followed her dad's direction, but, her eyes were still looking for any elephants walking towards her..

Finally, it was Kyra's turn to hop on the elephant.. YAY!

My husband asked her if she wanted to sit in front of the elephant handler (note: other riders, especially the kids, sit behind the handler. I didn't even think that people were allowed to sit in front of the handler). I was busy trying to take pictures, I didn't notice where Kyra and my husband were sitting, until later, when I was reviewing the pictures.. When my husband told me that Kyra wanted to sit in front, I didn't think that she was actually allowed to.. I was really surprised when I saw the pictures, it looked like she was rubbing the elephant's head and talking to it!

When the ride was over, Kyra hopped off the elephant, and gave a big pat on the animal's head. I think they have become friends now..

As we were walking away from the elephant ride, we saw one elephant was being taken out of the ride area, for drink and splash. While Kyra was lining up, I saw the other elephants doing the rides were taken out in turns for drink and splash. At that time I couldn't rush to take pictures because I was worried I would end up losing my spot, and couldn't take pictures of Kyra on the elephant. Now that Kyra's ride was over, I wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to see this rare occassion. I had my camera ready and started taking pictures..

I was enjoying taking pictures so much, that I didn't realise that the elephant was walking towards me and standing right in front of me! I wasn't using the zoom, because I was standing close to the elephant. Can you imagine how close this elephant got to me, if it shows up this big on my camera lens?

My husband was laughing at me, as I jumped back.. But the elephant was only as interested in me as I was in her.. It was an experience I would never forget..

Kyra waved at the elephant and asked us to move on. My husband suggested that we went to see the snake show. Luckily the show had just started, so we didn't have to wait long for the people to come in. At the end of the show we offered Kyra to have her picture taken with a giant snake, but she refused, "I like elephants. I don't like snakes, " she said.. I guess I have to accept that. Aza is the reptile lover, while Kyra is the big animals lover.. haha..

We started looking for the Children Zoo.. It turned out that it was on the other side of the zoo! We went in, and right away we could see little ponies were tied to the trees, ready for kids to take a ride on them.

At first Kyra didn't want to have a ride, but then, she started walking towards the ponies, saying that she wanted to pat them.. The handlers warned us that ponies are still horses, they have strong legs and they can kick!

I said to Kyra that to get near the ponies, she had to buy a ticket. She finally said yes. However, since it took some time for her to make that decision, two other kids had entered the pony ride before her. They took the ponies offered by the handler. Kyra didn't want the ponies taken by those kids. She had her eyes on the brown one.. the biggest pony there!

I thought that when one of the handlers brought the smallest pony to her, she would go for it, but NO! She actually said no to the handler, "I want the brown one!" So, the handler called out the other handler, the handler of the brown pony. The other guy was grinning, "She asks for the brown one! The big one!"

I told him that we just had an elephant ride, and she was riding in front of the elephant handler. The pony handler laughed, "That's good. It means she is a brave kid!"

Just like the elephant ride, I didn't realise that Kyra was holding the rein, not the stump on the saddle. The other kid who went on the pony was not allowed to do this. The handler kept reminding him to hold the stump and not to touch the rein. I guess, the pony handler was as brave and confident as she was.. ;-)

From the Children Zoo, we decided to have lunch before going home. On the way to the food area, we walked past the elephant nursery again, and we caught the sight of the baby elephant feeding.. it was a very beautiful sight..

After lunch, we finally went home. Kyra was already tired, and she had done everything she came to do. So, it was time to rest..

Until next time.. :-)

New additions to our home..

When you walk around your home long enough, you will start catching sights of the things you never thought existed around you..


Like this cheerful sunflower..


Then, you will start thinking about what you want to change or add or.. capture with you camera.. and keep the memory for as long as you want..


That is what we do here.. Mother and my husband love to find new plants to grow, and I love watching them grow, observing the creatures residing around the plants, and capturing them all with a camera, I can get a hold of..









These are pictures of some of the new additions in our front and back yards..

The short-lived Morning Glory

The new white flower outside the widow

The new bush of purple flowers

The pretty plant that is having breakfast with a little bee..

A little lizard that quickly became Aza's friend

The lovely white orchids

The beautiful purple orchids

The pretty white plant that is saying 'hi' to the sun

The baby dragonfly

..and..

The giant cricket

My most surprising find was in the pond that was meant to be a fish breeding pond. While the fish is not using the pond, another family is happily occupying it, and it looks like they are building an empire in it..

The frog family

Last but not least, my best find was the little creature hiding among the leaves up on the mango tree, which brought a specific song to me..

HUSH A BYE BABY

Hush a bye baby on the tree top
When the wind blows the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks the cradle will fall
Down will come baby cradle and all..

Sleep tight, little bat

Having this world of nature around me, and being able to enjoy it every day, makes me less jealous of those wild life photographers.. :-P

Have a nice day, Everyone.. :-)

Graphium Agamemnon: My patience is finally paid off..

A few months ago (or it might be over a year ago).. I saw this beautiful butterfly and I quickly ran to take a picture of it. It was black, with bright green dots and patterns all over its wings.. simple but very beautiful..

After a few runs around the front yard, I decided that the butterfly was far too fast, both for me and my camera! I didn't give up, though.. I loved it and I wouldn't stop until I had its pictures!

I started searching on the internet about this beautiful butterfly. At first, the search didn't come up with anything at all, except some pictures. After a few months, I did another internet search for this black and green butterfly, and my determination was finally yielding a great result!

The beautiful butterfly is GRAPHIUM AGAMEMNON and it is a very active type of butterfly. It is harder to catch by camera compared to other butterflies because it moves around a lot and it flies fast and often high.

Through the search, I also found a blog owner who was a student studying about butterflies and I asked her what I should do to be able to catch a Graphium agamemnon on my camera. She said that I needed to catch it early in the morning when the butterfly was not so fast yet.

I did as she suggested.  There were two Graphium agamemnons that were flying around our front yard almost every day, and I ran after them every time I saw them. Soon I realised that my camera was not the best in the world, it wouldn't win any race against the beautiful butterfly I love. I still refused to give up.

Very soon, I never saw any of the Graphium agamemnon again, I almost didn't see any butterflies at all, for a few weeks after that. Then, I found dead butterflies in the bushes near the front porch. I realised that their 'time' has come and I would have to wait for the new ones to come out of their cocoons, although I had no clue of where their cocoons were.

About two months ago, I started seeing butterflies in the front yard again. A large black one (which Ariq managed to take a picture of with my camera), A black with white and purple pattern, a little white one and a brown one... but no Graphium agamemnon..

I know that there are birds around our house, and I'm sure they always eat worms, caterpillars, and maybe even butterflies. If the birds ever came across the Graphium agamemnon caterpillar, I doubt I would ever see one so close to home again. However, deep inside my heart I was still keeping a tiny ray of hope for the sight of the beautiful black and bright green I love so much.

Then, it happened!

One morning, I was walking around the front yard with my camera in one hand, taking pictures of the morning glories, sunflowers, and other blooming plants, and suddenly, it was there, flying around the bushes outside Mother's window.. Graphium agamemnon..!! I believe it was a young one. It was slightly smaller and it didn't move as fast as the two I previously knew.

I quickly readied my camera in my hand and started 'talking' to the butterfly, asking it to stay quietly on the leave. I manage to get a few shots, but those shots are not as good as I expect them to be. I know that my 'hunt' is still on!

Finally, two weeks ago, Mother asked me to document a community gathering at home with her camera. I still had the camera the next morning because I didn't have time to transfer the pictures to the computer yet. Miraculously, the Graphium agamemnon was flying around the front yard. I quickly ran inside the house to fetch Mother's camera.

Once I was back in the front yard, the butterfly was already gone. I quickly hoped it had gone to the back yard, so I quickly rushed there, and there it was! flying around the plants above the fish pond!

I deactivated the digital zoom and maximised the optical zoom. Then, I quickly directed Mother's camera towards the butterfly. I took as many pictures as the camera's speed allowed. Then, I transferred the pictures to the computer.

The pictures may not be perfect, but, considering I am not a professional photographer, the camera was not a professional camera and the Graphium agamemnon was not as young as the first time I saw it and it was moving around fast, just like the first two I knew, well, I consider these pictures are absolutely gorgeous..

After one year of effort and patience, I now have beautiful pictures of a very beautiful Graphium agamemnon.. The black and bright green butterfly that I love so much..

Aza and snake.. again..

Today was Lazuardi Smart Day.. and the theme was.. 'Let's be Animals' Friends'..
Someone (a higher level student), had an idea to bring her/his pet (a snake and a tarantula) to school..
Aza saw the snake, and as can be guessed, he wanted to have his picture taken with the snake.. :-)
Ariq was also having a good time.. He played the drum on stage.. :-)
A very nice day.. ;-)

New Legs for My Spider

This post was supposed to be published in February 2011.. I thought I had published it, but the other day, I found out that it was still a draft.. :-P 

The same article in Indonesian .. "Kaki Baru untuk Laba-Labaku"

Around the new year, I started spider watching again. This time, it was a little one on the front porch. She built a web between the plants and one of the pillars on the porch.

The little spider was unique. It only had five legs..

I felt sorry for the spider, and wondered how would it survive with only five legs. Suddenly, my husband shouted from inside the house, "Don't worry, the legs would grow back!"

I replied, "Yeah, right! Legs can grow back!"

My husband shouted again, "Spider legs can grow back."

Knowing my husband's taste for making jokes, I just grinned and talked to myself, "Sure sure.. That will be the day.."

For a few days, I watched the spider, making sure that it was still in its web. Until one day, I was so surprised to see that I saw a little white thing coming out of each spot where the legs were.

My husband was not joking! So, I called him at work and told him about that.

He said to me, "I told you. I wasn't joking. Just check on the internet!"

So I did, and I found out that spider legs can grow back as long as it doesn't lose too much fluid in its body. WOW! That is a very interesting fact to learn.. ;-)

I took some pictures of the spider to put here..

Before The Legs Grew Back

Hunting with Five Legs

After The Legs Grew Back

Hunting with Eight Legs

I was really amazed, finding out that spiders can survive with only five legs, although having eight legs, definitely made its life so much better.. (judging from the number of flies it caught after its legs grew back!)

A few days later, the spider was gone. The web was deserted. I guess, since it had all its legs back, the spider wanted to build a bigger and better web. I just couldn't find where the new web was.

I just hoped that the little spider was well and happy.. :-)