A Myna Encounter

The Common Myna (acridotheres tritis) is a member of the starling family and is native to Asia. It is also referred to as the Indian Myna or Mynah. In malay language, it is known as the "burung tiong gembala kerbau" meaning buffalo shepherd. In the countryside, we can see these birds perched on buffaloes, pecking and feeding on the insects on the buffaloes' backs.

I was walking around my garden, trying to take some snapshots of a beautiful butterfly when I spotted this bird perch on top of my neighbour's longan tree. You see, longan fruits are very sweet and tasty, that's why this bird was there. It was staring greedily at the bunch of juicy fruits and didn't even noticed me when I snapped this photo.

The common myna can be easily identified by its black head and dark brown body, yellow beak, yellow legs and a yellow patch behind the eyes. There is also a white patch on their wings and tail. They walk on the ground rather than hop. They actually look quite beautiful and cute. The myna or talking bird can be trained to whistle, sing and talk, making them popular as caged birds for show. On 17 Jun 2009, China Daily reported that in Hubei Province, China, a 73 year old man had used a recorder to teach his myna to sing songs and recite ancient poems. If you visit You Tube, you can find some videos of mynas that can sing and speak foreign languages!

I love birds too but I must beware of this one. The common myna can be found almost anywhere; in the outskirts as well as urban areas. Like us humans, the myna has adapted well to city living. They are omnivorous and scavengers that feed on insects (e.g. grasshoppers), fruits and leftover food from our dustbins. Therefore, mynas may carry diseases. They usually live in holes in trees and walls. If they decide to live with us and build nests in the walls and ceilings of our homes, this may cause damage to the gutters and drainpipes. They use grass, dry twigs, feathers, leaves and sometimes even rubbish material to build their nests. Hence, they may become a nuisance.

Mynas can be very noisy and annoying too. At night, large groups may gather on a big tree and chirp their heart out. They also make a lot of noise when they fight. I used to enjoy their singing, but one day, I personally had a fearful experience. I saw that a baby bird or nestling had fallen to the ground. It was making a lot of noise, chirping loudly; looking for its mother. It seemed injured and looked very pathetic, so I tried to save it from being eaten by the cat. You see, a neighbour's fat white cat like to visit my garden occassionally to poop or pee. As I got near to catch the nestling, a few mynas came circling in the sky above. They were making a lot of very loud, threatening noises. Whenever I got near the baby, the noises peaked. So, I quickly dashed into my home to seek shelter, just in case there was a misunderstanding and they wanted to attack me for preying on their baby. Wow! What a scary encounter.

Finally, it may be interesting to note that the common myna has been 'awarded' as one of the "100 Of The Worl'd's Most Invasive Alien Species", according to the International Species Specialist Group (ISSG) and IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). It has become quite a serious problem (as pests) in some countries like Australia. Over here in my country, I guess it is not that serious a problem yet. Anyway, I don't usually see them everyday.

For further details, please refer to: http://www.issg.org/database/species/search.asp?st=100ss&fr=1&sts .

Longan Fruits and The Longan Tree

The Longan Tree

This tree is native to Southern China. It is also grown in Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and other parts of South East Asia.

  A bunch of unriped longan fruits hanging from the tree.

China is a major exporter of longans. In Lamphun Province, Thailand, a Longan Festival is held around July-August every year. There will be a longan fruit festival, exhibition, contest for best quality longan and even a Miss Longan Beauty Contest. Longan is known as 'lumyai' in Thailand. Move over to Taiwan, and they have the Dongshan Longan Festial.
 

A bunch of riped longan fruits.

The Longan Fruit is also known as "mata kuching" in malay, meaning cat's eye. In chinese, "longan" means dragon's eye. In Vietnam, it is known as "long nhan".

Longan fruits are in season now. We can find longans being sold at many fruit stalls throughout the country. These longans are very sweet and tasty.

An opened longan fruit

The skin of the fruit is dry and thin. It is brown in colour and looks like frog skin. The flesh on the inside is crystal white in colour while the seed is black, hard and round. The flesh of the longan fruit is very sweet and delicious. Riped fruits can be eaten fresh from the tree.

Canned longan flesh is used to make cold desserts, added to jellies, and as toppings on fruit cakes and tarts. Canned longans can be made into cold drinks, mix fruit drink and added to fruit punch.

While fresh longan flesh is white in colour, dried longan flesh is dark brown to almost black in colour. Dried longan flesh is consumed for health purposes. Here, it is mixed with other herbs to make herbal soups, herbal drinks and hot desserts.

The Longan Tree

Scientific name: Dimorcarpus longan var. longan
Chinese name: Longan (dragon eyes)

Family: Sapindaceae (rambutan family)

Origin: China

The longan tree is a small to medium sized straggly tree. A full grown longan tree can reach up to 40 feet tall. The longan tree doesn't stand drought, therefore it is necessary water it regularly. Constant prunning is also needed. This tree needs quite a lot of space to grow. Grow under the full sun. Propagation is by grafting from selected cultivars, eg. those with sweet thick flesh from China and Thailand. 

The tree in the picture above belongs to my neighbour. The front portion of the garden is around 5ft by 5ft, just enough to accomodate this tree. Flowering occurs around March and fruiting is usually from July to September. A bountiful harvest this season may reduce the next season's quantity of longans.

Blotanical - A Newbie Blotanist's Experience

How I Joined Blotanical
I was searching the world wide web for some information and names to some of the flowers that I had been planting when I came accross blotanical's logo in an interesting garden blog. It said, "Blotanical - Find Garden Blogs". My first impression of the logo was that it looks great and very appropriate for the green garden concept. So I can guess that blotanical is a directory of garden blogs.

My First Experience
When I visited the website, I was attracted by the catch phrase, "Blotanical - Where Garden Blogs Bloom". From the directory, I can search blogs by geographical region, popularity, favourited and aeging status. So many options to choose from.

My Findings
The next thing I knew, I felt like joining this exciting community too. After the process of applying to be a member and adding my blog to Blotanical, I spent some time going through the listed blogs. It was very interesting. The blogs were attractive in design and well written. I guess this is what I have always wanted in a garden blog directory. What impressed me was that Stuart and his team kept their word and was prompt in giving me a reply.

Being a Member
I was extremely happy to be accepted into this directory on June 20th, 2009. And so begins my journey with Blotanical. We, the blotanists are given plots whereby we can log in to update our profiles by adding a picture and a short description about ourselves. Everything has been arranged properly. When I got to the messages section, I was greeted by numerous welcome messages from other blotanists. There was even a welcome message from Mr Stuart himself.

My Experience
At Blotanical, we are encouraged to interact with other blotanists, sending messages and replying them, faving blotanists and blogs. Our profile points earned will be based on messages sent and received, the number of posts picked and forums participated. We can even visit other members' plots and view their profile and history. By picking on another blotanist's posts, I had the chance to view their blogs and make comments. It was a two-way process, very friendly and courteous.

Before long, I was communicating with other blotanists around the world, getting to know more about them. There is so much to learn and explore. I can literally travel round the world from my desktop, peeking into other people's beautiful gardens. The same type of flower or plant can look so different when grown in another part of the world. Certain plants that I expect to find only in my own country can surprisingly be planted in another unexpected place. In such a short time, I had managed to view many beautiful gardens from all corners of the world. This is an experience that books cannot provide.

At the end of the day, I am still learning. There are so many blogs to read up and explore. New blogs are coming in constantly. I have improved my gardening, writing and blogging skills tremendously ever since joining blotanical. I even improved on my photography skills.

I have indeed made many friends here. I am confident that I will make many more. I am really thankful and grateful that Mr Stuart Robinson, the creator and founder of Blotanical has made this possible for me. And the beauty of it all is that it is FREE OF CHARGE!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!