Batam Island is to the south of Singapore, only about an hour ferry to get there.
Singapore skyline and busy shipping channel. Wow.. besides sea freights, crude oil pass through these waters from middle east to fuel the economies of East Asia - China, Korea, Taiwan & Japan!
He still professed he don't know much about swiftlet ranching. How did he get into it in the first place? 2 years back when he was about to renovate a 3-storey building in his backyard, a friend suggested converting it into a bird house instead. He found it cheaper and so he did.
I took his location with GPS and marked on Google Earth.. the reason became obvious. He is right on the flight path between the farming nucleus & feeding grounds. Ain't he lucky? He didn't do any test calls, no need to hunt for suitable site.. it is right in his backyard!
But his bird population has not grown.. just about 50 nests. His young birds must have found better places to nest elsewhere! I left him with some suggestions and a sketch for improvements.
This week I caught up with him and he is in process of implementing it.
He would always take me to one of his favorite eating place when I arrived - a very good Indonesian ox tail soup this time. But this shop has excellent savories too! I can't resist to order some takeaways.
His backyard bird farm..
Entrance to the nesting room.. caught a swiflet flying over his head!
Temporary beams act as scaffolding. The roving room height is extended before a roof is added. This will reduce light into the nesting areas.
Some other interesting discoveries in his backyard..
Plant with leaves that look like butterflies!
This has buds that look like birds before flowering! Not a good shot though.
