For living in rural China, I don't actually see that much animal life, wild or otherwise. I see a lot of dogs on the streets, and domesticated water-buffaloes in the fields with the cattle egrets that often surround them. But not much else. This means that when I do catch sight of an animal, I'm pretty excited and usually try to get a picture (though it's often too late). I'm sure any locals who've noticed find this strange.
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| Bird erupting into flight over a small creek which runs through the fields near my school. |
Caterpillar in the Tengchong Memorial Cemetery.
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Well-camouflaged caterpillar in the
Tengchong memorial cemetery. |
One morning recently I walked out of my bedroom into the living room to find several swallows sitting on the rail of my balcony and many more sitting on electrical wires across the courtyard. Some of the them are
Cecropis striolata, the striated swallow, identifiable by the reddish/brown patch on their backs that is visible when flying.
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| The view across the courtyard. |
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| Although they were rapidly scared off the balcony by my presence, some returned to sit on the glass above. |
I swear I commented on this!!!
ReplyDeleteI wrote that I'm surprised because in Tajikistan there are seemingly thousands of birds in sight at all times. it's usually just background noise but sometimes it can be deafening when they get talkative. I'm always noticing the sheer number of them, and people who have visited the US have mentioned to me that they thought it was weird and "birdless"
Most of the birds seem to be mynas, sparrows, and turtledoves. You could probably identify them more thoroughly