Children day

Today is a holiday in Taiwan, so time for a brief walk ...

It could be autumn as leaves are falling all around me, but it's actually a hazy Spring day.

A Black Bulbul closeup. 

A Brown Shrike possibly.

Snake encounter II

I surprised an enormous snake during my walk today (actually it surprised me) but I only caught a glimpse as its tail vanished into long grass. Sadly no chance of a photo. I would guess it was several meters long and could have been as much as 100 mm diameter. Looking on the Internet I found the Keelback snake, which comes closest to what I saw. It certainly was not a 'Taiwanese beauty rat snake' as seen last year (see Blog 1). This snake appeared much bigger, had no markings and was just smooth grey.