The Asian Koel came a calling.

On Sunday after noon (18 April), while working on the computer at home, the black male Koel and brown spotty female Koel appeared on the palm tree outside my window. They sang loudly and left before I could get my camera ready. About an hour later, the female bird returned. I managed to snap quite a lot of shots with digital zoom. It was around 6 pm and the flash came on automatically. The photos taken with flash were dark and grainy. The camera speed was 1/125 secs. When disabled the flash, the camera speed was 1/15 second or 1/8 second. I had to rest my hands on the window grills to stabilize my hands.
Based on past experience, the Koel would come and stay longer after 6 pm.

Female Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopacea)
The female Koel makes a shrill kik-kik-kik... call.

The female Asian Koel is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes, that parasites the nest of crows and in a way help keep the crow population down

The Asian Koel that wakes us up every morning.
Like many cuckoos, it lays its eggs in other birds' nests.

My Okra plant (Lady's Fingers) bears fruits

About two months ago I featured the Red Burgundy Okra which I found growing wild in Japan. That was in October last year and the plant was as tall as my height. The fruit was about 8 inches long.
On my return to Singapore, I took back a dried fruit with seeds inside. I sowed more than 20 seeds, a few at a time in November/December last year. Each time when the seedlings grew to about 5-6 inches tall, the seedlings would wither away. I have successfully grown two plants to about 2 feet high (in pots). One bears a small fruit, about 4 inches long and shedded most of its leaves.

This is a healthy plant which has not fruited yet.
It has two young buds.
This plant has fruited but with only two leaves.
The two surviving plants.