The Pitta searching for food around the base of a banana tree.

Two weeks after first spotting the Blue-winged Pitta lurking in the shady parts of our garden and it’s still here. I guess there’s something to having a slightly wild garden – it’s a more natural habitat for the wildlife to enjoy, and for us to enjoy watching them when we can.

This little birdie is extremely shy. If we do come by when it’s out in the open, it quickly hop-scuttles to hide behind or beneath a plant – and if it’s really startled, it’ll actually fly away. And that’s when you see the beauty of it’s vivid blue wings. Well, blue, black and white, to be more precise. But we’ve become so accustomed to seeing it hopping around that a friend who visited after a long day at work wondered aloud at the bird’s ability to fly at all! Um, how do you think it got here in the first place?! Sometimes, I think we work ourselves too hard, when we can’t even think logically…

I don’t know where the Pitta spends all it’s time when it’s not in our garden (I know, it’s selfish of me to think it would stay only here) but I do know it likes foraging in shady areas under trees and plants. It has even come into an open shed area, but what it may find there, I don’t know.

We are still getting used to each other and I hope we can reach the point where it knows it won’t be harmed and then I can get a better picture of it. I’ve been trying, trust me… It’s just too elusive and stays in dark areas that you can’t get decent photos in. I hope I’ll have a few weeks more to keep trying to get good shots of it – and of course that I actually do get the pictures. I feel privileged that the Pitta chose our garden to grace. There isn’t all that much natural habitat left in over-built Singapore and for a forest bird to come here, well, that’s something. I have my fingers crossed that we’ll have more such interesting feathered visitors in time to come.

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