Unbelievable!

My birdhouse is almost completed, so I authorized my contractor to help register the house officially to obtain the house no. With the house no. I then can apply for electricity,water and Internet. It is unbelievable that the no. I obtained is 49/1! My current house no. is 49/94, my rented building no. is also 49, and now my bird house no. is also 49/1. This must be my lucky number. Of course I didn't pull any string to get this number. I am not that superstitious, a little may be, but isn't this really something?

Latest updated:

See the Government Lottery results for December30th, 2010.
I didn't buy the Lottery!:-(


First prize
884112

Three digits
153 186 933 936

Two digits
49

One Fine Day

External sounds were turned on Saturday Dec18th, but there are still many unfinished works inside and outside the house. Birds came to visit the house almost every day but wouldn't go inside due to workers, noise, smell,etc.

Until Saturday Dec25th, all works inside the house were done. Thus Sunday Dec 26th was a quiet day.
Birds became brave and sneaked into the house.
FYI, I haven't turned on the internal sound yet. No bird shit, no aroma at this moment either.

Sorry for the poor quality video.The below videos were taken by an iPhone from a recorded video from CCTV on a computer.
I just don't know how to put the recorded file with .DAV extension into Youtube, anyone know how, please advise.


Birds flied above the open roof entrance hole around 5.06 pm.


Into the Roving room.


Further into the Nesting room. Most of them flied in and flied out very fast as they were still not quite sure of what's inside, just my guess.
If you looked carefully, there's a sliding door at the nesting room entrance. This I can regulate the opening width to control the light or darkness inside. In the future I can also put a motor and timer to regulate the opening and closing of this door, if needed.

Nothing much to do.

Since the bird house is almost completed, nothing much to do.

As an Asian, I always wanted to watch Asian movies, but if without English subtitle, it's not possible to understand the language. Recently I found a website dedicated to Asian movies with English subtitle.

Ahhh, my dream came true. There are soooooo many Asian movies, be it Korean, Japanese, Hong Kong, MainlandChina, Taiwanese, Philippines or Thai. You can watch the movie on line or down load it first. It's free and no advertising!

Check it out at www.yellowcinema.com

If you like it, send me one of your good good sound, ok? :)

New Idea About Ladder

Since my BH is a simple 6 x 20 meter.
My hubby came up with an idea of a device to replace ladder.
It's only an inception of an idea, not materialize yet.

So I want to share it here.
He said we can put a rail similar to those use for railway on both sides of our 6 meter wall at around 1.50 meter height.
Then we put a piece of plank reinforce carefully so it will not sack at the middle at such a long span of 6 meter ( actually it was only 5.7 meter due to double walls), with wheels on both sides. The width of this plank can be around 60-80 centimeter. We still have to find a way to be able to manipulate it, ie, move and stop where we want.
Thus this device need not to touch the BH's floor which is full of bird's shit.
The idea was adapt from an industrial traveling crane.

What do you guys think of our day dreaming?

A Good External and Internal Sounds

Now since my BH 's sounds are on.
A good external and internal sounds will be very crucial at the moment apart from other factors that were already decided, ie, location, design, sound equipments, speaker arrangement and system (temperature, humidity and ventilation) controlled equipments.
It's not easy to choose the right ones from what's available in the markets right now.
Can any one here give a sincere recommendation on what are the good external and internal sounds?
Please, please, please.

A strong ladder

My hubby fell not once but twice from an aluminium ladder on the same day while working within the bird house last week.
Luckily he didn't get hurt that much, just some wounds on his hands.

So yesterday when we went shopping at HomePro, we found a good strong ladder.
It's not for sale, it's for their own use, so we asked their permission to take the photo.
Just in case we want to fabricate one later.

This is a taller one more than 2 meter height.






This is a shorter one.



The disadvantage of this strong ladder is it can not be moved to another floor.
I guess we need one for each floor.

Coincidentally, another blogger, Charles are also working on this similar type ladder, but he will add a remote control into it too. How cool! http://my-diy-center.blogspot.com/2010/12/bird-nests-harvesting-trolley.html

The Latest Look

Ain't it look good with little details added here and there?
People in the area thought I am building a resort. Yeah it's a resort, a resort for birds.:)

Opening day Dec18th, 2010

Although every things haven't been finished, still a lot to do here and there inside and outside the building.
I insisted to open our bird house yesterday despite it's not a good practice to start operating on an unfinished house.

The reason behind is a bit superstitious.
Me, my hubby and my partner, three of us were all born on Tiger year.
So yesterday is a Tiger day and also in a Tiger year, I just hope it should be good for the success of us, the three tigers, cheers!

Wish me good luck.

Micro of the unfinished house 2.

Micro Conditions at my BH Dec11-12,2010

House is almost finished, but there are still here and there to be completed. Doors and ventilation 90 degree angle fittings are not put on yet. Outer wall on the North side isn't finished, thus North side has only a single wall at the moment. But there seemed to be not much effect because during this season, the sun moves from East to West on the South side.

Still working on the outer wall of North side and just start working on the metal sheet roof.
Quiz: How many workers in this picture?


Data were taken by taking photo from the thermo-hygrometer when ever I remembered, so some data were missing.

Dec 11th, 2010

Third Floor
Time .10.21 11.16 12.29 15.47 17.58
Temp . 25.6 26.4 27.2 29.2 27.6
Humidity . 84 82 79 74 76

Second Floor
Time . 10.16 11.16 12.28 15.47
Temp . 25.8 26.2 26.8 28.3
Humidity . 85 84 82 78

Ground Floor
Time .10.16 11.18 12.37 15.5
Temp . 25.5 26.2 26.9 28.3
Humidity . 89 87 82 81

Dec 12th, 2010

Third Floor
Time .9.36 12.03 13.58 15.32
Temp . 25.5 26.9 28.1 28.1
Humidity . 85 84 79 78

Second Floor
Time . 9.24 12.01 13.56 15.29 18.1
Temp . 25.9 27.2 28.2 27.9 27.1
Humidity . 85 84 80 83 84

Ground Floor
Time .9.2 12.04 13.56 15.29 18.32
Temp . 25.5 27.1 28 27.9 26.7
Humidity . 89 88 83 84 85

One thing looked good is that the temperature peaked around 4 pm and then started to decline. This is because the West side of this building has a very effective double wall which are 2 meter apart. So the hot ray could not get inside the building on the West side as easy as the other sides where double walls are only 20 cm. apart.

I've seen data from other's house of which West wall was not fully protected and poor ventilation , the temperature kept climbing up until 8 pm!

A New Toy!

This is a toy for children bicycle, cheap cheap one.
I think it is applicable to be used in our bird house.
Clip it to a piece of long pole, the angle is adjustable.
The mirror itself is also adjustable.

When done, no need to go up the ladder to see whether there is egg or young baby in the nest.

Water Level is getting higher!

Rain kept pouring, water level is still increasing, workers couldn't stand to work by standing on knee high water.
So no one is working on the exterior wall.
Luckily, inside they still can work on planks finishing.






I was told that yesterday thousands of swiftlets are playing around the bird house due to the flood water.
You can see how much I really wish I can put this house into operation soonest.

Flood Again?

Sigh! Flood came back again.





Proudly presented, my friend's BH after only 6 months of operation. We must have done somethings right.

From his blog: http://swiftletsourceofinformation.blogspot.com/2010/12/6.html

Have you ever checked the quality of your sound?

I have exchanged many sounds with others, I never checked their quality. Because my BH isn't finished, I haven't tried on these sounds yet.
One day when I re-exchanged the sound I got with another guy. He told me that my sound was not good.
I felt so embarrassed, so I checked all my sounds and found that most of them are bad quality, with interruption, back ground noises and clipping all over.

What is clipping and what caused clipping? "Search Google for Clipping Sound"

Effect of Clipping sound:
Clipping sound will give distortion noise and can damage your speaker.
So I have to find a way to fix all these clippings, cannot cure them all but at least to a certain extent.

Don't ask me how to do it, just "search Google", as simple as that.

The Absorption of Sound vs. Relative Humidity.

I was told that the mist produced by mist maker will adversely effect the echolocation of swiftlet.
To my suspicion, I search google and found the below article of which I still not quite understand.
So anyone in here can lighten me up will be highly appreciated.


Effects of Humidity on Sound

Contrary to what most people believe, there
is more sound attenuation in dry air than in damp air.
The effect is a complex one, and it is shown in
Figure 1-11. Note that the effect is significant only
at frequencies above 2 kHz. This means that high
frequencies will be attenuated more with distance
than low frequencies will be, and that the attenuation
will be greatest when the relative humidity is 20
percent or less.



Credit to Sound System Design Reference Manual by JBL

Today,Dec 2nd, I was kindly advised by my friend who is a physicist that the above article explained that
lower Relative humidity has more effect to high frequency sound than higher humidity.
But he also remarked that mist and relative humidity cannot be considered as same thing.
As mist is still a fine droplet of water,but for relative humidity, water is evaporated as gaseous stage and is almost homogeneous to air.

I guess a good physicist will be a good BH owner as sound , ventilation , temperature , humidity are mainly physic.

Little Progress

North side, cement plastering's still not completed, 5 more panels to go.



West side.



East side.



Main Wiring, yellow pipes for electricity, grey pipe for speakers and CCTV wiring.



More wiring, a little too much on electricity wiring.



Souvenir from visitor at the roving room floor.



Trace of flood level.



All pictures were taken by my Iphone4, not bad.

Temperature and Humidity Controller

After exploring many options of temperature and humidity controller, I decided to use the local made one for ease of maintenance and spare parts. This controller has an option to add up to 5 sensors. Each sensor can read both temperature and humidity and show the maximum 10 readings (for 5 sensors) on its screen in sequence. I then can put a CCTV camera infront of this screen so that I can read my bh's micro conditions 7/24 from anywhere with my cell phone.

So far I bought a set with only two sensors, each with 30 meter length cord. I will add more if feel needed later. Each sensor line can be extended up to 100 meter, and each can be used to control fan or humidifier independently at the required temperature or humidity settings.

More built-in feature is that it is also a data logger in itself when you plug into a computer. My friend also used this model for more than 5 months now without any problems.


Thanks to picture from my friend's blog. http://www.swiftletsourceofinformation.blogspot.com/

In this picture, it showed 2 readings, temp and humidity from the second sensor shown as r2 on the top left corner. Within seconds, it will change to temp and humidity readings from the first sensor or r1, and then switch back and forth.There are only two sensors for two floors on this one.

Every things are bought and ready to be installed except the construction's still not completed, delayed by the monsoon. :(

Poor Ventilation

If your new bird house is poorly ventilated, the first symptom is the house temperature will be higher than outside.
The easiest way to know that your bird house is poorly ventilated is that your birds will stay and make nest
in the area near entrance hole first.

If you noticed that your birds will stay only in those area, please observe your air circulation and try to
improve your ventilation. So I was told.

Loy Krathong Festival

With rain and flood every where for the past weeks, the ancient Thai knew exactly how to boost up the morale of Thai people.
After the hardships from flooding, we made use of these water by turn it to joy.

We celebrate the water with Loy Krathong festival!

It' help boosting up people mood in a timely way. It also help boosting the economy for people making Krathong for sale, Loy Krathong events are organized and celebrated all over the country. (Sorry, if you are not familiar with Loy Krathong, please search google, thank you)

Me included, cannot continue further construction of my BH, instead of sitting and feeling doom and bore, just went out an enjoy Loy Krathong last night with my hubby at the Peninsula hotel, Bangkok, by the Chao Phaya river.

We were lucky to be seated on the front row, although not in the center. So I took a video for the first time with my Iphone4 bought to me as a gift from my son.

Good food, many Thai traditional dance shows, ram-wong with the dancers and firework on a full moon night.
It cost only 11 bird nests per person, assuming 100 bird nests for Baht 48000, to make you feel like you are in paradise among those beautiful dancers. Come to Bangkok and celebrate with us next year!
Enjoy!

Sixteen year old nest

I found it in my kitchen!

Sixteen years ago, I was coughing badly for months.
One day my mom visited me and saw me coughing.
She asked whether I went to see a doctor.
I said yes, seeing many doctors and for months and still coughing.

At that time, my working place was a construction site full of construction material dust.

My mom went home and on the next days she sent me a box of bird nests, around 20 full nests.
I guess it's a cave bird nest.
She told me to double boiled it with rock sugar and eat daily until recovered.

I followed her instruction strictly.
Around 10 days after, I was totally recovered, not a single cough.
There were still two nests left and I just forgot about it.

Until recently that I was interested about bird house.
I remembered that I had it somewhere in the kitchen and found it in a forgotten drawer.
Both of them are very hard like a rock.
I soaked one in a warm water for three days three nights, still cannot soften it.

Now I have only one left, I think if I keep it further it will become a bird nest fossil!

Love my mom, no one will care about you and your health like your own parent.

Gadget Hunting, Part5

It's now ready to be used.

Plenty of mist.


It will be placed in control room with extended pvc pipe into bird's nesting room.


The 3 inch fan and on the right is water inlet with floating valve inside the tank.

Mold Mold Mold

This year we have heavy rain and flood all over the country.
Most bird house owners like rain because birds like rain, but certainly not this type of rain from depression.

The after math of rain and flood is high humidity in our bh if there is no good bh practice.
In the factory, there is a term called "GMP" or good manufacturing practice.
So in bh, we should also have "GBHP" or good bird house practice.

If the humidity is way too high, then mold will occur on the plank.

As I surfed the internet to understand more about mold so that I can prevent mold and cure it in my bh when it happens. I found that the bh's conditions that we try to maintain are exactly the conditions that mold likes to germinate and grow.

To prevent mold growth, it is recommended that you should not do the followings:
1. Avoid using unpainted wood in the house as it is particularly susceptible to mold, we do.
2. Do not allow the humidity to go higher than 60%RH, we do 80-90%RH.
3. The optimum temperature for mold is 25-30 degree celcius, we are at 28 degree celcius!

So we do everything that is a "don't " in mold prevention.

The graph below showed the humidity ranges that mold(fungi) and other kinds of micro organism like.
For bacteria and virus, they love both high and low humidity ranges. For Fungi, it will grow only at 60%RH upwards.



There are six types of molds, and all of them will grow best at temp 25-30 degree celcius and humidity 75%RH upwards.



Hello there, are there any bh with good micro conditions do not have mold growth?
My guess is none! It either sooner or later only if you have GBHP.

Then what should we do to make it grow slower, what should we do to cure it when it happens!
Should I continue or should I rather keep what I found to myself as most of you do?
I'll decide later.

Please I am still a newbie!

Dear my blog readers,

As you all are aware that I am a newbie. My bird house hasn't been finished yet.
What I write in here is what I learnt from reading, watching and experimenting with my friend in his bird house.
My original plan is to use this blog as my diary.

When you guys asked me questions, I have try answering them to you all with honesty and sincerely.
But when I asked some questions back to you as I still have a lot to learn, some of you just disappeared.

This is very discouraging or shall I say disgusting.
So from now on, please don't ask me any questions unless you are prepared to give back something!

Life is about "give and take".

Flood everywhere!

As you all knew, Thailand had been flooded everywhere from North to down South.
Last few days, a depression hit Southern part and flooded heavily everywhere, my BH included.


Since November 3rd, 2010, we cannot go to my BH by car. Road infront of my BH is under water. The only way to get to the BH is by boat or walk with knee deep water. The picture below was taken from the main road 700 meter from the BH.

A small obstacle from the above to test my strength!

One more month?

I visited my BH last weekend to check the progress of the BH construction.
Only the exterior of the south side is about to be finished, still three more sides to go.

South side exterior.


For the interior, most are done, still here and there to be finished.

My huge roving room.


Third Floor


Second Floor


Ground floor


During the first day of my visit, I didn't see many birds flying around the area , only 5-6 birds at most.
So I felt a bit uneasy, in my mind, what happen, what's wrong, etc.
I couldn't go home without seeing birds in the area. At 6 pm on the second day, I went to the fourth floor and put my bird call gadget at use. Within two minutes, birds came from all directions, haha, see all these birds really put my mind at ease.



As of Oct30th, 2010. The South side is done.



Not much progress on North side.

Feng Shui

Do you believe in Feng Shui?

According to Feng Shui, a place that has water in front with a mountain behind is considered a good Feng Shui.

See a paddy field and a big man made water pond in front of my BH.



And a mountain behind my BH. A very good Feng Shui indeed! :)

Micros of the unfinished house.

I've just came back from Surat. Not quite sure that the BH can be finished by next month!
All sort of problems, heavy rain stop working , local holiday stop working, etc.

Although the house is not completed yet. I checked the micro on each floor just to get the feeling of it.

Ground floor, Oct 24th, 2010







Second Floor. Oct24th, 2010







Third Floor, Oct25th,2010








Roving Room, Oct25th,2010