Birds in Batik Motif

The company I work for organized a day trip to KL and Putrajaya for friends from the Asia Pacific region. One of the visits was to a Batik shop in Batu Caves that have been operating since the 1970s called East Coast Chong Batik. Spotted Batik motif with bird themes. These are the creations of the painters themselves. How they drew these species of birds and from where they got their inspiration remain a mystery. Colours and details of these birds really stood out in the paintings and I can only make guesses.... 

 Birds of paradise in above Batik Painting.  Exotic-looking pair of Bitterns in painting below:-

 These look like cattle egrets flying towards a coconut tree in painting above whilst below a Watercock or Purple Swamphen with two flying birds:-

Which mysterious species of white-throated songbirds depicted in Batik Painting above.

Swallows in late January 2014

A pair of Pacific Swallows roosting just outside my parent's house in Segamat, Johor. They will perch there from evening onwards. They disappear by early morning. Came home during the Chinese New Year week end of January 2014 and spotted this pair. They remained very still and unperturbed even amidst the noisy firecrackers and fireworks on the eve of Chinese New Year. There's a beautiful painting of a pair of swallows in website at  NZ Birds 

Swallows herald the coming of Spring so it was really a joy to see them that night when I was home in Johor to celebrate CNY with my family. According to Wikipedia, they are under the Passerines family species and their nests are usually made from mud. Didn't spot any mud nests within the compound so I gather these swallows are a migratory pair seeking temporary refuge in my parent's house.