HASH TRASH RUN #1489 – SATURDAY April 3

Yep, April, dumb-cluck. And it was Good Friday yesterday. Wondered why it was a tanggal merah. Bollox – been a while since I wondered about anything. Anyhow, up and running again. This time in that turf enclosure by Mambal swimming pool. We’ve met there many times. Brilliant spot, nymphs and shepherds, or prop up the beer truck. Which is what YWGMH & YWHMH did, the latter suffering from sore plates. Just remembered DICK THE PRICK on CALICO JACK with a bloody great hole in his sole – miraculously healed shortly thereafter. Check him out for the panacea. Lovely smell of newly mown grass and first bird heard the Brown-throated Sunbird – could almost have been a Chiffchaff. Unexpected visit from well-endowed alpha male macaque that feasted on purple jelly and jumbo kum then slunk off at the instance of alpha and omega GM. HARES on this sparkling occasion were SERIAL OFFENDER, WHILE YOU’RE DOWN THERE & INFLATABLE BEDMATE, WHO DESPITE thin paper at the end, suitably acclaimed in the circle. So easily pleased are we. Fantastic turnout: I reckoned 90 odds and sods, not including infants, mostly welcome and familiar faces plus fair number of virgins expertly deflowered by WOODEN EYE. A host of RETURNERS including surprise surprise NIGHTJAR who pleaded ‘merely obeying orders’ following first jako by pretty nurse from Payangan.

Pathetic. A scrumptious cake by NO DEPOSIT for WHILE YOUR DOWN THERE whose birthday it was. LABIA expostulating about zoonosis and birds of a feather with icing of weakest link, followed by Sister Belinda,

Whisky friskyy Brandy randy, Gin in, Rum come and God forbid Hack Daniels spaniels, and Pino Collada harder, and I forget what comes after Tequila. Jolly good show one and all. We should do it more often. Thank you WORM for keeping us all together and well primed, but how much longer must the BURNING OF THE WORM be held in abeyance?

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Hash Trash During the Time of COVID

NATURE NOTE FROM BALI – NUMBERS 10

I’m often accused or exaggeration relating to numbers of birds or butterflies seen on certain occasions, but if anything I tend to underestimate. Thumbing through Butterflies of Bali recently, I realized that the migration of Lemon Emigrants I witnessed in ‘74 endured at least ten days and nights, tailing off perceptibly in the last day or two. Must have been millions. Many. And I could have gone on and on about some of the other wonders I’ve seen. For instance the invasion of Bronze Cuckoos – Horsfield’s – thirty something years ago. These are definitely Aussie birds and have been described as uncommon visitors to Sundaland. I could stand anywhere in the ricefields and see twenty odd with one sweep of my bins. Some years you’d see a few during the so-called Austral winter, but this was unprecedented – or was it? And I’ll never forget David Wells’ sighting of dozens of Eyebrowed Thrushes on Gunung Penulisan (whenever that was). No one to my knowledge has ever seen them in Bali before or since.

Back to butterflies – How often does one see lots of Birdwings in any one place? I have an amazing recollection of seeing many in Sawai or Wahai in North Seran. These were nominate priamus – huge and green – fluttering everywhere. All perfect, a seasonal brood. At any instant one could view up to a dozen feeding on the white redtipped corolla blossoms of Cerbera, directly behind our bungalow on the beach. Then, more recently in Mulu NP in Sarawak – I’d gone there to attend InterHash ‘12 or ‘14 – I suddenly became aware of those most brilliant of Birdwings – Raja Brooke’s – swirling round me just 100 yards from the hotel where we were staying, There were hundreds of them, evidently attracted to a flooded and derelict building site. My presence clearly disturbed them, for they were sitting imbibing moisture on the ground. All fresh and brilliant, utterly stunning. And, unremarkably, every single one a male. I’ve not seen the female of the species yet. Do you know anyone who has?

Bali Hash House Harriers 2

New Year 2021 Hash Trash

NATURE NOTE HASH TRASH QUISQUILLIAE SUNDAY JAN 3

NO HASH yesterday that I’m aware of, but still something to say. First the Drongo Cuckoo. Definitely two kinds here, and both most vocal. You’d never see birds unless you heard them first. Loud and clear and openly perched on a dead twig of the durian, I watched it in full cry for at least two minutes – one, two, three, four, five, six – wings jerking at each ascending note. The tail was deeply forked like your actual drongo, whereas others I’ve had in the garden had square tails. The difference is striking, otherwise birds look and sound the same. Payne (The Cuckoos OUP 2005) split them into Surniculus lugubris Square-tailed D-C and Surniculus dicruroides Fork-tailed, and judging by the outpourings of the latter, it will be overwintering here like the goshawks.

So, if no run yesterday, what is there to say about our BALI H311? Not a lot, but having hashed in 60 odd hashes in at least 20 lands over the years, beginning with Singapore in the mid-sixties, allow me to say that BALI HASH HOUSE HARRIERS II is second to none.

When I started in Sing, it was all blokes following one paper trail, and everyone drank a shandy of beer and ginger beer. No circle, no songs – that came later at Jo Coco’s, Tangle Inn, Punggol Point or the Eyes and Piles. But no matter. We all paid the same dues and, as far as I know, we were not officially registered as a Club: same in KL, though they were obliged to become a legal entity soon after.

Okay, so we’re different. We have to be. We’re not all refugees from urban cubicles, escaping from the missus, and letting down what remains of our hair on a Monday night (then spending most of Tuesday at the Eyes and Piles composing the weekly HASH TRASH),

Those were the days begad. But I still say that, ideally, as a club, whether official or otherwise, all so-called adults (irrespective of drinking habits) should pay the same run fee and prosecute the same trail and, if you can’t manage the whole, just do part – TOGETHER AND LOUDLY – ON ON

Bali Hash House Harriers 2 Official Hash Trash

THE RUN THAT NEVER WAS – BALI HHHII – DEC 19 2020

Why? There may have been some misunderstanding or miscommunication here. A high-placed source or spy informed me that some fat prat, engaged to translate government edicts, may have misconstrued the intent, whether wittingly or unwittingly, thereby conveying half-truths to the half-minds of our members. Shame really. Conditions were perfect for a trot or stroll in the hills. Besides, what else is there to do these days?

Well you can watch butterflies, for instance, Three surprises this week in the garden – Leopard, Glass Wing, Cruiser. The latter – a female, duller and more greenish than the bright fulvous orange males – I have seen but twice before in Bali, which is odd: they seem to be much rarer than the males – (read my comments in Butterflies of Bali, 2005). The insect was greatly attracted to the Curry Leaf Tree which is flowering: it wasn’t laying (natal foodplant is Adenia). Then, still more amazing, I had the Glass Wing feeding on Button Daisy in the borders – also a female, with pronounced black margins as well as spotting of the wings, more like the Indian violae, but no matter. The Leopard was the larger one (phalantha): I usually see the smaller alcippe here. As for the Glass Wing, I’d never seen it in Ubud, but only in the mountains where it is common. Anyone care to comment? A definite resurgence of flies in the sunny spells between showers at this season. You must have noticed.

What else to report? Oh yes, the convocation of Hashers plus other odds and sods of the ‘Ubud Community’ on Wednesday 16^th at the original Beggars Bush. Fantastic turnout, including many middle aged/elderly ladies, seemingly deferential – Victor, you may not remember me, but …

Now run by charming locos Latinos, with tapas bar nosh and huge range of beverages, and possibly more commodious than before. Check it out. The password is NIGHTJAR. Is the beer too strong for you?

Hash Trash Run #1486

THE BURNING OF THE WORM IN ABEYANCE BALI AT KEDISAN

Get the PDF HERE

Kedis of course is Balinese for bird – Kedisan = Birdland – though the elements were not wholly conducive to scrutinizing the critters nor yet to vermicidal conflagration. LABIA had large flocks of smallish ‘black birds’ assembling on dead trees; these must have been Short-tailed Glossy Starlings found at higher elevations. The Goshawk, by the way, visits the garden most days, yet I wonder why its advent this year was so retarded. Must be the weather: you must have noticed the south-westerly drift, becoming more northerly only in the past few days. Global warming? Bollox. Merely seasonal or cyclical variation. The NW monsoon now beginning to assert itself with a vengeance, the rain brings coolness and freshness; yesterday (5th) was no exception. But the going was hard and very slithery, and by no means ideal for leg-stretching, causing half the pack to be out till well past dusk.

We have to strike a balance here. Despite some contrary opinion, I see nowt to discourage a 16.30 start: I mean dammit, you’ve got two hours of daylight to run or walk a five miler, and no run should exceed that, no matter what the conditions. As a fuddy-duddy antediluvian dinosaur, I maintain that no run should take more than one hour – max 17 – and if you can’t maintain an average five mph then you should go elsewhere.

HARES must adjust according to weather, terrain, etc. Not to disparage here our worthy HARES on this occasion – BARNACLE BALLS & CUM ON YER BACK – had it not been a bloomin’ mud bath, it would have been a candidate for RUN OF THE YEAR.

Ineffable nosh provided by INFLATABLE BEDMATE (curry by his own fair hand) as well as Black Bull phaenobarbitone, and Emperor’s Banquet courtesy of DEEP CLEFT. But the main attraction was undoubtedly the WORM for burning. Following the circle and rendition of OLD MACDONALD’S FARM – after all it was TUMPEK HARI KANDANG sacred to all domesticated animoles including those that are kennelled – WORM, IBM & YWGMH spent an aeon marvelling at CUM ON YER BACK’s creation, the ultimate OGOH-OGOH and better than any exhibit at Tate Modern.

True genius. It will be set ablaze. Sooner the better. Then to FLY where oysters are playful and in season.

On On to Desa Rafting Bongkasa …