"Pak Harry, how much is your fee to inspect a 1.5 years old BH with only 6 nests?"
My answer to him was "Affordable".
That was how I came to know a newbie who have been carrying out a couple of tests on swiftlet "Aromas".
I took the whole morning to be with him since I was on a two days trip to Kuantan.
After following his car for about 20 minutes from Kuantan city centre I landed in a kind of agricultural land, divided into about 1.5 acres lots, with a bungalow house on each lot.
Hmm ... a very interesting development scheme.
"How much was the land with the Bungalow unit?" I asked.
"Only RM250,000 Pak Harry" he answered.
Does those fruit trees came with it?
Yes, according to him.
While talking to him about his land I can see a small BH made of steel structure with a monkey house entrance hole system at the back of his bungalow.
"Pak Harry, what I wanted you to do is to look at the BH and tell me what can be done to improve those bird's nests numbers."
I took a short walk around the building and took some pictures.
Hmm..... not a bad design (from the outside) but how come the owner sound as if the unit is not doing that well.
According to him the BH was build by a company that deals with heat insulation system using those cellulose.
Hmm.... how come an insulation company become a BH expert?
No wonder only 6 nests after 1.5 years (I was saying quietly in my head).
The dimension was 20 feet width by 40 feet long and 8 feet ceiling height. A bit too short to me. It would be better if the total length is 60 feet (I feel). If too short the BH nesting room can be a bit too bright if the partitioning walls are not well designed.
The first room was the data room about 4 feet by 4 feet in size.
There were three amplifiers. Upon checking it seems that each was playing a different sounds.
One sound for the external and two sounds for the internal.
The moment of truth was when I entered inside.
There were only 6 fully formed nests and 3 markings.
Hmm... what can be the reasons why those birds refuse to stay as his permanent tenant?
After about 40 minutes of diagnosing the possible problems I listed to him a few very important points.
1) The BH was well constructed however the contractor who erected the BH have very little knowledge about the birds sensitivity to the light. The room temperature was okay. The walls were made of two layers of MGO boards and in between a heat cellulose layer were laid.
2) The rooms were a bit too bright and most of the light were coming from the entrance hole. The other main reason being the BH is a bit too short.
3) The walls erected to protect those light were not ideally located. He need to realigned a few of the walls plus to relocate the entrance window, I told him.
4) All the ventilation holes were not covered with any 90* elbows with an extension pipe. If you look from the outside the elbows were at the outside not the inside.
5) There were a number of gaps that were seen to allow light to penetrate the nesting room.
6) His nesting planks looks as if there were some dust or fungus on them. He need to clean them up using those fermented raw nests water.
7) The number of tweeters and fake nests (5 pieces) were not adequate. He need to increase them.
8) The humidity machine (1 unit only) was using a normal timer. I told him to upgrade it to those automatic hygrometer sensor. The best is to set the humidity at 88%RH. He also need to increase the number of humidifier from one to two.
9) All the sound amplifiers were not properly set. It was timely to upgrade those sounds once the BH complete its revamp.
10) The entrance window location was facing a neighbour who have no mercy on him. I advised him to reposition his external sound tweeters and perhaps look at opening a new window facing the opposite direction. The old entrance hole will be without any tweeter.
11) He should have opted for the last tango system. The last tango can be used for about 30-40 minutes during peek period and the sound can be a bit louder than the normal sound volume.
12) The hexagonal tweeters needs to be reposition and those tweeters facing that particular neighbour needs to be detached.
13) I also suggested to him on the use of those super pheromone. The best is to apply the onto to those fake nests newly installed.
14) There were enough room to install those insect generating containers. I was referring to those yellow cake plastic containers that can be stacked on each other. If these insects are breed in the roving area below the monkey house entrance it will draw more birds to the BH.
15) The external sound seems to stop and the monkey house area only. To pull more birds into the nesting room I told him to install those chandeliers playing the same external sound.
After the visit I sat down with him to put a report about 13 pages.
He promised to look into it and come out with his next move in the next few days.
He keep telling me that at least now he can understand all the problems his BH is having and a possible ways to correct them.
"Pak Harry, you are the first or perhaps the only person who can explained in details on what my BH is facing and you put to me the correction methods. No one have ever attempt to do this in a professional manner." he keep thanking me.
Well I told him humbly that I just happened to use a lot more of my engineering background and whatever I try to explained are based on my professional mind.
I have my profession at stake and I do not want my engineering degree to be queried.
He happened to be a professional himself and currently hold a Dr. title and teaching in one of the University in Kuantan.
After finishing the report he promised to confirm with me his next steps but be assured that all those recommendations will be acted.
I feel so glad that at least this trip was beneficial and I hope his luck with change soon.
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