BTNR, SBWR 08Nov07

From KH

We met at BTNR carpark at 0630 and met with heavy rain on way up the steep slope. My friend Soo Yen and his teacher were with us today. It's always good to have some photographers around for the record shots!

The heavy rain continued till about 0730 and then drizzle followed till about 0900. During this period, we thought we were having really bad luck with the rain, the big crowd of noisy public and a troop of macaques. Nevertheless, we did see these birds: a big flock of AG Starlings, some TBG Pigeon, Arctic Warblers, RE & OW Bulbuls, 1 BC Bulbul, 1 JF Dove, 1 pair of AF Bluebird, 1 AB Flycatcher and 2 GRT Drongos. Twice the starlings were dispersed by passing sparrowhawks.

Kim Seng arrived about 0830, followed by Willie, Sunny, Ashley, Kim Chuah, Ben. At about 0930, KS spotted the Siberian Thrush! The bird flew off after the initial few minutes, but made a reappearance later staying all the way till we left at about 11. Finally, we tick the target bird of the day and left happy and satisfied. Photos from JS:

Between 0930 and 1100, additional birds that showed up were Crimson Sunbirds, 1 DS Flycatcher, 1 GG Leafbird, 1 Common Tailorbird, 1 Dollarbird. A Banded Bay Cuckoo was also heard, but no visual.

JS's account of the Siberian Thrush and their (Danny and JS's) afternoon at Sungei Buloh

After several days of reading about the sightings of the beautiful rare Siberian thrushes, I finally saw it today. Although it is a lone bird compared to earlier sightings of three birds, the bird was a stunning first winter male. (see Ben's photo) I am not sure if anyone noted a different bird during its second appearance because there seems to be a difference. The first bird has no blue while the second has blue. Thrush apart, other notable birds were a Black-crested Bulbul, the Jumbu Fruit Dove and three swiftlet-size swifts with long slender wings (Himalayan Swiftlets?).

After lunch, I went to SBWR, hoping to see one-day wonders. Well, meeting so many birders is to me a one-day wonder, birdwise, the only noteworthy birds are a Terek Sandpiper at Main Bridge, a Broad-billed Sandpiper at Main Hide and 2 Grey Plovers at Hide 1c, which snowballed to a surprise count of 9 birds.

Left Whimbrel, right Bar-tailed Godwit

Broad-billed Sandpiper

Grey Plovers