Changi, Punggol, Pulau Punggol 29Nov08

From KH

Today's birding was not bad, but not great. We did not managed to locate 2 big flocks of waders (>100 birds each) - 1 are Changi Cove, 1 at Punggol. We saw them flying but couldn't find them when they landed... Then at Pulau Punggol, we found a new exit point - the new bridge.

First of all at CC, the number of confirmed waders is pathetic:
1 Long-toed Stint
1 Little Ringed Plover
1 Ruddy Turnstone
1 pair of Malaysian Plovers
2 Oriental Pratincole (the big flock suspected to be this)
2 very noisy Red-wattled Lapwings

Raptor-wise, we have
3 EMH (1 subadult M putting on a good display, 1 F, 1 juv)
1 Osprey
1 juv WBSE having breakfast
1 Brahminy Kite which pretended to be a harrier perched
>10 BWK

The other interesting birds here are:
2 male Pin-tailed Whydah (1 with long long tail, 1 obviously shorter)
1 suspected juvenile Asian Pied Starling (starling-type bird with black breast band)
1 Watercock
1 Ruddy-breasted Crake
1 immature Plaintive Cuckoo
1 Black Drongo catching insect
1 Oriental Reed Warbler
a few Yellow Wagtails
Siberian Stonechats chatting away but refused to show
Pallas's Grasshopper Warblers? warbling away but refused to show no matter how you beat the bush

At Punggol, we had
1 Japanese Sparrowhawk
10 Black Bazas
1 Brahminy Kite
1 BWK
1 Yellow Bittern
~20 Purple-backed Starlings
a few Yellow Wagtails

At Pulau Punggol, we had
2 Ospreys (1 of them repeatedly seen on the ground!)
1 flock of 11 Brahminy Kites
1 WBSE

From Danny

Refer to pics on non-breeding Long-toed Stint taken at CC on Sat. Note juv LT has split supercillum and rufous fringes at scapular and tertials, absence from pics.

Distinct features of non-breeding LT Stint
1) Streaky crown (from Temminck's dull grey crown)
2) Discernible white supercillum not joining at base of forehead (from T with obscure supercillum)
3) Bill blackish with yellowish /brown base to lower mandible (from RN Stint's black bill & T blackish brown)
4) Pale lore with dark area confined to spot/patch just anterior to eye (both RN & T have discernible lores)
5) Mantle and scapular feathers black centred (both RN and T have feathers with black centred lines)
6) Greyish buff wash to breast with darker streaks at sides (from T breast washed dull grey brown forming lateral patches)
7) Yellowish green legs with middle toes longer than bill (from RN with black legs)

This was one of 2 Ospreys on Pulau Punggol. We were there just before 5 pm, the place was practically empty - cool enough for the Osprey to be grounded, but with such bill rather not get too close.