Hindhede, Tuas, Kranji, Punggol 30Dec06

From KH

Continuing last weekend's thrush saga at Hindhede, I decided to arrive earlier then our meeting time. At 7 am, the large-tailed nightjar and brown hawk owl were still calling. The great and rhinoceros hornbill pair were also calling and flying from the Hindhede side to the Sanapang side. Waiting at the right sandpit, a red-legged crake was seen crossing the trail. Soon Danny, JS and Robert arrived. Straw-headed bulbuls were singing away. A white-rumped shama was very vocal and offered us a long full view, while the emerald dove paid no attention to the shama or us as it foraged in the undergrowth. Soon Sree was on the scene too. The orange-headed thrushes were still present, but the hooded pitta and the other thrushes were nowhere to be seen. Although the blue-and-white FC was long gone, the Mugimaki FCs were still around.

Orange-headed Thrush ©Lau JS

Next, at Tuas grassland, we saw pintail snipes, a lone common greenshank, wood sandpipers, PGPs, a Chinese pond heron, red-wattled lapwings, paddyfield pipits, yellow bitterns, a subadult male Schrenck's bittern, a male watercock. JS flushed a savanna nightjar. Siberian stonechats and Pallas's grasshopper warblers were calling. I flushed an Oriental reed warbler, while JS saw 2 black-browed reed warblers. Scaly-breasted and black-headed munias were present. Before we left, a male cinnamon bittern was flushed. We proceeded to Raffles Marina for lunch hoping to see some gulls or terns. However, a lone collared kingfisher was the only bird seen.

Male Watercock in non-breeding plumage ©Danny Lau

Next up was Kranji reservoir, where we added a common kingfisher to our list. More yellow bitterns were seen. Just when we thought we were done here, JS spotted a raptor on the transmission towers side. One led to the other and we saw osprey, peregrine falcon, common kestrel and white-bellied sea eagles in all.

Peregrine Falcon ©Lau JS

Final destination at Punggol reedbed for the reed warblers and stonechats, left us with bad news that this whole place was to be cleared for more HDB flats. In fact, work was ongoing now. We left here with red-rumped swallows and white-shouldered starlings added to the list. All in all, 75 species seen and heard today.