Khatib Bongsu, Pulau Punggol, Little Guilin 26Jul08

From KH

Danny and I started the day at Khatib Bongsu and there were already durian hunters packing their bounties! Once we entered the trail, we could hear a Changeable Hawk-eagle calling whi-whi-whi. Soon we spotted the bird. It was a juvenile pale morph perched a few trees away from the nest. The trail that we used to drive on is now overgrown and muddy. Fortunately, there is a side trail that goes into the grassland and joins back to the main trail.

Pale morph juvenile Changeable Hawk-eagle ©Danny Lau

When we reached the fishing pond, we could see that it was low tide, but surprisingly it was quiet. There were only 2 Grey Herons and a pair of Stork-billed Kingfishers along the river. Early in the morning, I happened to pass by the other entrance into KB and noticed that it was open, so I suggested we move on to that part of KB. By the time we left, the juvenile CHE was still calling. It must be awfully hungry!

The other side of KB is more of a grassland and secondary growth, much like Simpang. There was some construction going on and hence the gate was open. I showed Danny the pond in the middle of the area, but it was quiet as usual. Along one of the side trails, Danny quickly spotted an sub-adult CHE. As I was on the wrong side of the car, Danny used the D80 to take the photos of the CHE.

Pale morph subadult Changeable Hawk-eagle ©Tan KH

We also saw a juvenile Brahminy Kite chasing a crow, usually it's the other way round.

Our next destination was Pulau Punggol. The task was to find an alternative route to the part of the island that we saw the Booted Eagles because our usual route was blocked with the completion of the bridge.

Fortunately, we were able to find another route. Instead of turning left after the entrance, just go straight until you hit the tarmac road. We can still cut across the tarmac road now, but we were not sure if this will still be possible in the near future. The Ruddy-breasted Crake can still be found by the edge of the trails.

Khatib Bongsu
1) Laced Woodpecker 1 pair
2) Common Goldenback 1 pair
3) Sunda Woodpecker (h)
4) Dollarbird
5) Stork-billed Kingfisher 1 pair
6) White-throated Kingfisher
7) Collared Kingfisher
8) Blue-throated Bee-eater
9) Asian Koel
10) Long-tailed Parakeet
11) Swiftlet spp.
12) House Swift
13) Spotted Dove
14) Zebra Dove
15) Pink-necked Green-pigeon
16) White-breasted Waterhen
17) Brahminy Kite juvenile chasing a crow
18) White-bellied Sea-eagle (h)
19) Changeable Hawk-eagle 1 subadult 1 juv both pale morph
20) Grey Heron 2
21) Striated Heron
22) Golden-bellied Gerygone (h)
21) House Crow
22) Black-naped Oriole
23) Pied Triller 1
24) Pied Fantail 1
25) Common Iora
26) Oriental Magpie-robin (h)
27) Asian Glossy Starling
28) White-vented Myna
29) Common Myna
30) Pacific Swallow
31) Straw-headed Bulbul (h)
32) Olive-winged Bulbul 1
33) Yellow-vented Bulbul
34) Yellow-bellied Prinia (h)
35) Rufous-tailed Tailorbird (1)
36) Ashy Tailorbird
37) Common Tailorbird (h)
38) Striped Tit-babbler
39) Plain-throated Sunbird
40) Olive-backed Sunbird
41) Eurasian Tree Sparrow
42) Baya Weaver
43) Black-headed Munia 1
44) Scaly-breasted Munia

Pulau Punggol
45) Common Pigeon
46) Ruddy-breasted Crake 1
47) Large-billed Crow 1

Little Guilin
48) Grey-headed Fish-eagle

Danny continued birding at Little Guilin in the evening:

From Danny

Was at Little Guilin on Saturday evening around 5 pm. A passing resident gladly told me there was an eagle around. Sure enough an adult Grey Headed FE was perched right at the top of the highest tree around the pond, possibly to coax the juvenile to overcome the height barrier - apparently not very successful as the juvenile was nowhere to be seen. About 5 mins before 6 pm the adult flew off. Before long, the juvenile was seen perched on a low tree opp. the grassy slope next to the sport stadium. Compared to 10 days ago, one could detect a bluish grey hue emanating from the bill base. Unfortunately due to the distance and the quality of the pic, more subtle changes could be observed.

As one the pics shown, it kept looking up especially when two Brahminy Kites flew in. After about 10 mins with no signs of the adult, it took off towards the landslide section of the hill. Perfect location for nesting, protected from intruders by a body of water and forested hill slope.