Pulau Ubin 03Sep11

From Con

Danny, Jia Sheng, Kok Hui and I went to Ubin today to try for the Green Imperial-pigeons which everybody has been seeing this season!

After some quick checks around the town centre that came up empty we headed out to Sensory Trail. Initially we got interested in an Abbott’s Babbler who seemed a bit out of place in the mangrove, but there he was. Further down the Sensory Trail we crossed the small concrete bridge, under which water flows to fill the tidal ponds on the left. Maybe 100 meters after the bridge a second Abbott’s Babbler was calling and we stopped to investigate it. Jia Sheng walked ahead while we were stopped and quickly called back Cinnamon-headed Green-pigeons, and sure enough not far ahead perched up in mostly bare tree branches were four Cinnamon-headed Green-pigeons, two males and two females. First seen around 8:29 am this morning, unfortunately the light and the sky weren’t very photogenic, but certainly good enough for some record shots. After awhile the rest of my group went ahead, but I stayed hoping the light & sky would improve. A group of NUS students came by and were rewarded with views of these pigeons. Finally around 8:55 am the pigeons flew off.

Later we went on to Chek Jawa, and upon our return at about 11:30 am we passed by where the pigeons had been hoping to see them again, but alas they were not there. We never did see the Green Imperial Pigeons, but we were quite happy nonetheless with this sighting. Some photos at this link.

2 pairs of Cinnamon-headed Green-pigeon ©Tan KH

Left: Male. Right: Female ©Tan KH