Punggol, Halus, Marina South, Kranji, SBWR 03Nov05

From KH

It was a cloudy day. Fortunately, it did not rain at all throughout the whole day. We started at Punggol at 7:30 am and ended at SBWR at 7:30 pm. In between, we stopped by Lorong Halus, Marina City Park and Kranji Dam. That's a 12hr bird race! Only Danny, Jia Sheng and I were there.

Danny picked me up from Punggol interchange and we were off to the Snipe Drain. The first bird to greet us was a Brahminy Kite flying over the open grass patch. When we reached the drain, we were utterly disappointed. It has been dredged! No more tall grass in the drain for the snipe to hide, only Common Sandpipers and Little Egrets. Just a few days back, the drain was still prime location for the snipe... No matter, we will walk around and see what we can get. A little bird was fretting in the secondary growth - Asian Brown Flycatcher. Then Danny spotted a bird on a tree. Alas it was blocked by the leaves and branches. Looks like a cuckoo he said. In the midst of trying to get a better view, I saw a reddish colour bird on another tree. We studied it for a while and then Jia Sheng exclaimed, "Rufous Woodpecker!" It was too far for us to get a decent shot. By the time we returned to the unidentified bird, it was gone. Well, you gain some, you lose some. Moving on, we saw a Brown Shrike and a Zitting Cisticola.

Brown Shrike ©Tan KH

Near the end of the drain was a Yellow Bittern. Surprisingly, it did not fly off when it saw us and there were some people fishing by the canal (Sungei Punggol) as well. As we approached it, it flew on to the bushes and was still clearly visible. We took a few shots and moved on. And I got to learn that Jia Sheng recently acquired the ability to call like a Yellow Bittern!

Yellow Bittern ©Tan KH

Standing along the canal edge were a Grey Heron, 2 Collared Kingfishers, a Common Sandpiper and a Spotted Dove. Time to leave this place, so we sat in Danny's car and cruised beside the drain hoping to pick up more birds. White-breasted Waterhen with 2 chicks. This time we managed to snap a photo before they went into hiding. The black chick reminded Danny of his succulent black chicken soup!

White-breasted Waterhen chick ©Tan KH

A Long-tailed Shrike flew past horizontally. Suddenly, it dived vertically down into the grass. And out came 2 birds: the Long-tailed Shrike and a Brown Shrike. Magic? No, the Long-tailed Shrike was attacking the Brown Shrike! To think that we thought the Long-tailed Shrike has hit the tall grass and dropped down. As we hit the main road, Danny's car nearly hit another Long-tailed Shrike trying to fly across the road.

Next stop was Lorong Halus. In the river was a Little Egret, a Great Egret and a Grey Heron. Following the charcoal sign, we entered into the track were you can see doves, munias, weavers, swallows, bee-eaters. Danny spotted a crested bird far away in the tree. He kept an eye on it while JS and I walked towards it. As we got nearer, I saw it flying off and the wings were a bright chestnut colour. Not sure what it was. So off we went into the pond area. The first pond is where the Common Moorhens hang out and I shall call it the Moorhen Pond. As usual the moorhens were around and there were a Common Sandpiper and a Marsh Sandpiper there too. Further down is a second pond; this is the well-known Grebe Pond where the Little Grebes hangs out. A Chinese Pond Heron was flushed out as we circumvented the Grebe Pond. A Purple Heron flew across as we continued. Then two sandpipers caught our attention. To confirm their identity, Danny went to flush them off. White wing bars, sigh, Common Sandpipers, no Green nor Wood Sandpipers for us. Hidden among the tall reeds surrounding the pond were some Yellow Bitterns which got flushed as we walked along, We went on to traverse the perimeter of the pond until we hit a trail uphill. Here, JS spotted Red-whiskered Bulbuls. As we were about to leave the track, we saw some Javan Munias perching on the tall grass together with the ever-present Scaly-breasted Munias.

Scaly-breasted (top) & Javan (bottom) Munias ©Tan KH

There were Red Collared Doves on the track. Some were washing their feathers in the water puddles. We got on the road and came really close to a Little Egret. As we approached, it flew a short distance to the middle of the road. I could get a close-up shot before it got chased away by the passing lorry.

Red Collared Dove bathing. Little Egret in the middle of the road ©Tan KH

Next up was Marina City Park. Danny showed us how to spot cuckoos here. The cuckoos were all seen in the trees by the roadside of Marina City Park. We could understand why this is such a good place for cuckoos, there were so many Golden-bellied Gerygones and Common Ioras around for them to parasitize! Danny had spotted the Drongo Cuckoo, Chestnut-winged Cuckoo and Plaintive Cuckoo here before. Today, we saw the Little Bronze Cuckoo. You have to wait by the roadside for movements in the trees and then follow the gerygone or iora.

Little Bronze Cuckoo ©Lau JS

There were also Asian Brown Flycatchers and Sunda Woodpeckers in these trees. In the pond nearby were waterhens and a Yellow Bittern. There were also Blue-tailed Bee-eaters and White-throated Kingfishers flying around. Further down, we saw that some of the palm trees were cut down; most probably one of the measures against dengue fever as water can collect at the base of the palm branches.

Asian Brown Flycatcher. Blue-tailed Bee-eater ©Tan KH

There were saw some activities in a tree nearby. This tree was fruiting and there were many Javan Mynas feasting on the fruits, then some white flashes caught our eyes - Purple-backed Starlings. There were a whole flock of them. First time so many purple-backs at such a close range to us. They were moving fast, we could hardly get a good shot.

Purple-backed Starling ©Tan KH

After lunch, we headed towards Kranji Dam and saw a White-bellied Sea Eagle carrying a big fish in its talons. There was a big black raptor far far away on the radio tower; no idea what it was. We walked along a canal to a nice little pond hoping to sit there and wait for birds to fly by, alas there were some fishermen there. It was Hari Raya Puasa and many people came here to fish, so we decided to leave for somewhere quieter.

After a short drive, we reached Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. There was a big flock of waders and they gave us a great lesson ID-ing them. The Pacific Golden-plovers in the background were obvious, as well as the flock of Marsh Sandpipers which kept flying here and there; also the Common Redshanks with their diagnostic red legs. The birds that eluded us for some time were the flock of Curlew Sandpipers in the foreground and a Common Greenshank which had its back facing us most of the time. Then I learned that JS has picked up yet another skill, cicada-spotting! (see photo below as proof)

Cicada ©Tan KH

We proceeded from hide to hide, we saw Little Egrets, more PGPs, redshanks, greenshanks, Common Sandpipers, Marsh Sandpipers, and also a Whimbrel, an Intermediate Egret, a Purple Heron, more Yellow Bitterns.

Intermediate Egret ©Tan KH


Purple Heron ©Tan KH

As we were scanning the far away mudflat, we didn't realize there were 6 Ruddy Turnstones right in front of us! They really live up to their name, turning stones as they go about searching for food. Then high up in the sky, a Japanese Sparrowhawk flew pass. As we hit the freshwater ponds, Danny saw 3 Cinnamon Bitterns flying off, while JS spotted a Black-capped Kingfisher also flying off. Then there were Copper-throated Sunbirds, an Asian Paradise Flycatcher and a pair of Laced Woodpeckers. As it was late, we quickly head back to the entrance. En-route, we spotted another Black-capped Kingfisher. Finally, as we were about to leave SBWR, 3 black birds flew above us. Although it was dark, we could tell from their silhouette and whistles that they were Crow-billed Drongos. That was the 67^th and last species seen and positively identified for the day. All in all, it was a great day and it felt like a relaxed version of the annual bird race.

Ruddy Turnstone ©Tan KH

How many of us are there? ©Lau JS

Punggol
01 House crow
02 Javan myna
03 Common myna
04 Pacific swallow
05 Barn swallow
06 Spotted dove
07 Pink-necked green-pigeon
08 Brahminy kite
09 Common sandpiper
10 Little egret
11 Grey heron
12 Yellow bittern
13 Asian koel
14 Blue-tailed bee-eater
15 Asian glossy starlings
16 Black-naped oriole
17 Yellow-vented bulbul
18 White-throated kingfisher
19 Collared kingfisher
20 Rufous woodpecker
21 Asian brown flycatcher
22 Plain-throated sunbird
23 Brown shrike
24 Long-tailed shrike
25 White-breasted waterhen
26 Zitting cisticola
27 Lesser coucal

Halus
28 Chinese pond-heron
29 Little heron
30 Purple heron
31 Great egret
32 Little grebe
33 Zebra dove
34 Red collared-dove
35 Scaly-breasted munia
36 Javan munia
37 Baya weaver
38 Black-winged kite
39 Common moorhen
40 Marsh sandpiper
41 Red-whiskered bulbul
42 Yellow-bellied prinia (heard)

Marina South
43 Golden-bellied gerygone
44 Common iora
45 Ashy tailorbird
46 Eurasian tree sparrow
47 Olive-backed sunbird
48 Little bronze-cuckoo
49 Sunda woodpecker
50 Purple-backed starling

Kranji
51 Little tern
52 White-bellied sea-eagle
53 Cattle egret

SBWR
54 Common kingfisher
55 Black-capped kingfisher
56 Laced woodpecker
57 Common greenshank
58 Pacific golden plover
59 Common redshank
60 Curlew sandpiper
61 Ruddy turnstone
62 Whimbrel
63 Cinnamon bittern
64 Intermediate egret
65 Japanese sparrowhawk
66 Copper-throated sunbird
67 Dollarbird
68 Crow-billed drongo
69 Asian paradise-flycatcher
70 Swiftlet spp.