SBWR, Mandai, Hindhede, Poyan 13Jan07

From JS

Last Saturday was a wet one with slight showers at dawn which subsided to light drizzle till before lunch, at 3 pm. As a result, there was only Con, Kok Hui, my dad and me. We covered SBWR, Mandai mudflat, Hindhede and Poyan. In terms of diversity, it was mere satisfaction but talking about the species seen, well, it was a fruitful Saturday.

SBWR was typical, very few species of waders, e.g. redshank, greenshank, common sandpiper, etc. However, we managed to see a few great crested terns, "rare" greater coucal and the 4 common kingfishers.

Singapore Vinegar Crab ©Tan KH

Red Junglefowl ©Tan KH

2nd stop of the day was Mandai Mudflat, 2 ospreys and a little cormorant were seen, the usual resident birds. No terns or gulls.

After some miserable birding at the mangrove and mudflats, we decided to try the present favourite birding spot, Hindhede. Within an area of 10 m², we saw all the birds that made Hindhede rather popular, 2 orange-headed thrushes, 1 female Siberian blue robin and a hooded pitta. Finally, after >5 trips to Hindhede, I have managed to digiscope a snake and the orange-headed thrush on a tree! Sadly, no shot of his friend and the beautiful hooded pitta.

Banded Woodpecker ©Tan KH

Orange-headed Thrush ©Lau JS

White-bellied Rat Snake ©Lau JS

Dragging our feet away from Hindhede, we had our lunch and headed for Poyan. No Jerdon's Baza to add on to the list. The most interesting bird was a juvenile Indian cuckoo with some adult features.

Juvenile Indian Cuckoo ©Lau JS