Sime Forest 07Oct06

From PC

At 0741 hrs, failing to see my friend Daniel at McDonalds, we decided to proceed despite the heavy haze. When we reached Rifle Range carpark, Jia Sheng spotted a Dollarbird and some glossy starlings. We moved on inhaling the deadly carbon monoxide and what not. Along the way, we were pleased and displeased to see few joggers and even fewer birds. Seems that the birds are more kiasi than us, hiding from the haze and not braving it out as life still needs to carry on..

All we saw were Hill Mynas, RT Drongos, Long-tailed Parakeets and long-tailed macaques. There were less than 20 Homo sapiens (excluding these 5 die-hard birders) in the forest.

When we reached Jelutong Tower, we were consoled to see a Fairy Bluebird perched atop a bare tree. We also saw a thermal of 4 Honey-buzzards. There was a stray raptor which was smaller in the vicinity. There were also 2 Brahminy Kites that glide overhead, as well as some Blue-tailed Bee-eaters.

We continued with our journey to SICC, hoping to see the Black-backed Kingfisher that Bing Wen reported.

At the boardwalk, we were delighted to see an adult Black-headed Bulbul perched still on a branch low enough for us to take a good look and pictures by JS. Also seen: Striped Tit-babblers (3 of them right in front of me), Dark-necked Tailorbirds, Crimson Sunbird, Olive-winged Bulbul, Rufous-tailed Tailorbird and Yellow-vented Bulbul.

Striped Tit-babbler ©Tan KH

On the way back to Rifle Range, there was a birdwave of Arctic Warbler, Red-eyed Bulbul, Cream-vented Bulbul, Black-naped Oriole and Banded Woodpecker.

(1) Black-headed Bulbul
(2) Oriental Honey-buzzard
(3) Dark-necked Tailorbird
(4) Striped Tit-babbler
(5) Hill Myna
(6) Asian Fairy-bluebird
(7) Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker
(8) Rufous-tailed Tailorbird
(9) Crimson Sunbird
(10) Olive-winged Bulbul
(11) Brahminy Kite
(12) Olive-backed Sunbird
(13) Orange-bellied Flowerpecker
(14) Chestnut-bellied Malkoha
(15) Banded Woodpecker
(16) Black-naped Oriole
(17) Arctic Warbler
(18) Cream-vented Bulbul
(19) Red-eyed Bulbul
(20) Pacific Swallow
(21) Swiftlet spp.
(22) Long-tailed Parakeet
(23) Blue-tailed Bee-eater
(24) Red-crowned Barbet (heard)
(25) Purple-throated Sunbird
(26) Common Tailorbird
(27) Asian Glossy Starling
(28) Yellow-vented Bulbul
(29) White-throated Kingfisher
(30) Dollarbird

Black-headed Bulbul ©Danny Lau

PSI at noon was 120.

Clouded Monitor ©Tan KH