Sime Forest, SBWR, Kranji 03Nov07

From KH

The day started with me picking up an injured juvenile Schrenck's Bittern at the void deck of my multi-storey carpark at Sengkang.

Upon reaching Rifle Range at 7 am, I showed the bird to Danny and we decided to bring it to BTNR where Con was conducting his course. It was then that Danny thought of passing the injured bird to the ranger there. The poor bird had a missing right wing but when I picked it up, there was no blood. Moreover, it looked like it had a broken leg too. We looked at the plight of the bird in dismay...

Schrenck's Bittern ©Tan KH

By the time we arrived back at Rifle Range, it was 0740h. The first interesting birds were 2 cuckoos - the Drongo Cuckoo was confirmed, while a Violet Cuckoo was possible as it was hiding behind branches. Then, the first bird wave hit us. It consisted of Arctic Warblers, 1 Eastern Crowned Warbler and 1 Asian Paradise-flycatcher. A fruiting tree on the way to the Jelutong Tower attracted 4 Red-eyed Bulbuls and 1 Asian Brown Flycatcher. Along the track, we got to see the Arctic Warblers, Asian Paradise-flycatchers and Asian Brown Flycatchers a few times more. At the tower, a male Asian Fairy Bluebird flew across the canopy. Except for Arctic Warbler and Asian Brown Flycatcher, we missed all these birds during the race. Where were they hiding back then? At the reservoir, a pale morph Changeable Hawk-eagle perched high on a treetop. Other than these birds, a Green Crested Lizard, a Clouded Monitor and some Papilio butterflies made the quiet trail less disappointing.

Lunch was nasi lemak at Sungei Buloh again. There were mostly redshanks at the main hide, but it was nice to see a pair of Magpie Robins, which we missed during the race. Most of the waders were at Hide 1C. Sieving through the Whimbrels for the Bar-tailed Godwits gave us our a stunning curlew instead. It was a big guy compared to the whimbrels. The only birds which could push it around here were the Little Egrets. Later, it was confirmed to be a Far Eastern Curlew! A global lifer for both of us!

Far Eastern Curlew ©Danny Lau

The godwits were present as well. Shifting attention to the sand-plovers, we tried to sieve through them for the Greater Sand Plover, but to no avail.

Lesser Sand-plover ©Danny Lau

Next, through the curlew sandpipers, we hoped to get a broad-billed sandpiper. No sign of the latter, but we picked out a petite little guy, which had slightly shorter bill and slightly different plumage. This was later confirmed by David Bakewell to be a 1st winter curlew sandpiper moulting out of its juvenile plumage while retaining its juvenile wing covert.

Curlew Sandpiper ©Danny Lau

We were at 1C for more than an hour, maybe two, until the dog started barking at the waders scaring the curlew and whimbrels away. The whimbrels came back after circling a few rounds above, but the curlew was gone...

And so we left Buloh for NTL2 hoping to get the sand martin and crested goshawk. Bad luck, the gantry was down... The decision then was to take Kranji Nature Trail and see what we could get. We did see the two common woodpeckers that we missed during the race - Sunda Pygmy and Laced. The former was on the wooden stilt at the boardwalk, exactly the same place we saw it 1 week before the race! Where was it hiding on Race Day??

The day ended with 72 birds heard and seen. The Far Eastern Curlew being the bird of the day.

Sengkang
1 Schrenck's bittern, juv, injured

Sime Forest
2 Oriental dollarbird
3 Common goldenback, heard
4 Banded woodpecker, heard
5 Blue-tailed bee-eater
6 Drongo cuckoo, 1
7 Violet cuckoo, 1 possible
8 Long-tailed parakeet, big flocks
9 Swiftlet spp.
10 Pink-necked green-pigeon
11 Changeable hawk-eagle, 1 pale morph
12 Oriental honey-buzzard, 1 in flight
13 Asian fairy-bluebird, 1 male
14 Greater racket-tailed drongo
15 Common hill myna
16 Barn swallow
17 Pacific swallow
18 Asian paradise-flycatcher, 3
19 Asian brown flycatcher, 3
20 Arctic warbler, many
21 Eastern crowned warbler, 1
22 Dark-necked tailorbird
23 Common tailorbird
24 Striped tit babbler
25 Red-eyed bulbul, 4
26 Olive-winged bulbul
27 Yellow-vented bulbul
28 Orange-bellied flowerpecker
29 Scarlet-backed flowerpecker
30 Brown-throated sunbird

En-route to SBWR
31 Common pigeon
32 White-vented myna
33 Common myna
34 House crow
35 Brown shrike

Drain outside SBWR
36 Wood sandpiper
37 White-breasted waterhen
38 Scaly-breasted munia

SBWR
39 Collared kingfisher
40 White-throated kingfisher
41 Asian koel, heard
42 Zebra dove
43 Far Eastern curlew, 1
44 Bar-tailed godwit, 2
45 Whimbrel
46 Common sandpiper
47 Marsh sandpiper
48 Curlew sandpiper
49 Common redshank
50 Common greenshank
51 Pacific golden-plover
52 Lesser sand-plover
53 Striated heron
54 Little egret
55 Asian glossy starling
56 Ashy tailorbird
57 Oriental magpie robin
58 Crimson sunbird

Kranji
59 Fork-tailed swift
60 Osprey, 1
61 White-bellied sea-eagle, 1
62 Spotted dove

NTL2 entrance
63 Black-winged kite, 1

Kranji Nature Trail
64 Sunda pygmy woodpecker
65 Laced woodpecker
66 Lesser crested tern
67 Great crested tern
68 Grey heron
69 Great egret
70 Golden-bellied gerygone, heard
71 Black-naped oriole
72 Paddyfield pipit