Halus, Punggol 09Nov08

The counters for today's Singapore Raptor Watch were Con, Danny and me.

Bird of the day for us is a dark morph Booted Eagle at Punggol grassland. Here's the count for the NE region:

Halus (0900-1200):
0930: Black-winged Kite 1 perched
1000: Oriental Honey-buzzard 6 thermaling above western part of Ubin
1030: Black Baza 4 birds (1st one flew over Halus from E to W, then 3 more flew W and then back E)
1050: Brahminy Kite 1 adult
1100: Oriental Honey-buzzard 2 thermaling over Halus (1 of them thermaled up and started gliding SE)
1115: Japanese Sparrowhawk 1 flying from NE to SE
1125: Japanese Sparrowhawk 1 flying from SE to NE (probably the same bird as above)
1200: Changeable Hawk-eagle 1 juvenile pale morph

lunch break at Punggol (1200-1300)

Punggol grassland (1300-1400):
1300: Booted Eagle 1 dark morph flying low as we entered the grassland. Clear paler upperwing coverts contrasting with dark upperwing, and clear paler inner primaries contrasting with dark underwing.
1315: Black Baza 1 thermaling over Coney Island
1330: Unid raptor 1 thermaling high high up

Halus (1430-1600):
1435: Brahminy Kite 1 juvenile
1440: Black Baza 2 thermaling over Punggol grassland
1445: Unid accipiter (sparrowhawk-like) 1 flying high from E to W
1515: Black Baza 1 flying low over Halus from W to E (could be the morning odd one out of 4?)
1535: Brahminy Kite 1 adult flying high
1540: Black Baza 3 flying from E to W (could be the morning flock of 3?)
1600: Burned and red, packed up and go