Sungei Serangoon 09Aug05

From KH

It was a fine day at Sungei Serangoon. The eight of us met at the 500-m mark along the 2.2-km jogging track at 8:30 am. Four of us (Peck Chan, Yamane Yoshio from Japan, Charlie from UK, and I) met earlier at Hougang MRT station. When we reached the 500-m mark, Con Foley from the US, his wife Marisol Foley, Danny and his son were waiting there. There was a Little Heron there, hopefully keeping them occupied because we were a little late. The route we took is from the 500-m mark to the 1.5-km junction where we detoured into the grassland and then to the 2.2-km mark and finally back to where we started. The first birds to really entice us were the Little Terns. Their characteristic dive for fish kept us occupied for awhile. Little Egrets, Pacific Swallows, Collared and White-throated Kingfishers, Grey Herons were easily seen. A pair of Spotted Doves was doing their courtship ritual on the railing at the opposite bank. As we walked along, a White-bellied Sea-eagle soared past. An Asian Koel flew over to the forest, possibly disturbed by our presence. Then a Purple Heron flew overhead. As Con and I rested under a tree waiting for the rest to catch up, I heard the call of a Sunda Woodpecker just up on the tree. It minded its own business while the guys snapped away at it. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a good frontal view of it as its back was always facing us.

When we reached the beginning of the grassland we encountered a man poaching a spotted dove. When the dove was caught, a dog nearby came to attack it and we had to chase the dog away. The owner of the dog apologized and then shocked us by hitting the dog really hard! Charlie got a photo of the poacher and his motorbike, but the man refused the let the bird go and quickly took off. As for the dog owner, we had to assure him that the bird was fine, and he didn’t have to hit the dog. Putting this bad experience behind we continued birding. The first bird to greet us from the grassland was a Pied Fantail.

The following 2 shots are courtesy of Yamane. The first picture shows the open pathway that was created about 3-4 months ago - opening the grassland resulting in a path from the main road to the school nearby. Although this allowed us to venture into the thickets of the grassland, it destroyed part of it. However, there is no way we can stop this development. This was also the place where we saw the Baya Weaver nests, one of which was still green and under construction. Yellow-bellied Prinias were heard around here and Charlie managed to see it. This bird is pretty elusive, always hiding in the tall grass. An Ashy Tailorbird and a Blue-throated Bee-eater were seen here too. Someone spotted a raptor in the sky and it turned out to be a Brahminy Kite. Suddenly, a pair of White-headed Munias flew past. In split seconds, they were gone, but the characteristic white head was unmistakable.

Open pathway at the grassland

Tackling the railing at the 2.2 km mark

As we near the end of the grassland, Danny spotted a Greater Coucal. This was the first time I’ve seen it here. Good one, Danny! The picture on the right above was taken near the 2.2 km mark. We had to climb over the railing to get to the other side and continue our journey. As you can see, Danny and his son were nowhere in sight. They were busy keeping a lookout for the Greater Coucal. When we finally reached the 2.2 km mark, Danny and his son spotted some movement and colour in the tall grass. As we chattered away about what it is, it took off and Danny shouted: Stork-billed Kingfisher! Again, another new sighting for me in this area. As we walked along track, a Pied Triller and a Long-tailed Shrike were spotted.

Happy birders! This was where we spot a Little Bronze Cuckoo. At the opposite bank stood a Black-crowned Night Heron providing us with a good view of it and allowing our trigger-happy friends to get some great shots. These five shots are from Con & Marisol.

The most priced bird of the day is the Little Bronze-cuckoo. We finished the walk with lunch at the Blk 322 coffee shop. As we were about to leave the coffee shop it began raining heavily. Fortunately, it was a fine sunny day when we were birding. The final count of the day is 43 birds: 40 seen and 3 heard. 40 birds seen to commemorate the 40^th birthday of Singapore!

Male Little Bronze-cuckoo ©Con Foley

1. Greater coucal
2. Sunda woodpecker
3. Collared kingfisher
4. White-headed munia
5. Pied fantail
6. Baya weaver (with 2 old and 1 new nests)
7. White-bellied sea-eagle
8. Brahminy kite
9. Grey heron
10. Purple heron
11. Black-crowned night-heron
12. Striated heron
13. Spotted doves (doing their courtship ritual on the railing)
14. Asian koel
15. Zebra dove
16. Plain-throated sunbird
17. Ashy tailorbird
18. Pink-necked green-pigeon
19. Yellow-vented bulbul
20. Blue-throated bee eater
21. Eurasian tree sparrow
22. House crow
23. Pacific swallow
24. Little egret
25. Great egret
26. Common sandpiper
27. Little tern
28. Javan myna
29. White-breasted waterhen
30. Olive-backed sunbird
31. Black-naped oriole
32. Common myna
33. Long-tailed shrike
34. Stork-billed kingfisher
35. Pied triller
36. Yellow-bellied prinia
37. Little bronze-cuckoo
38. Scaly-breasted munia
39. Rock pigeon
40. House swift

Heard:
41. Common iora
42. Scarlet-backed flowerpecker
43. Common tailorbird